The re-running of this post from February reminds all of us who have been paying attention just how much has changed for the worse in less than 5 months...and we have just 4 months to D(is for-Democracy)-Day.
It's starting to look like our best (only?) hope is for things to get much much worse before November 5th, that the awakening can come before the election instead of after. As such, the worst thing that can happen for us is for things to be quiet from now until then.
If Biden or the Democrats do anything whatsoever to stand up to this ongoing coup before the election, there will be bloodshed. And the Heritage Foundation guy is already gaslighting and blaming the left if that happens. If Biden appoints Supreme Court justices, for example. Because he technically can. Or if Merchan decides to ignore this Supreme Court ruling and order 45 to jail. Or if Jack Smith decides, "You know what? Screw it. Until the election, I'm going to do a daily dump of every piece of evidence I have in both cases, and we can try this case in the court of public opinion. Every compromising piece of evidence. Every national secret disappeared. Every single treasonous thing."
Democrat leaders need to realize that we cannot defeat this enemy by playing nice. We cannot go high. It's too late for that now.
“The president of the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday declared that a new revolution is already underway in the U.S., appearing to warn Liberals that violence could erupt if they tried to stop it.”
I’ve tried looking /searching to see if you had any posts specifically about eliminating/defunding cultural arts.Appears Substack search takes you to every Sub? Or maybe P 2025 doesn’t address ??
DeSantis did an unprecedented veto of 32 mill for all cultural arts funding in budget because, of course,several groups promote “sexual” content. Local Orlando journalist says DeSantis “has an issue”. I say it’s all part of the plan but I can’t find anything.
Project 2025 doesn't specifically call for this, but The Heritage Foundation (main sponsor of P2025) has in the past. Defunding arts and culture is a long-term goal of the Christian Nationalist fascist sphere. 1. Because it teaches people critical thinking skills and to appreciate things beyond their Bibles; 2. Because it is pornography that is full of naked people and sex and debauchery and sin; 3. Because it is made by perverts and sinners and demonic/satanic people who live un-Christian lifestyles and encourage everyone to do likewise. I heard variations of these 3 themes repeatedly growing up.
If you google "heritage foundation ten good reasons to defund the national endowment for the arts," you'll find their 1997 screed. It will give you a pretty good idea of how they feel about all art and culture, and it will show you why you shouldn't be surprised by DeSantis' decision to defund Florida arts and culture. In case that gives you more talking points on the ground.
I know you couldn't watch movies for most of your life, but have you ever happened to see Chinatown? It subverts the detective genre. Unlike the standard stories, Jack Nicholson's character Jake Gittes is always _just_ a little bit behind what's really going on, just a little bit too late. I find myself always going back to this film as a metaphor for situations in real life. For what it's worth, the movie doesn't end well.
I've never seen Chinatown (surprise, surprise), and it doesn't sound like I should watch it now. The first movie I ever saw was Ghostbusters when I was 15. A boy I'd had a crush on forever asked me out, and I told my parents I would "literally die" if they said no. So they told me I could go that one time but to never ask them to see a movie again. After that, one of the worst things I did as a Good Little Christian Nationalist was tell my parents I was going to the mall, and going to the movies at the mall instead. Or going to the mall (because I didn't want to lie to my parents) and then going to a movie at the theater across town.
On a related note, I don't care for the aesthetic of many movies from the 1970s, maybe because I wasn't exposed to them at the time. I loved Grease (which I listened to at a friend's house but never saw until I was practically an adult), but that was set in the 50s or early 60s. My husband and I watched "The Shining" one Christmas, and I don't think I've watched a Jack Nicholson movie since.
Another way that our adolescence was alike. I couldn't go on dates, go to friends' houses, and such. I remember telling my grandpap (the final say on many things) that so-and-so goes to church, comes from a Christian household, it's a church youth group outing, etc.
And the LIES I told in order to be able to do the things I wanted! I'm surprised I didn't get caught more often. But my mom was usually out of it on her medications.
Yeah, there was a lot of subversion in the 1970s. Arguably too much, and then it snapped back the other way. Still a fascinating time capsule. And Chinatown is set in the 1930s, I think, or thereabouts.
Also, I heard Basil Smickle (sp?) yesterday say that the timeline for enacting p2025 after election is 180 days. Not sure I knew that. This will be enacted immediately!!! This isn’t like a 5 or 10 year plan. We need to snap to it before it’s too late!
The Supreme Court just made it possible to implement it on Inauguration Day. It won't take 180 days. It will fully happen on Inauguration Day. If 45 can even be made to wait until then given the dictatorial powers he's been given.
Republicans will have no qualms with gunning down millions of Americans and blaming them for resisting. They're already gaslighting with that talking point.
I'd rather the Dems huddle and make the right strike than rush out of the gate with the wrong one. And in saying that, I'm NOT saying I think they should wait to strike until after the election. It's too late then.
It’s like watching a train wreck. It’s happening almost as fast too. I want to see our democratic elected officials tell us how they are countering this widespread theft of our rights. I want them to directly talk about Project 2025 and how this blueprint or guidebook is being followed to the letter in states like Oklahoma. I want to know what the plan is if they were to win house senate and presidency. If they aren’t going to expand the court then what is the plan? Hold some strongly worded hearings? That’s Sheldon Whitehouse’s plan and That’s only if they win. They are seemingly obsessed with dumping Biden. Fine, I don’t care As a Democrat I have never cared about personalities. That’s a Republican thing. I care about policies that protect the average people and the “least of these”
The big name people on sub-stack need to stand up too and start sharing your incredible work on the nightmare we know Project 2025 to be before it’s the law of the land.
John Pavlovitz endorsed it strongly today. Jeff Tiedrich shared it yesterday. So that's two.
I want the Democrats to unite behind the stakes in this election and do something to raise the stakes in our favor NOW. If they don't give Americans a sense of the stakes and something to cheer for in the way of them meeting this moment, we are lost. I BELIEVE THEY CAN DO THIS. I'm not being fatalistic. Dem strategists read this space daily. Some of the harder-hitting stakes ads are drawn in part from this work. We show up here every day, and this message is getting through to them. Not enough of them, maybe. Not yet. But I think light is dawning on yonder shore that 45 and his crew WILL HOLD military tribunals. If nothing else, that is going to motivate Democratic leaders to give us something in one of our lists here. Because they're the ones on the firing line first if we fail.
While I agree with you that the US Christian Nationalists want to enact their version of Sharia Law, those societies are very much distorted by the effects of US and Western policy. Take Iran: Would the mullahs even be in power today if the CIA hadn't overthrown their elected leader Mohammed Mussadegh in 1953? He actually wanted to Westernize his society. His crime: vowing to nationalize the oil industry. We installed the brutal Shah who murdered and tortured thousands. And what we got was the Islamic Revolution. And take Egypt: It is right behind Israel as a recipient of US military aid. We prop up dictatorships and then wonder why the people turn against us.
I think more apt is the case of Germany. Nazism was also a religious nationalism of sorts. Hitler was given to the Volk by Providence (i.e., God). Trump claims the same and his followers believe it. Hitler also immediately set about to change the entire governmental structure when he was foolishly appointed chancellor in 1933. By mid 1934 he was sufficiently confident that he could murder his remaining opponents in the Night of the Long Knives. (Does that ring alarms?) He also had legal help from the jurist Carl Schmitt (an absolute favorite of the Federalist Society). His most famous dictum is "He is sovereign who declares the state of exception," i.e., state of emergency. In other words, he who dares to be dictator is sovereign. This is simply a version of the unitary president theory. The sovereign rules alone.
I understand that you come from a strict religious background (is that right?) and so it is natural for you to use your hard-fought insights into the implications of Christofascism. But the society that produced Nazism is closer to ours than the Islamic versions that we helped create. And Nazism has a religious/mythical base that may be useful to explore.
People with more historical knowledge than me are comparing this moment to Nazi Germany. I don't disagree with those comparisons. They can write to that better than I can. Nor do I disagree with your mention of disastrous US foreign policy decisions around the globe.
Throughout my writing, I've tried to pick other historical moments (the Spanish Inquisition, for instance) and make other comparisons that aren't as readily being made. I appreciate your thorough comment here to give everyone this perspective.
I want to add just one more thing about Carl Schmitt to indicate just how dangerous the situation could become. We all heard Heritage Foundation's Kevin Roberts about how the Second Revolution would be bloodless -- if the Left allowed it. Here is Schmitt defending the murders during the Night of the Long Knives, June 30, 1934:
"The Führer protects the law against the worst forms of abuse when, in the moment of danger, he immediately creates law by force of his character as Führer as the supreme legal authority."
This is the Unitary Presidency in action. The 6 "conservative" justices are not members of the Federalist Society for nothing. Exactly how we organize is unclear to me, but among other things it will have to involve going out and talking to Trumpers one-on-one.
I said today that Roberts’ comment means “if you resist, we will kill you.” They mean that. So we have to be prepared to counter that proactively so we don’t have our own version of Night of the Long Knives.
You are a warrior, Marcy. This Substack is probably 3 or 4 books between newsletters and comments. It’s a lot of info. I’ve been trying to think of how to give newer subscribers an easier way in, because I don’t want people discouraged by the amount of words.
I’m glad the recordings are helpful. They aren’t always clean. I have no idea how to mix them or fix mistakes. But I’m committed to them for people who prefer to listen.
The re-running of this post from February reminds all of us who have been paying attention just how much has changed for the worse in less than 5 months...and we have just 4 months to D(is for-Democracy)-Day.
Right. I'm going to amend it above to reflect what the Supreme Court has done since the beginning of last week.
It's starting to look like our best (only?) hope is for things to get much much worse before November 5th, that the awakening can come before the election instead of after. As such, the worst thing that can happen for us is for things to be quiet from now until then.
If Biden or the Democrats do anything whatsoever to stand up to this ongoing coup before the election, there will be bloodshed. And the Heritage Foundation guy is already gaslighting and blaming the left if that happens. If Biden appoints Supreme Court justices, for example. Because he technically can. Or if Merchan decides to ignore this Supreme Court ruling and order 45 to jail. Or if Jack Smith decides, "You know what? Screw it. Until the election, I'm going to do a daily dump of every piece of evidence I have in both cases, and we can try this case in the court of public opinion. Every compromising piece of evidence. Every national secret disappeared. Every single treasonous thing."
Democrat leaders need to realize that we cannot defeat this enemy by playing nice. We cannot go high. It's too late for that now.
Andra, sounds like you saw this ?
“The president of the Heritage Foundation on Tuesday declared that a new revolution is already underway in the U.S., appearing to warn Liberals that violence could erupt if they tried to stop it.”
https://www.thedailybeast.com/kevin-roberts-man-behind-project-2025-just-said-the-quiet-part-out-loud
Because translated, they are saying, “If you resist, we will kill you.”
Yep. 2 notes about it so far today.
I’ve tried looking /searching to see if you had any posts specifically about eliminating/defunding cultural arts.Appears Substack search takes you to every Sub? Or maybe P 2025 doesn’t address ??
DeSantis did an unprecedented veto of 32 mill for all cultural arts funding in budget because, of course,several groups promote “sexual” content. Local Orlando journalist says DeSantis “has an issue”. I say it’s all part of the plan but I can’t find anything.
Sharing you widely in my activist circles…
Project 2025 doesn't specifically call for this, but The Heritage Foundation (main sponsor of P2025) has in the past. Defunding arts and culture is a long-term goal of the Christian Nationalist fascist sphere. 1. Because it teaches people critical thinking skills and to appreciate things beyond their Bibles; 2. Because it is pornography that is full of naked people and sex and debauchery and sin; 3. Because it is made by perverts and sinners and demonic/satanic people who live un-Christian lifestyles and encourage everyone to do likewise. I heard variations of these 3 themes repeatedly growing up.
If you google "heritage foundation ten good reasons to defund the national endowment for the arts," you'll find their 1997 screed. It will give you a pretty good idea of how they feel about all art and culture, and it will show you why you shouldn't be surprised by DeSantis' decision to defund Florida arts and culture. In case that gives you more talking points on the ground.
I know you couldn't watch movies for most of your life, but have you ever happened to see Chinatown? It subverts the detective genre. Unlike the standard stories, Jack Nicholson's character Jake Gittes is always _just_ a little bit behind what's really going on, just a little bit too late. I find myself always going back to this film as a metaphor for situations in real life. For what it's worth, the movie doesn't end well.
I've never seen Chinatown (surprise, surprise), and it doesn't sound like I should watch it now. The first movie I ever saw was Ghostbusters when I was 15. A boy I'd had a crush on forever asked me out, and I told my parents I would "literally die" if they said no. So they told me I could go that one time but to never ask them to see a movie again. After that, one of the worst things I did as a Good Little Christian Nationalist was tell my parents I was going to the mall, and going to the movies at the mall instead. Or going to the mall (because I didn't want to lie to my parents) and then going to a movie at the theater across town.
On a related note, I don't care for the aesthetic of many movies from the 1970s, maybe because I wasn't exposed to them at the time. I loved Grease (which I listened to at a friend's house but never saw until I was practically an adult), but that was set in the 50s or early 60s. My husband and I watched "The Shining" one Christmas, and I don't think I've watched a Jack Nicholson movie since.
Another way that our adolescence was alike. I couldn't go on dates, go to friends' houses, and such. I remember telling my grandpap (the final say on many things) that so-and-so goes to church, comes from a Christian household, it's a church youth group outing, etc.
And the LIES I told in order to be able to do the things I wanted! I'm surprised I didn't get caught more often. But my mom was usually out of it on her medications.
My fear of what would happen if I got caught doing something wrong outweighed my desire to rebel. I’m glad you got away with more than I did.
Yeah, there was a lot of subversion in the 1970s. Arguably too much, and then it snapped back the other way. Still a fascinating time capsule. And Chinatown is set in the 1930s, I think, or thereabouts.
Also, I heard Basil Smickle (sp?) yesterday say that the timeline for enacting p2025 after election is 180 days. Not sure I knew that. This will be enacted immediately!!! This isn’t like a 5 or 10 year plan. We need to snap to it before it’s too late!
The Supreme Court just made it possible to implement it on Inauguration Day. It won't take 180 days. It will fully happen on Inauguration Day. If 45 can even be made to wait until then given the dictatorial powers he's been given.
The orders can be given. If there's a hitch it will be in their execution, which will require the compliance of millions of Americans.
Republicans will have no qualms with gunning down millions of Americans and blaming them for resisting. They're already gaslighting with that talking point.
It will change public opinion, and that's what we're waiting for 🤷
I'd rather the Dems huddle and make the right strike than rush out of the gate with the wrong one. And in saying that, I'm NOT saying I think they should wait to strike until after the election. It's too late then.
Yeah. But one also always has to ask the question, when it's too late, what do you do next?
180 days is better than 180 hours, I guess.....
It’s like watching a train wreck. It’s happening almost as fast too. I want to see our democratic elected officials tell us how they are countering this widespread theft of our rights. I want them to directly talk about Project 2025 and how this blueprint or guidebook is being followed to the letter in states like Oklahoma. I want to know what the plan is if they were to win house senate and presidency. If they aren’t going to expand the court then what is the plan? Hold some strongly worded hearings? That’s Sheldon Whitehouse’s plan and That’s only if they win. They are seemingly obsessed with dumping Biden. Fine, I don’t care As a Democrat I have never cared about personalities. That’s a Republican thing. I care about policies that protect the average people and the “least of these”
The big name people on sub-stack need to stand up too and start sharing your incredible work on the nightmare we know Project 2025 to be before it’s the law of the land.
John Pavlovitz endorsed it strongly today. Jeff Tiedrich shared it yesterday. So that's two.
I want the Democrats to unite behind the stakes in this election and do something to raise the stakes in our favor NOW. If they don't give Americans a sense of the stakes and something to cheer for in the way of them meeting this moment, we are lost. I BELIEVE THEY CAN DO THIS. I'm not being fatalistic. Dem strategists read this space daily. Some of the harder-hitting stakes ads are drawn in part from this work. We show up here every day, and this message is getting through to them. Not enough of them, maybe. Not yet. But I think light is dawning on yonder shore that 45 and his crew WILL HOLD military tribunals. If nothing else, that is going to motivate Democratic leaders to give us something in one of our lists here. Because they're the ones on the firing line first if we fail.
Yeah, hoping self-interest will work if nothing else.
While I agree with you that the US Christian Nationalists want to enact their version of Sharia Law, those societies are very much distorted by the effects of US and Western policy. Take Iran: Would the mullahs even be in power today if the CIA hadn't overthrown their elected leader Mohammed Mussadegh in 1953? He actually wanted to Westernize his society. His crime: vowing to nationalize the oil industry. We installed the brutal Shah who murdered and tortured thousands. And what we got was the Islamic Revolution. And take Egypt: It is right behind Israel as a recipient of US military aid. We prop up dictatorships and then wonder why the people turn against us.
I think more apt is the case of Germany. Nazism was also a religious nationalism of sorts. Hitler was given to the Volk by Providence (i.e., God). Trump claims the same and his followers believe it. Hitler also immediately set about to change the entire governmental structure when he was foolishly appointed chancellor in 1933. By mid 1934 he was sufficiently confident that he could murder his remaining opponents in the Night of the Long Knives. (Does that ring alarms?) He also had legal help from the jurist Carl Schmitt (an absolute favorite of the Federalist Society). His most famous dictum is "He is sovereign who declares the state of exception," i.e., state of emergency. In other words, he who dares to be dictator is sovereign. This is simply a version of the unitary president theory. The sovereign rules alone.
I understand that you come from a strict religious background (is that right?) and so it is natural for you to use your hard-fought insights into the implications of Christofascism. But the society that produced Nazism is closer to ours than the Islamic versions that we helped create. And Nazism has a religious/mythical base that may be useful to explore.
People with more historical knowledge than me are comparing this moment to Nazi Germany. I don't disagree with those comparisons. They can write to that better than I can. Nor do I disagree with your mention of disastrous US foreign policy decisions around the globe.
Throughout my writing, I've tried to pick other historical moments (the Spanish Inquisition, for instance) and make other comparisons that aren't as readily being made. I appreciate your thorough comment here to give everyone this perspective.
I want to add just one more thing about Carl Schmitt to indicate just how dangerous the situation could become. We all heard Heritage Foundation's Kevin Roberts about how the Second Revolution would be bloodless -- if the Left allowed it. Here is Schmitt defending the murders during the Night of the Long Knives, June 30, 1934:
"The Führer protects the law against the worst forms of abuse when, in the moment of danger, he immediately creates law by force of his character as Führer as the supreme legal authority."
This is the Unitary Presidency in action. The 6 "conservative" justices are not members of the Federalist Society for nothing. Exactly how we organize is unclear to me, but among other things it will have to involve going out and talking to Trumpers one-on-one.
I said today that Roberts’ comment means “if you resist, we will kill you.” They mean that. So we have to be prepared to counter that proactively so we don’t have our own version of Night of the Long Knives.
Thank you Andra. I’ve caught up with your articles. Very grateful for your recordings. They help me to move along and keep up. 👏💕🥰
You are a warrior, Marcy. This Substack is probably 3 or 4 books between newsletters and comments. It’s a lot of info. I’ve been trying to think of how to give newer subscribers an easier way in, because I don’t want people discouraged by the amount of words.
I’m glad the recordings are helpful. They aren’t always clean. I have no idea how to mix them or fix mistakes. But I’m committed to them for people who prefer to listen.
You sound great. Your voice is very soothing even when you’re describing things that are unfavorable. Your diction is wonderful. 🌸
Don’t worry at all about audio perfection, the message is too important & yes, some ppl like to listen while attending to other things.
I think you sound just fine.