A storm is brewing just out of our sight. If Trump and the Republicans win in November 2024 our Democracy will be swept away. Every day a different freedom will be rationalized away, an existing norm will be dispatched, a new grift will appear, and another friend or relative will be marginalized (or worse). Every day, we’ll think the storm will calm, but it will only intensify. Life in America, and the world, will fundamentally and permanently change for the worse – even for those who voted for Trump, the Republicans, and the storm. Nobody will be safe.

It’s critically important that you understand these threats and communicate them to everyone and anyone you know. While this especially includes disengaged, third-party, and protest voters, this also includes Trump and Republican voters you feel comfortable talking with. Those who support the Democratic party also need to understand what’s ahead of us so they can help spread the word.

The Threats

Project 2025 – The scariest thing everyone needs to know about is Project 2025. It’s a detailed plan for a “government in waiting” created by the Heritage Foundation and other conservative “think tanks” and political organizations. They now understand what Trump is capable of and they are ready for him this time. He’ll implement what they’ve been working towards for years – the shitcanning of our Democracy. Here are some highlights:

• It replaces our Constitutional government with a vice that will squeeze us with the ideologies and agendas of authoritarians, corporate America, and Christian nationalists.
• It turns the President into a king with direct control over Congress, the courts, and agencies such as the Dept. of Justice, the Federal Trade Commission, and the  Federal Communication Commission.
• It replaces tens of thousands of experienced non-partisan government employees with extremist loyalists (they’re already accepting applications)
• It further deregulates corporate America so they can take more of our money, poison more of our food, and make our planet burn faster. 
• It privatizes government services, making them for-profit, not for people, so you can pay more and get less and lose things altogether (including public education and environmental protection)
• Most of the language of Project 2025 is wrapped openly and brazenly with Christian Nationalist ideology…

While much of what they want to do is unconstitutional, we have already seen how little regard Republicans and, more importantly, SCOTUS have for the Constitution – both of whom were put in place by the very folks who funded and authored Project 2025. Trump will give them what they want and when he’s gone, MAGA and everyone else will be stuck with whatever’s left.

Laced in between the words that plan out the destruction of Democracy are words that would soothe the minds of any MAGA or committed Christians who happen to read it. The forward mentions “woke” sixteen times and “faith” is mentioned ten times in their plans for the Department of Health and Human Services (and that should scare the crap out of you)

These “think tanks” and political organizations are much more powerful than we realize. They have been around for decades and have slowly gained power since they had SCOTUS declare that money equals speech in the 1970s. These folks have a long history of quietly ruining the lives of Americans and weakening democracy. A short list includes trickle-down economics, the health benefits of tobacco, climate change, climate denial, enabling corruption, rigging the courts to favor industry, and deregulation (think the 2008 housing crisis for one example).

Religion – Autocrats, plutocrats, and theocrats make strange bedfellows but they’re working flawlessly together as they hijack Christianity, not to help us find salvation, but to cultivate our approval of their destruction of Democracy.

Theocrats don’t care about Trump’s behavior – he’s their path to toss the Constitution and create a society where laws and policies are based on their interpretation of Christian doctrine. Trump and his autocrats don’t respect theocrats but they’re happy to use them to regain power. Plutocrats don’t care (though some do) about either as long as we are herded to where corporations and the wealthy control our government and lives.

Christianity is complicated stuff and it is quite easy for religious extremists to capture us by twisting the word of God. They’re rewriting American history, especially the separation of church and state, and claiming a historical mandate to rule society with non-negotiable Christian dogma.

Religion can have a deep psychological influence over many of us, giving us a sense of belonging, a feeling of being part of something bigger than us, and even giving us eternal life. When evildoers can reframe their agenda as a holy crusade while convincing the faithful that their religion (and therefore their salvation) is under attack many of us will start accepting the atrocities that some of us will be committing.

All Americans, especially those who aren’t Christian or “Christian enough”, need to understand the very real danger these groups represent:

• Christian Nationalists
• Evangelicals
• The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) 
• The Seven Mountains Mandate

Putin, his puppets, and his propaganda [this section is under construction] – There are countless ties between Vladimir Putin, Trump, his family, and his businesses. 

Trump’s henchmen are also heavily involved in Putin’s circles. Mike Flynn spent years pushing conspiracy theories, spinning Putin’s talking points (including anti-Ukraine rhetoric), and even joining in on to the  Christian Nationalism crusade.  Paul Manafort spent decades making a fortune from chumming around with dictators and Putin as they weakened democracies around the world, including Ukraine. The list of Trump’s pro-Putin pals goes on and includes others such as Sebastian Gorka, Roger Stone, Steve Banon, etc. – all anti-Democratic, all agents of chaos, and all soon to be back in the White House.

Trump’s control over the GOP allows Putin’s influence to extend beyond Trump’s thugs and deep into our government. Even without Trump, there are plenty of direct financial ties between Russia and elected Republicans  – even the guy who’s second in line to the White House. There may be a little kompromat in the GOP as well.

Putin’s control over Trump and the GOP could not be clearer as they continue to repeat his propaganda (even after being warned by the DOJ), used a Russian agent as a witness in the sham Biden impeachment hearings, and bent over backward to delay Ukraine funding by months.

Putin, Trump, and the GOP would not be able to get away with what they’re doing if they (and conservative media) hadn’t spent years dividing us and weakening our trust in Democracy. They each have their motivation, but they’re united by their desire to destroy Democracy so they tolerate each other in that pursuit. I bet on the former KGB agent.

 Agenda 47 – Trump has his own plan that largely aligns with Project 2025. While much less specific, Agenda 47 is laced with fascism and extremist policies, addresses the non-issues raised by QAnon and conspiracy theories, creates fantasy white-only cities with flying cars, sends the homeless off to camps, etc. It replaces traditional academic education with “patriot education” – brainwashing us to be cogs in the machine of a new corporate-centric society. Much of its rhetoric is intended to create the illusion of a perfect world in the hate and fear-filled minds of his base. Along with that comes the other illusion that they will be protected in this new world. 

Climate Change

Folks need to be reminded that while humanity is going insane the planet is still melting. Any progress that is being made to slow climate change will be stopped by Trump and the GOP. Project 2025 goes hard against efforts to slow climate change efforts. , which they call “climate fanaticism“.

Climate change is more than hotter summers, massive fires, and extreme weather. It’s fundamentally changing the underlying systems that make this planet livable. Meanwhile, conservative media continues to mislead their followers on the battle against climate change on behalf of billionaires.