It would be wise to listen when supervillains are about to monologue and tell you their diabolical plan. I learned this while watching James Bond movies growing up. It served me well leading up to the 2024 Presidential election where Republicans were literally telling the world their plan to dismantle the government, cut critical social programs, give tax cuts to the rich, and expand the power of Trump who wants to be an imperial President. They were thoughtful and generous enough to write it all down and share it on the internet as “Project 2025,” a comprehensive disclosure of their plans if Trump were to be re-elected.
Unfortunately, a plurality of Americans were distracted by trans athletes, the price of eggs, and Kamala Harris being a Black Indian woman. Well, Trump and Elon Musk are now Presidents, and extremist conservative activists, such as Russell Vought, an architect of Project 2025 and a Christian nationalist, have the power to effectuate their radical agenda. To make matters worse, Vought was recently confirmed as director of the Office of Management and Budget, an anodyne-sounding title that is, unfortunately, extremely powerful and manages the federal budget. Vought has said he wants federal workers to be in “trauma.”
President Musk and his nerd brigade at DOGE are helping him achieve that sick and twisted goal by bulldozing through important government agencies, accessing our confidential data, and attacking regulations in the guise of trimming the fat and saving us money. Shockingly, they aren’t touching government spending on defense, Musk’s companies, or the military-industrial complex. Instead, the long-term plan has always been to go after Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Musk and DOGE also illegally froze the funds of NIH (National Institute of Health), which just resumed dispensing grants as of today. However, MAGA is so committed to owning the libs and the woke that they’re willing to destroy their constituents and even their family members. Vought is open to destroying NIH even though it was just revealed his own daughter’s cystic fibrosis is being treated thanks to a “miracle drug” backed by the agency.
White supremacy and fascism have always been violent and self-destructive.
Reporter Marcus Baram at Capital and Main has been following Project 2025, Russell Vought, and Elon Musk’s attempts to dismantle the government and our popular social programs in the interest of advancing an extremist ideology and benefitting the wealthy. In this episode of Chai Talk, he joins me to discuss MAGA’s long-term goals, the devastating impact Project 2025 will have on the country, especially in red states, and what - if anything - the rest of us can do to fight back.
Grab a chai and give us a listen!
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