MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 2

I closed MSNBC examines Project 2025, part 1 by telling my readers "MSNBC has had more to say about Project 2025 just in the past week, so stay tuned for part 2." I'm continuing to feature Ali Velshi and his guests today, beginning with 'It is not a threat – it is a promise': Rep. Pressley on 'hateful' Project 2025 agenda.

A group of Congressional Democrats are joining forces in an effort to fight the far-right initiative known as Project 2025. Project 2025 is a policy plan to be enacted if Donald Trump returns to the White House -- crafted by the right-wing think tank The Heritage Foundation and several former Trump administration officials. "Sunlight is the best disinfectant”, says Oversight member Democratic Representative Ayanna Pressley. She joins Ali Velshi to discuss her role in a new initiative to fight Project 2025 and why voters need to listen carefully to what the initiative’s creators are saying. “These extremists do not make threats, they make promises.”

Representative Ayanna Pressley pointing out that Project 2025 requires the cooperation of the Supreme Court and that the Supreme Court should be expanded reminds me that I wrote CNBC examines 'How The Supreme Court May Threaten Democracy' almost exactly two years ago. In that post, I wrote "I also support increasing the size of the Supreme Court so that there is a Justice for every federal appellate circuit," so I agree with her. Now we need to flip the House, expand the Democratic majority in the Senate, and convince President Biden to support this. All three are heavy but necessary lifts to make this happen.

Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts responding that his organization would accept the results of the 2024 Presidential Election "if there isn't massive fraud like there was in 2020" shows that the Big Lie has continued to spread.

I'm recycling my reaction from Jane Mayer describes 'The Big Money Behind the Big Lie' on MSNBC.

All of this reminds me why I think calling the idea that the election was stolen the Big Lie doesn't go far enough.

Personally, I'd rather call it Trump's dangerous delusion, his fixed belief that the election was stolen from him despite all evidence, which I see as related to his vulnerability to conspiracy theories, but "the Big Lie" is the established phrase used by CNBC and others, so I'm calling it that instead. It's a lie, too.

Mayer's reporting shows that Trump's delusion is not just dangerous but contagious. It's bad enough that there is one pandemic running around; we don't need another.

The delusion has continued to spread, infecting a lot of candidates in today's elections. Ugh.

It's spread to the Heritage Foundation, too. Olivia Troye was right to be horrified at what they've become, part of "an authoritarian movement...that [is] undead...in a democratic system."

I could embed the interview of Kevin Roberts, but the two clips Velshi included in his show are enough for me. Besides, Digby did a better job of summarizing it in They Are Fanatics. Watch the interview and read her reaction there.

I'm moving on to Colonization in disguise: Project 2025’s global reach, the source of this post's preview image.

Project 2025, a conservative blueprint aimed at consolidating power in the presidency and institutionalizing Christian nationalism, includes an international framework with dangerous implications for women and LGBTQ communities around the globe. Under the guise of Christian values, American conservatives are pressuring countries reliant on foreign aid to adopt anti-abortion and anti-LGBTQ legislation. “They’re going to use reproductive policies as well as policies on LGBTQ people to try and control different nations around the world,” says Anthea Butler, an MSNBC analyst and chair of the Department of Religious Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. “The U.S. government under the guise of Christian nationalism, [is] trying to infiltrate countries and control them.”

Transforming the U.S. isn't enough; the Christian nationalists want to remake the world in their image, too.

MSNBC has still more, but I've reached my fill for today. I'm sure I'll return with a part 3, but not until after I celebrate Paul Bunyan Day. Stay tuned.