Project 2025 versus Cat Memes

September 17, 2024

I am not going to take the bait dangled by JD Vance about the lack of assassination attempts on Kamala Harris. Trump and Vance have leaned into their anti-immigrant and “blame the liberals” for the assassination attempts and have succeeded in diverting the conversation from the fascistic threat posed to America by Project 2025. Every day that Project 2025 is not at the top of the news cycle is a day that the media has failed democracy.

To recap, Trump and Vance plan to do the following using the blueprint of Project 2025 (per Democracy Forward)

·      Impose a national abortion ban.

·      Restrict access to contraception

·      Remove medical privacy protections for people seeking reproductive healthcare

·      Engage in mass deportations of 20 million immigrants

·      Roll back protection for same sex marriage and LGBTQ rights

·      Remove prohibitions on discrimination on the basis of race or sex

·      Allow the president to use the DOJ to target political enemies

·      Cut funding to the FBI

·      Eliminate the Department of Education

·      Eliminate the Department of Homeland Security

·      Disband the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

·      Fire thousands of civil servants whose expertise keeps the wheels of government turning

·      Slash corporate income taxes

·      Eliminate the ability of the federal government to drive down drug costs by negotiating prices of Medicare drugs

·      Restrict access to food assistance by imposing work requirements on disabled and single parents

·      Eliminate Project Head Start

·      Cut funding for green energy and encourage reliance on fossil fuels

·      Expand offshore drilling and drilling on public lands

·      Eliminate funding for public transportation projects

·      Grant parents control over school curricula

The above list does not include Trump's economy-killing a 10% tariff on all imported goods and a 60% tariff on goods imported from China (which provides 16% of all goods imported into the US).

Nor does Project 2025 account for the impact of anti-vaxxer RFK Jr. controlling federal healthcare policy, Aileen Cannon being appointed to the Supreme Court, or Elon Musk overseeing an “efficiency commission” to cut alleged government “waste” (read: programs that help people). Finally, Project 2025 does not account for the compounding effect of the Supreme Court’s grant of prospective criminal immunity to the president.

Many of the issues above—standing alone—should be cause for Americans to rise up and vote en masse to defeat Trump. Taken together, they should drive Americans to the polls to deliver a historic defeat to Trump. And yet, the election remains close.

Part of the reason the election remains close is because Trump and Vance have been able to divert attention from Project 2025 by making evermore outrageous and dangerous statements.

I do not mean to diminish the hateful attacks on immigrants by referring to them as “cat memes.” I use that term because JD Vance over the weekend said that it was the plan of Trump and Vance to “create stories” (“memes”) to focus the media’s attention on immigration—one of the few subjects on which Trump has a polling advantage over Kamala Harris.

Indeed, JD Vance’s deliberate use of “cat memes” to incite anti-immigrant animus is resulting in real-life harassment and intimidation of Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio—including numerous bomb threats that have shut down city hall, primary schools, and a college. NBC News, Baseless rumors about Haitian immigrants threaten to unravel Springfield, Ohio.

Trump and Vance plan to ratchet the racial tension in Springfield by holding a “town hall meeting,”—which will undoubtedly feature hand-picked frustrated white residents and exclude Haitian immigrants who are helping to revive Springfield. See Vanity Fair, Trump Reportedly Has Super-Helpful Plans to Visit Springfield, Ohio, the City He and JD Vance Continue to Spread Baseless Lies About Re: Haitian Migrants Eating Pets.

JD Vance is also pushing the right-wing claim that the two assassination attempts on Trump are the result of allegedly irresponsible Democratic rhetoric about Trump—like saying that he is an existential threat to democracy and a wannabe dictator (his words, not mine).

The hypocrisy is so thick it is viscous. Hours before the assassination attempt, Trump blasted a Truth Social post saying, “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT.” He regularly refers to Kamala Harris and Joe Biden as “enemies” of the state and describes them as “fascist Marxists” and “extreme leftists” who are intent on “destroying our country.”

Neither Kamala Harris, Joe Biden, nor Tim Walz has used such extreme language to describe Trump. Rather, it is Trump and Vance who are using the violent rhetoric that is resonating with sick and impressionable males with access to weapons of war. See Josh Marshall, Talking Points Memo, Yes. Trump Started The Fire. And Everyone Knows It.

Per Marshall,

Republicans are now predictably demanding that Democrats in essence stop campaigning against Trump because they’re inciting their supporters to try to assassinate Trump. That’s absurd. Neither of these men is in any sense a supporter of Democrats or even of more marginal groups that could in any sense be identified with “the left.” But on a broader level, Donald Trump is simply himself a source of unrest and conflagration. [¶¶]

He’s a vortex of violence. His rhetoric is violent. He has friendly paramilitaries like the Proud Boys that he encourages to come to his aid. He was the one who incited a violent mob to storm the U.S. Capitol. He’s provoked numerous supporters to acts of mass violence, from Pittsburgh to El Paso. The mix of bomb threats and marches in Springfield over the last week are only the latest example.

JD Vance took the violent rhetoric to another level on Monday evening by stating

the big difference between conservatives and liberals is that no one has tried to kill Kamala Harris in the last couple of months, and two people now have tried to kill Donald Trump . . . .

JD Vance’s statement is reprehensible on many levels. The two would-be assassins were both mentally ill men who supported Trump and had access to weapons of war. The notion that they were “liberals” is the false; the opposite is true.

Second, JD Vance’s ambiguous statement suggests that Kamala Harris is overdue for an assassination attempt—much like Elon Musk’s statement on Monday that “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala.” Musk deleted that comment by Tuesday morning, claiming that it was a joke. He wrote,

Turns out that jokes are WAY less funny if people don’t know the context and the delivery is plain text.

Well, one lesson I’ve learned is that just because I say something to a group and they laugh doesn’t mean it’s going to be all that hilarious as a post on [Twitter].

On Tuesday, the Secret Service said it was “aware” of Musk’s tweet after the White House issued a statement saying that the tweet was “irresponsible.” BBC, Secret Service 'aware' of Elon Musk post about Harris and Biden.”

The shocking difference between Elon Musk and JD Vance is that Musk has a few shreds of self-awareness and capacity to be shamed such that he removed the tweet while JD Vance will simply double down on his grossly irresponsible comment. Every major media outlet should condemn JD Vance on Tuesday.

Michelle Obama reminded us at the convention that it would get ugly. Wow! Was she ever right!

We need to stick with the issues that will help Democrats persuade the few remaining persuadable voters that they need to vote for Kamala Harris. While we should condemn Trump and Vance with every ounce of our being, we must also speak to voters about the issues that affect them in the coming election. Framing Trump and Vance as the proponents of the dangerous Project 2024 is a strong, winning message.

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Opportunity for reader engagement

Last Friday, my wife and I attended a great event sponsored by an LA-based group, Hang Out and Do Good (HODG). The group is centered in the Hancock Park area and meets regularly on Friday evenings (and throughout the week). If you live in LA and are looking for a vibrant, positive group to connect with, I highly recommend HODG. Check out the website for more details. HangOutDoGood (HODG).

HODG is hosting a fun event that it describes as a “State Fair”, as follows:

HangOutDoGood (HODG) is organizing a California State Fair to help flip the House Blue — and you’re invited!

The event will be held Saturday, September 21 · 11am - 2pm PDT in the Hancock Park area.

We’ll be fundraising and taking action in support of seven California races that could determine what party controls the House. VP/future president Harris will have a hard time getting anything done without that.

There will be fun games, a dunk tank, postcarding, food and more! Everyone’s invited - bring your family and friends! RSVP HERE NOW

 The “State Fair” will be a fun, family day in the park and will help elect seven Democratic representatives who will tip the balance of power in the House. Bring your kids, friends, and neighbors. But please RSVP so HODG can plan accordingly.

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Concluding Thoughts

We cannot be intimidated by GOP calls to “tone down the rhetoric.” What they mean is to “stop telling the truth” about GOP plans. Rep. Byron Donalds was interviewed on Fox and asked how Kamala Harris should “tone down the rhetoric.” His answer included a demand that Democrats “remove all references to project 2025” in battleground state ads. Hmm . . . only in battleground states? Why? Answer: Because the ads are effective and will help tip the election in favor of Kamala Harris.

There is only one party that is using violent, racist, white supremacist rhetoric. There is only one candidate who has suggested that the aftermath of the election will be “bloody” if he loses. There is only one candidate who uses the words “hate” and “enemies” when describing his opponents. And there is only one party that is urging voters to protect democracy by voting.

Byron Donalds wants Democrats to remove ads about Project 2025 because they are truthful and effective. We should take the hint that Donalds is giving us—and continue driving that message home every chance we get!

Talk to you tomorrow!

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Daily Dose of Perspective

The image below is my second attempt to image the Elephant Trunk nebula (far superior to my first attempt). The Elephant Trunk is 3,000 light years from Earth and is hundreds of light years in diameter.

A note about capturing this image. The Moon is in a Waxing Gibbous phase, nearly full and very bright. I tried to capture a few faint objects and got terrible results. I then turned my telescope to the Elephant Trunk because it is a large, bright object (+5.59).

After a few minutes, my scope was locked in and humming away, taking successive 20-second exposures. After about twenty minutes, I received an error message saying “Imaging failure. Check to see if the telescope is blocked by clouds or trees.”

I went outside and my scope had a clear view of the sky. But the sky was glowing with moonlight, which overwhelmed the sensors on my camera and made further photography impossible. Most astronomers and astrophotographers don’t bother observing when the Moon is high and full. I pushed my luck and was able to capture the above image before the Moon washed out the night sky.