Thomas Zimmer

@thomaszimmer.bsky.social

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Historian at Georgetown - Democracy and Its Discontents - Newsletter: Democracy Americana https://thomaszimmer.substack.com/ - Podcast: Is This Democracy https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/is-this-democracy

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A lot of talk right now about Heritage President Kevin Roberts - who lusts for a radical rightwing revolution that would punish those he deems enemies of his “real America” so bad that he must talk about it all the time. I dove deep into the extremist worldview of that guy a while ago:

Kevin Roberts believes he’s a noble defender of “real America” against a totalitarian “woke,” “globalist” assault from without and within. “Project 2025” is his declaration of war on multiracial pluralism. I wrote about his extremist worldview here: 1/ thomaszimmer.substack.com/p/project-20...

“Project 2025” Promises Revenge, Oppression, and Autocratic Rulethomaszimmer.substack.com The Right’s plans for a return to power are driven by a radicalizing siege mentality and a desperate desire to restore dominance

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Unfortunately, this is not just the abstract manifesto of a feverish mind. It comes with concrete plans and a detailed strategy of how to take over and transform government into an autocratic revenge machine that can impose a reactionary vision against the will of the majority. /end

A deep dive into the extremist worldview of Heritage president Kevin Roberts, as it manifests in his foreword to the “Project 2025” policy report: His grievance-driven lust for revenge and desire to dominate his “Un-American” enemies doesn’t allow for restraint or compromise.

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Heritage Foundation president celebrates Supreme Court presidential immunity ruling: "We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be" www.mediamatters.org/project-2025...

Heritage Foundation president celebrates Supreme Court immunity decision: "We are in the process of the second American Revolution"www.mediamatters.org

I took a deep dive into the “Promise to America” Heritage president Kevin Roberts has offered in his foreword to the "Project 2025" report: It perfectly captures the siege mentality, self-victimization, and grievance-driven lust for revenge that are fueling the Right's plans. 2/

Kevin Roberts is not some moderate imposter who pretends to be hardcore so that he can blend in with the MAGAs because that is the direction the wind is blowing. He is a reactionary Catholic and part of the Religious Right – a true believer in the reactionary political project. 3/

“Project 2025” isn’t just about power in Washington. The Reactionary Right’s goal is to re-establish political, societal, and cultural dominance in all spheres of life and turn the clock back to before what Heritage Foundation president Kevin Roberts calls “the Great Awokening.” 4/

The Right’s plans for a return to power are driven by a desperate sense that nothing short of a reactionary counter-revolution will suffice to save nation from the onslaught of fundamentally anti-American woke,” “globalist” forces - and that there is very little time left to pull it off. 5/

There is, in this view of the world, no room for compromise, no justification for restraint: “Time is running short. If we fail, the fight for the very idea of America may be lost.” 2024, according to Roberts, is the “last opportunity to save our republic.” And destroy the “woke” Left. 6/

According to Roberts, the domestic “woke” agenda is connected to America’s foreign enemies. He sees only two underlying dangers that are constantly colluding and conspiring to bring America down: Totalitarian China abroad and totalitarian “woke” elites at home, working together. 7/

There is, in Kevin Roberts’ view of the world, really only one enemy, one devil, that seeks to destroy America, this once great nation of freedom and virtue: Communism, fascism, progressivism, “wokeism,” it is all just the same, all just different disguises of socialism. 8/

Analytically, this is complete nonsense. But such an understanding of the enemy is pervasive on the Right. It provides the basis on which Republican Party, conservative establishment, and reactionary intellectual sphere have all given themselves permission to radicalize. 9/

It is difficult to convey to people who don’t pay much attention to politics how much the power centers of conservative politics have been taken over by anti-democratic extremism. Meanwhile, rightwing leaders are maximally clear about the reactionary vision they want to impose on the country. 10/

Much of this sounds like Marjorie Taylor Greene might have said it to rile up the base. “This is Heritage, you know, not some fringe group on the right,” Roberts said in a New York Times interview. He is correct: This is what defines the center of conservative politics today. 11/

Heritage Foundation president celebrates Supreme Court immunity decision: "We are in the process of the second American Revolution"www.mediamatters.org

I’ve had this discussion many times with students who are active military: They were, across the board, horrified and disgusted by Trump’s desire to use troops against protesters - but also, and rightfully, quick to add that democracy is in great peril if it has to rely on soldiers defying orders.

Things are going very well when we've reached the "Don't worry, the military won't obey orders to kill civilians" stage of democratic backsliding. It's the sweet spot, where good things happen. Right where we want to be.

What an utterly bizarre, acutely dangerous, and downright terrifying place this country is in. Because six unelected rightwing operatives said so. And because the Republican Party is united behind the worst person in America to hold this kind of power.

If Trump were to personally shoot someone on Fifth Avenue: Not immune. (Probably. Maybe.) If he were to order the army to massacre thousands on Fifth Avenue: Immune. (Very clearly, under the decision.) But from a constitutional perspective, the latter is the grave danger to guard against.

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That’s, ultimately, what worries me most about all of this - what I’ve been trying to emphasize in my writing about “Project 2025”: Too many people think a second Trump term would “just” be more of the same. They haven’t been paying attention. It would be something very different.

What Makes “Project 2025” So Dangerousthomaszimmer.substack.com Will the Right be able to implement these radical plans? Is Trump on board? What happened to traditional conservatism? Let’s tackle some of the key questions surrounding “Project 2025”

The Right was hampered by a few factors during Trump’s first term: Public protest, the courts, vestiges of opposition in the GOP, the “deep state” consisting of professional civil servants, experts, lawyers… All of those sources of resistance have been drastically weakened.

An argument I’ve been trying to make about “Project 2025”: A second Trump term would be worse not only because the radical Right would be better prepared, but also because they would be operating under much more favorable circumstances. With a much more extreme Supreme Court, for instance. 1/

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Back in power, the radical Right could count on a reactionary supermajority on the Supreme Court - something they didn’t have during Trump’s first term. Today’s disastrous, truly extreme immunity ruling should be an urgent reminder of what an absolute game-changer that is. 2/

Additionally, this would not be the same Right that came to power in 2017. That starts with Trump himself. The idea that he has always been the same, just Trump being Trump, is massively misleading and obscures the rather drastic radicalization of the Right’s undisputed leader. 3/

Beyond Trump, the Right more generally has significantly radicalized. This radicalization has found its manifestation in a fully Trumpified GOP. Prominent Republicans like Liz Cheney and Mitt Romney who publicly objected to violent insurrection have been ostracized. 4/

Finally, resistance to the rightwing regime – not just coming from the Left, but also potentially fueled by whatever skepticism still remains among Republicans – would face a level of violent threat far beyond anything the country experienced during the first Trump presidency. 5/

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The Court is spearheading the attempts by a radicalizing minority to install ever more authoritarian forms of minoritarianism in order to secure their status against the will of the majority. And as of right now, these radicalizing reactionaries are succeeding.

The Rogue Court vs Modern Democracythomaszimmer.substack.com America can accept this Supreme Court as legitimate and its rulings as the final word - or it can have true democracy and a functioning state. But not both.