I, for one, am completely convinced by Trump’s disavowal of Project 2025, and am certain he will hire dedicated professionals to manage the many sophisticated and complicated programs run through the federal government (i.e., air traffic control, drug testing, etc.). I mean, would he lie?
It’s going to be really interesting to see how quickly and credulously the Times, the Post, CNN, and the rest of the MSM news outlets run with this like it’s a real thing, and not transparently false.
The Fascists know that America hates Project 2025. They know that Project 2025 is antithetical to everything America has represented for at least a century. It was just a matter of time before they attempted to rebrand it or deny it entirely.
It’s a real thing. It is their plan. They are attempting to run away from it because they know how voters are repulsed by it. It’s going to be interesting to see how quickly the big papers and cable outlets who absolutely know better buy into the new framing.
To be clear: every Republican on the ballot this year supports Project 2025, no matter what they claim. A vote for any of them is a vote for a fascist theocracy.
long story short (for anyone who hadn’t heard of this before) the kids online safety act, aka kosa, is a bill that will censor online content and resources for lgbtq+ matters, reproductive healthcare, activism (INCLUDING PALESTINE AND LIKELY OTHER CRISES GOING ON LIKE IN CONGO OR SUDAN), mental health, etc. everywhere–its effects likely won’t be contained to just america.
today, july 30th, 2024, the senate passed it 91-3. it has officially moved to the house of representatives.
is this a pretty massive setback? yes. do you have every right to be scared, sad, angry, or whatever else about this happening? absolutely. but should you give up hope completely? NO!
even though kosa passed the senate, the house is on break/august recess at the moment. we have around an entire month to get emails, calls, and faxes in to house reps, maybe more depending on when they decide to vote on it.
should it pass the house and get signed into law, we still have a whole 18 months before it actually goes into effect. this is plenty of time for digital rights orgs (e.g. fight for the future, the electronic frontier foundation) and other groups that oppose it to file a lawsuit against it. even if, worst-case scenario, it flies through the house immediately after the recess ends, we can still fight this up to march 2026.
so, yes, remember what’s at stake here, but also remember that it’s not over yet. we lost a battle, not the war.
below are some resources to learn more about kosa and how to contact your reps (first link) + a page that lets you directly contact progressive house reps, sign an open letter opposing the bill, and view others’ testimonies against it (second link):
I’ll gladly reblog posts reminding people to vote, but PSA: “this candidate sucks, but” is not a good, effective strategy. I will not be reblogging posts like those, and you guys should stop making them. It’s not just because, with Kamala Harris in particular, 1. a lot of reasons “progressives” online dislike her is misinformation, 2. most legitimate reasons people have for not liking Biden don’t apply or apply significantly less to her and y’all are just failing to look shit up. But it also just does not do anyone any favors to kneecap people’s enthusiasm right from the get-go. People shouldn’t have to be enthusiastic about the Democratic candidate to be motivated to stop a fascist, with a platform (Project 2025) that promises to fundamentally alter basically every aspect of American life for the worse. But the fact of the matter is that some people do care about that. You aren’t helping by dampening those people’s enthusiasm! Just say “you need to vote for Kamala Harris because xyz.” The “I hate her but” or “even if you hate her” is just selfish bullshit, that centers your feelings, your need to perform this (faux) progressivism for your dash over any political end you’re supposedly working for with that post. It makes it clear that the effects are not actually that important to you relative to your own image. It sucks. Stop it.
