Notices by Thomas Zimmer (tzimmer_history@mastodon.social), page 6

Harris seemed like the perfect VP candidate in the summer of 2020: A woman of color, highly qualified and accomplished, who rose to elite status through her abilities and determination, in a party that wanted to tell the world: Yes, we are indeed the champions of multiracial pluralism. 10/

It points to how much of a reactionary retrenchment we have experienced, and how much social, racial, and gender progress have come to be viewed as “woke” radicalism that has supposedly gone too far - a position shared by elites across party lines. 9/

With a little bit of luck, the Right’s racist, sexist attacks on Harris will not only repulse just enough people and keep them from voting for Trump. They may also get some people to reconsider what all this raging against “DEI” and “woke” identity politics has always been about. 15/

Harris went from embodying the pluralistic vision Democrats sought to claim to being regarded - by a cadre of pundits and operatives - a liability that stood in the way of turning the clock back to a more “reasonable,” less “radical,” less “woke” politics. 14/

All of a sudden, Harris no longer represented the invincible promise of a multiracial, gender-progressive coalition, but the antithesis of a theory that postulated the Democrats urgently needed to correct course and re-focus on the interests and sensibilities of the (white, male) “moderate.” 13/

This perfectly captures why the “Should the media defend democracy?” discussion is so pointless. They obviously are not taking a normative pro-democracy stance. Instead, they got willfully and enthusiastically swept away by fascistic spectacle and illusions of national “unity.” 2/

As a reward for eight years of purging anyone who dared to resist Trumpism - and extensive self-purges due to violent threat - the Republican Party gets effusive praise from establishment media for presenting a “united front.” Not surprising, I guess, but still quite remarkable. 1/

I got to talk to Molly Jong-Fast about “Project 2025,” the Right’s radical plans to use government as an authoritarian tool to impose a reactionary vision on America.

I know there’s been *a lot* of talk about “Project 2025” lately, but I think we do a good job cutting through the noise:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUJSEvYIiy8

“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/

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/

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/

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/

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 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/

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/

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/

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/

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 against multiracial pluralism.

I wrote about his extremist worldview here:

1/

https://thomaszimmer.substack.com/p/project-2025-promises-revenge-oppression

These people won’t stop because they have an epiphany that they shouldn’t go *that* far. They will either *be stopped* - or install a system in which only they and those who reflect their image back at them are entitled to rule and are recognized as equal. /end

At the heart of the reactionary project is the refusal of resentful people to compromise with the vision of egalitarian multiracial pluralism, with anyone who deviates from their idea of the natural/divinely ordained white patriarchal order, because they feel entitled to dominate all spheres of life. 14/