We are gathered here to discuss a very pressing matter in our Democracy. As you can probably guess, this is about the upcoming American Presidential election. To express just how serious this shit is, I will not be typing in the Withers voice for this.
We as moderators have debated about whether or not to take a stance on this. We do not want to start any unnecessary flame wars, but at the same time we cannot ignore the growing threat of Project 2025, and the Trump Vance ticket. We are making this post because we believe that we are facing an existential threat to Democracy, and to our country. If Donald Trump wins this election, our constitutional freedoms will be directly under threat.
Project 2025
While Trump has tried to distance from himself from Project 2025 publicly, he still has many ties to The Heritage foundation, the organization which wrote the document. They state on their website that
Trump implemented 64 percent of their policy recommendations during his time as president. On that same website, they brag about how in 2016, Trump drew his list of Supreme Court nominees from Heritage recommendations. As highlighted by a
retired Air Force Veteran, 18 of the 34 people who worked on the document had positions in the 2016 Trump administration. Whether or not he claims ignorance of the project, it is clear that he has close ties to The Heritage Foundation, and will undoubtedly move to implement it's policies.
For a brief, very simplified rundown of Project 2025, consult this list:
- Page 38: Pornography is not protected by the First Amendment. Those who share or produce porn are described as “child predators and misogynistic exploiters of women”
- Page 587: The Death Penalty is a just punishment for producing pornography
- Page 317: The HHS must end all support of “woke transgender activism” as well as abortion.
- Page 617: Removes all protections for discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, and sex characteristics.
- Page 393: Eliminating College grant programs
- Page 394: End all student loan forgiveness programs
- Page 384: Stripping the Department of Education of its authority to oversee accreditation standards for educational institutions
- Page 113: Calls for granting Trump the unilateral power to fire federal employees under a new classification, Schedule F. This would turn typically apolitical positions into positions that are subject to the President's whim.
- Page 188: Weakening election security by reducing the powers and funding of CISA - the US Government’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
- Page 280: Defunding NPR and PBS, bypassing Congress and the sentiment of Americans, by suggesting that the President refuse to approve any budget which allows even “a penny” to these services
- Page 898: Weakening the Federal Election Commission even further, by removing the agency’s ability to litigate cases entirely
The policies outlined by Project 2025 paint a picture where LGBT people face increased discrimination, the Department of Education is reduced to a shell of itself, and our elections becoming increasingly compromised. This doesn't even begin to touch on things such as his economic policies, stances on Ukraine and Israel, and gun control.
The things that raise our alarms the most, are of course the restrictions on LGBT people's freedoms, and access to abortions. Many of us on the mod team are openly queer, as are many of you reading this. If Trump is elected, our lives and personal freedoms will be under direct threat from him. Our First Amendment rights to freedom of speech will be significantly repressed under him. We have already seen inklings of this in states such as Florida, where Governor DeSantis has banned books about LGBT topics, and restricted schools from teaching LGBT studies.
Put simply:
What can YOU do?
FUCKING VOTE!
It is that simple. If you are at all scared by any of this, then you need to vote. Even if you aren't scared, you should be voting.
You are blessed to live in a country where your vote matters, so fucking use it. Because there are too many places in the world where votes do not matter.
Registration deadlines are approaching soon. Check this website to see when your state's deadline is.
Personally speaking, I am not the biggest fan of Harris, but she's miles ahead of Trump in every category. I refuse to let another old ass white man who's never worked a day in his life tell me how to live my life, who I'm allowed to love, or the things I or my future kids may learn in schools. Beyond that, I refuse to accept the idea that a man convicted with 34 felonies is allowed to be president. I refuse to accept the possibility of another January 6th threatening our peaceful transition of power. My grandfather did not serve in the Navy for Donald Trump to disrespect everything he fought for.
Sources
"Only the mob and the elite can be attracted by the momentum of totalitarianism itself. The masses have to be won by propaganda."
-Hannah Arendt
