A Trump presidency would usher in dark consortium dedicated to stripping millions of Americans of our freedoms
Fifty years ago, then governor Ronald Reagan headlined the inaugural Conservative Political Action Conference. He spoke of the US as a city on a hill, an example of human virtue and excellence, a divinely inspired nation whose best days were ahead.
The speakers at last week’s conference were decidedly less inspiring. A lineup of extremists, insurrectionists and conspiracy theorists gathered for panels like “Cat Fight? Michelle v Kamala” and “Putting Our Heads in the Gas Stove”. At CPAC, you can drink “Woke Tears Water”, buy rhinestone-studded firearms and play a January 6-themed pinball machine.
But it would be wrong to dismiss CPAC as a crackpot convention. It is also a harbinger of what a second Donald Trump presidency would bring, influenced by a consortium of self-proclaimed Christian nationalists and reactionary dark money groups like the Heritage Foundation who see Trump as their return ticket to relevancy.
The Heritage Foundation has poured $22m into Project 2025, their plan to gut the “deep state” and radically reshape the government with a souped-up version of the unitary executive theory, which contends that the president should be allowed to enact his agenda without pesky checks and balances. To paraphrase one speaker at CPAC: “Welcome to the end of democracy.”
Have you seen the obscene amount of wealth and power those oligarchs amassed? In a poor country like Russia. Then imagine what would happen if they can run roughshod
shotin the US.Unrelated, but the phrase is “run roughshod.” You’re welcome.
Thanks… learn something every day
Also, ‘roughshod’ is when a horse has spiked horse shoes, which were used for traction and also as a weapon in cavalry charges. When you ‘run roughshod’, you’re doing whatever you’re doing with abandon, not giving a fuck about the damage you cause (or hoping to cause damage)