Summary

Kevin Roberts, president of the Heritage Foundation and architect of Trump’s Project 2025, employs intense fire-related rhetoric in his upcoming book, Dawn’s Early Light: Taking Back Washington to Save America, advocating for a “controlled burn” of institutions he deems corrupt or antithetical to conservative goals.

Roberts calls for dismantling entities like the FBI, Ivy League schools, and the New York Times, framing it as necessary to “renew” America.

His incendiary language has sparked controversy, with critics alarmed by the violent imagery and its implications for Trump’s second term.

    • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
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      1 month ago

      The boy scouts one is especially baffling. A lot of boys become more traditionally “manly” through boy scouts. It is physically active and they typically learn skills like camping, fire starting, wood working. We were also expected to do good deeds, be polite, and overall be decent members of society that help where is needed, such as litter clean ups and tree plantings. I guess the latter half of my point is where their issues start?

      • Stovetop@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Maybe because they now allow girls to participate. Integration is “woke” and must be destroyed.

        • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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          I didn’t know that part. I thought conservatives hate them because they now allow gay leaders after being sued to pieces over it. Also didn’t they crack down on pedophiles in the organization? That is the number one pastime of conservative men.

          • Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works
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            1 month ago

            Lol. They didn’t get sued to pieces because their leaders were gay, it was because some of them were pedophiles.

            • Miles O'Brien@startrek.website
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              Nobody sued them over gay leaders.

              They got sued by parents over not doing anything about pedos, AND got sued by prospective leaders because they were being prevented from joining over their sexual orientation.

              Bill wanted to be a scoutmaster since he grew up with scouts, but since he was gay, he was not allowed. He then sued the organization over it. (idk names, that’s just for clarity)

            • TrickDacy@lemmy.world
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              I obviously meant that they were sued for NOT allowing gay leaders and I think even scouts themselves. Google it if you care. Conservatives don’t like that they changed the policy on gays.

        • morriscox@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          If they are the Boy Scouts and allow girls to participate then this looks to be the start of a trans joke.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Both of them are pretty baffling. Because you’re right about the Boy Scouts, but also, BlackRock is basically a Republican dream company.

        • RedditWanderer@lemmy.world
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          Because he’s attacking all institutions that have some sort of control he wants. The wide net just feeds into the deep state narrative and he needs to capitalize on that right now

          Kids, healthcare, education, private equity etc… that’s how you make a dictatorship.

          See it this way, BlackRock has enough power to do to the republican party what the republican party is doing to the gov. They need all of that gone to become megalomaniac authoritarians.

          If I wanted to become Bill Gates, and make my own Microsoft, i first have to outlaw bill gates and Microsoft.

          • gAlienLifeform@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            I think this is right, but I would add there’s a chance this all ends up being for show and BlackRock makes some public show of fealty to the Trumpists that makes them look powerful and gets BlackRock some government contracts down the line. Like, hypocrisy is no barrier for the right wing, they’re fully capable of writing a whole novel about (e.g.) how we must destroy Google and then turning around and buying a bunch of shit from them.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            If they already have that much power, it would make more sense to stay on their good side, at least for now, wouldn’t it?

            • RedditWanderer@lemmy.world
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              Now is the time to scare them at least, and if there’s any time to have them on the bad side it’s now. See who kneels and who doesn’t imo.

          • Miles O'Brien@startrek.website
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            The keys to GAINING power are not the same keys needed to KEEP power.

            They gained the power (or will in a few months)

            Now they need to keep it.

            If one of the keys needed to get it could potentially turn on you, it’s better for your regime to eliminate them as soon as possible after taking power.

            For a better explanation, CGP GREY has a video about rules for rulers, which clears things up quite well: https://youtu.be/rStL7niR7gs

        • FireRetardant@lemmy.world
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          I could see the blackrock angle as trying to appease the working class. Like “see we hate big wealth too” but then never actually do anything to hurt blackrock.

      • MightBeAlpharius@lemmy.world
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        I think the issue started a little over a decade ago, when the Boy Scouts got in some hot water for discriminating against gay kids and they actually tried to be better.

      • Sterile_Technique@lemmy.world
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        do good deeds, be polite, and overall be decent members of society that help where is needed

        They call that “woke”.

        Edit - oh whoops, didn’t mean to just steal that right out of @[email protected] 's mouth.

      • sylver_dragon@lemmy.world
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        Not to mention many troops still have an emphasis on Christianity. Though it’s slightly less mandatory than it used to be.

    • dgmib@lemmy.world
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      A scout’s job is to gather facts and information, and report back so that an army can make informed decisions.

      Can’t imagine why a right-wing extremist would be afraid of an organization that teaches those skills to kids.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        29 days ago

        Yes, but only because they would have gone bankrupt if they didn’t. It was out of sheer desperation.

        Somehow people were less willing to send enough boys to an organization that had become super religious and was already trying to live down the sexual abuse scandal that had been going on for decades.

  • SasquatchCosmonaut@lemmy.world
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    Why the fuck would you get rid of boy scouts it’s literally a patriotic paramilitary (kinda) organization with a checkered past on sexual abuse that should be a Republican wet dream lol

    • callouscomic@lemm.ee
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      They renamed themselves the Scouts and let in girls. Maybe that’s why? These people are insane and evil, so honestly it doesn’t matter why.

      • Custodian1623@lemmy.world
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        which was done to keep the organization afloat revenue wise and weirdos on the internet tried to call it woke in a bizarre case of friendly fire

        • Lennny@lemmy.world
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          Also because scouting exists in many other cultures and most of them are mixed. Intercamp fucking slaps

    • CmdrShepard42@lemm.ee
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      I’m pretty sure they recently changed to allow LGBT members along with toying around with integrating both boys and girls into troops since the girl scouts really only exists to sell cookies. I’ve seen lots of garbage on social media about how “woke” the Boy Scouts are now so they’re gunning for the organization.

        • JigglySackles@lemmy.world
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          That’s still stupid. Just because an organization has ranks or leaders doesn’t mean it’s paramilitary. Oh no they have organization and structure that reflects how much work they’ve done! It’s not the same at all. Paramilitary is possibly the dumbest take on scouts I’ve ever heard. There are plenty of things to criticize without making up stupid fear mongering bullshit.

          • SasquatchCosmonaut@lemmy.world
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            adjective Of, relating to, or being a group of civilians organized in a military fashion, especially to operate in place of or assist regular army troops.

            Literally the first Google result lol

            Also said (kinda) paramilitary so settle down there guy lol

            • JigglySackles@lemmy.world
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              And literally doesn’t resemble scouts at all. Nothing to settle down. I just think this is a really really stupid comparison.

              • SasquatchCosmonaut@lemmy.world
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                They have ranks that resemble military ranks (1st class, 2nd class ~ 1st lieutenant, 2nd lieutenant) etc and have a hierarchical leadership structure.

                • JigglySackles@lemmy.world
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                  That isn’t an expressly military structure though. For fucks sake, almost every company in the world is hierarchical. The same goes for class, it’s just classification, not military.

        • JigglySackles@lemmy.world
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          Learning to properly shoot a rifle as a group isn’t the same as a paramilitary at all. If that’s all it took then every gun safety course in the world is a part of a secret cabal intent on having a global paramilitary. Which is stupid as fuck leap. The fact that your troop went shooting in Alabama says more about being in fucking Alabama than it does being a scout.

  • lennybird@lemmy.world
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    We were close to holding right wing extremists accountable. We needed one more term at least. It was clear how suddenly Republicans try to denounce the FBI as a liberal institution after Wray said that white supremacists were the #1 domestic terrorist threat.

    Now, we’re fucked.

    • grue@lemmy.world
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      We were close to holding right wing extremists accountable.

      “We” had four goddamn years and did absolutely fuck-all with it! Frankly, in retrospect, the fix was in when Biden appointed Merrick Garland instead of somebody who would actually care about the rule of law and do his goddamn job.

      • lennybird@lemmy.world
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        I know this isn’t popular, but because I’ve literally never seen a substantive counter-argument for this, I have to say that I think Merrick Garland did all that he could given the stacked courts surrounding him. Nobody could’ve done better. He was clearly building a case from the bottom up that is a classic example of RICO prosecution style, hence the largest criminal investigation in the FBI’s history when going after those who committed January 6th. That was always going to lead to Trump. People, however are dreaming and romanticizing this belief that we could’ve “got” Trump within one year’s time and that was never possible.

        The only thing that matters is that many Americans knew what Trump was, and a large swath opted to sit out and go, “Both sides!”

        We couldn’t even convince the proverbial jury that was the American people of crimes in plain sight when they gave a verdict on November 5th.

        • grue@lemmy.world
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          For perspective, Hitler was arrested, tried, imprisoned, wrote Mein Kampf, and already released by when this much time had passed after the Beer Hall Putsch. I don’t really give a fuck what the excuses are; the fact that it was delayed this fucking long is absolutely wrong and, if not an indictment of Garland himself directly, then an indictment of the whole system of which he was the fucking head! Either way, Garland was incompetent at best and absolutely deserves all the blame he gets, and more.

          • lennybird@lemmy.world
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            Unfortunately Hitler’s Putsch was far more clear cut and our court systems already largely ruined by the time Garland assumed his office in 2021. Hitler never had the power to corrupt the courts preceding his failed coup. I also don’t know if we can compare 1:1 our criminal justice system to 1920s Germany.

          • nexusband@lemmy.world
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            Hitler had a lot of help, the economic hardships were a lot different and the Weimarer Republik was already weakened thanks to Heinrich Brüning and Paul von Hindenburg. The Weimarer Republik also did not have nearly as much safeguards as both the U.S. and for example modern Germany have. Not only that: There are still people that care and still people to fight. Trump and his cronies still have quite a bit of work to do - not only that, i believe they will stack their cards so badly and defund so many things, many Systems will just crumble. Hackers around the world are licking their fingers right now. ODNI, the FBI and CISA are instrumental in fighting all of that. Tanking them will wreack havoc and open so many doors, i’ll be surprised if the U.S. makes it unharmed to the midterms.

  • oxjox@lemmy.ml
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    My personal reaction to reading this is that I want to pick up the book just to better understand what he believes these conservatives values are. Then I realized this is like trying to understand why Hitler wanted to gas the Jews.

    What’s more important is why the fuck Americans are democratically voting for this. I’m going to venture to guess (and hope) that the majority of people who voted for Trump have no clue what they voted for. I’d like to hope that teachers are going to use this moment in time to perfectly frame it along with the rise of Nazi Germany but I know that Trump also intends on burning down the DoE. Teachers will be prevented from using history to educate students.

    Incidentally, I’m already exhausted by all the “news” being made about why the Dems lost and Trump prevailed. We have to be discussing why our media and our existing elected officials are all ignoring the plight of middle class Americans while failing, as they have always done, to educate people.

    I remember as a kid hearing presidential debates and getting aggravated that the politicians weren’t answering questions. And then in interviews and news reports a topic will be discussed but the contexts and ramifications of that topic are often left out (time constraints, etc). Quick example; why Biden sent arms to Israel has as much, if not more, to do with Iran as it does Gaza. WHY is never explained in political discourse and the media never pressures or holds officials accountable. I am terrified of what Trump will do to our already squeamish journalism community.

    I still blame the media for Trump’s 2016 win and I’m blaming them again today. People are clueless. Not to say they’re unintelligent, they are uneducated regarding politics and history.

    People are all in their own bubbles living their day to day lives and occasionally see headlines on their mobile apps. They’re subtly influenced, sometimes by the news media but I’d venture to guess equality often by the efforts of Russian, Iranian, and Chinese disinformation armies.

    Moreover, this far from a new issue. I was just reading and commented on a story about Musk being the most powerful unelected citizen in America. This reminded me a bit of the guy Citizen Cane was based off of. William Randolph Hearst owned a sprawling media company and used his influence to publish articles that were favorable to Nazis.

    How are we not only allowing this but voting in favor of it?

    Something is broken. It’s not the political parties. It’s evidently not the electoral college. Schools have always taught about WWII so it’s not our education system. It could be the two party first-past-the post voting system. It could be how election campaigns are financed.

    I think we’re distracted. I think there’s too much going on in modern lives. Too many Americans are struggling to get by while also using every moment of free time to disengage. There’s basic government and economic policies and norms that people are clueless about. Take drilling for oil: most Americans think that if we drill for more oil our gas prices will go down. That’s not at all true. This will only increase profits for the oil companies because, while the US actually produces more oil than any other country, we lack the infrastructure to refine the oil we have. Honestly, I only learned about that this week. Not to mention the whole tariff thing that republicans are clueless about. Above all else, I’m terrified that Trump’s presidency is going to bankrupt Americans.

    As this article alludes to, Americans should know that the GOP agenda is to dismantle federal agencies and replace them with private corporations. Some agencies and services will go to the states while others will become Wall Street funded corporations. Theoretically, federal taxes should decrease but state and homeowner taxes are going to sky rocket. The costs of goods and services is going to sky rocket while the quality plummets over time. This has been in the playbook since before Reagan got into office. Now they have the momentum, the votes, and the stooge in the White House to make it happen.

    Don’t be distracted as the stock market goes to the moon. This is their agenda – to make themselves richer on the backs of clueless Americans.

    • Soup@lemmy.world
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      Your point about the debate thing is really what gets me. They ask a question and the person on the other end might be close to the answer or they might give some vague response but the moderators are always gutless about it.

      “I asked you this question, answer it or we will assume you have no answer and move on.”

      • oxjox@lemmy.ml
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        This is the kind of stuff that makes me turn on or at least waiver on the candidates I fully support. These interviewers are asking question on behalf to he public - the people you intend to represent. Answer them!

    • VantaBrandon@lemmy.world
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      Great comment, I share many of those concerns.

      I guess I’m not so worried that he will bankrupt America per se, but that the US dollar will be diminished in value, and all of the effort, savings and social security that we’re all banking on in the future become nearly worthless, while billionaires plunder our country and continue to reap value in spite of the worthlessness.

      I’m also concerned Trump is going to die mid-term, and Vance will be running as a better positioned incumbent.

      The supreme court, well, that’s just a lost cause at this point. I don’t see it ever coming back into balance in my lifetime, and perhaps the country goes with it.

      • oxjox@lemmy.ml
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        I welcome a Vance presidency. What has made Trump Trump is his stubbornness and defiance of “no”. He’s the kind of guy who comes into a meeting says, this is what we’re doing, make it happen or you’re fired, and walks out. This is the same playbook people like Jobs and Musk use(d). Vance lacks this gift and I fully expect Trump’s supporters to turn on him.

  • Queen HawlSera@lemm.ee
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    Didn’t Trump already say he’s not doing P2025 and wants to go with some other plan that involves messing around with taxes and taking troops out of Syria? And that the Right is pissed cause he’s not doing P2025…

    If true, that might be the first good deed he’s done

    If false, that sucks, cause I really don’t wanna end up in a camp

  • BigMacHole@lemm.ee
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    They LITERALLY wrote this all out before the Election so Voters could Read and Understand what they’re Voting for!

  • taiyang@lemmy.world
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    You know, at least there’s some solace in knowing Trump 100% didn’t and can’t read Project 2025. He’s still going to bull-in-the-china-shop his way though this but I don’t think he’s going to follow the script exactly.

  • scripthook@lemmy.world
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    Right but a lot of 2025 restructuring is limited by the 3 branches of goverment. You can’t just get rid of the FBI so easily. You can’t deport illegals on a massive scale so easily. He has big promises but he won’t be able to do nearly as much. Even with loyalists there is a reason why our founders made certain overhauls difficult. Because of people like him…

    • Jyek@sh.itjust.works
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      At the end of the day those roadblocks are just laws. Laws that he has been cleared to break as long as he does so under the pretense of an official act.

      • scripthook@lemmy.world
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        So technically yes and no. He cant just say he wants to get rid of the fbi or remove term limits at will. Study how the Goverment works