Each day brings new despicable acts. I fear opening the computer, reading the newspaper and putting on the TV. I feel as if I am living in an alternate universe. This administration has no limits to putting chains on democracy. I am doing my best to spread the word, however, I feel as if my best is not good enough. Thank you Michael for your encouragement.
So scary. Thank you for the reminder Michael. We don't want the country to become comfortable with all that has been implemented. Absolutely make sure you speak out, protest, call, write letters. Most of the special elections went BLUE. Midterms are 2026. Get the word out, the truth out. Vote! Hopefully WE THE PEOPLE can save this Democracy.
Delete the language, defund the research, eliminate data collection. If you can't measure harm, you can claim it doesn't exist.
Project 2025 isn't unique. It's the same playbook used across healthcare extraction, criminal justice systems, poverty management, and surveillance infrastructure, different targets, same mechanism: euphemism enabling extraction while maintaining deniability.
We're not halfway to autocracy. We're halfway through making this particular extraction mechanism visible.
The question is whether enough people learn to recognize the pattern before it's complete.
You are so correct Michelle. At times, it feels like trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon. So much horrible is happening. This is the whole point of Project 25, and wholesale destruction of the Constitution of the United States, to overwhelm the opposition and demoralise them.
What is becoming clear is that by uniting together, by talking to each other, we cease to be isolated individuals. We are stronger than they are. Spread the word, repost Michael, Ben and others so people are aware of the lies being pushed by the Broligarch media.
I also forward so many of the Substack posts, whether it's Michael or Paul Krugman, Robert Reich or Heather Cox Richardson. We must also support the opposition Party Democrats so we can shape that opposition and guide them to policies of stronger and better repairs and fixes, when we with them win in 2026 and then 2028. This is going to take more than watered down policies to rebalance the scales between authoratarianism and democracy! Vote Blue in Primaries and General Elections, Overwhelming! Be the Opposition that you want this Country to be. Thank you Michael for being a Patriot!
“And the military; once proudly apolitical, has been reshaped into an ideological testing ground. DEI offices eliminated. High-ranking women and people of color pushed out. Abortion travel benefits revoked. Transgender service members sidelined. Even commemoration months were deemed too threatening. Merit-based, color-blind rhetoric now masks a very deliberate rollback of inclusion.”
It’s all about taking peoples’ power away. Especially women’s power, People of Color’s, lgbtq’s, trans’, by taking away reproductive and health rights, DEI rights, Planned Parenthood, anything that would make these targeted populations suffer, or die. I’m sure if he could, trump would burn women at the stake as witches, and the worm-headed Miller would be standing by salivating.
My Christmas wish this year is for my family would come to their senses and denounce Trump before his anti gay movement takes my niece and granddaughter.
Joy, if possible, sit down with them (many times-as they need regular support). Discuss how wrong this is. And discuss that the tide will turn. This is today; not tomorrow.
This is why we all have to act and be vocal. America is equality (not perfect) and we will bring it back together! All people have the right to Respect and Equality.
I read the whole thing when it was published. I knew in the first few pages it was a disaster, primarily because it stated that people in any positions of authority must subscribe to the political bent of the President. Making a king. IF we get past this. But, we, who care, must start making our own plans now on how to reverse this.
This morning, before reading your powerful essay here, I'd posted a brief piece on my Facebook page that included this passage:
"Reading Michael Cohen's 2022 book yesterday, I came across this chilling message: 'We must learn [from past errors] or we're doomed for another visit in the White House by Trump - or more likely someone worse: a Donald J. Trump 2.0.'
Cohen's book chronicled the massive misuse of power and violations of law in Trump's first term ("Revenge: How Donald Trump Weaponized the U.S. Department of Justice Against His Critics"). Frighteningly, it is all happening again, but far more openly and consistently.
In 2022, Cohen ended his account with this: "We are truly at a precipice in the survival of American democracy. I remember the countless times my father - a Holocaust survivor, praised the United States of America as being the land of the free - the greatest country in the world. . . Damn if I'm going to let Trump and his family take that that away from all of us for generations to come. But as someone wiser than me once said, there's nothing wrong with the United States that can't be fixed by what's right with the United States. We must recognize that Trumpism is fascism." And we must erase that, Cohen said, from our body politic."
Each day you post or broadcast, Michael, you are helping do just that.
(After I set your book down for the night, I watched a video of Jane Goodall, wanting to stoke the fires of hope, for hers never wavered. Despite all the devastation of the planet she witnessed in her endless travels - 300 days a year on the road - she continued to seed change and sow compassion for all.)
I was a Republican until 2016. Voted for Republicans from Gerald Ford through Mitt Romney. Now, "Republican" is almost an odious insult. It's so hard to keep a positive outlook on this country.
Every single person on this planet should read this. Out loud, to themselves, sharing it, reading it to others. Michael, you keep me inspired, you keep me fired up, you make this fight worth fighting. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED FIGHT.
As I observe the evolving landscape of US fascism, I am more and more convinced that Trump is just an easily-bought figurehead. The people who are actually calling the shots are Russ Vought and Stephen Miller. Probably a few other brain-damaged droogs as well. They're happy diverting Trump's attention to facilities needing more marble or more gold sprinkles while they orchestrate the destruction of democracy. Vought and Miller are very dangerous people who should be watched more closely.
Each day brings new despicable acts. I fear opening the computer, reading the newspaper and putting on the TV. I feel as if I am living in an alternate universe. This administration has no limits to putting chains on democracy. I am doing my best to spread the word, however, I feel as if my best is not good enough. Thank you Michael for your encouragement.
So scary. Thank you for the reminder Michael. We don't want the country to become comfortable with all that has been implemented. Absolutely make sure you speak out, protest, call, write letters. Most of the special elections went BLUE. Midterms are 2026. Get the word out, the truth out. Vote! Hopefully WE THE PEOPLE can save this Democracy.
Michael-
The pattern is always identical:
-Deny systematic intent
-Use coded language
-Implement through bureaucratic mechanisms
-Maintain plausible deniability
-Punish those who name what's happening
Delete the language, defund the research, eliminate data collection. If you can't measure harm, you can claim it doesn't exist.
Project 2025 isn't unique. It's the same playbook used across healthcare extraction, criminal justice systems, poverty management, and surveillance infrastructure, different targets, same mechanism: euphemism enabling extraction while maintaining deniability.
We're not halfway to autocracy. We're halfway through making this particular extraction mechanism visible.
The question is whether enough people learn to recognize the pattern before it's complete.
Mika-
Unfortunately I fear you’re absolutely right.
You are so correct Michelle. At times, it feels like trying to empty the ocean with a teaspoon. So much horrible is happening. This is the whole point of Project 25, and wholesale destruction of the Constitution of the United States, to overwhelm the opposition and demoralise them.
What is becoming clear is that by uniting together, by talking to each other, we cease to be isolated individuals. We are stronger than they are. Spread the word, repost Michael, Ben and others so people are aware of the lies being pushed by the Broligarch media.
I also forward so many of the Substack posts, whether it's Michael or Paul Krugman, Robert Reich or Heather Cox Richardson. We must also support the opposition Party Democrats so we can shape that opposition and guide them to policies of stronger and better repairs and fixes, when we with them win in 2026 and then 2028. This is going to take more than watered down policies to rebalance the scales between authoratarianism and democracy! Vote Blue in Primaries and General Elections, Overwhelming! Be the Opposition that you want this Country to be. Thank you Michael for being a Patriot!
I appreciate your writing, Michael.
“And the military; once proudly apolitical, has been reshaped into an ideological testing ground. DEI offices eliminated. High-ranking women and people of color pushed out. Abortion travel benefits revoked. Transgender service members sidelined. Even commemoration months were deemed too threatening. Merit-based, color-blind rhetoric now masks a very deliberate rollback of inclusion.”
It’s all about taking peoples’ power away. Especially women’s power, People of Color’s, lgbtq’s, trans’, by taking away reproductive and health rights, DEI rights, Planned Parenthood, anything that would make these targeted populations suffer, or die. I’m sure if he could, trump would burn women at the stake as witches, and the worm-headed Miller would be standing by salivating.
I. Am. So. Tired. Of. This. Shit.
Great recap, MC. Nonetheless terrifying too.
My Christmas wish this year is for my family would come to their senses and denounce Trump before his anti gay movement takes my niece and granddaughter.
Joy, if possible, sit down with them (many times-as they need regular support). Discuss how wrong this is. And discuss that the tide will turn. This is today; not tomorrow.
This is why we all have to act and be vocal. America is equality (not perfect) and we will bring it back together! All people have the right to Respect and Equality.
Americans deserve better.
I read the whole thing when it was published. I knew in the first few pages it was a disaster, primarily because it stated that people in any positions of authority must subscribe to the political bent of the President. Making a king. IF we get past this. But, we, who care, must start making our own plans now on how to reverse this.
Thanks, Michael. There's a lot to unpack.
Back in October, I did a deep dive: Project 2025 - What's Coming? How Power, Faith, and Class Collide in the New American Order
https://thefiringline.substack.com/p/project-2025-whats-coming-how-power?
This morning, before reading your powerful essay here, I'd posted a brief piece on my Facebook page that included this passage:
"Reading Michael Cohen's 2022 book yesterday, I came across this chilling message: 'We must learn [from past errors] or we're doomed for another visit in the White House by Trump - or more likely someone worse: a Donald J. Trump 2.0.'
Cohen's book chronicled the massive misuse of power and violations of law in Trump's first term ("Revenge: How Donald Trump Weaponized the U.S. Department of Justice Against His Critics"). Frighteningly, it is all happening again, but far more openly and consistently.
In 2022, Cohen ended his account with this: "We are truly at a precipice in the survival of American democracy. I remember the countless times my father - a Holocaust survivor, praised the United States of America as being the land of the free - the greatest country in the world. . . Damn if I'm going to let Trump and his family take that that away from all of us for generations to come. But as someone wiser than me once said, there's nothing wrong with the United States that can't be fixed by what's right with the United States. We must recognize that Trumpism is fascism." And we must erase that, Cohen said, from our body politic."
Each day you post or broadcast, Michael, you are helping do just that.
(After I set your book down for the night, I watched a video of Jane Goodall, wanting to stoke the fires of hope, for hers never wavered. Despite all the devastation of the planet she witnessed in her endless travels - 300 days a year on the road - she continued to seed change and sow compassion for all.)
I was a Republican until 2016. Voted for Republicans from Gerald Ford through Mitt Romney. Now, "Republican" is almost an odious insult. It's so hard to keep a positive outlook on this country.
Every single person on this planet should read this. Out loud, to themselves, sharing it, reading it to others. Michael, you keep me inspired, you keep me fired up, you make this fight worth fighting. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTINUED FIGHT.
As I observe the evolving landscape of US fascism, I am more and more convinced that Trump is just an easily-bought figurehead. The people who are actually calling the shots are Russ Vought and Stephen Miller. Probably a few other brain-damaged droogs as well. They're happy diverting Trump's attention to facilities needing more marble or more gold sprinkles while they orchestrate the destruction of democracy. Vought and Miller are very dangerous people who should be watched more closely.
Great job on this article, Michael!