The assault is coming from different angles: Project 2025. The feudal tech barons. The America First nativists. It’s not a single master plan – it’s comprehensive chaos
Indeed "a comprehensive assault" opens the frame for understanding. Comprehensive chaos from the Project 2025 revanchists, feudal tech barons and America First nativists.
He wrote: "All of these factions are staunchly anti-democratic: They are profoundly opposed to the very idea of equality, instead seeking to entrench or restore an order of hierarchy in which the individual’s status and access to power is determined by race, gender, religion, and wealth."
I see this in my own despicable family. On the one hand, they are staunchly racist, believing only that the white race matters. They are staunchly patriarchal, believing that only men are capable of being "in charge." They are staunchly religious, one side being in throes of Catholicism (think SCOTUS) and the other Presbyterian (think predestination.) They are staunchly for the rich and protecting their own wealth, one side having accumulated vast sums of money through manipulation of the medical/insurance/pharmaceutical industries, and the other through business "dealings" with others who aspire to be wealthy, white, and omnipotent. So, regardless of what is happening to our government, they see this chaos as benefitting them personally, to hell with anyone else.
I'm not sure if we are experiencing WWIII or another Civil War, but when it comes to my own family buying into the destruction of our country, it feels more like Civil War.
I'm really concerned about the possibility that we're seeing an unholy synthesis of Vought's ideas with Musk's ability and willingness to circumvent and detonate the foundations of our largest bureaucratic infrastructure. I think there's a high probability there will be a falling out between the camps at some point, but the amount of damage done by that point will make it a cold comfort. The path that Vought outlined to unmake federal agencies was different from the one being enacted by Musk but I'm not sure if it's a meaningful difference? I also can't decide if what Musk is overseeing is just a way of softening the targeted agencies (and intimidating the rest) in preparation of Vought's goals. What do you think? "Move fast and break things" was always a selfish and shortsighted credo spouted by people with more hubris than common sense. Now we're seeing the result of deifying the type of people who use it as a guiding philosophy.
Stop! Great analysis, yes. But HOW DO WE PUT AN END TO IT? We need action!
Courts will be snails, and Trump & Co know all the tricks. Combined with corrupt judges emplaced by Trump & Friends, they may all get a pass.
These guys worship money. It's what has given them power. Do I need to spell it out? Everyone en masse needs to stop feeding the beasts and their supporters by boycotting all their businesses, products, and services. Everyone. All of them. Now. Period.
And bombard them with messaging: calls, emails, texts, protests, etc. I took great pleasure today in reminding Ted Cancun Cruz that this is the year of the snake. He can figure that one out in his leisure between his podcasts.
If you haven't yet, go look at Heads Up News. Dan Froomkin started the stack on Jan 20. He's got one post per week, dedicated to collecting alla the crimes the new admin is criming, plus listing the fightback coming out of the fed workforce, as well as the lawyers and courts.
Aside: I thought of starting up a stack like that, and actually started writing the intro to it this afternoon, then found Dan's site an hour later. Dan is WAY more qualified to do this than me.
Very good analysis of where we are. Putin's viceroy thrives on the chaos he has created. I think we are headed for a feudal state based on inherited wealth and power. Not sure there will be an end pint to the chaos. As long as they can find or create an enemy to focus on. The most probable end point is a battle of the giant egos involved.
Wonderful description and writing but you seem to me a bit over-reluctant (in this essay at least maybe not elsewhere - don't know) to name the through line connecting the threads: Amerikaner FASCISM. I mean the dismal Dems even had to acknowledge that this is fascism for three weeks before the election, no?
I will vouch for Thomas here. He has written prior pieces that have labeled Trump and his movement as fascist, with extensive evidence to back up his reasoning.
I cannot speak for Thomas, but I am guessing that in this piece he avoids that term because it's too academic and broad for the average layperson. (This is a HUGE problem in our modern politics as we've come to learn...) What he's doing instead is laying out all the players and pieces and explaining, in specific detail, the different paradigms that are emerging and why they will lead to disastrous outcomes. This probably still goes over the layperson's head... but he's a man after my own heart, as I am always invigorated by his ability to paint the whole picture and call it out for what it is.
"Too academic"?! Sorry but just last weekend I was in the streets with hundreds of Latino and Latina Chicago high school students who were quite at home with the word and far from confused about its meaning. Many of them had written the word on their posters, some in Spanish and some in English.
This is a great distillation of what is happening right now. Unless the courts can stop the movement, I think much of the damage will become permanent very rapidly. I am one who thinks the courts will be ignored. And once that becomes acceptable to our ‘lawmakers’ (who are already accepting acts as being perhaps unconstitutional but acceptable), the game over.
Follow the money to connect the dots between Saudi funding to Musk and Jared Kushner. Musk's donation to Trump and Scott Bessent giving Musk access to the U.S. Treasury. And the Musk crew hacking into the U.S. Treasury and taking control of your Social Security.
How did a Saudi-funded South African immigrant seize the U.S. Treasury and steal your Social Security? Follow the money!
This makes enormous sense. However, it’s not prescriptive. I hope the author can put some thought into whether and what his analysis would suggest as a counter to the counter-revolution.
Thanks, Tom. My only point of disagreement with Mr Zimmer, is petty: "White CHRISTIAN male dominance" is a misnomer, it should be "White CALVIN/KNOX male dominance" Although I do not personally have nor believe in a god, I do admire the generous, humane, and yes loving teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. I have yet to know anyone [except Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter who exemplified Christians] who actually follows the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. The Jesus Christ they claim to love and acknowledge, repeatedly showed zero, nada, no respect or admiration for wealth at any time in his reported life. Those so-called 'christian nationalists' should show the courage to admit they not only love, admire, envy, and aspire to wealth.
Other than that Mr. Zimmer's analysis pretty well aligns with what you and many other writer's have been saying on Substack
I grew up among Christians who strove to follow the teachings of Jesus. They believed that God called them to be honest, charitable, compassionate - even to people who did not follow their own understanding of personal morality. After all, they saw themselves as sinners who needed forgiveness and compassion too.
The MAGA version of Christianity is different. It seems to be mostly about gender and reproduction, which is connected with racial panic. Otherwise, it's just identity politics, with little concern about actual Christian teachings.
I know conservative Christians who have moved away from the GOP because Trump's grip on it is morally offensive to them. MAGA Christians, on the other hand, seem to love Trump because his contempt for ethics is a weapon against their political and cultural enemies.
Indeed "a comprehensive assault" opens the frame for understanding. Comprehensive chaos from the Project 2025 revanchists, feudal tech barons and America First nativists.
This movement is setting loose the whirlwind. I don’t think they will be able to control this.
I am both terrified and completely outraged. I can only hope that good will prevail.
The Republican party is 100% responsible for all that has been and that yet to come.
He wrote: "All of these factions are staunchly anti-democratic: They are profoundly opposed to the very idea of equality, instead seeking to entrench or restore an order of hierarchy in which the individual’s status and access to power is determined by race, gender, religion, and wealth."
I see this in my own despicable family. On the one hand, they are staunchly racist, believing only that the white race matters. They are staunchly patriarchal, believing that only men are capable of being "in charge." They are staunchly religious, one side being in throes of Catholicism (think SCOTUS) and the other Presbyterian (think predestination.) They are staunchly for the rich and protecting their own wealth, one side having accumulated vast sums of money through manipulation of the medical/insurance/pharmaceutical industries, and the other through business "dealings" with others who aspire to be wealthy, white, and omnipotent. So, regardless of what is happening to our government, they see this chaos as benefitting them personally, to hell with anyone else.
I'm not sure if we are experiencing WWIII or another Civil War, but when it comes to my own family buying into the destruction of our country, it feels more like Civil War.
I'm really concerned about the possibility that we're seeing an unholy synthesis of Vought's ideas with Musk's ability and willingness to circumvent and detonate the foundations of our largest bureaucratic infrastructure. I think there's a high probability there will be a falling out between the camps at some point, but the amount of damage done by that point will make it a cold comfort. The path that Vought outlined to unmake federal agencies was different from the one being enacted by Musk but I'm not sure if it's a meaningful difference? I also can't decide if what Musk is overseeing is just a way of softening the targeted agencies (and intimidating the rest) in preparation of Vought's goals. What do you think? "Move fast and break things" was always a selfish and shortsighted credo spouted by people with more hubris than common sense. Now we're seeing the result of deifying the type of people who use it as a guiding philosophy.
It's as if they lit the government on fire and they are blocking traffic to keep the fire department from reaching the scene.
Stop! Great analysis, yes. But HOW DO WE PUT AN END TO IT? We need action!
Courts will be snails, and Trump & Co know all the tricks. Combined with corrupt judges emplaced by Trump & Friends, they may all get a pass.
These guys worship money. It's what has given them power. Do I need to spell it out? Everyone en masse needs to stop feeding the beasts and their supporters by boycotting all their businesses, products, and services. Everyone. All of them. Now. Period.
And bombard them with messaging: calls, emails, texts, protests, etc. I took great pleasure today in reminding Ted Cancun Cruz that this is the year of the snake. He can figure that one out in his leisure between his podcasts.
Hey y'all –
If you haven't yet, go look at Heads Up News. Dan Froomkin started the stack on Jan 20. He's got one post per week, dedicated to collecting alla the crimes the new admin is criming, plus listing the fightback coming out of the fed workforce, as well as the lawyers and courts.
Aside: I thought of starting up a stack like that, and actually started writing the intro to it this afternoon, then found Dan's site an hour later. Dan is WAY more qualified to do this than me.
Bern says Check It Out.
Very good analysis of where we are. Putin's viceroy thrives on the chaos he has created. I think we are headed for a feudal state based on inherited wealth and power. Not sure there will be an end pint to the chaos. As long as they can find or create an enemy to focus on. The most probable end point is a battle of the giant egos involved.
Wonderful description and writing but you seem to me a bit over-reluctant (in this essay at least maybe not elsewhere - don't know) to name the through line connecting the threads: Amerikaner FASCISM. I mean the dismal Dems even had to acknowledge that this is fascism for three weeks before the election, no?
I will vouch for Thomas here. He has written prior pieces that have labeled Trump and his movement as fascist, with extensive evidence to back up his reasoning.
I cannot speak for Thomas, but I am guessing that in this piece he avoids that term because it's too academic and broad for the average layperson. (This is a HUGE problem in our modern politics as we've come to learn...) What he's doing instead is laying out all the players and pieces and explaining, in specific detail, the different paradigms that are emerging and why they will lead to disastrous outcomes. This probably still goes over the layperson's head... but he's a man after my own heart, as I am always invigorated by his ability to paint the whole picture and call it out for what it is.
"Too academic"?! Sorry but just last weekend I was in the streets with hundreds of Latino and Latina Chicago high school students who were quite at home with the word and far from confused about its meaning. Many of them had written the word on their posters, some in Spanish and some in English.
That is encouraging to hear.
This is a great distillation of what is happening right now. Unless the courts can stop the movement, I think much of the damage will become permanent very rapidly. I am one who thinks the courts will be ignored. And once that becomes acceptable to our ‘lawmakers’ (who are already accepting acts as being perhaps unconstitutional but acceptable), the game over.
“Racialized and gendered hierarchies” just what black and brown folks have been living with- now across the board
You are so right. Now across the board…
Follow the money to connect the dots between Saudi funding to Musk and Jared Kushner. Musk's donation to Trump and Scott Bessent giving Musk access to the U.S. Treasury. And the Musk crew hacking into the U.S. Treasury and taking control of your Social Security.
How did a Saudi-funded South African immigrant seize the U.S. Treasury and steal your Social Security? Follow the money!
https://thedemlabs.org/2025/02/04/how-did-a-saudi-funded-south-african-immigrant-seize-the-u-s-treasury-and-steal-your-social-security-follow-the-money/
Does muskrat really need Saudi money…
This makes enormous sense. However, it’s not prescriptive. I hope the author can put some thought into whether and what his analysis would suggest as a counter to the counter-revolution.
Thanks, Tom. My only point of disagreement with Mr Zimmer, is petty: "White CHRISTIAN male dominance" is a misnomer, it should be "White CALVIN/KNOX male dominance" Although I do not personally have nor believe in a god, I do admire the generous, humane, and yes loving teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. I have yet to know anyone [except Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter who exemplified Christians] who actually follows the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. The Jesus Christ they claim to love and acknowledge, repeatedly showed zero, nada, no respect or admiration for wealth at any time in his reported life. Those so-called 'christian nationalists' should show the courage to admit they not only love, admire, envy, and aspire to wealth.
Other than that Mr. Zimmer's analysis pretty well aligns with what you and many other writer's have been saying on Substack
I grew up among Christians who strove to follow the teachings of Jesus. They believed that God called them to be honest, charitable, compassionate - even to people who did not follow their own understanding of personal morality. After all, they saw themselves as sinners who needed forgiveness and compassion too.
The MAGA version of Christianity is different. It seems to be mostly about gender and reproduction, which is connected with racial panic. Otherwise, it's just identity politics, with little concern about actual Christian teachings.
I know conservative Christians who have moved away from the GOP because Trump's grip on it is morally offensive to them. MAGA Christians, on the other hand, seem to love Trump because his contempt for ethics is a weapon against their political and cultural enemies.