-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Either this nation shall kill racism, or racism shall kill this nation." (S. Jonas, August, 2018)
Secretary Pompeo Delivers a Speech, .After the Deal: A New Iran Strategy., at the Heritage Foundation. Boy, that worked out well, didn't it? (See an upcoming column on .Iran --- Some History.
(Image by U.S. Department of State) Details DMCA
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Most readers of this column will be familiar with The Heritage Foundation. It describes themselves as: "a leading think tank for policy impact, covering topics such as national security, economy, education, culture, and more." And goi on to say: "Explore its latest research, commentary, and events on the world's most pressing issues and how to fight for America's future." Some might describe them as something else. But this column is not about that latter thought. This column, rather, reviews language and policy/political proposals from a fund-raising letter of theirs dated January 2, 2024, with an occasional comment from yours truly, as noted. Reviewing the major points that they make, readers will be able to make up their own minds about which "Heritage" they are actually out to protect.
Now how, you might ask, did I happen to come across this letter? Well, for a modest sum anyone can belong to THS, and I do, just so that I can keep up with the latest-latest from the U.S. Far Right, in their own words. As we shall see, some of those words are quite frightening to those of us who believe in a capitalist bourgeois democracy --- that is the United States --- the best way to keep on as reasonably an even keel as a capitalist ship-of-state can be kept, is through having a political system that is generally characterized as "Constitutional Democracy."
Under it certain rules are set up, primarily to protect the interests of the dominant (some of us call it "the ruling") class, but which do allow a certain degree of participation in the political system, and protections in the legal system, for the majority of the population, in a system where the majority rules. (Of course, in the United States, starting with the given that each State has the same number of seats in the national Senate regardless of population, with the resulting population-imbalance in the Electoral college and the allotment of votes in it to each state, democratic rule is sharply limited. But that subject is the subject for another conversation.) And so, the Constitution establishes a number of rule-by rules. But now, as is well known, there is a leading politician who doesn't like a whole bunch of those rules, that is when they are applied to him. And, as it turns out, both a major voice putting forth policies that would lead to major damage to U.S. (bourgeois-to-be-sure-I-just-want-to-emphasize-that) Constitutional Democracy, and a major designer of such policies (see "Project 2025") is that one and the same "Heritage Foundation."
It is interesting to note (and as is widely known) that until fairly recently in the leadership of Heritage was one "Ginni" Thomas, wife of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. As The New York Times noted in the cited article about one of Washington's most well-known "power couples:" "The Supreme Court justice and his wife battled for years for a more conservative America. New reporting shows how far she was willing to go after Donald Trump's 2020 election loss [updated Sept. 21, 2022]."
But let's let Ginni's beloved Foundation speak for itself. As for Ginni, it is well known that she isn't there anymore but I wouldn't be surprised if she spoke to old friends there on an occasion or two, say through the Council for National Policy. And presumably she speaks to her husband as well, and not just about how wonderful the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin looked last year. As The Washington Post noted recently: "God, Trump and the Closed-Door World of a Major Conservative Group: What internal recordings and documents reveal about the Council for National Policy -- and the future of the Republican Party." A somewhat recent note has Ginni running a firm called "Liberty Consulting." But that is another matter. And so, back to "Heritage."
In that letter dated January 2, 2024, after some fund-raising stuff it states that: "For now, we must keep our full attention on defeating the Biden Administration and the entire leftist deep state must be held accountable." For what must they be held accountable, you might ask? Well, "They are destroying the very fabric of our society, eroding our civilization, and they cannot be allowed to achieve their goal of recreating America in the image of their Marxist-leftist vision." And that vision? "Pro-open borders, anti-free enterprise, anti-Second Amendment, anti-parental rights, and anti-America."
One could go on at length about what the bourgeois-democratic program of the Democratic Party is and is not. But on just one of Heritage's major policies, "guns for everybody, in abundance" (which of course we have now achieved) I will note that one Party thinks that the Second Amendment, as it was written, provided a decent framework for enacting much needed firearms regulation (see the blank, blank, and blank tragedies) while the other has gotten exactly what it (and its major supporters in the firearms-and-related industries) wanted, when Scalia's "Heller" decision as subsequently broadly interpreted, put the Second to bed without any formal process, like amending the Constitution. For the Second actually says: "A well-regulated militia [oops!] being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." Which interpretation, whether intended by Scalia or not, has come to mean "guns for everybody [including children, without regulation], in abundance."
Now, ordinarily a political action group aiming to have a major influence on the upcoming election lays out in detail what their plans and program are, should they win. But so far, at least, Heritage has focused most of their attention that deals with program, other than name-calling, their so-called "Project 2025." This program would replace a significant chunk of the Federal Civil Service with operatives/staffers of their own choosing --- political/policy considerations, not professional/educational qualifications, first, of course (as they openly tell us). Has such a system ever existed in this country? In fact, it did, from the Founding right up until the passage of the first Civil Service Act in 1883, the "Pendelton." It was designed to: "[establish] the tradition and mechanism of permanent federal employment based on merit rather than on political party affiliation (the spoils system)."
On the other hand (without the benefit of legislation), Heritage says:
"Our plan will restore the rule of law to our country by training conservative and competent employees to staff the administration and very agency, and by providing a play book for correcting course on every policy area so no time is lost in getting to work repairing our nation on day one."
Imagine that. Restoring the rule of law by breaking one of the most important ones that established the form and function of the modern Federal government. That does take some imagination. As for other law-bending-and-breaking proposals, (and these, as well as, "Project 2025" are policies that Trump is promoting --- chicken-or-egg? Your guess is as good as mine):
1. On the "Border Crisis," they would "enforce the law" on the border. And in fact, as is well-known, their Republican allies in the Senate had crafted a very tough new set of immigration regulations, with the Democrats. As is also well-known, they dropped it at Trump's insistence so that he could use "immigration" as a theme in his campaign. Blatant hypocrisy? Sure. But "his folks" consistently follow the dictum that "consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds."
Trump, of course, is for massive deportation, even including illegal immigrants who have lived in the U.S. for many years (being exploited by employers who just love the low wages they can pay to them), and their children who, according to that pesky 14th Amendment are "birthright" citizens. I wonder where Heritage stands on that one. But Trump, of course, by killing the bill for (and he is not shy about stating his reason) political purposes, has put it out to pasture, at least for the time-being.
2. Heritage wants to hit the Biden Administration on "the economy." Good luck with that. It has not been this good in a long time. But Trump, and Heritage, often present a picture that is not in line with reality (as on Constitutional government and why it would be a good idea to maintain it), so they might very well be able to convince their followers that it is terrible (and was much better under Trump --- which it wasn't). And yes, Trump and Heritage have pretty much the same followers, both among --- if you will excuse me - the "MAGA" crowd, and the (much more important to Heritage, at least) segments of the capitalist ruling class that support both.
3. On education, Heritage wants to "end indoctrination." (Trump likely would too, I would think. But since he was not very well educated himself, and retained little of what he did pick up along the way about, say, basic civics, he seems to be not too interested in this one.) Of course, what Heritage really means is they want to substitute what is taught in many public schools (outside of Florida and an increasing number of "Red" [no, not that "red"] states) about U.S. history, specifically the role of racism in it (see 1619), and replace it with such gems as the famous Nikki Haley (she of South Carolina, the secessionist state that fired the first shots of the Civil War) one that slavery was not (at least) a cause of the Civil War. (This is until she was coached to "find" herself.) (My most recent analysis of the causes of the Civil War, which is hardly original since it is subscribed to by most main-line historians, at least for the most part, can be found here.) As Heritage says: "Project 2025 will restore education choices to parents" (that is except for parents who want their children taught about what really happened, as in DeSantis's Florida not).
And finishing with a flourish (before the end-of-letter fundraising stuff) Heritage tells us (right out of a Trump campaign speech --- that is if you can call Trump's rambling screeches speeches) that "The Biden Administration and their radical henchmen are destroying our country. Time is running out to save our republic!" Well, I guess if you believe that "saving our republic" means un-Constitutionally destroying one of the legislative foundation blocks on which our (bourgeois capitalist) republic stands, theirs is the way to go.
As to folk who think about who to vote for and think about a bunch of Biden policies they don't like (from The Border to Israel), they might also want to think about, let's say, the issue of preserving (bourgeois) Constitutional democracy. In that regard, they might want to think about what the Hertiage Foundation proposes to do by supplying Trump with his No. 1 gun for destroying the Federal government as we know it. And on top of that doing so without the benefit of the legislative process, as provided for in the Constitution:
"Article I, Section 1. All legislative powers herein granted shall be vested in a Con gress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Repre sentatives."
This is what it comes down to folks. Do you want to preserve U.S. Constitutional democracy, with all of its flaws, or do you want the nation to be ruled by a Trumpstitution (actually made up as they go along) designed with a little help from their friends at The Heritage Society.
(Article changed on Feb 16, 2024 at 10:50 AM EST)