/1

Like QAnon, to most Americans the U.S. Republican Party is now an American religion based on belief, conspiracies, dogma.

Religion: range of social-cultural systems, incl. designated behaviors & practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, transcendental, & spirituality
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion

Behind the scenes Christian right / libertarian billionaires pull the strings.

#GOP #QAnon

/2

The GOP As We Knew It Is Long Gone And May Never Return
https://talkingpointsmemo.com/morning-memo/the-gop-as-we-knew-it-is-long-gone-and-may-never-return

#Koch #evil #capitalism #GOP #RepublicanParty #Trumpism #MAGA #QAnon #billionaires #corporations #libertarianism #ChristianRight #conservatism #homophobia #transphobia #HeritageFoundation #LeonardLeo #SCOTUS

/3

America's nonreligious are a growing, diverse phenomenon. They really don't like organized religion
https://projects.apnews.com/features/2023/the-nones/the-nones-us.html

* most religions are there to control people and get money from them said Dulak (76, Missouri)
* he also cited sex abuse scandals in Catholic & Southern Baptist churches
* as Dulak rejects being part of a religious flock, he has plenty of company
* he is a “none” ... the kind that checks “none” when pollsters ask “What’s your religion?”

#USA #religion #demographics

/4

Scholar charted decline in religion; church he pastors closing its doors
https://apnews.com/article/illinois-christian-baptist-church-closure-religious-trends-c6b9e938eb228c8018fb911b02a791f0

* 4,500 Protestant churches closed in 2019
* churches dwindle due to scandal, conflict, mobility, indifference, lower birth rates, switching to a church they like better
* most Americans remain religious
* some surveys suggest that the long rise of the “nones” has slowed/paused
* nonreligious far more common today in U.S./other nations than generation ago

#USA #religion #demographics

/5

Project 2025 Links Revolving Door of Players & Far Right Political Funding
Such cross-pollination - common in political circles - becoming regular occurrence among hate groups
https://truthout.org/articles/project-2025-links-a-revolving-door-of-players-and-far-right-political-funding

* For Republicans goal is to keep white Christian nationalists in power at all costs

#Koch #capitalism #GOP #RepublicanParty #Trumpism #MAGA #billionaires #corporations #libertarianism #ChristianRight #conservatism #HeritageFoundation #LeonardLeo #SCOTUS #ConservativePartnershipInstitute #CPI

/6

Once Enemies, Trumpists and Mainstream Conservatives Are Now Chillingly United
The Heritage Foundation’s president announced in January that the foundation’s role is “institutionalizing Trumpism”
https://truthout.org/articles/once-enemies-trumpists-and-mainstream-conservatives-are-now-chillingly-united

#Koch #capitalism #GOP #RepublicanParty #Trump #Trumpism #MAGA #billionaires #corporations #libertarianism #ChristianRight #conservatism #HeritageFoundation #LeonardLeo #SCOTUS #ConservativePartnershipInstitute #CPI

/7

Addendum to thread landing page:

None Dare Call It Conspiracy (1972) Gary Allen
https://archive.org/details/none-dare-call-it-conspiracy_202101
"We are going to have a dictatorship of the elite disguised as the dictatorship of the proletariat”

Discussed 2024-Jul:
J. D. Vance Is Summoning John Birch Society
Populist appeals indistinguishable f. economic vision of 1970s John Birch Society
https://jacobin.com/2024/07/vance-trump-gop-john-birch

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Allen
Senior member, John Birch Society
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society

#libertarianism #Koch #fascism #GOP

/8 cont'd

John Birch Society
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Birch_Society

* right-wing political advocacy group
* anti-communist; social conservatism
* ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, right-wing populism/libertarianism
* founders: Harry Lynde Bradley (Bradley Foundation), Fred C. Koch (Koch Industries) ...
* Trump 2016 election: JBS core instincts finally reflected in White House
* political commentator, 2016: Trumpism" essent. Bircherism

#GaryAllen #Koch #Trump #billionaires #libertarianism #fascism

Koch network’s flagship super PAC pours big money into 2024 elections
https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2024/08/koch-network-flagship-super-pac-pours-big-money-into-2024-elections

* Koch network flagship group
* 2 decades financially influencing U.S. elections
* AFP super PAC ranks 3rd in outside spending in 2024 cycle
* Americans for Prosperity Action, hybrid PAC affiliated w. AFP, spent $257+ million since 2004
* supports conservative congressional/presidential candidates

#Koch #evil #AmericansForProsperity #billionaires #ElectoralFraud #libertarianism #fascism #superPAC #GOP

6 Billionaire Fortunes Bankrolling Project 2025
$120+ million f. few ultra-wealthy families powering Heritage Foundation to remake American gov.
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/112962304294428041
https://www.desmog.com/2024/08/14/project-2025-billionaire-donor-heritage-foundation-donald-trump-jd-vance-charles-koch-peter-coors

Evil:
Coors Family
Charles Koch
Richard & Elizabeth Uihlein
Scaife Family
Barre Seid (also gave $1.6 BILLION to Leonard Leo)
Bradley Family

#billionaires #EnablingFascism #GOP #Trumpism #HeritageFoundation #KevinRoberts #Project2025 #FamilyResearchCouncil #TonyPerkins #fascism #libertarianism #FarRight

The Right's 50-yr plot to wreck democracy
https://www.salon.com/2024/08/16/unpacking-the-rights-50-year-plot-to-wreck-democracy--and-why-it-might-work

Antidemocratic: Inside Far Right's 50-Year Plot to Control American Elections
https://bookshop.org/p/books/minority-rule-david-daley/20370445?ean=9780063321090

* equal parts Dark Money/Democracy in Chains
* riveting/disturbing history of 50-yr Republican plot to hijack voting rights

#billionaires #Koch #capitalism #RepublicanParty #Trump #Trumpism #libertarianism #ChristianRight #conservatism #HeritageFoundation #LeonardLeo #SCOTUS #JaneMayer #NancyMcLean #ElectoralFraud #GOP

These Billionaires Are Donating Big in 2024 Election to Advance Their Interests
From Christian nationalists to fossil fuel barons, they are using their fortunes to pursue policies that impact us all
https://truthout.org/articles/these-billionaires-are-donating-big-in-2024-election-to-advance-their-interests

#billionaires #Koch #capitalism #RepublicanParty #Trump #Trumpism #libertarianism #ChristianRight #conservatism #HeritageFoundation #LeonardLeo #SCOTUS #JaneMayer #NancyMcLean #ElectoralFraud #GOP

Koch Inc. Invests in Massive Land Grab f. West African Herders
https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/08/21/koch-invests-in-massive-land-grab-from-west-african-herders

* Koch, Inc. (formerly Koch Industries): largest U.S. private company
* provides corporations w. carbon offsets while pulling local natural resources from 2.9 million hectares in 3 West African countries
* led by U.S.-based African Agriculture Holdings
* consume water in drought-prone region
* elim. land from use for subsistence farming

#Africa #neocolonialism #billionaires #Koch #capitalism #libertarianism

Bernie Sanders Says Overturning Citizens United Should Be Priority
Outside groups spent more >$1 billion on federal elections this cycle
https://truthout.org/articles/in-dnc-speech-sanders-says-overturning-citizens-united-should-be-a-priority

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Citizens_United_v._FEC

https://mastodon.social/@persagen/110538803275965181
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/110849793957682272
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/112680538775427584
https://persagen.com/docs/leonard_leo.html

#BernieSanders #SheldonWhitehouse #SCOTUS #CitizensUnited #lobbying #LegalPerson #LeonardLeo #FederalistSociety #Trump #MitchMcConnell #PoliticalCorruption #corporations #billionaires #FarRight #GOP #EnablingFascism

Elon Musk Forced to Reveal Shady X Investors
Musk said Sean Diddy Combs as investor made it OK that hate speech was increasing on X
https://newrepublic.com/post/185174/elon-musk-x-investors-shadiest-people-diddy
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2024/08/21/elon-musk-x-investors

* Sean Combs
* Andreessen Horowitz
* Sequoia Capital
* 8VC/Joe Lonsdale >> https://mastodon.social/@persagen/112968642162289475
* Saudi Prince Al Waleed bin Talal Al Saud
* Bill Ackman

#ElonMusk #billionaires #Xcorp #Twitter #EnablingFascism #FarRight #racism #anti-LGBT #transphobia #Trumpism #GOP #disinformation #AmericaPAC #DefundBillionaires

Billionaire Timothy Mellon poured $165 million into 2024 elections
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113013133319641942

#TimothyMellon #TimMellon #FarRight #conservatism #billionaires #Trumpism #fascism #EnablingFascism #GOP #capitalism #libertarianism #MAGA #DefundBillionaires #DynasticWealth #GenerationalWealth

No Surprise RFK Jr. Endorsed Trump: Both Backed by Billionaire Timothy Mellon
https://truthout.org/articles/its-no-surprise-rfk-jr-endorsed-trump-theyre-backed-by-the-same-billionaire

Secretive billionaire bankrolls RFK Jr., Donald Trump
https://www.nationofchange.org/2024/08/26/the-billionaire-behind-rfk-jr-and-trump-timothy-mellons-influence-on-the-2024-election

* critical concern: influence of wealth on American democracy

#TimothyMellon #TimMellon #TimothyMellon #Trump #RFKjr #GOP #Trumpism #MAGA #FarRight #conservatism #billionaires #DefundBillionaires #fascism #EnablingFascism #capitalism #libertarianism #GenerationalWealth #plutocracy #oligarchy #meritocracy

Powell Memo Changed America
Architect: US Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell
https://www.levernews.com/master-plan-episode-3-the-memo-that-changed-america

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_F._Powell_Jr.#Powell_Memorandum,_1971
* tobacco industry champion
* wrote confidential memo for U.S. Chamber Commerce
* anti-Communist/anti-New Deal blueprint for conservative business interests to retake America
* based partly on Powell's reaction activist Ralph Nader

https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113093285576894645

#LewisPowell #SCOTUS #PowellMemo #RalphNader #USCC #capitalism #libertarianism #fascism #billionaires #conservatism

Powell Memo Helped Create Project 2025
Investigative podcast shows toxic legacy of founding father of modern American plutocracy
https://www.thenation.com/article/society/powell-memo-project-2025-plutocracy/

Powell Memo Changed America
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113034395106394010

Master plan: Legalizing corruption
https://the.levernews.com/master-plan

#LewisPowell #SCOTUS #PowellMemo #RalphNader #USCC #capitalism #libertarianism #fascism #billionaires #conservatism #plutocracy #HeritageFoundation #Project2025 #EnablingFascism #TAXtheRich #meritocracy #oligarchy #authoritarianism

Master Plan: Legalizing Corruption
https://the.levernews.com/master-plan

* Investigative podcast
* how political ideologues/corporations spent years orchestrating legalized corruption in USA
* narrated by David Sirota, an investigative journalist, Oscar nominee, fmr speechwriter for Bernie Sanders

#TheLever #SCOTUS #PowellMemo #USCC #capitalism #libertarianism #EnablingFascism #billionaires #conservatism #plutocracy #HeritageFoundation #Project2025 #TAXtheRich #meritocracy #oligarchy #authoritarianism

Koch-funded veterans group backed closing Chillicothe VA; working to elect Bernie Moreno
https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2024/09/09/koch-funded-veterans-group-that-backed-closing-chillicothe-va-working-to-elect-bernie-moreno

Sherrod Brown (D-OH): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherrod_Brown
Bernie Moreno (R-OH): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernie_Moreno

* privatization of health care
* Concerned Veterans for America: subgroup of Koch political nonprofit Americans for Prosperity

#billionaires #CharlesKoch #AFP #AmericansForProsperity #libertarianism #GOP #Trump2 #PublicHealth #privitization #MedicalIndustrialComplex #VeteransAdministration

Misogynist Manifesto: Project 2025’s Plans to Dismantle Democracy
Project 2025: sinister plan to replace nonpartisan civil servants who enforce laws guaranteeing women’s rights w. trained ideologues det. to undermine these rights
https://msmagazine.com/2024/09/11/project-2025-government-democracy-white-house

* 3rd in 3-pt series on Project 2025

#GOP #Trumpism #Trump2 #HeritageFoundation #KevinRoberts #Project2025 #FamilyResearchCouncil #FarRight #billionaires #EnablingFascism #misogyny #ReproductiveRights #WomensRights #ChristianRight #theocracy

Trump says he'll end all taxes on overtime pay if elected
https://www.ctvnews.ca/world/trump-says-he-will-end-all-taxes-on-overtime-pay-if-elected-1.7036287

Comments:
* see top of this thread: https://mastodon.social/@persagen/112810230899017402
* desperate, populist move
* conservative billionaires - other than defense spending / foreign wars - abhor and seek to eliminate all - ALL - social support/welfare programs, taxation
* it's survival the fittest: If destitute, you lost/are abandoned

Read Jane Mayer's / Nancy MacLeans books. Those authoritative, scholarly works explain our current state.

Harris Can’t Embrace Billionaires if She Wants to Win
https://www.counterpunch.org/2024/09/16/harris-cant-embrace-billionaires-if-she-wants-to-win

* vast majority of Americans believe that U.S. economy unfairly rigged to benefit the rich
* Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has made accusations of a “rigged economy”
* Kamala Harris pivots on capital gains tax rate
...

#KamalaHarris #Democrats #Kamala #appeasement #CapitalGainsTax #billionaires #WealthTax #TAXtheRich #Trump2 #MAGA #HeritageFoundation #Project2025 #ElonMusk #TimothyMellon #EnablingFascism #GOP

/1

* hard for climate justice activists to get Harris to stick to her original 2019 anti-fracking stance
* recent debate w. Trump, days after scientists declared summer 2024 hottest on record, she promised, “I will not ban fracking
* for anti-genocide activists to win a commitment from Harris for an arms embargo against Israel in the face of mass ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza

#KamalaHarris #Democrats #Kamala #appeasement #CapitalGainsTax #billionaires #WealthTax #TAXtheRich #Trump2

Elon Musk's Vile “Joke” About Harris After Trump Shooting
Claimed his conspiracy theory just humor
https://newrepublic.com/post/185983/elon-musk-donald-trump-shooting-kamala-harris

* Billionaire X owner
* Following 2nd assassination attempt on Trump Musk issued an alarming tweet
* “And no one is even trying to assassinate Biden/Kamala” Musk wrote
* incitement to assassination

#ElonMusk #AmericaPAC #GOP #billionaires #Xcorp #Twitter #EnablingFascism #FarRight #racism #anti-LGBT #Trumpism #Project2025 #Trump2 #disinformation #extremism #WealthTax

801 US billionaires hold combined $6.22 trillion wealth
https://inequality.org/great-divide/billionaire-wealth-keeps-growing

* Elon Musk, Tesla/X/SpaceX: $252.5 billion
* Jeff Bezos, Amazon: $204.8 billion
* Larry Ellison, Oracle: $197 billion
* Mark Zuckerberg, Meta: $182 billion
* Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway: $141 billion
* 12 billionaires c. $100+ billion ea.
* 1st person to cross $100 billion, Bezos, only did so in 2018

#billionaires #ExtremeWealth #WealthConcentration #WealthTax #TAXtheRich #plutocracy #oligarchy #meritocracy

Mark Zuckerberg's Politics Have Changed
Billionaire making nice w. Trump, scaling back giving
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/09/mark-zuckerberg-isnt-done-with-politics-his-politics-have-just-changed

* no such thing as an apolitical oligarch
* Zuckerberg considers himself libertarian
* talked to Trump 2x this summer

Zuckerberg Done w. Politics
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/24/technology/mark-zuckerberg-trump-politics.html

Meta hires DeSantis/ex–Project 2025 employee
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113030409062476634

#MetaPlatforms #HeritageFoundation #Project2025 #EnablingFascism #Zuckerberg #billionaires #libertarianism #plutocracy #oligarchy #Trumpism

Election misinformation going viral on Facebook while Zuckerberg makes amends w. GOP
Viral false claim: "wasn’t anything happening to stop it" said election official
https://www.salon.com/2024/09/26/misinformation-is-going-viral-on-facebook-while-zuckerberg-makes-amends-with-the

Meta's misinformation problem has local election officials struggling
Across U.S. state & local officials puzzled by what to expect f. Facebook
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/consumer/meta-misinformation-problem-local-election-officials-worried-rcna172842

#MetaPlatforms #HeritageFoundation #Project2025 #EnablingFascism #Zuckerberg #billionaires #libertarianism #plutocracy #oligarchy #Trumpism

Pair of Billionaire Preachers Built Most Powerful Political Machine in Texas
https://www.propublica.org/article/tim-dunn-farris-wilks-texas-christian-nationalism-dominionism-elections-voting

State capture: Oil tycoons Tim Dunn, Farris Wilks pushed TX statehouse to far right
* fund relentless primary campaigns v. other Republicans

Christian Nationalism: TX statehouse policies threaten separation of church/state

Trumpism: Dunn linked to think tanks jockeying to influence 2nd Trump administration

#GOP #billionaires #TimDunn #FarrisWilks #EnablingFascism #StephenMiller #Project2025

New Civil Liberties Alliance: Charles Koch-Funded Lawfare Group Suing Biden Admin To Protect Vaccine Skepticism
https://www.importantcontext.news/p/koch-funded-litigation-outfit-goes
reblogged: https://www.exposedbycmd.org/2024/10/07/a-koch-funded-lawfare-group-is-suing-the-biden-admin-to-protect-vaccine-skepticism

Dressen et al. v. Flaherty et al.
https://dockets.justia.com/docket/texas/txsdce/3:2023cv00155/1918901
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/67413611/dressen-v-flaherty

https://persagen.org >> "New Civil Liberties Alliance"

#NewCivilLibertiesAlliance #lawfare #Dressen_v_Flaherty #Koch #CharkesKoch #libertarianism #capitalism #billionaires #WealthTax #antivax #VaccineHesitation #disinformation

Toxic billionaire Stephen A. Schwarzman
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_A._Schwarzman

* chair/CEO global private equity firm Blackstone
* fmr chair, Trump's Strategic & Policy Forum

$45.4 BILLION net worth 2024-Oct-10: https://www.forbes.com/profile/stephen-schwarzman

Newport Was Used to Billionaires. Then Stephen Schwarzman Came to Town.
Private equity mogul’s extreme mansion makeover driving neighbors nuts
https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/10/newport-stephen-schwarzman-blackstone-private-equity-miramar-construction-trump

#StephenSchwarzman #PrivateEquity #Blackstone #StateCapture #Trump #billionaires #capitalism #WealthTax

Kamala Harris Rails Against Corporate Landlords While Taking Donations f. Blackstone Billionaire
https://readsludge.com/2024/10/10/harris-rails-against-corporate-landlords-while-taking-donations-from-blackstone-billionaire

* Jonathan Gray, president of largest corporate landlord in US
* Harris donor; helping Harris court Wall Street colleagues

Jonathan D. Gray
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonathan_D._Gray

Blackstone Real Estate Income Trust
https://persagen.org/docs/blackstone_real_estate_income_trust.html

Toxic billionaire Stephen A. Schwarzman
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113284026081670950

#StephenSchwarzman #PrivateEquity #Blackstone #StateCapture #billionaires #capitalism

Charter schools: Christian Nationalism Behind "School Choice"
https://mastodon.social/@persagen/113284062264857742

Q&A w. Professor Josh Cowen, whose new book deconstructs the school voucher movement.
The Privateers: How Billionaires Created a Culture War and Sold School Vouchers
https://hep.gse.harvard.edu/9781682539101/the-privateers

#PublicEducation #CharterSchools #GOP #billionaires #libertarianism #HillsdaleCollege #ChristianRight #ChristianNationalism #DominionTheology #theocracy #conservatism #StateLegislatures #StateCapture #GOP #EnablingFascism