"Bloodless if the left allows it to be" JOYCE VANCE JUL 4 A week ago, I started my post to you with some comments made by Kevin Roberts, the head of the Heritage Foundation and architect of Project 2025, when he learned Democrats were making plans to take on Project 2025. Roberts said, “Project 2025 will not be stopped,” and that Democrats are “more than welcome to try” to stop it. He concluded by saying, “We will not give up and we will win.” Now he’s back at it. On Tuesday, Roberts was on Steve Bannon’s War room. It was minus Bannon, of course, because he’s in federal prison. Instead, Roberts was on with a guest host, Dave Brat. "We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be,” Roberts told Brat. Is Roberts threatening people who speak out with violence? What if they protest? What if they vote? He’s saying it will get bloody. The more we learn about Project 2025 and the people behind it, the worse it gets. You can see the video here. Roberts’ comments are not something we can just move on from. They must be taken seriously. It’s one thing for conservatives to like some of the policies Trump espouses. It’s an entirely different thing to suggest they’ll use violence against people who don’t agree. Roberts’ words come in a context and that context is Project 2025. Roberts wrote a 17-page introduction to Project 2025 called “A Promise to America.” It starts on page 34 in this document and you should find time over the long weekend when we celebrate Independence Day to read it. The Founding Fathers wouldn’t recognize Roberts’ vision of America. He seems to live in a fact-free parallel universe where conservative grievances, like these, run wild: “Today the Left is threatening the tax-exempt status of churches and charities that reject woke progressivism. They will soon turn to Christian schools and clubs with the same totalitarian intent.” “The noxious tenets of ‘critical race theory’ and ‘gender ideology’ should be excised from curricula in every public school in the country. These theories poison our children.” “the Dobbs decision is just the beginning.” “A combination of elected and unelected bureaucrats at the Environmental Protection Agency quietly strangles domestic energy production through difficult-to-understand rulemaking processes.” “Woke bureaucrats at the Pentagon force troops to attend ‘training’ seminars about ‘white privilege.’” “When the Founders spoke of ‘pursuit of Happiness,’ what they meant might be understood today as in essence “pursuit of Blessedness.” That is, an individual must be free to live as his Creator ordained—to flourish. Our Constitution grants each of us the liberty to do not what we want, but what we ought. This pursuit of the good life is found primarily in family—marriage, children, Thanksgiving dinners, and the like. This is just a smattering of the pithy comments Roberts weaves into his argument for a militant brand of authoritarian Christian nationalism. Read that last excerpt again—pursuit of blessedness. Roberts styles today’s conservative movement as the heir of Ronald Reagan’s conservative movement, something it’s hard to believe the former president, a staunch proponent of the rule of law, would appreciate. Roberts billed himself as “an early American historian” who “love[s] the Constitution” on the War Room podcast. Given that, he seems shockingly unconcerned with abandoning the peaceful transfer of power and ignoring the will of the voters, because that’s what he’s talking about. He’s talking about using violence if the majority of American voters don’t agree with his vision for our country. He’s endorsing another January 6, a bloodletting if liberals won’t cave into his view of how the country should be run. If the left won’t “allow” him to have his way, he’s going to make us give in. That’s the man behind Project 2025. Kevin Roberts and his comments warrant more than just a quick moment in the news cycle. Roberts is telling us, authoritatively, what’s in store for us if Trump returns to the White House. If you’re talking with friends about what Trump 2.0 and Project 2025 look like and they don’t believe you, if they say you’re overwrought and it won’t be all that bad, tell them they don’t have to believe you—they can hear it from the horse’s mouth. "We are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.” Let that sink in for a minute. We’re in this together, Joyce P.S. Civil Discourse is a reader-supported publication. Please consider signing up for a paid subscription if you can.