The Heritage Foundation, the premier conservative think tank in America for several decades, has come up with a grand agenda for the next Republican administration. It's called Project 2025, and it is causing panic on the left.
The heart of the Project is a 900-page-plus policy manual, the "Mandate for Leadership." It's a comprehensive manifesto of what conservatives would like to achieve in reforming government, expanding freedom, and defending values.
https://static.project2025.org/2025_MandateForLeadership_FULL.pdf
Project 2025 goes even further, and aims to staff the future administration. It even asks people to submit resumes for White House positions they may be interested in. It also has plans to manage the transition within federal agencies.
Something like this effort is absolutely necessary and long overdue. Few people can master 922 pages of policy recommendations, but the manual will serve as a useful way to make sure people are at least singing from the same song sheet.
It's not a particularly Trump-oriented manual, and I believe it reflects more of a traditional establishment conservative consensus. Trump has already come out with his own concise policy manifesto, which is the official Republican platform.
My own effort in "The Agenda" is different from all of the above. It is a simple description of executive orders and actions that the president can do on Day One of his administration without help from Congress or either political party.
I did not consult Project 2025 or the Trump campaign, though there are broad areas of agreement. In "The Agenda," I keep it simple, and provide a way for a lame-duck White House beset by enemies to make the biggest possible impact.
Here's the link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/164821116X
This week’s portion launches the great story of Abraham, who is told to leave everything of his life behind — except his immediate family — and to leave for “the Land that I shall show you.”
There’s something interesting in the fact that Abraham is told to leave his father’s house, as if breaking away from his father’s life — but his father, in fact, began the journey, moving from Ur to Haran (in last week’s portion). His father set a positive example — why should Abraham leave him?
Some obvious answers suggest themselves — adulthood, needing to make one’s own choices, his father not going far enough, etc.
But I think there is another answer. Abraham (known for the moment as Abram) needs to establish his own household. This is not just about making one’s own choice, but really about choosing one’s own starting point. It’s starting over.
Sometimes we start over in fundamental ways even if much that surrounds us remains the same. Sometimes the journey we have to ...
The story of Noah is familiar; the details, less so.
Noah is often seen as an ambivalent figure. He was righteous -- but only for his generation. What was his deficiency?
One answer suggests itself: knowing that the world was about to be flooded, he built an Ark for the animals and for his own family -- but did not try to save anyone else or to convince them to repent and change their ways (the prophet Jonah, later, would share that reluctance).
Abraham, later, would set himself apart by arguing with God -- with the Lord Himself! -- against the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, saying that they should be saved if there were enough righteous people to be found (there were not).
Still, Noah was good enough -- and sometimes, that really is sufficient to save the world. We don't need heroes every time -- just ordinary decency.
Hi all -- as I noted last month, I'm going to be closing down my Locals page, at least for tips and subscriptions -- I may keep the page up and the posts as well, but I'm no longer going to be accepting any kind of payment.
Look for cancelation in the very near future. Thank you for your support!
