The Heritage Foundation is a Threat to Democracy

A Clear and Present Danger

“The Second American Revolution will remain bloodless if the Left allows it to be…”

An American flag is seen upside down at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C., after Trump’s felony convictions. Jose Luis Magana/AP

This is personal.

I am an outspoken rural organizer. Every elected Missouri Republican knows exactly who I am, and thanks to two Missouri Representatives on Twitter, most also know where I live. I was doxxed on two separate occasions on Twitter. One State Representative, Josh Hurlbert, who also works for the Herzog Foundation, specifically tweeted out my daughter's school district on two separate occasions while responding to me.

He won't stop… I've tried. I called him an "insufferable asshole" for telling people where my daughter attends school — he made my comment his Twitter banner. He thinks putting my child in danger is funny. He is emboldened to do whatever he can to silence me.

I was speaking at an event a year ago in Kansas and was about to go onstage when I saw my phone light up with a call. I didn't recognize the number, so I let it go to voicemail. After the event, while walking back to my hotel, I listened to the voicemail — it was a Republican Missouri State Senator. He called me live from his radio show "to debate me." He told his audience I had agreed to a debate then and backed out.

Ummm…I was speaking at an event with over a hundred Kansas Democrats. I would not have agreed to a debate at that time, and by the way, how did he get my cell phone number? Why did he think he could intrude on my personal life and call me out to his radio audience? I may be loud, but I am still a private citizen. I owe nothing to Senator Nick Schroer or his rabid MAGA audience.

Schroer knows he will face no consequence for sending violent minions into my comments, mentions, and inboxes.

That's why I was disgusted when I watched the video of the President of the Heritage Foundation, the architect of Project 2025, making a threat to every organizer, outspoken critic, and left-leaning citizen in America.

He threatened our lives. Here is the video.

"The Second American Revolution will remain bloodless if the Left allows it to be," the Heritage post said. "Unfortunately, they have a well-established record of instigating the opposite."

~Kevin Roberts, President, Heritage Foundation

I travel the country to speak on rural politics and rural progressives. I remind folks that 25% of the people in my district voted for me…that may not sound like a lot, but what if 25% of the Democrats in every rural area showed up and voted in every election. Do we realize that those numbers would shape elections across the country? These down-ballot Dems may not win for a few cycles, but they will push numbers up to the top of the ticket to help win statewide races.

I organize rallies and gather signatures for ballot amendments. I show up for progressives across the state in an effort to get out the vote and rally rural Democrats. I work for Blue Missouri to fund down-ballot Dems in the toughest and reddest districts in the state. This is how we will take our state back.

And that is why the extremists on the right have taken to threatening activists on the left…or even those in the center who oppose a Trump presidency. I am convinced they know if Trump is not elected this November, this is the last election they will have to take over the country. They are playing a losing battle with a changing electorate.

Americans have grown weary of bully tactics, though. We are spreading the news of Project 2025 and another Trump Presidency and what it will mean for our children, our communities, and our neighbors. The Democrats are fighting back too, with Jared Huffman, a California Congressman, launching the "Stop Project 2025 Task Force."

Project 2025 is a "dystopian plot that's already in motion to dismantle our democratic institutions."

The Project would "abolish checks and balances, chip away at church-state separation, and impose a far-right agenda that infringes on basic liberties and violates public will."

Project 2025 already has a head-start in states like Missouri. We have been running the pilot for years.

Missouri has a complete abortion ban with the reason being religious dogma — my Representatives have the power to impose their religious ideology on the entire state. We are expanding school choice and sending millions of taxpayer dollars to private religious schools. There is little church-state separation in GOP-dominated states. This is the plan for the entire country if we can't stop it, and this is just the tip of the iceberg.

In more than 900 pages, Project 2025 calls for firing thousands of civil servants, expanding the power of the president (ope, the Supreme Court just did that), dismantling the Department of Education and other federal agencies, and sweeping tax cuts for the wealthy.

They are determined to push through an agenda that will harm our country and are threatening those who stand in their way. Who do you think is going to be targeted on the "left" if Trump is elected and the Heritage Foundation is able to start implementing Project 2025?

Me. And, possibly you? I've been fighting the extremists for years in Missouri. When they talk about a "bloodless revolution, if the left allows it to be," it's me that they are referring to. It’s the organizers in your state and community.

They are telling organizers, "Lay back and accept it, and we won't have to hurt you…"

Well, you can imagine my response…screw you.

I will not be silent as you come for my children. I will not step aside as you attack my neighbors and my community. I will not be quiet in the face of fascism and oligarchy. Ever.

When billionaires use their money to fund an organization that explicitly calls for violence against organizers, I hope you pay attention. I hope you understand that they mean to silence folks in your community. I hope you close ranks around us. We have been on the front line, and will continue to be, but we need you behind us.

We need you to tell everyone you know about the threats to organizers and the threat to American democracy. Tell everyone about Project 2025. Tell on them.

This is personal.

~Jess