The 2024 election cycle in the U.S.A. is critical for the survival of democracy and for the restoration of the U.S. Constitution. New Mexico is not a big factor since the population is less than 1% of the total and our 5 electoral votes are likewise less than 1% of the 535 total.
        The population of Valencia County is less than 1% of the state total, and we are represented by Legislature Districts 7, 8, 49, & 69 and Senate Districts 29, 30, & 39. But the local, 'down ticket' elections really matter here.
        The choice each election in the U.S.A. is binary: Not voting BLUE all the time or not voting at all is a surrender to the fascists & racists & the Republican Party.

         Fascism, per political polymath Mark Green, is defined by “one-man rule, based on big lies, nationalist fervor, xenophobia, hatred of marginal groups, displays of militarism, incitement to violence, media manipulation, and persistent lawlessness”.

        All of these activities are promoted in the recently re-published "Mandate For Leadership" book from The Heritage Foundation [est. 1973] and their "Project 2025" organization, an out-in-the-open scheme to steer the U.S.A. toward far-right autocracy (dictatorship).
        Project 2025 encourages Republicans to:
•  intentionally spread disinformation;
•  overreach executive power;
•  weaken checks and balances;
•  dismantle all protections against unchecked corporate power;
•  quash criticism or dissent;
•  promote marginalizing & restricting hard-won rights protections of minorities, specifically LGBTQ+ people, immigrants, women, and people of color;
•  eviscerate the many guardrails in place that aim to defend the endangered environment;
•  end attempts to enhance equity & racial justice throughout the government and shut down agencies that track progress on this front;
•  end efforts to tackle issues such as climate change, and politicize the research produced to back the project’s views on environmental policy,
the evils of 'transgenderism', and women’s health;
•  politicize independent institutions;
•  initiate corruption of elections;
•  and stoke violence in daily life and as populist protest.

        Project 2025 has already caused legislative attempts to defund the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Department of Education, and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). So far in 2024, 11 states have introduced or taken new action on bills to roll back child labor protections.

        You do not want further destruction of your rights. Vote very carefully in the upcoming elections.

[copyright 2024 by Gary Edward Nordell, all rights reserved]

---

        The preceding was printed as a Letter To The Editor in the Valencia County [NM] News-Bulletin.