THIS IS WHY TAFM EXISTS

Events this week - on top of the firehose of assaults by Maladministration II in recent weeks fueled by their relentless offensive against America these past six months - clearly illuminate the crisis we face.

Yesterday, Maladministration II advanced Project 2025 ‘s plan to reshape American culture from a right-wing perspective, sending a letter to Dr. Lonnie Bunch, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, informing him they intend to review museum exhibitions, curatorial processes, planning, the use of collections, and artists grants in order to make sure they align “with the president’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions.” The review will focus on the “National Museum of American History, the National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Air and Space Museum, the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden.”

The letter was written by White House Senior Associate Lindsey Halligan, Trump’s former defense attorney in Florida, and Vince Haley,Director of the Domestic Policy council in Whitey’s House. She “didn’t like some of the museum’s exhibits when she visited after the inauguration” and has convinced Trump to sign an executive order putting her in charge.

They were joined by OMB head Russell Vought, author of Project 2025 and leader of the MAGA asault on America.

This announcement about the Smithsonian means that all the real history - as opposed to the Official Mythology - the history of women’s suffrage, of the labor movement, of the civil rights movement, of all the events that let us know that we are not in fact “the world’s greatest democracy,” that we have perpetrated evil through worldviews like “manifest destiny” and “White Supremacy” that were later used by Hitler and the Nazis to justify their crimes against humanity is now their target. All that will disappear as the Official Mythology that White People Have Done Well For Everyone becomes hegemonic again culturally, as it was before the Second Reconstruction began in 1954. The “noble lost cause” of the Confederacy is already being reinstated, with the restoration of statues of Confederate Traitors being returned to their places of display as objects of veneration.

THIS IS NO ACCIDENT!

The Secretary of the Smithsonian replied: “The Smithsonian’s work is grounded in a deep commitment to scholarly excellence, rigorous research, and the accurate, factual presentation of history. We are reviewing the letter with this commitment in mind and will continue to collaborate constructively with the White House, Congress, and our governing Board of Regents.”

This is being done for the same reason that the “degenerate art” associated with intellectuals, communists, Jews and gays was targeted by the Nazis, the same reason “non-Islamic” art was destroyed by ISIS and the Taliban, why Russia demands that people in the conquered territories in Ukraine speak Russian and learn history from a Russian perspective. It is how dictatorship controls society more thoroughly than any gang of thugs can do.

The Enemy is now actively rejecting all the ideas that threaten them, the people that threaten them, the words that threaten them. Using their increasing control of the media that actively support them or is willing to follow their direction, they are beginning to control what we can say and how we can express ourselves and where.

This is where the battle that will determine if we can remain the flawed democracy that aspires to improvement is being fought. They are now open with their demand for surrender.

Winning this battle is far more important than any fight over laws being passed in Congress or winning decisions by the courts as to what is allowed.

This is about how we are allowed to define ourselves as Americans, and what that means for the future. Orwell was right when he wrote “Those who control the present, control the past. Those who control the past, control the future.” This will happen if we let it, and then it won’t matter which scumbag is in Whitey’s House, cosplaying as our Big Brother.

Trump’s lies are so many, his attacks on institutions and norms so widespread, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. That’s what he wants you to feel.

Punishing those who tell the truth isn’t merely an attack on those people; the chill it spreads makes others less willing to point out the lies and resist him. This is why Professor Timothy’s Snyder’s first rule for resisting fascism is Do Not Capitulate In Advance.

When you see them purging scientists, data analysts and statisticians, you must understand they are paving the way for alternative facts - i.e., lies and ideological bullshit - to take over. The first sign alternative facts are coming is when they get rid of real science and fact-based reporting, which opens the door to subjective reports more favorable to Maladministration II.

Trump doesn’t give two shits in hell about antisemitism in the universities, the plight of the working poor, or defending women athletes. These are wedges he’s using to promote his “alternative facts” and destroy Reality, to advance his assault on those individuals and parts of civil society most likely to oppose him effectively.

A steady stream of lies will make anyone begin to question reality. Trump gaslights instinctively; his goal is domination. His goal is to make us think we’re the crazy ones.

A way to defeat this, quite simply, is to reassert the truth publicly. That’s what That’s Another Fine Mess was founded to do.