NOW is not the time for a sense of relief, we have MUCH to accomplish first

For all of the people rejoicing about President Biden's decision today... don't count your chickens before they hatch.

We will NOT KNOW if his withdrawal is a good thing until the votes are counted in November.

To me, a feeling of relief is a warning sign. It could be an indicator of let down.

Might it be better to RESOLVE:

To realize there is NO NOMINEE now. It will take work (a process) to decide on and actually nominate a nominee.

To realize there is NO VP candidate yet. That also will require a process.

To realize this is all uncharted territory for the country. It would be good for the PEOPLE to have a say.

To realize the GOTV (get out the vote) effort needs to begin anew. 

To realize that the Orange Monster (Trump campaign) will not roll over and accept what President Biden announced today with honor and grace.

To realize counting votes cast on and for the November 5th general election is likely to face at least as much controversy as we saw in 2020.

To realize the electoral vote determination in December will likely be as chaotic and controversial as what we saw in 2020.

To realize January 6, 2025 is something federal agencies need to prepare for already.

Only THEN can we look to January 20, 2025 with a sense of relief... and even then, there's likely to be more unexpected chaos than we saw in 2020.

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By the way, I've already received five text message solicitations from unfamiliar phone numbers asking for contributions to support potential nominee Kamala Harris.

NONE of which provided any indication of legitimacy or proof money collected would go to the indicated purpose.

Don't be fooled by text or email solicitations asking for money just because people are hyped up today about the unexpected development in the presidential election race.

If the number sending the request for money is not familiar, it would be wise to immediately respond only with the word STOP. 

Project 2025 will impact YOU whether you know it or not

There are people MUCH smarter than I am (political scientists, historians, and attorneys) who have MUCH more to say about what's in the 900+ page document, and how it would change our country than I can. Therefore, I'm not the one who will expound the detail therein.

The Arizona Eagletarian will, however, point to some of those who can clarify the issues for you and me.

As of today, here's some of them.

Snopes has a run down on quite a bit of Project 2025, with plenty of links to verify.

Here's the bottom line for me. 

This moment in the context of American History boils down to the 2024 presidential election campaign is fundamentally a choice between the best US president in my (our) lifetime and the end of the American democratic republic as we have known it.

You may or may not agree with me. I'm not interested in bickering with you about this point.

I am completely and emphatically "Ridin' with Biden."

Worst case scenario, in my opinion, is that IF President Biden cannot, for any reason, finish a second term, we already KNOW who will succeed him. That's not the case with the presumptive Republican nominee.

Two salient substack essays posted in the last day or so were written by former US attorney for Northern Alabama, Joyce Vance, and Yale political scientist/historian Timothy Snyder.  

I recommend Arizona Eagletarian readers read both essays (by Vance and Snyder).

Here are pertinent excerpts:

Trump claims he’s not connected to Project 2025. That seems like a convenient fiction that the Heritage Foundation, which is behind Project 2025, maintains as well. According to the website, they’re just working on an agenda for whichever Republican president—nudge, nudge, wink, wink—comes along next. Axios reports that, “Trump himself spends little time plotting governing plans. But he is well aware of a [the] highly coordinated campaign to be ready to jam government offices with loyalists willing to stretch traditional boundaries.” And then, there are the personal connections.

I have questions based on Trump’s post itself. How do you “know nothing” about the Project and have no idea who is behind it, but also know that you disagree with some of the things they’re saying?

From Snyder:

Those who wish to preserve the American constitutional republic should also recall the past. A good start would be just to recall the five basic political lessons of 1933. [...]

5. Citizens should not obey in advance. Much of fascism is a bluff — look at our loyal cult, listen to our outrageous language, heed our threats of violence, we are inevitable! Hitler was good at that sort of propaganda. [btw, so is Trump]  Yet to gain power he needed luck and the errors of others. American fascism, likewise, is far from inevitable. It too is largely bluff, most of it digital. The internet is much more fascist than real life, which is discouraging. But we vote in the real world. The crucial thing is the individual decision to act, along with others, for four months, a little something each day, regardless of the atmospherics and the polls and the media and the moods.

It’s simple: recalling history, we act in the present, for a future that can and will be much better.

Be prepared. Think things through well ahead of time. We are four months away from the general election. 

Don't be distracted by the political polling industry. It hasn't been correct since before 2016.