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JUNE 12,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

AND THE BEAT GOES ON – FROM FOX:   EXCLUSIVE:  The Federal Reserve has instructed employees to adopt "bias-free language" and avoid using biased terms like "Founding Fathers," according to an internal webpage obtained by Fox News.  The Federal Reserve's Board of Governors issued the guidance for all employees nationwide on April 29, a former Fed staffer with knowledge of the matter told Fox News.  "Bias-free language recognizes diversity and avoids stereotyping, demeaning, or excluding people on the basis of gender, race, ethnic group, religion, age, ability/disability, or sexual orientation," the guidance states.  "Try to avoid words and phrases that may be considered offensive, pejorative, or prejudiced (whether consciously or unconsciously), as these can distract your audience from the ideas/information you’re trying to convey," it continues.  The guidance contains a list of "biased terms" to avoid, including "blacklist," "grandfathered," and "Founding Fathers." Employees are instructed to use terms like "denied," "legacy," and "Founders" instead.
The Fed also said the terms "whitelisted, "manpower," "manmade," and "singular generic pronouns" – such as "he," she," "his," and "hers" – should be replaced with more "bias-free" alternatives like "allowed," "artificial," and pronouns such as "they," "their" and "theirs."  I'm sure this will greatly improve our economy, which used to be the job of the Federal Reserve.

A MAJOR MOMENT IN THE MIDEAST – FROM THE JERUSALEM POST:   Barring an unexpected last-minute development, the new government of Yamina leader Naftali Bennett and Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid will pass a vote of confidence at the Knesset on Sunday night and Bennett will be sworn in as Israel’s 13th prime minister, replacing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.  Netanyahu would leave office after more than 12 straight years in power and a total of 15 years as prime minister, which made him one of the longest currently serving democratic leaders in the world.  The special Knesset session will begin with Bennett introducing his cabinet and presenting the government’s guidelines. Lapid will speak next, followed by Netanyahu and representatives of the 13 factions in the Knesset. There will then be a vote on replacing Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin (Likud) with MK Mickey Levy (Yesh Atid) and then the vote of confidence in the new government.  If the vote passes, Bennett and Lapid would be sworn in as prime minister for each of the two halves of their term, followed by the other ministers. The first meeting of the new government would take place late Sunday night and the ceremonial photo of the new government would take place at the President’s Residence on Monday.  Sources close to Netanyahu said his departure from the Prime Minister’s Office and then the official residence on Jerusalem’s Balfour and Smolenskin streets would be coordinated soon after, if he is indeed replaced. But they left open the possibility of last-minute surprises.  Many can't imagine an Israel without Bibi Netanyahu at the helm.  He's an extraordinary leader.  However, we are reminded of the old French proverb that the graveyards of the world are filled with indispensable men.  If the change in government goes through, Israel will survive.  But I would not be shocked to find Bibi back at the top before too long.

June 12, 2022      Permalink

THE MARCH CONTINUES – OVERNIGHT:  As readers know, we are keeping a very close watch on the attempts by the "progressive" left to take over every institution in American society.  I am waiting for an assault on pizza.

I can report that what I like to think of as the mothers' crusade is gaining momentum throughout the country, and is starting to impact both political parties.  There are stories every day of mothers taking on school boards and everyone else in defense of their children.  But a word of caution:  A bunch of news stories, no matter how exciting, is not a guarantee of success.  This is a nation of 330 million people, and moving that nation will take national-level power and the involvement of the Republican Party.  It will also take some brave journalists who are willing to break from the leftist pack and reveal the truth about some progressive "causes."  And it will take defectors from those causes to give truth and character to the mothers' crusade.

Here's a good sign because it has national scope.  From Fox:   

Critical Race Theory is a controversial philosophy – a progressive idea that proponents say can increase racial equity and which critics describe as a Marxist, anti-American and neo-racist.

It’s either "a way of understanding how American racism has shaped public policy, or a divisive discourse that pits people of color against White people," according to a recent article in Education Week.

"CRT seeks to diminish the reality that we are all unique and precious in God’s eyes," Melody Clarke of Heritage Action for America told Fox News Friday. "Our individual destiny is up to our God-given talent, drive and ambition, not what someone else thinks about us."

Nearly half of all states in the U.S. are taking measures to ban it from their public schools.

The following states have already approved bans on forcing teachers to give lessons on Critical Race Theory, in alphabetical order:

Arkansas
Republican Gov. Asa Hutchinson signed Senate Bill 627 on May 3. The bill is titled, An Act to Prohibit the Propagation of Divisive Concepts: To Review State Entity Training Materials; And for Other Purposes. The bill’s definition of divisive concepts includes the idea that Arkansas or the U.S. are "fundamentally racist or sexist" and that individuals are inherently racist or oppressive, "whether consciously or unconsciously."

Florida
In early June, the Sunshine State's Board of Education banned CRT from public school classrooms in a unanimous vote and grouped it in with the New York Times' controversial 1619 Project and Holocaust denialism.

Iowa
A Hawkeye State bill passed the state Legislature and was signed into law by Republican Gov. Kim Reynolds. The bill declared CRT "discriminatory indoctrination."
Idaho

Gov. Brad Little, a Republican, signed House Bill 377 on April 28. Under the new law, an amendment to the state’s existing statutes on education, public schools that teach CRT can lose their funding.

COMMENT:  Read the rest of the list.  This is what I like to see, action all over the country.  But some of the legislation discussed will not pass, especially in Democrat-controlled legislatures.  Everything I read convinces me that the 2022 midterms will be the most important midterms in modern history.  Republicans must win, and win decisively, to stop the progressive left from taking a wrecking ball to all we have built up as Americans.

June 12,  2022      Permalink

JUNE 11,  2021

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

THE BRITS KNOW HOW TO SAY IT – FROM THE NEW YORK POST:   More than 150 Oxford University academics are refusing to teach unless a statue of a controversial British colonial leader is removed — getting them ripped in Parliament as a “useless bunch” driven by “wokeness.”  The lecturers signed a “statement of a boycott of Oriel College” over the decision to keep a statue of Cecil Rhodes, who drove colonial expansion in southern Africa in the 1800s, and for whom the school’s Rhodes Scholarship is named, according to The Telegraph.“Faced with Oriel’s stubborn attachment to a statue that glorifies colonialism and the wealth it produced for the college, we feel we have no choice but to withdraw all discretionary work and goodwill collaborations,” the lecturers’ statement said.  Reaction to the boycott threat came from as high up as Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose office said he expects “appropriate action” to be taken to make sure students are compensated for any cancelled classes. “Students rightly expect to get a good deal for their investment in higher education,” his spokesperson told The Telegraph. “We fully believe in protecting academic freedom but universities have a duty to maintain access to good-quality tuition as a priority. ”The lecturers say they plan to refuse to teach Oriel’s undergraduates, help with outreach work or give talks or seminars “until Oriel makes a credible public commitment to remove the statue,” according to The Telegraph.
The boycott came as Oxford was already under fire after students at neighboring Magdalen College voted to remove a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II because she “represents recent colonial history.”  The leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, dismissed the Magdalen students as “a few pimply adolescents getting excited.”  As for the rebelling lecturers, he told Parliament, “I’m half tempted to say that you should be lucky not to be taught by such a useless bunch.  I do hope there'll always be an England.  At least they know how to speak.

June 11, 2021       Permalink

A DISGRACE AND THREAT TO THE NATION – OVERNIGHT:  Woke culture, including critical race theory, has invaded the United States military.  It is as dangerous as any foreign enemy.  From the Washington Times: 

Sen. Tom Cotton revealed several whistleblower complaints from service members who objected to critical-race theory indoctrination in the military, including airmen being divide race into groups for “privilege walks.”

The service members also spoke out against receiving reading lists of critical race theory books as part of the Pentagon’s new anti-extremism and diversity training within the ranks.

Mr. Cotton, Arkansas Republican, received the complaints after launching a whistleblower site in late May in partnership with Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Texas Republican.

Mr. Cotton, a former Army infantry officer, and Mr. Crenshaw, a former Navy SEAL lieutenant commander, created the site to identify “woke” ideology within the military, they said.

“This is about a very specific kind of anti-American indoctrination that is seeping into some parts of our military,” Mr. Cotton said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Thursday.

“One Marine told us a military history training session was replaced with mandatory training on police brutality, white privilege, and systemic racism. He reported that several officers are now leaving his unit citing that training,” he said. “Another service member told us that their unit was required to read White Fragility by Robin DiAngelo which claims, ‘white people raised in western society are conditioned in a white supremacist world view.’”

He said an airman complained that an exercise called a privilege walk, saying it was a “racist exercise.”

“Members of the wing were ordered to separate themselves by race and gender in order to stratify people based on their perceived privilege,” Mr. Cotton said in describing the airman’s complaint.
The senator detailed several specific complaints on Thursday when questioning Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III during a committee hearing.

“We’re hearing reports of plummeting morale, growing mistrust between the races and sexes where none existed just six months ago, and unexpected retirements and separations based on these trainings alone,” he said.

Mr. Cotton asked Mr. Austin whether he believes the military is fundamentally racist and whether service members should be treated differently based on race or sex. Mr. Austin answered no to both questions, and he said he welcomed service members to make complaints through their chain of command or inspector general.

“I would also say that diversity, equity, and inclusion to this military now, and it will be important in the future,” Mr. Austin said. “And so, we’re going to make sure that our military looks like America and that our leadership looks like what’s in the ranks of the military.”

The complaints follow the Pentagon’s recent efforts to stamp out extremism in the ranks after current and former troops were identified in the pro-Trump mob that stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6. In February, the Pentagon directed military units to hold one-day “stand-down” to address extremism within the ranks.

However, the service members’ complaints add to the mounting pushback against “woke” culture that some say has permeated schools, workplaces and government.

The service members’ complaints also point to emerging polarization in the military ranks.
“Enough is enough,” Mr. Crenshaw said in a Twitter post last month when announcing the whistleblower site. “We won’t let our military fall to woke ideology.”

The recent efforts to improve inclusivity have gone too far, according to the lawmakers, who said the military has long been one of the country’s great equalizers.

“The military for decades has been one of the institutions in this society where you are most likely to get ahead based on your own performance, on your own merit, irrespective of the color of your skin or where you came from or who your parents were,” Mr. Cotton said at the hearing.

“There’s a cultural identity that takes place in the military, which is actually really hard to emulate anywhere else, but it happens in the military,” Mr. Crenshaw told Fox News on Friday. “That’s what we should be talking about when we say the military is inclusive.”

COMMENT;  Can you believe it?  Can you just believe it?  This is the American military, the force that we, and our allies, depend on. 

What if we had to go to war over Taiwan tomorrow?  What would our generals and admirals have to do?  Would they have to count the number of every favored group in each unit or in each ship in order to pass the diversity test?

If you were a Chinese general advising the president of China today, and you were asked about the condition of the American forces in the western Pacific, what would you reply?  What if you were asked whether this was the right time to take Taiwan?  What answer would you give?

We are in grave danger, placed there by the far left of the Democratic Party and a corrupt and lazy press, drunk on its college degrees, that has abandoned its function of guardian of the nation.  

June 11, 2021       Permalink