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MARCH 29, 2022

THE OUTRAGE EXPRESS, THE GOP'S SECRET WEAPON – OVERNIGHT:  No, we are not going to examine philosophically the slap at the Oscars, probably the most interesting thing that's happened at the "ceremony" in years.  The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will sort it out, and Will Smith will be paid double his usual price for his next picture.  And now people will expect a shock at each Oscar awards show.  Maybe a gunfight.  A first Oscar use of nuclear weapons.  Nothing smaller.  It's understood that each shock will feature representation by at least four marginalized communities, but not including conservative bloggers.

What we will be examining, more and more, is the runup to the midterm elections, which will be held in seven months.  If you notice the signs, you'll see that the parties are now at the serious organizing stage, naming their candidates, running primaries, and developing their platforms. We assess here that the Republicans are doing a far better job of structuring their campaigns – in part because the Democrats have given them so much ammunition.  The generosity of the Dems can't be overstated.  They have apparently Googled the word "mistake" and decided to commit as many of them as possible.  A mistake to a Democrat is "a breakthrough policy in the fight against Donald Trump's daughters."

The Republicans are brilliantly committing their party to a new version of Newt Gingrich's contract with America.  The GOP will identity the problem and say exactly what it will do to solve it. It's the kind of practical, results-oriented approach that Americans like.  It's clear that the Republican campaign will be built around the word "outrage."  We are an outraged nation, angry at the mess the Democratic left has created, and determined to reverse it.  The GOP will list the outrages, that Americans have endured, like this one, from Fox:

Top diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) employees at major public universities earn massive six-figure salaries for leading initiatives that some experts found to be ineffective and instead enforce a "political orthodoxy."

A review of salary data shows that the universities of Michigan, Maryland, Virginia and Illinois, plus Virginia Tech, boast some of the highest-paid DEI staffers at public universities, a Fox News review found. These institutions' top diversity employees earn salaries ranging from $329,000 to $430,000 – vastly eclipsing the average pay for the schools' full-time tenured professors.

Does the term "shakedown" come to mind?

Four of the colleges justified the DEI leaders' salaries, citing the executives' seniority and the importance of their responsibilities. The University of Illinois did not return a request for comment.

Experts identified these universities as having some of the most bloated DEI staff in the country and said they each rack up millions in costs each year.

Jay Greene, a senior research fellow at the Heritage Foundation's Center for Education Policy, said that while the "ostensible objective" of DEI is to make college campuses more welcoming and inclusive, he doesn't believe that is the purpose of the initiatives.

"Instead, the effective purpose of diversity, equity and inclusion is to create a political orthodoxy and enforce that political orthodoxy, which fundamentally distorts the intellectual and political life on campus," Greene told Fox News.

The five schools shelling out top-shelf salaries to DEI personnel have between 71 and 163 individuals devoted to diversity efforts on campus, according to a study Greene co-authored.

'Lots and lots of tuition dollars'

Greene and James Paul, director of research at the Educational Freedom Institute, co-authored a comprehensive study of DEI bureaucracies in higher education. The pair examined 65 universities of the five "power" athletic conferences because the schools "tend to be large, public institutions chosen by many students simply because of geographic proximity," the study said.

"It's becoming almost an all-consuming priority where even large numbers of staff who don't have official responsibilities for DEI – don't have it in their job titles – are nonetheless working on it and see it as one of their top priorities," Greene told Fox News.

COMMENT:  Read the rest. It's an outrage, one of many outrages in education, which is emerging as a top issue for Republicans.  We have to make it clear that we're on the side of the parents and the students.  We are not on the side of the establishment.  Or the Democrats.

March 29, 2022      Permalink

MARCH 28, 2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – OVERNIGHT:

COULD IT HAPPEN?   Related to the piece below is the cautious belief that my blue state, the once-great New York, could actually elect a Republican governor this year. Now, let's be careful about that. New York Republicans love to lose. That's why they do it so often, so take everything you read with a grain of tofu. From the New York Sun:  New York’s Republicans are eyeing with confidence a suburban strategy as a path to victory in the 2022 gubernatorial race, though significant challenges lay ahead. The state’s suburban counties are “probably the most fertile ground for persuadable voters,” a John Jay professor, Brian Arbour, told The New York Sun.
He said counties like Westchester, Suffolk, and Nassau will be prime areas for GOP candidates looking to loosen the Democratic stranglehold on the governorship to pick up votes in the 2022 election. “The big urban areas are going to go for the Democrats, rural areas will go for Republicans, and the suburbs will be the big place where Republicans can persuade voters,” Mr. Arbour said. This strategy has borne fruit for Republicans in other states.  In Virginia, Governor Youngkin’s victory was widely credited to high turnout in the suburbs, where his campaign managed to mobilize voters on issues like inflation, school curriculum, and Covid mandates.
In New Jersey, Republicans nearly secured victory after implementing a suburban strategy similar to Mr. Youngkin. Although Governor Murphy managed to retain office, Republicans narrowed 2017’s 12-point loss to three points.   I will add my own hunch that the Democratic vote in New York City will be lower than normal thanks to the raging crime rate. Remember, when pushed far enough, New York City dwellers can be convinced to vote Republican. Recall that New York elected Rudy Giuliani as mayor, and he broke the back of the crime wave.

March 28, 2022     Permalink

AMERICA VOTES WITH ITS FEET – OVERNIGHT: It is a political year, and, no matter what else is happening in the world, politics is always in our minds. Politics means people, and where those people are going will determine the political future of the country. Some states are losing population, others gaining. And the pattern is very clear. From the New York Post:

Four of the nation’s top 10 metro areas with the highest population growth last year were in Florida — more than any other state, according to new US Census data.

Punta Gorda, The Villages, Lakeland-Winter Have and Cape Coral-Fort Myers all saw their numbers pop by more than 3 percent, the figures show.

In addition, two Florida counties qualified for the top 10 percentage population growth list.
St. John’s County grew by 5.6 percent, while Nassau County rose by 3.5 percent, according to the data.

A pair of Florida counties made the top 10 list of numeric population hikes. Both Polk and Lee counties added more than 20,000 residents in 2021.

Eight of the top 10 counties with the steepest numerical population declines were either in New York and California, according to the Census data.

Miami-Dade County — which lost 38,990 residents in 2021 — was the only Florida entrant on that list.
Los Angeles County lost the most residents with 184,000, while New York County shed roughly 117,000, the numbers released last week show.

Statewide, Florida’s population increased by 211,000 between July 2020 and July 2021, according to the census report — second only to Texas.

California, Illinois and New York all registered the sharpest overall population losses last year.

The US Census also revealed this month that the Sunshine State accounted for more new business applications than any other state.

COMMENT:  Florida is gaining.  New York and California are losing.  The pattern trending away from the Democratic states is obvious.  We will see it politically in close elections, where the Democratic edge will turn into the Republican edge.  At least that's what we hope.  One fear among conservatives is that blue staters escaping the mess of the blue states will continue to vote Democratic, out of habit or culture.  We'll know if there's any truth to that after November's election.  As Sinatra said, leave us we should pray.

March 28, 2022     Permalink