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OCTOBER 13-14, 2022

WE HOPE IT'S TRUE:  Late polling appears to confirm the belief that the Republican vote is surging.  Harvard-Harris has Republicans up by six points over Democrats in the generic ballot.  Trafalgar has the GOP up five.  Rasmussen has Republicans up seven.  All three polls were taken within the last week. 

If reasonably accurate, those polls should translate into Republicans taking back the House and probably winning the Senate, although by a narrow margin.

But we caution – a surge can end or even be reversed.  The election is three and a half weeks away, an eternity in politics.  Be cautious about reading polls.  However, it's nice to be able to smile for a change.

But, if there is a true Republican surge, what caused it?  I submit that it began when two things happened – first, the GOP started campaigning seriously and aggressively, with its candidates emphasizing the issues Americans care about most – inflation and crime.  Democrats really have not much to say.  After all, they're responsible for both.

Second, Republicans, through House leader Kevin McCarthy,  launched their "Commitment to America," spelling out exactly what the GOP would do if given the power.  It echoes the famous "Contract With America" issued by Republican Minority Whip Newt Gingrich in time for the 1994 midterms.  Many observers believe that the Contract's pledge of direct, specific action contributed importantly to Republican gains.  The Commitment to America is here. 

In the last weeks of the campaign Republicans must bear down harder than ever before – with an emphasis on getting out the vote.  This will be a turnout election.   Many races are close, and turnout leads to victory.  In addition, the Commitment to America should be in every mailbox.  Americans do care.  They do read.  They want to know what a candidate will actually do, not just say.

The Dems are not going to give this up.  They believe they are better people, with an automatic right to be in control.  And they have the mainstream press on their side. 

The best political instruction I've ever heard is this:  Always fight as if you're 20 points behind.

That is an order.

October 13-14, 2022       Permalink 

HAS OUR SCHOOL SYSTEM ACCEPTED PERMANENT MEDIOCRITY?  LOOKS LIKE IT:  Scores go down, down, and down.  And no one seems to care.  From AP:

PHOENIX (AP) — Scores on the ACT college admissions test by this year’s high school graduates hit their lowest point in more than 30 years — the latest evidence of the enormity of learning disruption during the pandemic.

The class of 2022′s average ACT composite score was 19.8 out of 36, marking the first time since 1991 that the average score was below 20. What’s more, an increasing number of high school students failed to meet any of the subject-area benchmarks set by the ACT — showing a decline in preparedness for college-level coursework.

The test scores, made public in a report Wednesday, show 42% of ACT-tested graduates in the class of 2022 met none of the subject benchmarks in English, reading, science and math, which are indicators of how well students are expected to perform in corresponding college courses.

In comparison, 38% of test takers in 2021 failed to meet any of the benchmarks.

“Academic preparedness is where we are seeing the decline,” said Rose Babington, senior director for state partnerships for the ACT. “Every time we see ACT test scores, we are talking about skills and standards, and the prediction of students to be successful and to know the really important information to succeed and persist through their first year of college courses.”

ACT scores have declined steadily in recent years. Still, “the magnitude of the declines this year is particularly alarming,” ACT CEO Janet Godwin said in a statement. “We see rapidly growing numbers of seniors leaving high school without meeting college-readiness benchmarks in any of the subjects we measure.”

The results offer a lens into systemic inequities in education, in place well before the pandemic shuttered schools and colleges temporarily waived testing requirements. For example, students without access to rigorous high school curriculum suffered more setbacks during pandemic disruptions, Babington said. Those students are from rural areas, come from low-income families and are often students of color.

The number of students taking the ACT has declined 30% since 2018, as graduates increasingly forgo college and some universities no longer require admissions tests. But participation plunged 37% among Black students, with 154,000 taking the test this year.

COMMENT:  You may be sure that the woke crowd in education will respond to these depressing numbers by demanding a lowering of standards, claiming that high standards are merely a means by which white supremacists keep people of color down.  They will get a receptive audience.  Taxpayer checks will be written, and there will be no improvement.

Our foreign enemies will be amused.

October 13, 2022       Permalink

OCTOBER 11-12, 2022

SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE:

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK – FROM COLLEGE FIX:    Prominent antiracist theorist and Boston University Professor Ibram X. Kendi was paid $35,000 by the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for a 60-minute question and answer session on October 6.  That equates to roughly $583 per minute for the “Keynote Conversation with Dr. Ibram X. Kendi” hosted at the public university.  A copy of the contract, provided to The College Fix upon request by the school’s media affairs division, shows the deal also funded up to $10,000 in travel expenses, including a first-class airline ticket, hotel accommodations, and travel to and from the event.  Kendi’s fee was paid using unrestricted university funds, a campus spokesperson told The Fix.  What a disgrace.  This is a state university.  Those are public funds.  Citizens of Illinois should demand action by their state legislators to prevent this kind of excess.  Kendi is one of the founders of wokeness.  He's done very well for himself by damaging the very people he claims to be helping.

YOU CANNOT MAKE IT UP – FROM PJ MEDIA:   A leftist journalist called Child Protective Services on a Republican state Senate candidate and single mother because she teaches her daughter to celebrate Columbus Day. Apparently, celebrating the man who made it possible for America to exist and for us to live here falls under the leftist definition of “abuse.”  Self-described “Award-Winning Multimedia Journalist” David Leavitt called Child Protective Services (CPS) on Republican Virginia state Senate candidate and single mom Tina Ramirez for being pro-Columbus Day. The drama began when Ramirez referenced PayPal’s recent attempt to fine “misinformation”-spreaders $2,500. Ramirez tweeted, “Only women can be pregnant. Do I owe PayPal $2500 now?” Leavitt replied with the highly rational comment, “Why are you celebrating torture, rape, murder, and enslavement?” Ramirez, apparently realizing that Leavitt was referring to Columbus Day, tweeted, “I teach my daughter real American history. I refuse to join the radical left’s campaign to erase history.”  Vote for her!  Vote for her!

October 11-12, 2022       Permalink

UKRAINE UPDATE:  It is just remarkable how Ukraine has faded away as a major concern for Americans.  We have here the largest ground war in Europe since World War II.  There is serious talk about nuclear weapons being used by the Russians.  A number of countries are involved, supplying Ukraine.  And yet, it is barely mentioned in our political campaigns.  Are we making the same mistakes of indifference we made before Pearl Harbor?  Latest bulletins from Fox: 

The capital region of Ukraine was hit by Iranian-made kamikaze drones on Thursday morning as the Russian military ramps up attacks against the country.

Kyiv Oblast residents woke up to blistering air raid sirens for the fourth day in a row this week. Rescue workers were seen rushing to the sites of Thursday's strikes.

The strikes reportedly hit somewhere along the perimeter of the capital city, according to Kyiv regional governor Oleksiy Kuleba. The amount of casualties is unknown, but deputy head of the presidential office Kyrylo Tymoshenko said on Telegram that "critical infrastructure facilities" in the area were impacted.

The southern city of Mykolaiv was also hit by Russians overnight, with shelling destroying a five-story apartment building in the city. 

Mykolaiv Mayor Oleksandr Sienkovych said the building’s top two floors were completely destroyed in a single strike. The number of casualties from that attack has also not been reported.

Attacks on Kyiv were a rare occurrence before the capital city was hit at least four times during Monday’s destructive strikes, which killed at least 19 people and wounded more than 100 across the country. 

The attacks come as tensions between Ukraine and Russia escalate since Vladimir Putin's annexation of the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions.

Iranian Shahed-136 drones have been increasingly used by Russia's military to destabilize Ukraine. The Ukrainian military reported that they were able to shoot down dozens of drones and Russian missiles through air defenses this week.

Western leaders have pledged to send air defense systems and weapons to Ukraine as Russia's deadly assault against the country continues. President Biden said earlier this week that Russia miscalculated "significantly" by invading Ukraine.

COMMENT:  This country's reaction to the introduction by Russia of Iranian drones is entirely inadequate.  While Iranian weapons murder Ukrainians, and Iranians themselves are erupting in demonstrations throughout Iran, our policy toward Iran seems to be business as usual.  There is a pro-Iran element in the U.S. government that must be exposed and examined by whatever free press we have left.   Incredibly, we are still working on a nuclear deal with Iran, even as Iran has been caught cheating on the last one.  And the appeasement of Iran has gotten us...?  Very strange, this negligent attitude toward Iran.  Very strange indeed. 

October 11-12, 2022       Permalink 

A CRITICALLY IMPORTANT WARNING:  We learned a bitter lesson in the last century – that the United States must have a strong, effective fighting force to keep the peace, and that weakness almost always leads to war.  I'm afraid that lesson is fading into memory, and that new, catastrophic ideas are taking its place.   We are getting the warning, and we must listen to it.  From Fox:   

While President Biden's Secretary of the Army has defended its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs this week as "important," several current and former members of the U.S. military, who have put their lives on the line to ensure America's security and defend its freedoms, are sounding the alarm over what they call a culture putting "wokeness" before training and combat effectiveness.

Those service members, some of whom served with Special Operations Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, are blaming that culture for its recruiting challenges, which have risen to a level unseen since it was transitioned to an all-volunteer force.

"The military is extremely woke," one service member told Fox News Digital recently.

"I do perceive the Army leadership as woke, and probably the lower enlisted (they have been indoctrinated in school)," another service member said. "Equity-diversity is another way to divide and control the masses. It does nothing for the warfighter."

"We get criticized, frankly, sometimes for being ‘woke,'" Army Secretary Christine Wormuth said at a Monday discussion with other military leaders on national security and the branch’s modernization efforts. "I'm not sure what ‘woke’ means. I think ‘woke’ means a lot of different things to different people."

She continued, "But, first of all, if ‘woke’ means we are not focused on warfighting, we are not focused on readiness, that doesn’t reflect what I see at installations all around the country or overseas when I go and visit."

The service members, who remained anonymous so they could speak freely, almost universally shared a similar sentiment, with many noting that senior members who speak out on the issue risk their careers or retirement pensions.

"Merely questioning the goals or methods used to promote ‘Equity & Diversity’ is punished and that punishment is swift, harsh, and public," one service member said.

"I 100% believe the military is woke. I see daily minorities, overweight people and women not adhering to military standards," another said. "Nobody corrects them due to the fear of being fired and labeled a racist or a sexist."

"I do think we do have a wide range of soldiers in our Army, and we've got to make them all feel included," Wormuth said Monday. "And that’s why a lot of our diversity, equity and inclusion programs are important."

Another service member pointed to the military's COVID-19 policies, noting the vaccine mandate has forced many members in good standing into difficult decisions.

"Most of us who serve did so because we came from military families. Patriotism and American values are no longer appreciated or expected," one service member said. "Troops themselves are largely treated as expendable and they don't even pretend otherwise.

Spending 15+ years in the military during wartime with multiple deployments risking their lives only to be tossed out like garbage. Losing the retirement they have worked years to earn because they didn't want to take an experimental vaccine for an illness that was mild for fit and healthy people."

COMMENT:  Read the rest.   How did this happen?  Who is responsible?  Where are the names?  I'm afraid you won't get much information from the woke press.  To a woke journalist, a woke soldier or college professor is a comrade.

October 11-12,  2022      Permalink

FRAUD OF FRAUDS:  Do you see how the usual suspects in the media are going after Herschel Walker, the football great who is now the Republican candidate for the US Senate in Georgia?  Now, I'm not saying Herschel is an angel.  There are things in his background that have come up that are disturbing.  He hasn't always lived a clean life.  The GOP might have been happier with another candidate.

But what gets me is that Walker's opponent, incumbent Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock has an equally troubling background, but is given a pass by our broken free press.  From Fox: 

A downtown Atlanta apartment building mostly owned by the church of Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., has reportedly been evicting disadvantaged tenants while the church pays the senator a hefty monthly housing stipend.

Ebenezer Baptist Church, which pays Warnock a sizable $7,417 monthly housing allowance as its senior pastor, is 99% owner of the Columbia Tower at MLK Village, where residents have received eviction notices for owing as little as $25.88 in past-due rent, according to documents obtained by The Washington Free Beacon.

Eight tenants at Columbia Tower, which is also run by Columbia Residential and described as a haven for the "chronically homeless" and those afflicted with "mental disabilities," have been issued eviction notices since early 2020 for owing an average of $125 in rent.

Five cases were related to rent less than one month late, and two led to court-ordered evictions carried out by the Fulton County Marshal’s Department. Six of them were dismissed, and four remain open.

As a charitable organization, Columbia Tower has paid $77.77 in property taxes during the past seven years and has received more than $15 million in taxpayer-funded assistance since 2005, according to tax records obtained by the Free Beacon.

"They treat me like xxx, They're not compassionate at all," one 69-year-old Black resident who is a Vietnam veteran told the Free Beacon. He explained how he was issued an eviction notice last month for $192 in past-due rent. He told the outlet he was almost evicted last year over $179, but he was allowed to stay after he paid an additional $325 in fees.

"It’s disheartening. It’s horrible. It’s actually horrifying," another resident told the outlet. "We need the help. I understand churches take care of their pastors, but the excess, it’s not good. Not when you have people that need help here." 

The anonymous resident, who also paid hundreds in fees, said she was threatened with eviction after being one day late on her rent.

"It was devastating and surprising. I know they have the ability to be patient with me and let me pay my rent. And it was paid," the resident said. "I asked for patience, but I was totally ignored."

Warnock was outspoken during his campaign about evicting people who are struggling. 

"Unemployment benefits have expired, rent is due today, and many Georgia families are at risk of eviction in the middle of a pandemic," Warnock wrote in an August 2020 tweet. "My opponents are supposed to be serving the people in Washington, but they're clearly only concerned with serving their own interests."

COMMENT:  What a phony.  And there are also serious accusations against Warnock by his ex-wife.  And his record shows he's a radical leftist, not the moderate he claims to be.  I've rarely seen hypocrisy this great by a pastor.  Yet, the media's firepower appears directed almost entirely at his opponent.  Gee, I wonder why.

October 11-12, 2022       Permalink