
Friends, we all know how the Left loves diversity...by which it means ABSOLUTE CONFORMITY to its agenda of, among other things, promoting discrimination based on gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, etc. One of the tools that leftists in higher ed are using to achieve this level of conformity is the requirement that new hires and/or long-time employees take oaths or write essays to demonstrate their love for "diversity, equity, and inclusion". In other words, academic employees are expected to show enthusiasm for the DEI agenda, to subscribe to its underlying neo-Marxist philosophy, and to become leaders in the movement to actualize its theories. Check out this very interesting article on the phenomenon by a friend of mine, as well as an actual "DEI rubric" from Cal-Berkeley. The rubric comes very close to mandating that academics commit to discriminating against people of certain backgrounds -- in other words, it assumes that anyone who intends to treat people the same, regardless of race, gender, and what not, is a DEI dunderhead who has no place in the academy. I hasten to add that giving people preferential, or inferior, treatment based on the demographic categories they belong to is illegal. According to leftists, however, it is also a moral imperative.
https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2022/05/12/todays_diversity_oaths_resemble_1950s_loyalty_oaths___147589.html
https://ofew.berkeley.edu/recruitment/contributions-diversity/rubric-assessing-candidate-contributions-diversity-equity
In other news, as I discussed yesterday, the rapid accession of Finland and Sweden into NATO is a potentially game-changing development for European and world security. One consequence of Ukraine's humiliation at the hands of Russia in 2014 was clearly a massive increase in Ukraine's commitment to modernizing and strengthening its military forces. Could that be a consequence of Russia's humbling in 2022 as well? Could Russia become, in other words, the grave threat that we now only claim it is? I would be shocked if Russia didn't undertake concerted efforts to strengthen its air and land forces, starting now. Of course, NATO countries are allegedly doing the same. Will they follow through? Does any of this even matter, given the unwillingness of NATO and Russia to contemplate war against a nuclear power?
https://www.npr.org/2022/05/12/1098456961/finland-leaders-seek-nato-membership
https://www.newsmax.com/world/globaltalk/nato-finland-sweden/2022/05/12/id/1069543/
When you stop listening to all the white noise generated by the talking heads, in many ways the 2022 election comes down to one overriding issue: the declining purchasing power of the typical American family. When inflation tops wage increases, as it is doing every single month, Americans feel poorer, because they are! Biden's only chance of avoiding political accountability is therefore to shift the blame for this depressing development to someone else.
https://www.foxbusiness.com/money/inflation-erode-american-wages-april-2022
Need more evidence that inflation is the top concern for U.S. voters? Take a gander at this poll. The top three issues -- inflation, crime, and illegal immigration -- are, in fact, all matters that are likely to help Republicans and hurt Democrats. Note that "insurrections" aren't a top concern for anyone, except the pundits, of course.
https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2022/05/12/poll-voters-more-worried-about-inflation-than-abortion-rights-heading-into-midterms/
Finally, as I alluded to earlier, Biden's only chance to is change the subject -- to get Americans to focus on an evil greater than Democratic misgovernance. "It's Putin's fault" might seem like a promising line of attack, since seemingly no one likes Putin, but the believability of that gem, if one is focused on, say, inflation, crime, or the U.S. border, is questionable. That leaves Sleepy Joe with only one hope: Trump! If the 2022 election can be Trumpified, and if the Trump haters can be motivated to turn out one more time to vent their rage at Orange-Man-Bad, then maybe, just maybe, the Dems can avoid an electoral apocalypse. That's a big "if", of course, but ask yourself this: why is the ACLU suddenly pushing for Trump to be allowed back on Twitter? The answer may be that quite a few leftists see an upside in increasing the visibility of a man who they perceive to be toxic and offputting. In other words, in an ironic twist, the Dems are looking to Trump to save their bacon this fall. Can he do it? Will he? Stay tuned and find out!
https://www.newsweek.com/biden-ramps-trump-insults-midterms-prospects-democrats-1705925?piano_t=1