Competence is dead and diversity killed it By M.B. Mathews

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2023/02/competence_is_dead_and_diversity_killed_it.html

Have affirmative action hiring practices caused overall competence to plummet? The record appears to show exactly that.

For no good reasons whatsoever, competence was allowed to die on the vine in order to give the less competent a leg up. Not equality but superiority rules the hiring, firing, and education of Americans. Worse, many of those who were affirmatively hired do not do as good a job as those whose excellence was obvious. You can see it in customer service, which for many businesses is abysmally incompetent. There is a resentful casualness in those who are hired to serve others that would not have been acceptable even two decades ago. The competence level one deals with on a daily basis is on life support.

While there are pockets of the competent in places like Florida and some Southern states, much of America is being run by children with no sense of responsibility or pride in accomplishment. That is because there is little real accomplishment in their lives; children get passed through the public education system having to learn little of value. Instead, they are taught perverse sexual practices and aberrant lifestyles. They are taught how to be activists but are not taught to be competent breadwinners.

It is harder and harder to find good computer techs to service the average home computer user. Instead, salespeople are sent out to do the most basic installations, utterly lacking the sophistication to handle a complex computer problem that may come up. Training in many fields is rudimentary. Surgeons and physicians are being put through university because of their skin color, not necessarily their competence. Ditto pilots. Do you want to fly or get operated on by these hires? I’ll pass.

Why GOP Loudly Heckled Biden Over His Immigration, Border Security ‘Plan’

https://issuesinsights.com/2023/02/09/why-gop-loudly-heckled-biden-over-his-immigration-border-security-plan/

State of the Union speeches are known for stretching the truth in some cases, and outright lying in others. President Biden’s speech, one of the longest ever, was filled with both. Case in point: Illegal immigration. Biden repeated he wants Congress to reform border security. In fact, what he really wants is to blame someone else for the deadly chaos he has created on our border.

During Tuesday’s SOTU speech, rowdy Republicans yelled out, “Secure the border!” as Biden began talking about immigration. He responded, “you got it!”

Were the Republicans rude? Perhaps a tad. But they’re elected, and furious at Biden’s open-border policies. It’s not hard to see why. When polls are taken among voters, “immigration” is almost always among the top five of their concerns.

And, no, Congress doesn’t “got it,” as Biden said.

Biden basically removed the effective border controls in place when he entered office, and has since lied repeatedly about taking action to stanch the flow across our border. He vowed to work with the GOP on immigration the very first day in office.

Biden had this to say Tuesday in defense of his immigration policies:

“We now have a record number of personnel working to secure the border, arresting 8,000 human smugglers and seizing over 23,000 pounds of fentanyl in just the last several months,” Biden said.

Sound impressive? Here’s the problem. Due to lax enforcement, a record surge of illegal immigrants has crossed our southern border in the past two years. Local, as well as federal, border enforcement officials have been overwhelmed.

Iran shows off ballistic missile bearing Hebrew words ‘Death to Israel’

https://www.jns.org/iran-shows-off-ballistic-missile-bearing-hebrew-words-death-to-israel/

At an exposition in the central city of Isfahan on Wednesday, Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps unveiled a purported ballistic missile with the words “Death to Israel” written in Hebrew down its side.

The Tasnim News Agency showed images of what seems to be a surface-to-surface missile in a launcher.

This came a day after Iran revealed an underground air force base called “Eagle 44,” which is large enough to hold fighter jets, reported the IRNA news agency. The base reportedly can store and operate fighter jets and drones.

Kyiv is still trying to drag Jerusalem into its war Israel’s foreign minister shouldn’t pay Ukraine’s price for a photo op with Zelenskyy. Jonathan Tobin

https://www.jns.org/opinion/kyiv-is-still-trying-to-drag-jerusalem-into-its-war/

Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has a powerful personal reason for wanting to go to Kyiv and meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to appease disgruntled members of his Likud Party who felt short-changed by the fact that a lot of key cabinet jobs went to their coalition partners from the religious parties.

While Netanyahu wanted to hand the Foreign Ministry to Ron Dermer, his close confidant and former ambassador to the United States, political realities forced him to tap Cohen for the prestigious post. But he then appointed Dermer Minister to head the resurrected Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy, in order to ensure that he was the one who was really running Israel’s foreign policy.

Aside from that, Cohen wants to make the most of the time he has at the Foreign Ministry before he must hand it over after two years (in accordance with a rotation agreement) to another Likud Party politician, current Energy Minister Yisrael Katz, who previously held the post from 2019 to 2020. A high-profile visit to war-torn Ukraine—where he will re-open the Israeli embassy in Kyiv, capped by a photo op with an international celebrity like Zelenskyy—may not overcome the justified perception that Cohen is foreign minister in name only, but it would bolster his public image.

As such, he and even Netanyahu, who is under pressure from Israel’s American allies to make more of a show of support for Ukraine’s war effort, believe such a visit is in their interests. It’s especially true, given that Cohen took a beating in the international press for his inaugural phone call with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, after which he said that Israel would speak less about the war in public. That was widely, and not unreasonably, viewed as a promise to tone down any condemnations of Moscow for its brutal, illegal invasion and accompanying atrocities.

But after reports about the conditions that Kyiv is placing on an audience with Zelenskyy for Cohen, it’s clear that the price the Israeli government is being asked to pay for a chance to signal its moral support for Ukraine is far too high.

Did You Catch Biden’s Shocking Admission During His SOTU Address? By Athena Thorne

https://pjmedia.com/news-and-politics/athena-thorne/2023/02/08/did-you-catch-bidens-shocking-admission-during-his-sotu-address-n1668972

“President” Biden went off-script several times during his State of the Union address last night, prompting some of the strongest reactions from the politically mixed attendees. But one moment was particularly shocking because it was an incredible admission.

The moment of candor occurred as Biden worked through his prepared remarks on the evil oil industry. According to the official transcript, he was supposed to bash the fossil fuel producers like so: “You may have noticed that Big Oil just reported record profits. Last year, they made $200 billion in the midst of a global energy crisis. It’s outrageous. They invested too little of that profit to increase domestic production and keep gas prices down. Instead, they used those record profits to buy back their own stock, rewarding their CEOs and shareholders.” This was the equivalent of red meat for the vegan Earth-first crowd.

But then, Biden began ad libbing. “We’re still going to need oil and gas for a while,” he allowed, and, “We’re going to need domestic oil for at least another decade.” This elicited boos from Earthist Democrats and cheers and even laughter from reality-based Republicans.

During these off-the-cuff remarks, Biden’s admission came in the form of an anecdote, recounted here by Fox News:

The president then told an anecdote in which an oil executive asked him why his company should invest in fossil fuel projects in light of the negative business atmosphere for oil and gas projects. Biden said he responded that oil and gas would be needed for years to come.

“They said, ‘well, we’re afraid you’re going to shut down all the oil wells and all the oil refineries. So, why should we invest in them?’ I said, ‘we’re going to need oil for at least another decade and beyond,’” Biden added.

Did you get that? Biden admitted that the oil industry — which remains crucial to our entire way of life, no matter what the Earthist fantasizers say — will not invest in domestic production because they don’t trust him.

Half in U.S. Say They Are Worse Off, Highest Since 2009 by Jeffrey M. Jones

https://news.gallup.com/poll/469898/half-say-worse-off-highest-2009.aspx

Reflecting on their personal financial situations, 35% of Americans say they are better off now than they were a year ago, while 50% are worse off. Since Gallup first asked this question in 1976, it has been rare for half or more of Americans to say they are worse off. The only other times this occurred was during the Great Recession era in 2008 and 2009.

On the other hand, today’s “better off” percentage is not unusually low, having descended to 35% or lower during other challenging economic times. This includes the late 1970s and early 1980s, the early 1990s, and from 2008 through 2012. In those periods, a higher percentage than today’s 14% volunteered that their finances were “the same” as last year.

The latest results are based on a Jan. 2-22 Gallup poll. They follow a year of persistent high inflation, with the highest inflation rates since 1982. Stock market values declined and interest rates rose in 2022, but, on average, personal wages increased substantially.

In both 2021 and 2022, Americans were evenly divided between saying they were better off versus worse off, including a 41% to 41% split in last year’s survey.

By contrast, before the pandemic in January 2020, Americans were almost three times as likely to say they were better off (59%) as worse off (20%). The 59% reading is one of the highest in Gallup’s trends, along with a 58% reading in 1999.

Biden’s State of the Union: Everything is awesome by Joe Concha

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/3849146-bidens-state-of-the-union-everything-is-awesome/

Let’s get one item out of the way: State of the Union addresses are among the most overhyped events of any presidency. Thousands of words, many designed for easy applause lines from one side of the chamber. Ample sound and fury signifying nothing. 

Think about it for a moment: Outside of former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sophomorically tearing up President Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address, what memorable line or moment has ever stood out in these speeches? They are little more than a laundry list of policy positions marinated in self-congratulation.

Tuesday night’s address by President Biden was no different. The commander in chief engaged in happy talk that would have one believe that:

— inflation were 1.4 percent (the number Biden inherited) instead of 6.5 percent as it currently stands.

— violent crime weren’t climbing in most cities across the country. (It is.)

—the border were closed and secure. (More than 5 million illegal migrants have entered the country since Biden took office, including more than 100 on the terror watch list.) 

—fentanyl overdoses were minimal. (They’re the leading killer of adults between the ages of 18-49 due to lax border policy that allows the lethal drug, produced in China, to be shipped to Mexico and brought into the country relatively easily.)

Florida Shows How to Combat Woke Indoctrination on Campus Advocates are kidding themselves if they think free speech is enough to ensure academic freedom. By Joshua Rauh

https://www.wsj.com/articles/florida-shows-how-to-combat-woke-indoctrination-on-campus-progressive-ideology-legislation-freedom-academic-college-university-11675883802?mod=opinion_lead_pos6

In the battle for open inquiry on campus, two factions have emerged on the side of free speech. The first camp consists of professors and administrators who consider themselves the true defenders of academic freedom. They seek to create a free-speech consensus in academia across the political spectrum. In the second camp, state legislators seek to restore academic freedom by outlawing advocacy of woke progressivism in schools. This camp views such ideological teaching as discriminatory and outside the bounds of taxpayer-funded education.

A simmering conflict between these two camps has now burst into the open over Florida’s Stop W.O.K.E. Act. In the first camp, the Academic Freedom Alliance, a group of more than 700 university professors from across the U.S., issued a statement against the Florida policy and others of its kind. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, is also opposed to policies that limit classroom discussion, scholarly inquiry and public debate in state universities.

I joined the AFA in 2021 as a founding member. These pages heralded the group’s formation. I share the organization’s stated mission: to “defend faculty members’ freedom of thought and expression” including “freedom from ideological tests, affirmations, and oaths.” But the idea that supporting academic freedom requires opposing anti-woke legislation is misguided.

More Vindication for Voter ID A new study finds no partisan effect, but will Democrats believe it?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/voter-id-laws-pnas-study-democrats-republicans-joe-biden-11675811901?mod=opinion_lead_pos4

This ought to be old news, but someone please inform President Biden and the Democratic Party that another academic study has found voter-ID laws don’t have real partisan consequences. How long until this is conventional wisdom? A 2021 study detected “no negative effect on registration or turnout, overall or for any group defined by race, gender, age, or party affiliation.”

The new analysis, posted Monday by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, comes at the question from a slightly different angle. “Existing research focuses on how voter ID laws affect voter turnout and fraud,” write the two authors, who are political scientists at Notre Dame. “But the extent to which they produce observable electoral benefits for Republican candidates and/or penalize Democrats remains an open question.”

So what’s the answer, after examining state and federal elections from 2003 to 2020? “The first laws implemented produced a Democratic advantage, which weakened to near zero after 2012,” the study says. “We conclude that voter ID requirements motivate and mobilize supporters of both parties, ultimately mitigating their anticipated effects on election results.” The lack of suppressive outcome explains why requiring photo ID to vote is “favored by 77% of people of color and 80% of White adults,” to quote Gallup’s poll last year.

For that matter, have a gander at the University of Georgia’s 2022 postelection survey. Asked to rate their personal experience voting in the Peach State, 72.6% of black residents said excellent, 23.6% said good, 3.3% said fair, and 0% said poor. The figures for whites were 72.7% excellent, 23.3% good, 3% fair and 0.9% poor. Those who had a “self-reported problem with voting” included 0.5% of blacks and 1.3% of whites.

The State of the Union Contradiction If Biden is such a success, why aren’t Americans pleased?

https://www.wsj.com/articles/joe-biden-state-of-the-union-address-america-polling-economy-covid-11675809441?mod=opinion_lead_pos1

President Biden devoted most of his State of the Union address on Tuesday night to celebrating what he says is a long list of legislative and economic achievements—spending on social programs and public works, subsidies for computer chips, even more subsidies for green energy, and a strong labor market. But if he’s done so much for America, why does most of America not seem to appreciate it?

That’s the contradiction stalking his Presidency as he enters his third year and plots a likely re-election campaign. The disconnect is clear enough in the polls. His job approval rating average has climbed to 44.2% in the RealClearPolitics average, which should be better with all of that supposed good news. Gallup has it at 41%. Mr. Biden’s RCP average job approval on the economy is 38%.

The latest Washington Post/ABC poll is even worse for the President. Some 41% of Americans say they’re worse off financially than when Mr. Biden became President, while only 16% say they’re better off. Most people—62%—say Mr. Biden has accomplished either not very much or little or nothing. That includes 22% of Democrats.

And here’s the really bad news for Mr. Biden. Some 58% of Democrats say they’d prefer a different party nominee for President in 2024, and he even loses a head to head matchup with former President Trump 48%-44%.

***

Polls are only snapshots in time, and few voters are focused on the 2024 choices. Mr. Biden could rise if the economy ducks a recession, inflation subsides, and Ukraine pushes Russia out of most or all of its territory.