Archive for the ‘Culture Wars’ Category

Republicans will use hearing to assert Dems’ ‘culture war’ policies hampering military recruitment – Fox News

EXCLUSIVE: Republican senators are readying to make the case that the Pentagons progressive military policies under the Biden administration are to blame for the Armed Forces dire recruitment crisis.

The Senate Armed Services Committee is holding a hearing at 9:30am this morning on the militarys shortage of new troops, which the Center for Strategic and International Studies called "the worst recruiting crisis since the creation of the All-Volunteer Force nearly 50 years ago."

Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Rick Scott, R-Fla., members of the committee and military veterans themselves, drew a link to their own time serving the country when asked by Fox News Digital about the current personnel crisis.

"My family didnt have much growing up, and the Navy gave me the opportunity for a better life and a better education it can provide that for so many kids across our nation. But unfortunately, this administration has made their focus more on pushing the failed agenda of the radical Left than building a lethal force and advertising the opportunities our military provides and how great our service can be for ones life," Scott said. "When our military is more focused on achieving some diversity metric rather than defeating our enemies, our national defense and the American people lose."

AIR FORCE GOES ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION HIRING SPREE: TOP JOB PAYS UP TO $183,500

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has come under fire from Republicans for placing an emphasis on progressive policies like DEI in the military's ranks, amid a dire recruitment shortage (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Ernst told Fox News Digital, "The militarys purpose is to fight and winnot crusade for social causes. As a combat veteran, this is personal to me. The Department of Defense must act urgently to fix waning recruitment and retentionand ultimately to build a more lethal force. Our adversaries are watching."

BIDEN ARMY SECRETARY RESPONDS TO WOKE CRITICISMS, SAYS DEI PROGRAM IMPORTANT

Sen. Eric Schmitt, R-Mo., another member of the panel, told Fox News Digital that hes looking to press the Pentagon officials at todays hearing on their commitment to upholding national safety rather than waging "culture wars at home."

"The goal of our military should be to meet global challenges facing America with decisive authority, not to wage culture wars at home," Schmitt said. "I look forward to questioning top military officialsto get more answers and ensure that our military is laser-focused on addressing the challenges that our adversaries pose to our country and our freedoms."

Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, a military veteran, blasted the Biden administration's "failed agenda" (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

In a statement made to Fox News Digital late last week, the committees top Republican, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., warned that "divisive" policies imposed by President Joe Bidens appointees are leaving the U.S. more vulnerable to its foreign adversaries.

"In the competition with China and Russia, our greatest asset is our people. The divisive social policies being pushed by senior Democrat appointees at the Pentagon are undermining this advantage," Wicker said.

DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION WORKERS FRET COMPANIES AREN'T HIRING THEM ANYMORE: INSANE, PATHETIC

The personnel shortage has so far hit the Army the hardest, having fallen short of its 2022 recruitment goals by 25%. The Navy, Air Force and Marines all barely scraped by after dipping into their pools of deferred recruits guaranteeing a setback in reaching this years benchmarks.

Sen. Tommy Tuberville, R-Ala., referenced the dire recruitment statistics in his own comments to Fox News Digital.

Sen. Joni Ernst, also a veteran on the Armed Services Committee, said the military's purpose was not to "crusade for social causes" (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

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"While the Biden administration declares climate change a national security threat, our real enemies are growing in strength and numbers," Tuberville said. "Last year the Army missed its recruitment goal by 15,000 recruits more than an entire division. This year is shaping up to be even worse. This national security emergency ought to be a wake-up call for Pentagon leadership but theyve refused to take responsibility. Its time for them to get serious about keeping our country safe."

Testifying at the Tuesday morning hearing will be the undersecretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin is expected on Capitol Hill later this week for a House hearing on Biden's Defense budget proposal.

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Republicans will use hearing to assert Dems' 'culture war' policies hampering military recruitment - Fox News

Campus free speech battle reaches the Ohio Statehouse – Axios

Illustration: Shoshana Gordon/Axios

Statehouse Republicans are proposing widespread changes to Ohio's higher education system that they say will better protect free speech on campus by, among other things, banning mandatory diversity training.

Why it matters: The effort to ward off perceived political bias in higher education is one of several recent attempts by GOP lawmakers to more closely shape public education's operations and curriculum.

Driving the news: Senate Bill 83, the Ohio Higher Education Enhancement Act, would outlaw any employee at a public university from going on strike. It would also prohibit:

Flashback: One example of a university publicly commenting on a potentially "controversial belief or policy:" Ohio State president Michael Drake's campus-wide letter in 2020 condemning institutional racism.

Of note: The bill primarily focuses on public universities, but some elements apply to private colleges that receive state dollars.

Meanwhile, SB83 also would also require:

What they're saying: State Sen. Jerry Cirino (R-Kirtland), the bill's main sponsor, told reporters there are cases of ideological discrimination happening at Ohio campuses.

The other side: The American Association of University Professors' Ohio chapter condemned the bill for seeking to micromanage universities on issues "rooted in the culture wars."

What we're watching: Sweeping bills typically undergo major changes during the legislative process after members hear from constituents and interest groups.

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Campus free speech battle reaches the Ohio Statehouse - Axios

How the UK became more liberal, despite the culture wars – Positive.News

Despite attempts from some quarters to roll back liberal values, the UK has become one of the worlds most progressive nations

Despite the ongoing culture wars, the UK now ranks as one of the worlds most socially liberal countries, following huge shifts in attitudes on issues such as homosexuality, casual sex, abortion, euthanasia and divorce.

Thats according toa study by the Policy Institute at Kings College London. It assessed attitudes in 23 nations and ranked the UK as one of the most accepting.

The biggest shift in attitude was seen around homosexuality. It found that two-thirds (66 per cent) of Britons now believe homosexuality is justifiable up from just 12 per cent in 1981. Much of that change has occurred over a short timeframe: as recently as 2009, only a third (33 per cent) thought homosexuality was justifiable.

Somewhat surprisingly, the UK is now more liberal than France when it comes to casual sex, the research suggests. In 1999, one in 10 Britons believed that having casual sex was justifiable. Today more than four times as many (42 per cent) hold this view. In France, it is 26 per cent.

Attitudes have also changed on abortion. Half (48 per cent) of the British public now believe that abortion is justifiable more than three times the proportion who said the same in 1981 (14 per cent). Similar shifts were reported around euthanasia, divorce and prostitution, though the death penalty is one issue where the UK was found to be less liberal, with many peer nations more disapproving of its use.

Its easy to lose sight of just how much more liberal the UK has become over a relatively short period of time, and how liberal we are relative to many other nations, said Prof Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at Kings College London. This mostly isnt just driven by younger generations replacing older generations. All generations have changed their views significantly.

Attitudes have shifted significantly around issues such as homosexuality. Image: Clem Onojeghuo

The findings chime with research by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen). Its annual poll tracks the evolution of British social, political and moral attitudes by asking 3,000 people for their views on life in Britain.

The latest survey found that the majority of the UK public are now in agreement with so-called woke sentiments, as the balance of public opinion shifts in favour of an inclusive outlook on racial equality, immigration and sexual identity.

Despite anti-immigrant rhetoric from right-wing politicians and their cheerleaders in the media, the poll found that the proportion of people believing immigration was bad for the economy halved from 42 per cent to 20 per cent in the decade to 2021. Those saying it was good rose from 21 per cent to 50 per cent.

Its easy to lose sight of just how much more liberal the UK has become

Meanwhile, 45 per cent of Britons believe that equal opportunities for black and Asian people have not gone far enough, up from 25 per cent in 2000.

The more liberal or woke outlook on national identity, national sentiment and immigration now tends to be the more popular view in contrast to the position a decade or so ago, the study concluded.

NatCens research echoes a 2022 reportby the More In Common thinktank. It surveyed 5,000 adults from across the political spectrum and found that a compassionate, live and let live attitude prevails on supposedly divisive issues, despite the vitriol swirling around online.

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How the UK became more liberal, despite the culture wars - Positive.News

Study provides insight into how culture war issues contributed to Trump’s rise to power – PsyPost

New research sheds light on the cultural values that played a key role in shaping peoples attitude toward Donald Trump and their intentions to vote for the Republican candidate in 2016. The findings, published in New Political Science, indicate that beliefs related to hegemonic masculinity, race/ethnicity, and authorities on truth influenced the likelihood of adults developing an affinity for Trump.

As social scientists, we were particularly interested in the social forces that encouraged people to develop affinities for Donald Trump who was such a controversial, divisive, and fascinating figure and who, it turned out, won a pivotal presidential election and has largely shaped history and society since, explained study author Chris Knoester, an associate professor of sociology at Ohio State University.

Based onprevious research, we became aware of unique data that allowed us to consider how social structure (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, education, age) and cultural values and related social policies (e.g., culture war topics connected to gender, race/ethnicity and nativism, and authorities on truth) predicted the likelihood that U.S. adults would develop trust in Trump and state intentions to vote for him in the month before the 2016 presidential election.

We realized that we could offer evidence that disentangles, to some extent, how and to what degree social structure and culture encouraged people to trust Trump, how and to what degree these factors encouraged people to state intentions to vote for Trump, and how and to what degree a variety of culture war topics connected to gender, race/ethnicity and nativism, and the establishment of truth were associated with intentions to vote for Trump even after accounting for the levels of trust that people developed for him, Knoester explained.

Essentially, these analyses show evidence of how culture war politics were integral to Trumps rise to power and they offer a preview of especially Republicans culture war strategies, and their reliance upon them and realizations of their effectiveness, since 2016.

Data for the study came from the Taking Americas Pulse 2016 Class Survey, which included responses from 1,461 U.S. adults. The survey was conducted online between October 5 and 25, 2016 just prior to the 2016 presidential election, and included the question: If you HAD to choose, which presidential candidate do you find to be more truthful: Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton? The survey also collected data regarding voting intentions, demographic factors, and attitudes related to hegemonic masculinity, race/ethnicity and nativism, and authorities on truth.

Of the entire sample, 48% thought that Trump was more truthful than Hillary Clinton and 34% intended to vote for him. Trust in Trump was higher among men (vs women), Whites (vs other ethnicities), and those with a high school or some college education (vs those with a college education).

But these factors were no longer significant predictors of support for Trump after accounting for political partisanship and beliefs that embody specific cultural values. Instead, people who support Trump tended to share certain beliefs about masculinity, race, immigration, and what is considered true or not. This suggests that social structure played a role in influencing support for Trump by shaping peoples beliefs about these cultural values.

In particular, trust in Trump was higher among those who disagreed that women are disadvantaged in the workplace, those who believed it is okay to use physical violence to address bullying, those who supported increased penalties for undocumented immigrants, those who supported more preparation to offset the threats from international terrorists, those who disagreed that climate change is real, and those who agreed that the news media has increased racial discrimination.

Additionally, intentions to vote for Trump were higher among those who disapproved of participation trophies, those who were skeptical that long-term interracial romantic relationships could be successful, those who felt athlete protests during the National Anthem were unacceptable, and those who believed that presidential candidates should be able to ban the press from campaign events.

We were struck by the apparent relevance of different culture war issues involving gender, race/ethnicity and nativism, and authorities on truth in establishing affinities for Donald Trumpeven beyond social structural and partisanship influences, Knoester told PsyPost.

Some of the prominent and salient culture war issues in 2016 seemed to revolve around disputes about sexism at work, punishments for undocumented immigrants, terrorism threats, protests during the national anthem, trust in the media, and global warming. Many of these cultural war contestations continued to connect to intentions to vote for Trump even after considering the extent to which people trusted Trump relative to Hillary Clinton.

Nonetheless, before people would state an intention to vote for Trump, it seemed that they needed to establish some trust in him, Knoester said. Virtually no one in our study intended to vote for Trump if they trusted Hillary Clinton more than him. And, social structural and cultural forces encouraged some people to establish trust in Trump.

The researchers used a framework developed by Linguist George Lakoff to interpret the relationship between social structure and cultural values. Lakoff outlined two common frames used in political discourse. All humans have both mental frames, but they may prioritize one over the other based on their personal experiences and situation in life.

The strict father morality frame is often embraced by conservative individuals and assumes a hierarchical structure with a focus on personal responsibility and toughness. It is also patriarchal and racialized, with the father figure being a white male who enforces rules and traditional gender expectations and inequalities.

In contrast, more liberal individuals tend to embrace a nurturant parent frame, which assumes that people are generally good but require support and opportunities to thrive. This frame is less hierarchical and more accepting of differences in behavior and beliefs. It also promotes equality among different human characteristics such as gender, race/ethnicity, and place of origin.

Our study suggests that people use different notions of morality, affected by their embrace of what George Lakoff describes as a strict father or nurturing parent metaphorical framing, Knoester told PsyPost. Social forces encourage us to differentially adopt one of these social psychological framings of morality, oftentimes subconsciously. Many of these influential social forces stem from social structure (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity, education, age).

Yet, cultural values and related social policies are also very meaningful and gender, race/ethnicity and nativism, and authorities on truth disputes are traditional fault lines that have emerged as extensions of social structure influences and different moral authority framings. Culture wars seem to especially prompt visceral reactions in people, divide potential coalitions, and enable political agents to co-opt them for inspirational, motivational, distractive, and control purposes. Often, they tap into fears, anxieties, grievances, and pushes for diversity, equity, and inclusionand backlashes to these pushes, amid many changes in the culture at large.

We all need to be more mindful of these social structural and cultural contestation forces, recognize how influential they have been, and wary of how they are activated and used to frequently gain or maintain power and influenceoften, by dividing and polarizing us in ways that commonly stigmatize and harm some groups of people and more generally prevent collaborations that may enable better qualities of life, for all. In fact, they can also offer threats to social order and democracy.

The study provides valuable insights into peoples opinions on cultural and political topics leading up to the 2016 U.S. election, and offers new data on their affinities towards Trump during that period. But like all research, it has some limitations.

Unfortunately, due to data limitations, we were unable to analyze the relevance of religious influences and contestations about LGBTQ issues, Knoester said. It seems clear that religious affiliations profoundly matter in the determination of moral authority framings. Also, culture war contestations have commonly involved LGBTQ issues (e.g., same sex marriage, gender and sexual identities, and transgender rights). These factors should be more fully considered in future research.

Furthermore, the relevance of social structure and cultureand particularly cultural war issuescontinue to be in flux and, to some extent, their influence seems to be continually manufactured. So, for example, we see changes in what issues take hold and there continue to be trial balloons floated about cultural war issues and related social policies in attempts to capture media attention, public reactions, and effective taps into fears, anxieties, hopes, and grievances.

Recently, the issues have emphasized gender identities, sexual identities, race/ethnicity, and discussion and recognition of institutionalized, historic, and systematic inequalities, Knoester continued. The culture war issues have highlighted, as part of this, transgender athletes, critical race theory, and public educationamong many other things. So, continually, the questions that still need to be addressed involve what has changed in terms of the relevance and manipulations of social structural and cultural forces and influences, why, and to what effectand what should and can be done about these dynamics?

The findings from our study suggest that we need to become more vigilantly educated and aware of where social structural and cultural forces are coming from, why they matter, and how they are use, the researcher added. Also, we need to continually try to make better sense of these social forces and collaboratively work to challenge them if they are being used to infringe upon the rights, well-being, and opportunities of fellow Americans. These processes do not begin, nor will they end, with Donald Trumpalthough he has been intimately involved in benefitting from them, co-opting them, and affecting them.

The study, Social Structure, Culture, and the Allure of Donald Trump in 2016, was authored by Chris Knoester and Matthew Knoester.

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Study provides insight into how culture war issues contributed to Trump's rise to power - PsyPost

Postcards from the class & culture wars (3.20.23) – Patheos

Some Boca Raton residents said they received packets with antisemitic messages in their driveways and front yards Jan. 14, the same daya swastika was projected onto an AT&T building in downtown West Palm Beach.

The Saxons said they launched the Dissident Homeschool channel on Telegram after years of searching for and developing Nazi-approved material for their own home-schooled children material they were eager to share.

The IRS audits Black taxpayers at roughly three to five times the rate of non-Black taxpayers.

Ohio House Speaker Larry Householder and former state Republican Party Chair Matt Borges were convicted in a $60 million bribery scheme that federal prosecutors have called the largest corruption case in state history.

An Idaho hospital will stop labor and delivery services, citing doctor shortages and the political climate, the hospital announced.

The violations began piling up just as Republican state legislators, many of them newly in the majority, went on the attack against child labor restrictions, pressing in various ways to expand the number of work hours and work settings available to teenagers aged 14 to 17.

Ive slowly and reluctantly realized that its not that they dont know; its that they dont care.

Nunes small group continues to grow,as once-fringe white nationalist rhetoric and ideas gain traction.

There isnt really an upside to Trump.

I hate him passionately.

I mean, you have to harbor quite a bit of hate for your viewers to willfully continue feeding them vaccine misinformation that isliterally killing them.

Its a shit network.

In other words, Gannett has eliminated more than half of its jobs in the United States in four years.

The bill does not set limits on the extent of which officers can restrain students, or add restrictions to ensure the student is safe.

One of the parents asserts to West Shore school officials that her conservative religious values conflict with the Character Strong lessons which are intended to teach compassion because not every human is deserving of my childs empathy.'

Republican presidential hopefuls are vowing to wage a war on woke, but a majority of Americans are inclined to see the word as a positive attribute, not a negative one.

Those three spirits who visited Drazkowski last Christmas Eve clearly bungled the job.

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Postcards from the class & culture wars (3.20.23) - Patheos