Diversity Thursday

Reading the NDAA Tealeaves: Part III

As promised on Tuesday, we’ll close out our review of the NDAA to see what is happening in regard to the pushback against the cancer of DEI, CRT, ESG, and related afflictions injected in to DOD over the last few decades as we’ve chronicled here and at the OG blog.

“This is the best of DivThu, this is the worse of DivThu, it is the DivThu of wisdom, it is the DivThu of foolishness, it is the DivThu of belief, it is the DivThu of incredulity, it is the DivThu of light, it is the DivThu of darkness, it is the DivThu of hope, it is the DivThu of despair.”

—Apologies to Mr. Dickens—

Elections have consequences and divided government gives you conflicting feelings. Your warm rush of joy can be washed away by a cold collapse of sadness - all in proportion of what percentage of government your team has control of.

Today will be a few things, but first the good news.

For a very long time there was no pushback against the cancer of division, sectarianism, and hate that is the military’s branch of the diversity industry.

As I will probably cover next week, one of the few positive tertiary effects of the nightmarish events of October 7th is that the rotten and toxic core of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) commissariat have been opened up for all to see and smell. It is indeed a positive turning point, but only one decisive point along a very complicated and long-time-dwell line of operation to move towards a more just society based on individual merit and the content of people’s character. There are many steps to take on this journey, and it is only now starting.

The bad news? The Democrat Party has DEI and its adjacent cults as a core of their ideology and coalition. As the pushback gains momentum - and it has that momentum - they will only defend their position more. They are used to turning back any opposition - if there were any - with simply a glance or a casually thrown slur, but that no longer works.

As such, as long as they have political power, they will blunt any pushback. The Republicans have not always pushed back. As a matter of fact, until very recently, they were as much of a problem as the Democrats in this area. Somewhere south of 49.9% of the Republican leadership is still unreliable in the drive towards equal treatment for all, but that cohort is shrinking year by year.

Even though the (R) have a wafer thin margin in the House - the 2024 NDAA that went in to conference had a whole bevy of wonderful corrective items in it. Some items we have wanted for decades but never risked hoping we’d see any time soon. Give it a read.

We cannot send enough praise to the Representatives and their Staff for pulling what they did through the House. There were some even better items which were left on the cutting room floor that didn’t make it in to Conference with the Senate - but that is how our government works. You can’t demand perfect, but you sure can ask for good, and this was better than good.

Oh, I mentioned “…Conference with the Senate…” didn’t I?

Well, here is the dark side of today’s post. You’re going to learn to hate this simple phrase, “The House recedes.” That phrase means the (D) controlled Senate blocked it. It ain’t going to happen.

Let’s look at what could have been, and what almost will be … but… sigh. Here’s the Conference Report you can dive through for reference.

Let’s start with what are three partial victories.

First, Section 576:

“The Senate recedes.” Don’t see that often. However…those Senate staffers are clever.

Details matter.

So, in essence, instructors can bring in all the CRT related material they want,

Section 364:

A partial victory? Why? Well, like our other partial victories, words matter. The key here is “…primary duties are related to DEI.” I’m a former manpower guy. I don’t just know where some of the bodies are buried, I helped dig the hole and personally dragged the bodies into it. All you have to do is carefully scope the job description.

The House version if perfectly clear. The Senate version makes getting around this easy to do. The compromise will require people to intentionally creatively lie at best, at worst just be less efficient at creating anything useful.

Don’t get me wrong - this ain’t awful, but it’s only a mush. I’ll take it as a good first step until the environment is more ripe for additional progress.

Section 529C:

This is great hear, but may not be apparent to those who have not seen this in action or listened to what the Chief of Naval Personnel said in 2021, is that there is a problem from recruiting to selection boards where the DEI thumb is on the scale. The professional gaslighters and fellow travelers have denied it exists … but here we have an admission in law that we need to focus in individual merit and performance; so thanks for that.

With the stripping out of the clarity of stating “race and gender” in the House version, there is room here for mischief.

Let’s look at the full language.

I need the Front Porch to help me keep an eye on the interesting part; what will the SECDEF’s response be? When you see it, pop me an email. Please let one of the members of the commissariat type out that answer for him. Please. That would make it the most entertaining.

That ends the partially good news. Rejoice in these victories, as depending on the next election results, it may be awhile until we see more unless it comes out of the courts.

Even the “House recedes” section isn’t all bad news. Sure, great things did not make it out of Conference, but they made it there. They can make it there again a second, third, fourth or more time until accepted. It’s a long march.

Section 529B:

OK, we can’t eliminate the commissariat, but we can stop it from growing. That ain’t nutt’n. Close to a partial victory, really.

Section 570G:

This needs to go up every year. Again, this went to conference but was not passed. As such, this tells you that, yes, there is a desire to have quotas (they misspelled it as “quotes”) in the admission process. Useful, but a loss.

Section 595:

Wiggle room. Good news, people are on a hair trigger on this. Attempts will be made. They will be reported. Hell will be raised. Still, a lost opportunity - but elections have consequences.

(NB: there is photographic evidence of me dressed as Dolly Pardon for a Halloween in Georgetown back in the day when Georgetown was fun. My fraternity brother was dressed as a Mary Katherine Gallagher. Damn, we looked good and I won’t apologize.")

Section 596:

Again, the House version is a clear and direct requirement. Though we have a “The House recedes,” there is requirement for a report that should produce some useful material for future use. Not a full loss here either.

Section 904:

Complete loss, but we can reattack later.

Section 1046:

If you have not been tracking, the Cultural Marxism fellow traveler with DEI is Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) . Like Sec. 904, we can return to this another year.

Section 1101:

Related to Sec. 364 above. Again, this can come back.

Section 1120:

The House provision would have been a foundational item for future efforts … but perhaps we can get something of use from the review in S. 2226.

So, that is what I can pull out. If you can find more let us know.

In the end, be happy. Smart people in hard jobs now have this inside their notebook as a priority. With (D) having such an overwhelming access to most of the levers of power between the Executive and Legislative branches of government … take the win.

More work to do, but take the “W.”