Month: August 2024

Every Friday morning at 8:30 a.m., I join the Cardle & Woolley show, Talk 1370 Radio, in Austin to pick the week’s top Winners & Losers in Texas, America and the world. Although it seems like the current presidential campaign has been going on forever, traditionally, Labor Day is the election year launch—the sprint to the finish, the beginning of the end. At this point, both sides have consolidated their respective bases and the battle is over a couple hundred thousand votes in the swing states. Early voting starts in Minnesota and Virginia on Sept. 20, so from that perspective, campaigns have less than three weeks to make their case.

With 66 days to go until Election Night, Nov. 5, here’s who made the Labor Day Weekend list:

Maybe a Winner: Vice President Kamala Harris

Never forget that the only relevant question in politics is “compared to what.” Harris didn’t have to be good in her first interview after avoiding the press for the over 40 days since she secured the Democrat nomination for president. She just didn’t have to be bad, and she wasn’t that bad. Granted, she provided no explanation about why she adamantly opposed fracking when she was running for president in 2019, but she is fine with it now.

She also didn’t explain why her position has changed on decriminalizing border crossings or building the border wall, which she called Trump’s “medieval vanity project.” She didn’t express any regrets for telling the American people that President Joe Biden was absolutely, totally fit for office when 90% of Americans could see that he was cognitively impaired. And she glossed over going around the country insisting “Bidenomics” was making life better for everyone.

For those who know her record, when she said “my values have not changed,” it was an ominous warning. Unfortunately, a poll released by the Media Research Center this week found that 70% of registered Biden voters and Independents don’t know anything about what she stands for, including the fact that she voted to the left of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders when she was in the Senate. Those people may be fine with her flippant “that was then, this is now” responses.

Those of us who care about public policy and the future of the country were appalled by the lack of depth and the faulty analysis Harris provided in her first interview, but we were never going to vote for her anyway. In the end, elections boil down to math, and the interview for Harris was better than most people thought it would be. So it could turn out to be a win for her.

Or maybe not. Newsweek Star Sports released its latest betting analysis this morning and, according to its numbers, Harris’ odds of winning “deteriorated noticeably” after the CNN interview. Harris went from having a 52.4% chance of winning to being tied with former President Donald Trump at 51.3%. Trump must capitalize on this, of course, if he is going to regain the Big Mo.

Labor Day Winner: Texas

The good news this Labor Day weekend is that Texas earned an A+ from the Commonwealth Foundation’s Analysis of Public Sector Labor Laws. That group put out a new report this week comparing state positions on limiting collective bargaining and collecting union dues for public sector labor unions. Texas is a free state with strong right-to-work protections. Looking at all states, the reports shows that big public sector unions, including the National Education Association (NEA), the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) have lost over 300,000 members nationally since 2018, as more states have stopped unions from requiring membership in order to work.

Keep in mind that these public sector unions, whose employees are paid by taxpayers, are one of the most important organizing forces in the Democrat Party. Teachers unions have blocked school choice in Texas for two decades, putting their members’ preferences over the needs of Texas children. And when it comes to elections, public sector unions are the boots on the ground for Democrats, heading up efforts to get voters to the polls. Good for Texas for reining in this taxpayer-funded activism.

Loser: CNN and the Mainstream Media

Last week, Iran-backed Houthi rebels attacked a Greek oil tanker in the Red Sea. It was carrying 1 million barrels of oil, four times what was on the Exxon Valdez. Fox News and other conservative media outlets have been reporting this story for a week. CNN and the rest of the mainstream media didn’t pick it up yesterday, perhaps because the Houthis are pro-Palestinian. Could it be that even when the threat of a monumental environmental disaster looms, the left-leaning press would slow-walk a story that indicts allies of the Palestinians, who they consider to be the “good guys” in the Middle East? Does anyone think that had Israel bombed an oil tanker it would not have been front page news minutes after it happened?

Loser: ABC News & Jonathan Karl

Another mainstream media loser showed up this week when Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, demonstrated how some reporters shill for the left. Cotton took on Jonathan Karl in an interview on ABC this week. When Karl insisted he “knew” Vice President Harris’ position on fracking, health care and the economy were not as left-wing as Cotton said they were—even though Karl had not spoken with Harris and she hadn’t told the country yet that nothing she said before July 21 matters now—Cotton pushed back. Watch the clip if you haven’t. Karl is pathetic.

Loser: Mark Zuckerberg

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg finally told the House Judiciary Committee that Facebook had bowed to government pressure from “senior Biden officials,” and censored content during the COVID 19 pandemic. He also reiterated that he was wrong to suppress the story of Hunter Biden’s infamous laptop in the days leading up to the 2020 election, because Biden’s team told him it was “Russian disinformation.” Zuckerberg’s confession provides a huge window into the power of social media and its ability to impact public opinion and elections, especially when it acts in collusion with the government.

Zuckerberg promised he’d never to do it again and says he’s not going to put $400 million into “get out the vote” efforts this year like he did in 2020. It’s good that he finally admitted what we all knew to be true, but it’s not enough to make him a winner. When you consider all the damage he caused by blocking information on COVID 19 and possibly impacting the election, the confession is way too little and way too late.

Winner: Katy ISD’s “Gender Fluidity” Ban

Too many Texas public school librarians are pushing back against bans on pornography in public schools, saying they don’t have time to look at all the books and, besides, banning any book is somehow un-American. That’s why Katy ISD is a winner for continuing to make clear the kinds of books that don’t belong in public schools, including those that promulgate “gender fluidity.” Science tells us that sex is binary, but gender fluidity enthusiasts insist that gender is actually everyone’s choice and that you do not have to accept whatever sex your doctor “assigned” to you when you were born. That is, of course, hogwash. If you want to know the kinds of books they are talking about read my review of Gender Queer.

Winner: Rep. Shawn Thierry

If you think that this crazy “gender fluidity” notion is a fringe ideology, keep in mind that Texas Democrat voters ousted State Rep. Shawn Thierry, D-Houston, from office in the spring primary because she voted against allowing pornography in public libraries and in support of blocking parents from allowing their children to take puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and even undergo unnecessary mastectomies or castrations. Today, Thierry announced that she is leaving the Democrats behind and has joined the Republican Party. Thierry promised to work hard on issues that reflect common sense and the values of most Texans, including fighting Democrat efforts to change Title IX so that men can play in women’s sports. This is a win for Thierry and the Texas GOP.

Loser: DEI Programs in Business

Lowe’s is the latest company to announce that it is abandoning its DEI efforts because they have proved divisive and counterproductive in moving their companies forward. Harley Davidson, Jack Daniels, Tractor Supply and John Deere made similar announcements recently. Thanks to social media, customers now know if a company has a DEI program and they can express their disdain by shopping elsewhere. A big plus from the DEI withdrawal is that these companies have also dropped their sponsorship of the Human Rights Campaign, an organization that used to advocate for gay rights but now is almost exclusively focused on so-called transgender and gender identity issues. If you are going to do household projects this Labor Day Weekend, go to Lowe’s.

Winner: Dennis Quaid and the Reagan Movie

Another Labor Day holiday option is Dennis Quaid’s new movie, “Reagan,” which opens today. Quaid, who is from Bellaire, outside Houston, was on hand for a screening of the movie at the Bullock Museum earlier this month, where he talked about why he made the movie and how he prepared to take on the role of the former president. “Reagan” comes at an important time, as Americans are watching Russia invade Ukraine, reminding Europe and the rest of the world what that threat means. The story is told from the perspective of an old Russian spy played by Jon Voight, whose character provides a great history of how the Cold War was fought and why it was important. Predictably, Hollywood is giving the film a thumbs down, but who cares? Go see it.

Winner: Tomorrow is Game Day!  

No. 4 ranked University of Texas at Austin kicks off tomorrow at 2:30PM against Colorado State and the No. 20 Texas A&M Aggies will meet No. 7 Notre Dame at 6:30PM tomorrow night. ESPN’s College GameDay will be broadcasting live from College Station so the football show there actually starts at 8:00AM. Get your signs, get out there and get on TV! Texas Tech will play Abilene Christian, Texas State will take on Lamar, and the University of Houston will play UNLV.

Wonder what those rankings will look like next week. Have a great holiday weekend!

Sherry Sylvester is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and the former Senior Advisor to Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.

Sign up to receive this in your inbox every week at www.texaspolicy.com/9thandCongress.

Follow me on X @sylvester1630 and follow my podcast, the Sherry Sylvester Show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Every Friday morning at 8:30 a.m., I join the Cardle & Woolley show, Talk 1370 Radio, in Austin to pick the week’s top Winners & Losers in Texas, America and the world. The Democrats put on their national convention in Chicago this week complete with American icon Oprah Winfrey, Al Sharpton (the Jussie Smollett of his time) and the Band Formerly Known as Dixie Chicks singing the national anthem. Hundreds of speakers over four days said every bad thing that could be said about former President Donald Trump—and then Vice President Kamala Harris made a speech.

With 73 days to go to the Election, here’s who made the list:

Big Winner – Democrats and Kamala Harris

It’s not immediately clear if the Democrat National Convention (DNC) was better than the Republican event in Minneapolis last month, but at crunch time, when the rubber hit the road, Kamala Harris stuck to her script and delivered a speech that seemed to transform her into a person who cares about border security, working Americans, Israel and the threat of Russia in Ukraine. While she was long on lies and short on specifics, she cleared all the thorny hurdles that could be political liabilities in her party while promising to solve all the problems she and President Joe Biden have created since they won election in 2020.

Unlike virtually every speaker before her, including former President Barack Obama and especially Michelle Obama, who spewed hatred and vitriol at Trump, Harris elegantly dismissed him by simply saying he is not a serious person. Even though she is wrong about virtually every policy issue, it is important that conservatives acknowledge this important display of the kind of message discipline that is critical to winning elections. Trump has called Harris stupid, incompetent, unattractive and only pretending to be black, but she did not feel compelled to respond to him.

Neither Biden nor Trump have been able to restrain themselves when criticized.

There were lots of American flags at the DNC, because Democrats say they are the party of freedom now, even though they want to force Americans to buy electric cars and stoves and accept drag queen story hours in public libraries. The right to send your child to the school of your choice is also not on their “freedom” list. Neither is the right to pursue your own idea of success and happiness if it involves money. Democrats repeatedly proclaimed their hatred of “billionaires” and “the wealthy,” although many of the top speakers including the Obamas, the Clintons, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren are very wealthy—and some, like Winfrey and Illinois Gov. J.B Pritzker, are billionaires.

Vice presidential candidate Gov. Tim Walz, the so-called “coach” who has apparently lied about having a DUI, how his children were conceived and the rank he obtained in the National Guard, drew cheers when he said his philosophy of freedom is basically, “mind your own business.” That’s pretty rich coming from a guy who established a COVID-19 snitch line during the pandemic so people could report their neighbors who might not be wearing masks.

We can only conclude that freedom for Democrats is the same as it has always been—everyone is free to do exactly what they are told to do, like requiring an apology to Native Americans for stealing their land before you can start a meeting and allowing boys who think they are girls to play in girls’ sports.

Still, the Democrats had Bill Clinton, who remains one of the greatest political speakers of our time, perhaps the last of his kind, since the screaming insults of Michelle Obama are what is called “great” today. The Democrat Convention ended on time with a gazillion balloons falling from the ceiling, like millions of illegal migrants rushing across the border.

Before Joe Biden was pushed out of the race, the Democrats reported that Steven Spielberg would be producing their convention. I am not sure if he was on still on board once Harris took over, but they accomplished their mission—taking a candidate the country didn’t like, who had not received one primary vote, and transforming her into a beloved leader spewing both joy and hope. It was all hype of course—as the Free Press said, kind of like the Barbie movie. Still, you can’t count the Democrat National Convention as anything but a win for the left.

Big Loser – Harris Tax Plan

If you wonder what all that joy and hope is going to cost you, take a look at the Americans for Tax Reform analysis of the tax plan Harris released this week. News reports have primarily focused on her plan to increase the small business tax 39.6%, push the capital gains tax to 44.6% and the corporate tax rate up to 28% from 21%—making it higher than the European Union and China. But there are many other horrible things on her new tax list that Americans need to ponder, such as $37 billion in new taxes on oil and gas, a $24 billion “retirement tax” on IRA’s for “wealthy” people and a 32% increase in taxes on Medicare. There’s a real estate tax hike, the “unrealized gains” tax on money you don’t have and another $100 billion to the Internal Revenue Service to give it the tools to make sure you pay it. That’s more of what the Democrats mean when they say “freedom.”

Loser – Planned Parenthood’s Abortion Truck

Democrats pushing the “joy and hope” theme of the Convention might have asked their pals at Planned Parenthood to re-think their idea of parking a truck offering free abortions and vasectomies outside the Convention hall. The parade of women dressed as abortion pills also was off message. Democrats ridiculed GOP Vice Presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance’s unfortunate “childless cat ladies” comment, but these kinds of antics make it abundantly clear why Vance believes pro-family policies must be emphasized to counter the Democrat culture that glorifies abortion and sterilization.  .

Loser – Media Coverage of Harris

The Media Research Center reported this week that 84% of the media coverage of Vice President Harris has been positive since she became the Democrat nominee, while 89% of the coverage of Donald Trump has been negative. During the days when the media was pushing Biden to step aside, we got to experience what it would be like if we had news media that asked serious questions, but that is all gone now. Harris has gone for more than a month without a press conference, and there’s no sign that the press will ever hold her feet to the fire. It also seems unlikely that ABC News will provide a fair platform for the first debate next month.

Winner – Trump Campaign Website for Harris

To fill the void created by Harris’ failure to honestly articulate what she supports, the Trump campaign launched a website with Harris’ policy positions to remind voters that she strongly backs  the Green New Deal, eliminating private health insurance, decriminalizing border crossings, abolishing ICE and a host of other lefty policies. The Trump campaign must expose her record to voters and this is a good start.

Loser – Democrat Run Cities

It has been rightly noted that the Chicago police—with support from law enforcement from around Illinois and the country—did a great job of keeping the Convention from exploding this past week, but crime in America’s Democrat-run urban cities is still a huge problem. Twelve people were shot and one person was killed on the second day of the Convention, and a Democrat delegate from Texas was robbed at gunpoint not far from the Convention Center. Meanwhile, joyful Democrats continue to insist that crime is going down.

Margin of Error Winner – Colin Allred

Democrats got some good news in Texas when the latest Hobby School poll showed Democrat challenger Colin Allred within the margin of error in his race to defeat U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas. The poll, which was conducted August 5 through 16, shows Cruz at 46 and Allred at 44. Like the gender gap in the presidential race, Cruz is winning men by 13 points—52 to 39—and Allred is winning women by 7 points—49% to 42%. Allred spoke at the Democrat National Convention, although he has been careful not to align himself with Harris so far. Trump is up five points over Harris in that poll.

Winner: Science

The Texas Department of Public Safety announced this week that individuals can no longer change their gender on their driver’s license. Almost nobody wants to change their gender on their driver’s license—it’s not like fudging your height—but that hasn’t stopped the left from issuing a huge outcry about the supposed injustice to the so-called “transgender” community and their allies who are relentless in their efforts to normalize gender confusion.

Winner: John Whitmire

One Democrat speaking the truth this week is Houston Mayor John Whitmire, who is continuing to draw fire from protesters in the Bayou City for suggesting that pro-Hamas protesters are being paid by Iran. Numerous reports show Iran is supporting American pro-terrorist protesters in all kinds of ways. Outside of Houston, the protesters got a big boost this week when the actual President of the United States, Joe Biden, said “they have a point.” Biden has earned a permanent place on the losers list.

Winner – Merit

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology released enrollment statistics for the class of 2028 now that the Supreme Court has outlawed affirmative action. The number of Asian students admitted has jumped from 40% to 47%, while the number of African American students dropped from 15% to 5% and the number of Hispanic students dropped from 16% to 11%. The fact that far fewer African Americans and Hispanic students now qualify for MIT highlights the continued failure of too many public schools to close the learning gap and is one more reason school choice is essential, not just in Texas but across the country.

Winner – Texas Football

The pre-seasons rankings are out and the University of Texas is at No. 4. Texas A&M is also on the list at No. 20. Georgia is No. 1 and Ohio State is No. 2. Texas and the Aggies both start the season next Saturday. The Longhorns play Colorado State and the Aggies go up against Notre Dame.

As usual, I will be rooting for the Oregon Ducks, ranked No. 3, but I will try not to be a pest about it.

That’s it for me. Have a great weekend.

Sherry Sylvester is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and the former Senior Advisor to Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.

Sign up to receive this in your inbox every week at www.texaspolicy.com/9thandCongress.

Follow me on X @sylvester1630 and follow my podcast, the Sherry Sylvester Show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Every Friday morning at 8:30AM I join the Cardle & Woolley show, Talk 1370 Radio, in Austin to pick the week’s top Winners & Losers in Texas, America and the world. The latest Olympic medal count shows the USA with its big lead at 111, but we always get the most medals, so no surprise there.  The big race is for the gold and USA is currently tied with China with 33 gold medals each. There’s still lots of Olympics to go plus its 87 days until the November election. Here’s who made the list this week:

Winner:  Lt. Governor Dan Patrick & Texas Exceptionalism 

The mainstream media hate to post corrections and virtually never run retractions.  That changed last week at the Houston Chronicle when the Editorial Board, walked back an editorial charging that my former boss, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, had “botched” the emergency response to Hurricane Beryl, snidely suggesting that one party rule in Texas was the root of a management problem.  But in a stunning reversal, the Chronicle published a full page update on Sunday where they concluded that “Patrick appears to be right” about what happened during the state’s emergency response.  You can read the details here .

The Chronicle’s “Patrick Didn’t Flunk Beryl” op-ed not only vindicated the Lt. Governor’s leadership and management skills, it also vindicated the “Texas exceptionalism” that fuels Patrick’s approach to problem solving in every area of public policy.  Texas simply does so many things right and the Texas Dept. of Emergency Management (TDEM) is one of those things.  We have smart and experienced people who take great pride in getting things done. Of course the Texas has some chronic and frustrating challenges, but more often than not, Texas is the pace-setter among all the states, the job creator for the nation, a leader in innovation, a leader in productivity, a magnet for thousands of people fleeing the despair and failure of big liberal states, like Minnesota (see losers below).

The majority of Texans know this, although stories of Texas doing it right rarely appear in the Texas press.  Patrick is a winner for taking the time to help the Houston Chronicle see what the state can do and acknowledge Texas’ exceptionalism … even for a day.

Winner:  Ted Cruz – Bipartisan Endorsements 

Sen. Ted Cruz continues to expand his brand by pulling in Democrat law enforcement endorsements.  He landed the biggest one so far this week when outgoing Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said she was supporting Cruz because of his strong stand on reducing illegal immigration. Ogg blamed illegal immigration for increases in crime in Harris County and said that 12 year old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was killed earlier this summer by two Venezuelan illegals, would be alive today if Cruz’s latest immigration legislation had passed.  Ogg said “public safety is more important than political parties.”

Winner:  Former President Donald J. Trump

Trump is a winner this week for holding a press conference and throwing out a bunch of debate dates — taking away Harris’ absurd attack that he’s afraid to debate her. Trump also showed Harris how easy it is to hold a press conference – you just call some reporters and grab a podium. The former president talked with reporters for over an hour, responding to policy and political questions, calmly fielding both serious and silly questions and mostly coming off as presidential.

Unfortunately, he also said some dumb things. He’s never had a rally as large as Martin Luther King’s March on Washington, for example. He’s also said he’s leading in the polls – he’s not, and he seems willing to write off losing the black women’s vote because he’s getting more black male voters than he did in 2020. The former President is apparently unaware that almost 60 percent of the black vote is women, so the trade-off won’t add up to a win.

Trump is currently winning men, 54% to 43% for Harris. Those numbers are exactly reversed for Harris who wins 54% of women compared to 43% of men. Trump’s strategy appears to be to win more men than he loses women – but that’s a clear path to defeat. 54% of all voters are women and 60% of voters in swing states are women. Over ten million more women voted in 2020 than men and ten million more women than men are registered now. It’s time for Trump to look at the math and get on message.

Loser:  Minnesota Governor Tim Walz

Gov. Tim Walz, the new Democrat candidate for vice president, kind of looks like a moderate, but even the New York Times calls him a lefty.  Conservatives have a long list of things that ought to sink him if they play their cards right, including his economic record in Minnesota, which, as the Wall Street Journal pointed out today, is fueling a mass exodus out of the state. High taxes and government spending puts Minnesota right up there with the other big blue states like Illinois, California, New Jersey and Massachusetts fueling a mass migration to low tax states like Texas. He’s made Minnesota a sanctuary state, not only for illegal immigrants, but also for children who want to change their gender and their parents won’t let them. The charge that he has inflated his military rank and left his National Guard troop just before they deployed to Iraq also lands him the loser list.

Loser:  Kamala Harris on the Liberal Scale 

Former President Trump and others frequently describe Vice President Kamala Harris, as “even more liberal” than Bernie Sanders,” which is true.  A closer look at the numbers also reveals how she stacks up to past Democrat leaders.  According to The Hill, of the 109 people who have served in the U.S. Senate when she was there, Harris ranked 107 on the left-leaning scale, just behind Elizabeth Warren.  Other important numbers to look at on this scale is that former U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton ranked 72 and former President Barack Obama ranked 62 – both far closer to the middle than Harris.

Winner: Gov. Greg Abbott 

Last month, the Congressional Budget Office put out a report estimating that the migrant surge that occurred under the Biden-Harris Administration, will result in $1.2 Trillion in additional revenue to the federal budget – presumably because they assume the millions of people crossing over illegally will get jobs and pay taxes.  In the small print, the report admitted that it did not factor in the costs to various states in dealing with the massive influx of illegal immigrants. Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s leadership in busing migrants to sanctuary cities has helped the rest of the country see exactly what it means to have thousands of illegal immigrants descend upon a community. Texas has also spent billions to secure the southern border, but the cost is not just in National Guard and fencing. The burden on Texas schools and hospitals is also astronomical. This week Abbott announced that all public hospitals will need to report the cost of treating illegal aliens.  This data will give us a true picture of what open border policies are costing states and communities.

Loser:  Delta Airlines – Ladies & Gentlemen

Just when you thought all the crazy DEI stuff was dying out, at least in business, Delta Airlines recently revealed that they have decided to “boldly pursue equity” starting with asking if gate announcements that begin with “Ladies and Gentlemen” are as “gender inclusive” as Delta wants to be.

Delta’s employee handbook reads: “Use gender-neutral language and pronouns. Do not use language that suggests a gender binary (male-female).” Can we really put people who think like this in charge of very big airplanes?

Loser:  Anti-Semitic Democrats

This week saw the defeat of another member of the anti-Semitic wing of the Democrat Party, U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, D-Missouri. In her concession speech, Bush vowed to “take down the kingdom” of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), which heavily funded her opponent. The bad news is that the Democrat Party has an anti-Semitic wing. AIPAC recently led the fight to defeat another anti-Semitic House member in New York and U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar is on the ballot next week in Minnesota.

Winner:  Texas Gold Medalists 

If Texas were a country, it would be 6th in the Olympic medal count right after Italy with more gold medals than Japan or Canada. The big name Texas winners are Scotty Scheffler, who won the golf gold this week, shooting a 62. Simone Biles and Gabby Thomas have also dazzled.  The medal count changes every hour so Texas may move up in the standings.

Winner: USA Olympic Stunners 

The Paris Olympics featured more great moments this week that must be included in any true winners and losers list including Team USA’s nail-biter win over Serbia in men’s basketball yesterday. Coming back from a 17 point deficit, basketball icons LeBron James, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant did what it took to get the USA in the gold medal round. A great USA! USA! Moment.

Kevin Durant broke women’s basketball great Lisa Leslie’s all time Olympic basketball scoring record this week and sprinter Noah Lyles, who already had some gold medals, actually won a bronze in the 200 meter race after testing positive for COVID.  Noah’s definitely a winner, even though after Lyles’ victory it is probably going to be harder for ordinary folks to use the COVID excuse to get out of going to work or blow off a distant cousin’s wedding.

WaHoo!  Mountain Dew 

In case you missed the Wall Street Journal report today, the beverage of choice for both Republican Vice Presidential nominee J.D. Vance and Democrat Vice Presidential candidate Tim Walz is Diet Mountain Dew.  It looks like that lime green soda can is a beacon of hope, proving that no matter how polarized our country has become, we can always find something to agree on.

Have a great weekend!

Sherry Sylvester is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and the former Senior Advisor to Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.

Sign up to receive this in your inbox every week at www.texaspolicy.com/9thandCongress.

Follow me on X @sylvester1630 and follow my podcast, the Sherry Sylvester Show on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Every Friday morning at 8:30AM I join the Cardle & Woolley show, Talk 1370 Radio, in Austin to pick the week’s top Winners & Losers in Texas, America and the world.  This week, there’s lot of emphasis on the world as the week has winners and losers across the globe:   Here’s the list for this Friday:     

Evan Gershkovich, Paul Whelan and the two dozen other prisoners who were released yesterday in the largest prisoner swap between the U.S. and Russia since the Cold War are at the top of the winner’s list.  The swap has been called lopsided because actual Russian spies and criminals were exchanged for Americans who were wrongly accused.  There will undoubtedly be a price to pay for giving a win like that to Vladimir Putin, but that does not take away from the joy that an innocent Wall Street Journal reporter and an American Marine are now back in the USA, regrouping at Brooke Army Medical Center at historic Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio.

The news from Paris is that Team USA has a big lead in the Olympic medal race with 40 as of this morning, although China has 3 more gold medals than the Americans.  There have been many stunning performances but the most memorable so far was Texan, Simone Biles, who broke the all-time gold medal record for a gymnast last night – and she’s still competing.  Biles continues to prove she really is the GOAT.  Another great memory was watching basketball greats Steph Curry and Kevin Durant watching the gymnastic finals and cheering Biles on.

Another international winner this week is the Israeli Defense Force, who took out two Hamas leaders and Fuad Shukr, a leader of Hezbollah, in Tehran. Israel is making it clear that it will no longer wait while the rest of the world dithers regarding the attacks against them.  They are deadly serious about defending themselves and they are going to act.

The loser of the week is former president Donald J. Trump for his dumb comments about Vice President Kamala Harris’s race at the National Association of Black Journalists Convention.  There are so many things to attack Harris on – her abject failure at the border, her flip flopping on energy policy, lying about her support for the Green New Deal, covering up Biden’s infirmity, tax increases, reparations for slavery, etc. With a list like that, why make the ridiculous charge that she may not really be black?

Granted, the NABJ panelists are big losers too. They were rude and hateful, pummeling Trump with condescending ‘gotcha’ questions, but Trump surely knew what to expect. He should have been ready and capitalized on it.

Fox News Anchor Harris Faulkner came out of the NABJ panel a winner for pushing Trump to answer real questions, demonstrating to the black journalists at the conference how a real journalist should actually behave.  And the look on ABC’s Rachel Scott’s gob smacked face when Trump asked her to define DEI is also priceless. Trump gets points for showing up and Faulkner says he connected with the audience on several issues, but the only clip that matters is Trump attacking Harris on her race — an unforced error as Trump loses the week with 94 days until the election. Watch the entire panel HERE if you haven’t seen it.

More losers are the men and women who signed up for White Dudes for Kamala and White Women for Kamala which organized this week, making it clear how Democrat policies are totally rooted in racial and identity politics. White people on zoom calls were directed to never challenge or correct a biracial or person of color and to remember how much white people have to “learn and unlearn.” It seems to go without saying that Vice President Harris will choose a white man as her running mate. Wonder if he will have to sign on to those rules?

As great as the Paris Olympics have been, the French organizers make the losers list by reminding the world what we really hate about European sensibilities.  In addition to the awful anti-religious drag queens in the opening ceremony, a great report in the Wall Street Journal details France’s intention to impose their “climate vision” on the athletes.  First, their food plan was to reduce animal proteins and substitute “sustainable catering,” drastically reducing the amount of meat that was available.  After athletes (who are all in training, remember) started trekking out of Olympic village to get real food, Olympic leaders almost immediately rolled it back, bringing in a ton of meat and eggs.

The Olympic Committee also decided not to install air conditioning for anyone but the para-athletes, because they say air conditioning is bad for the planet.  However, instead of creating some kind of green standard, the decision made the Paris 2024 games a “Bring Your Own Air Conditioning” event as most countries had mobile units shipped in to ensure their athletes could sleep comfortably.

Finally, of course, there’s the awful decision to let men box against women at the Olympics. This is a big controversy but it shouldn’t be. Two so-called women boxers have “Y” chromosomes. That should be the end of it.

The Hobby School of Public Affairs sponsored by the University of Houston and Texas Southern are on the winners list for releasing a survey revealing that 65% of Texans support school choice.  These pollsters aren’t the first to find that Texans support parental choice, but they are winners because they clearly asked the question without attempting to manipulate the response.  They learned that whether you call them “voucher programs” or “education savings accounts” Texans in every demographic group and political party support providing education funds so that parents can choose the best school for their child.  The only demographic group where a majority is not in favor is “white Democrats,” the same group, as one of my TPPF colleagues pointed out who supported segregation after the Civil War and continued to oppose public school integration for decades.

Sen. Ted Cruz is also winner this week for his bill to require schools to report all funding and curriculum materials that come from foreign countries.  The Chinese Communist Party invests billions in American education and the first step in pushing back against that is transparency.  Good for Cruz.

And what about Keller ISD where the school board intervened after school officials had required that students who painted pro-Trump murals on their parking spots remove them.  (Seniors at Keller High School pay $200 for a reserved parking space and they are allowed to paint it.) When the School Board got word of the anti-Trump ruling, they reversed it, stating students could say whatever they wanted as long as it was polite.  What is ironic about this is that while Texas high schools must assist in helping 18 year olds register to vote, many young Texans don’t vote because they say they don’t have enough information.  Slapping down kids who are excited about casting their first ballot is absolutely the wrong way to go.

The next few days will be filled with speculation over whether Vice President Harris will choose Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro as her running mate, risking the ire of her progressive base, or somebody else.  Betting odds are on Shapiro but who knows.  The weekend will be filled with pundits offering their two cents on the choice.

Fortunately, Team USA Men’s Basketball will play Puerto Rico tomorrow, which should be fun since they have promised the run-up the score.  Team USA Women’s Basketball will play Germany on Sunday.  And Track and Field started today!

USA! USA!  Have a great weekend.

Sherry Sylvester is a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, and the former Senior Advisor to Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick.

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