Every Friday morning, I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk1370 Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. While President Donald Trump was in China strengthening his relationship with Xi Jinping, here’s who made the list:
LOSER: Murder by Critical Race Theory
Another horrible street killing story in New York City surfaced last week when a homicidal crazy man pushed a retired teacher down the subway stairs and killed him. These reports from the Big Apple are so common that they don’t feel like news anymore, but this one has an especially awful twist.
It turns out that the perpetrator, a guy with a long rap sheet named Rhamell Burke, accosted two young women a few days before. While they were running away to escape him, they ran into some law enforcement officers who rescued them and arrested Burke. However, the young women declined to press charges, with one saying: “Maybe a part of me was just like, I don’t want to put another black man in jail.” He was released hours later.
The thinking of that poor, deluded young New Yorker (who had been repeatedly hit by Burke) appears to be driven by her likely indoctrination of Critical Race Theory, which describes incarceration as “the New Jim Crow.”
CRT zealots (and textbook writers) including Ibram X. Kendi and Michelle Alexander believe that America’s criminal justice system is built on systemic racism. The notorious Angela Davis, who is still an emeritus professor at the University of California at San Diego, says prisons are obsolete and should be abolished.
Most college graduates and many high school students have been required to read the writings of all those people over the last decade, and, as we have seen from research at Claremont Colleges, no counter arguments are presented in the classrooms. This likely explains why the young New Yorkers (who are not named in news reports) did not press charges against a man who assaulted them. They believed they were taking a principled stand against racism.
It’s too late for the murdered teacher, but it does appear to have been a teaching moment. One of the young women said she regretted not pressing charges after she learned of the street killing: “At some point, if you are a criminal, you’re a criminal.”
WINNER: Texas Parents Taking Action
Nobody is rooting for public schools to fail, but we are cheering for parents who take steps to get better options for their kids when they do. This week, the Texas House Public Education Committee reviewed the latest enrollment data showing that more than 76,000 students have left Texas public schools, the largest enrollment decline in 40 years.
Public school administrators and teachers are wringing their hands because, of course, fewer students means less money and jobs for them. No on-the-record concerns were expressed by either group about what might be best for the kids.
Responding to the enrollment drop, Democrat gubernatorial candidate, State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, immediately prescribed more money to address the problem saying, “We need a plan to ease that burden.”
Ease that burden? Texas public schools just got an historic infusion of $8.5 billion in new funding even as the latest data shows that fewer than half the students are reading at grade level. Did teachers and administrators expect parents to settle for mediocre schools forever?
Demographer, Bob Templeton told the House Committee that the majority of the enrollment declines are not demographic, but a direct result of expanded options for parents. The choices provided by Education Savings Accounts—even for families who weren’t able to get them—are making a difference for parents who are exploring charters, private schools, homeschooling and other education plans for their children.
LOSER: Democrats play the Race Card, Big Time
After the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that states could no longer use race to gerrymander set-aside congressional districts for black people, Alabama state Rep. Juandalyn Givan spewed out an ugly personal and racist attack against Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, calling him an Uncle Tom and saying, “his ancestors had to be the ones that sold us out in Africa. He is the man who has turned us back into the hands of the master.” Thomas’ crime, according to Givan, was to “take away two damn congressional votes (from Alabama) for Democrats.”
Meanwhile, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries characterized the end to race-based gerrymandering as proof that “the ghost of the Confederacy has afflicted the Supreme Court majority and is invading and haunting the nation right now.”
Virginia Democrats know they are unlikely to win their redistricting appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court, and many believe Democrats are pumping up the volume on their race-baiting insults—throwing out accusations like “Uncle Tom” and the “spirit of the Confederacy”—to motivate voters.
Remember that former President Joe Biden tried the same thing when he called the Georgia law to require a photo ID in order to vote “Jim Crow in the 21st century.” It didn’t work.
LOSER: Democrats Play the Anti-Semitic Card in Texas CD 35
Sex therapist and housing advocate Maureen Galindo is leading in the polls in the Democrat run-off for Congressional District 35—U.S. Rep. Greg Casar’s old seat—which has tendrils in both Austin and San Antonio. The New York Times called Galindo out this week after she repeatedly attacked Jewish people on her social media accounts—claiming Jews “own Hollywood” and insisting they are not the same Jews that are in the Bible, and instead belong to a “Synagogue of Satan.” Yesterday, when asked to respond, she doubled-down, saying she was taking a stand against “billionaire Zionist Jews.”
The Texas news report on the race floats the idea that Galindo’s success is being fueled by a Republican political action committee that is secretly funneling money to her campaign—but the New York Times column makes the relevant point:
“The right didn’t make anyone vote for Galindo. It didn’t make the third- and fourth-place finishers in the Democratic primary endorse her.”
Early voting begins on Monday, May 18. State Rep. John Lujan, R-San Antonio and Carlos De La Cruz are the GOP candidates for the seat…just saying.
LOSER: WAYMO Loses Battle Against Big Rain
Those who are worried that the world is being taken over by AI can draw some solace from the fact that Waymo—the driverless cars we see everywhere—has withdrawn its entire fleet from cities nationwide, after one of their cars drove into a flooded street in San Antonio and was swept away. Luckily, no one was in it.
San Antonio streets frequently flood during heavy rain, resulting in puddles (more like small lakes) that can be several feet deep. There’s a statewide campaign warning people to “Turn Around, Don’t Drown” but apparently, Waymo cars can’t read the signs because this is the second time it has happened in the Alamo City. Waymo has 3,800 cars nationwide, but they are all back in the garage until they figure this out.
WINNER: Colleges Must Provide a ‘Degree of Value’
The latest new rule from the Department of Education is brilliant. The Trump team is proposing that if a graduate of a university does not earn more than the average salary of someone with a high school diploma, that college or university will no longer be eligible for federal student loans.
The national tab for student loans is currently at $1.7 trillion, and a report this week found that people in their 40s are most likely to default.
The Wall Street Journal did an analysis recently showing how student loans have bankrupted an entire generation. Though Millennials often complain that Boomers had an easier time coming up economically than they do, the data show their wage and employment opportunities were about the same. What is holding many back from advancing to financial stability is massive student loan debt.
Texas is way ahead on this—Texas Tech Chancellor and former Senate Higher Ed Chairman Brandon Creighton introduced the term “degree of value” into the state’s higher education reform legislation to ensure that Texas public universities provide degree programs that will lead to jobs and higher wages. The U.S. Department of Education should move forward on “degrees of value” at full speed.
LOSER: Anthony Fauci Belongs in History Books
It is unlikely that any single person has done more to undermine America’s trust in government and medicine than the former head of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases, Anthony Fauci. It was no surprise this week when a CIA whistleblower confirmed that Fauci got intelligence officers to downplay evidence that COVID 19 came from a Chinese lab.
Even if Biden hadn’t already pardoned him in advance, the statute of limitations has run out on Fauci, so it’s unlikely he’ll ever be held accountable. Still, this guy belongs in the history books alongside Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr. Kids should know his name and what he did.
LOSER: Understanding Bad Bunny
Is it just me, or did anyone else think it is funny that Texas filed the most complaints with the Federal Communications Commission about Bad Bunny’s ridiculous Super Bowl half-time show in February? Many parents objected to the overly sexualized nature of Bad Bunny’s production, which was not appropriate for children, but most complained that the entire program was in Spanish.
There are an estimated 9 million Spanish speakers in Texas, so apparently, even if you understood what Bad Bunny was singing, you didn’t like it. California, which has even more Spanish speakers than Texas, had the second highest number of FCC complaints.
LOSER: Boys are Still Playing in Girls Sports
Does anybody still believe boys should be allowed to play in girls’ sports? Apparently, the people at the California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) do. This past weekend A.B. Hernandez, a biological male who is a senior at Jurupa Valley High School, won the girls CIF Regional long jump competition by more than a foot and the triple jump by more than three feet. None of his female competitors came close. Hernandez has been competing in track for two years, and also plays on the volleyball team, menacing that sport.
The Department of Education is investigating Title IX violations in California schools— but whatever they find, it will be too late for the girls who were crowded out by a boy at last weekend’s track meet.
WINNERS: Texas Women’s Softball
The Longhorns are the No. 2 seed in the national NCAA tournament that begins tomorrow, where they will defend their national championship title. Texas won the SEC Tournament yesterday, their first conference title in over 20 years. Meanwhile, Texas Tech, which is the No. 11 seed in its region, was called “the new villain in college softball” by the New York Times.” It’s a fun read. Texas A&M is the 15th seed in its regional. The games start all over Texas today and tomorrow.
WINNER: Caitlin Clark Blasts Through Scoring Record
For the record, Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark scored her 1000th point last week, doing it in just 54 games, blasting the previous record of 62 games. Clark drew applause from the legendary LeBron James, who may have played his last NBA game on Monday when the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Lakers.
The San Antonio Spurs, the only Texas team still in the NBA playoffs, are up 3-2 in their series with the Minnesota Timberwolves. They play tonight.
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.