Author: Sherry Sylvester

Every Friday morning, I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk1370 Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. This morning’s news that the Strait of Hormuz is now open will change a lot of things that we are all watching, but here’s who made this week’s list:

WINNER: Strait of Hormuz is Open — Trump Gets the Win

It is a big win this morning when Iran announced that the Strait of Hormuz is “completely open” for commercial vessels for the remaining period of the ceasefire. Oil prices immediately dropped and the stock market soared. President Donald Trump cheered the news, but made it clear that the U.S. blockade of Iranian ports will remain in place until we reach a peace deal. The president believes this is a signal that the war with Iran will be over soon. We’ll all be watching as the news continues to unfold.

WINNER: Clarence Thomas Gives Historic Speech at UT

Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is an American icon — a man who rose from poverty in the Jim Crow South and turned to the law because he understood the simple truth that segregation violated the Constitution and the promise of the Declaration of Independence. Speaking at the University of Texas at Austin this week in what will undoubtedly go down as an historic address, Thomas made clear the same clarity of purpose that shaped his upbringing also shapes his jurisprudence — he remains grounded in the enduring principles of the nation’s founding documents.

Thomas stated it succinctly — the revolutionary principle of the Declaration of Independence is that our rights come from God, not government, and the Constitution means what it says it means.

Justice Thomas talked about the many principles at play in the current debate, but at a time when Democrats proudly espouse their “progressive wing,” Thomas provided some important historical perspective about the roots of progressivism in America. He called progressivism “the first mainstream political movement — with the possible exception of the pro-slavery reactionaries on the eve of the Civil War — to openly oppose the principles of the Declaration of Independence.”

Unlike America’s founders, progressives insist our rights come from government, which is why it is alarming that progressive policies pervade so many of our institutions today — especially the media and higher education.

Justice Thomas lauded the University of Texas for the work it has done to return free inquiry and open debate to its campus. It was an amazing speech. You can listen to it all here.

LOSERS: Former Congressmen Eric Swalwell and Tony Gonzales
Two congressmen stepped down this week after Americans made it clear that slimy sexual predators in Congress have to go. There’s no excuse for the behavior of Eric Swalwell or Tony Gonzales, and no one is sad they are gone.

But just so everyone remembers, the bipartisan unity around the resignations we saw this week is not the norm. Congress has repeatedly allowed all kinds of offenders to stick around because either Democrats or Republicans needed their vote. Recall former Sen. Bob Menendez, D-New Jersey, the guy who had the gold bars in his suit jacket. First indicted in 2015, he hung around for years, in and out of court, always on the brink of conviction for bribery. He finally left Congress in 2023. So did U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-LA, who had hidden $90,000 in bribery money in his freezer. U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-NY, was chair of Ways and Means, and he had to give up his chairmanship, but he stayed in Congress for a while because they needed his vote.

On the Republican side, U.S. Rep George Santos, R-NY, who was charged with identity fraud and lots of different kinds of theft, wasn’t pushed out immediately because the GOP vote margin was so thin. The same was true of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Florida, who was accused of sex trafficking. Keep that in mind if any member of Congress insists they have “zero tolerance” for corruption.

LOSER: Faith and War Debate

Pope Leo XIV weighed in on the war in Iran during Holy Week, declaring that God rejects the prayers “of those who wage war,” and insisting that “stability and peace are not built with weapons.”

Popes have been weighing in on wars for a couple thousand years, and it is certainly the Holy Father’s prerogative, but it seemed to annoy President Trump at first and produced some backlash against the president. Bishops of Fort Worth and San Antonio called on the President to apologize.

But you can’t invoke moral authority on a war, immigration, and global order, as Pope Leo has done, and then claim immunity from political criticism. Once you enter the arena, you’re part of the fight. President Trump understands this and said this morning that he wants the Pope to say what he thinks, even if they disagree.

It may or may not be relevant that a CBS Poll released this week found that Trump’s approval rating among Catholics is 58% — higher if they only count Catholics who regularly attend mass. Just saying.

LOSER: Texas Democrats’ War on Western Civilization

Take a look at this report in the San Antonio Express-News lamenting a new reading list, approved by the State Board of Education (SBOE), that includes over 300 books and readings from Thomas Jefferson, to Harriet Tubman, to the story of Spindle Top. It also includes 14 brief excerpts from the Bible. According to the news report, the excerpts “will mark the first time in modern history that a religious text is made compulsory in public school.”

If that’s true, and I doubt it, it is because this is the first time that it has been necessary to provide students with knowledge that should be the foundational baseline for any educated person in America.

Unless young Texans understand that our principles of individual rights, freedom, independence, equality, justice, law and moral responsibility all come from Judeo-Christian teachings, they won’t be able to understand why the Pilgrims came to America or what motivated Thomas Paine to write Common Sense, or Thomas Jefferson to write the Declaration of Independence, or Harriet Tubman to lead hundreds of slaves to freedom, or Martin Luther King, Jr., to demand civil rights.

Texas Democrats are treating the inclusion of the Ten Commandments, the story of the Good Samaritan, the Sermon on the Mount and other short passages from both the New and Old Testament in the reading list for Texas school children as a Republican plot to proselytize Christians. They are ignoring the fact that any educated person should know the Lord’s Prayer and the story of the creation of Adam and Eve, regardless of what they believe. The SBOE voted to move the reading list forward. Every Democrat member of the board voted against it.

LOSER: The Canadian Equity Card Story

In case you missed this, the New Democrat Party in Canada — a real political party with a half-dozen members in Parliament — recently held a convention where they launched an “equity card” system. As reported by the Toronto Sun and a ton of American comedians, on the first day of the Convention there were lots of policy debates where any delegate could make their ideas known. At the beginning delegates were told there were yellow cards next to the microphones that they should grab and hold up “to signal to the Chair that they have a gender identity other than ‘man.’” The yellow cards would allow them to cut the line and speak ahead of any guy.

Chaos broke out immediately as other colored cards began to appear. People challenged the yellow card flashers, holding red, blue and pink cards, insisting they were “more oppressed” than other yellow card people as a result of some gender, racial, ethnic or non-binary or disability designation. The whining continued for a couple days and is funny to watch. The antics are all anti-merit, so we have no idea who won any of the debates or what any of these people wanted to say — other than they should have a better place in line.

WINNERS: Rory McElroy and “The Summer of 1983”

I was wrong last week when I said the Masters Tournament in Augusta wouldn’t contain any buzzer beaters. The three-day tournament went right down to the wire with 11 lead changes including six lead changes in the final round on Sunday. It was a nail-biter. Rory McElroy ultimately won the first back-to-back victory since Tiger Woods in 2001 and 2002. It was stunning to watch.

Meanwhile, the SEC Network has released a new movie “Summer of ’83: Texas vs. Tide” that tells the story of the 1983 College World Series and the Texas and Alabama teams that included such greats as Roger Clemens, Calvin Schiraldi, Barry Bonds and David Magadan. It airs on ESPN.

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.

Every Friday morning, I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk1370 Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. This week they have been broadcasting all week from the annual Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Texas Policy Summit featuring great speeches by the Big 3—Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows—a raft of Texas legislators and boatloads of guest speakers with great ideas from CNN’s Scott Jennings to U.S. Border Czar Tom Homan. All winners at the best think tank gathering in the country. Here’s who else made the list:

Big Winner – Rescue of the Second Downed Airman in Iran

The story of how American forces successfully rescued a U.S. pilot who had been shot down over Iran will go down as one of the most daring rescue operations in our history. The pilot was badly injured but still managed to climb a 7,000-foot ridge in the Zagros Mountains to evade capture. He was rescued after a masterful collaboration between Special Forces and the CIA.

This was another awesome example of who Americans are and what we can do. When President Donald Trump announced the rescue with the words, “We got him,” the entire country breathed a sigh of relief.

The rescue is a reminder of the last U.S. rescue operation in Iran to free 53 U.S. Embassy staff in 1980, which failed dramatically. This is what Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pennsylvania, was referring to when he pushed back on his Democrat colleagues saying, “If you want to talk about a war crime, Iran is a 47 year-old war crime.” Fetterman is a winner too!

WINNER: Chancellor Creighton Kills Crazy Gender Classes at Tech

Texas Tech Chancellor Brandon Creighton released a memo today that detonated the teaching of wacky sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI) classes at Texas Tech in one stroke.

Creighton called a halt to the teaching of the so-called “gender spectrum”—a theory that insists there are genders beyond male and female—on Tech campuses around the state.

To make sure there was no misunderstanding—because faculty who teach courses in the SOGI field seem easily confused—Creighton spelled out exactly what he means:

No Texas Tech course can be “centered on” sexual orientation or gender identity. That means no readings, assignments or lectures. Sexual orientation or gender identity cannot be the “central narrative or the driving pedagogical purpose” of any class.

Creighton also says no course can “include” any endorsement of a “spectrum of genders” or “gender fluidity.” Rare chromosomal variations can be discussed in biology but cannot be translated into sociological frameworks. That’s because translating this nonsense into a sociological framework is the root of identity politics, allowing some to claim that their sexual orientation or gender identity renders them “oppressed” by those who are one gender or the other.

In case they still don’t get it, Creighton’s memo also makes it clear that faculty can’t spend time in class talking about sexual orientation or gender identity, they can’t teach it and they certainly can’t test students on it. Creighton, former chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee and the author of Senate Bill 17, which ended DEI programs on college campuses and Senate Bill 37, which shifted curriculum control away from faculty to the Board of Regents, is known for making it clear that his policy reforms are not suggestions. The blow-back from the academic world will be fun to watch.

WINNER — ARTEMIS II — Going Where No One Has Gone Before

What a moment when the first lunar mission since Apollo 17 in 1972 launched last weekend with the whole world watching. Artemis II has now flown farther than any humans have gone before. I recall being in Houston shortly after former President Barack Obama cancelled the NASA program’s planned to return to the moon. Houstonians, in NASA’s hometown, began wearing t-shirts emblazoned with a photo of the Space Shuttle and the words, “Come and Take It.”

President Trump clearly understood what Obama didn’t—Americans want to go to the moon and the stars. They never wanted to back off space exploration.

The brilliant political data analyst Chris Wilson released a report this week showing that, Artemis II is getting very positive reviews from Americans who see it as a sign of America’s exceptional innovation and technological dominance. Wilson isn’t using polling data— which he says tends to be a few days behind what people are actually thinking. Instead, he monitors on-going trends in public conversation where he found that most people see Artemis II as a sign of hope and a relief from worries about costs and gas prices. That’s why we say, “if we can put a person on the moon,” we can accomplish most anything. This week has been full of new ideas for moon development.

On the political side, Trump gets the credit. Artemis II is expected to splash down tonight about 7 p.m. Texas time off the coast of California.

Winner: President Trump Ends Higher Ed Funding linked to Race

President Trump’s new proposed budget ends funding for those colleges and universities identified as Minority Serving Institutions. His budget cuts about $400 million from colleges that create and maintain campus programs based on race and ethnicity. The president is proposing some of the funds be shifted to charter schools and civic education programs.

On a Texas note, his budget proposal also includes $30 million to purchase land for a new VA hospital in San Antonio to replace the Audie L. Murphy Memorial Hospital built in 1972.

LOSER: The Dreaded April 15 is Upon Us

Next Wednesday is April 15, when everyone has to get their taxes to the IRS, no matter what. Ugh. A new poll from Fox News this week found that 75% of Americans believe that government spending is inefficient or wasteful—that’s up 18% in the last year, so perhaps the message of DOGE has gotten through. Republicans have long believed government spending needed reining in, but the new poll found that Democrats and Independents now agree.

WINNER: A Lot of Crazy Hispanic Fans

The San Antonio Spurs are now ranked No. 2 in the West and headed for the playoffs. At a recent game, some snooty fan seated in the expensive seats down close to the floor was caught on a phone camera complaining to a friend via text that she was surrounded by “A lot of crazy Hispanic fans,” adding, “All Hispanic! How can they afford it?”

No protest marches were held. Instead, almost overnight, T-shirts and hats emblazoned with the words “Crazy Hispanic Spurs Fan” appeared all over town—the guys who manufactured them sold out almost immediately. Bumper stickers were soon added. An ignorant comment has become a battle cry—“Crazy Hispanic Spurs Fan” is now a thing.  

LOSER: Owners of Chevy Silverado Trucks

Texas Vehicle Crime Prevention Program reported last month that the most stolen vehicle was the Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck. The GMC Sierra was second and the Hyundai Elantra was third. To see if your car made the list click here.

Great Season for Texas Women

It was hard to watch UCLA dominate the University of Texas Women in the Final Four last weekend, but it is always comforting when the team that beats you goes on to win the national championship. The Lady Longhorns had a brilliant season. Can’t wait for next year.

Meanwhile, the Masters Tournament has begun over in Augusta—a different kind of sport, no buzzer beaters, but all-American just the same.

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

Every Friday morning, I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk1370 Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. There was an overnight deal in the Senate to fund most of the Department of Homeland Security, including the TSA workers, so if the House follows that lead, hopefully, nobody will have to stand in line at the airport to read this issue. Here’s who made the list:

WINNER: Social Media Verdict Against Meta and YouTube

If Texas’ legendary plaintiff attorney Mark Lanier is right, the $400 million verdict this week against Meta and YouTube could reverse a cultural slide that is damaging our children’s ability to think and generally turning all our brains to mush.

Lanier likened the case to lawsuits in the 1990s against tobacco companies which forced them to admit that they knew that tobacco was addictive. Ultimately, we became a nation of mostly non-smoking people in no-smoking spaces. Meta owns Facebook and Instagram, and the plaintiffs in the court case in New Mexico demonstrated they know the algorithms they use are addictive and especially damaging to children.

TPPF has deployed a variety of strategies to get kids away from screens, including our work to pass groundbreaking legislation last session that requires app stores to enforce age restrictions on digital products known to be harmful to children—which is a lot of them. Look at TPPF’s research for the App Store Accountability Act.

Meanwhile, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz is leading the battle to remove federal protections for social media companies that have protected them from any accountability for what they publish or refuse to publish. Most sane people support any move that will end the virtual madness in our lives and help get us back to a world where friends are people you actually know.

LOSER: Democrat James Talarico’s Vegetarian Cover-up

There’s an old saying in politics that the cover-up is always worse than the crime, and Texas Democrat U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico’s insistence that he’s a barbecue-loving Texan could fall in that category.

In 2022, Talarico made a statement—it’s on tape—that we should respect animals and not eat them. Here’s what he said:

“We have, I think, heard more and more issues of animal welfare. I think, not just because it’s the right thing to do and the moral thing to do, but also, it’s, as all of you know, necessary to fight climate change. It is now existential that we try to reduce our meat consumption and that we try to respect animals in all aspects of society.”

Many believe this could have big implications for the general election, because Texas is the No. 1 cattle-producing state in America. We have more cattle here than in the next three states combined. If Texas were a country, we’d be one of the top 10 cattle producers in the world. This doesn’t mean that vegetarians can’t get elected in Texas—most Texans don’t actually care what candidates eat—but it does mean you can’t go around saying things like respecting “animals in all aspects of society” and then start posting photos of yourself eating big pieces of meat.

Now Talarico says he “denies all accusations of veganism,” and insists that his campaign runs almost entirely on barbecue.

The problem for Talarico is not whether he is a carnivore, the issue is whether he was lying when he said he didn’t eat meat or he is lying now that he says that he is. He sounds like just another two-faced politician who says what he needs to say to get elected.

That’s why even the Houston Chronicle, which will undoubtedly endorse Talarico, is worried about his anti-beef position. They likened it to Beto O’Rourke’s gun statement, noting this week that unlike Talarico’s other woke gaffes, there’s a video of his anti-meat declaration so the left, even with help from the Houston Chronicle, won’t be able to portray it as Republican misinformation.

WINNER: Speaker Burrows Looks at Slice of New Mexico

Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows on Thursday issued interim charges asking House members to study the “implications” of adding one or more contiguous New Mexico counties to Texas.

Texas would love to have more counties and you can certainly understand why Eastern New Mexico would want to get away from the progressive rule coming out of Santa Fe. It is not unlike the “Greater Idaho” movement in Oregon, which would free the eastern half of the state from the loony progressives in Portland, and the folks in downstate Illinois who want nothing to do with the corrupt government in Chicago. Upstate New York has a secession movement, as does Colorado, where some folks would rather be part of Wyoming. It all makes a lot of sense, but there’s just one catch—ultimately, Congress has to approve and think how hard it has been just to get them to pay the TSA workers. Hopefully, under the Speaker’s direction, the Texas House will break some new ground.

WINNER: U.S. Olympic Committee Bans Men in Women’s Sports

The U.S. Olympic Committee banned men from competing in women’s sports this week so we won’t see men beating up on women in the Los Angeles games in 2028. The IOC ruling follows a rules change by the NCAA last year that prohibits men from participating in women’s sports—although women who think they are men can compete in men’s sports if they want.

It is illegal in Texas for men and boys to compete in women’s and girls’ sports in both public school and college, but not in California where the state just filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration, charging it is their right to keep a boy on the women’s volleyball team at San Jose State. San Jose State essentially shut down women’s volleyball in the Mountain West in 2024 when almost half the teams forfeited their games rather than risk injury by playing against a team with a male player.

Los Angeles is in California, of course, so this rule change is important.

WINNER: Americans Really Are Flocking to Texas & Other Red States

We see numbers like this all the time in Texas because everybody from U-Haul to U.S. News and World Report posts frequent listicles on where America is moving and why. But some new info coming out of the Internal Revenue Service lays out the hard data of Americans and their money moving from red states to blue ones. The latest IRS migration data shows that 6.7 million people moved from one state to another in 2023 including about 700,000 people who earn more than $200,000 a year. According to IRS calculations, that means that Texas gained 111,079 new residents in 2023 and $5.3 billion in new income.

Meanwhile, California and New York lost a combined 368,000 people and $23.6 billion in annual income in 2023.

LOSER: Austin Red Tape Stifles Small Business Growth

Meanwhile, the city of Austin received a report last week showing that it can take more than 400 days to get through the permitting red tape to open a business—an obstacle course that requires 105 steps and can cost $9,000. The authors of the report found that the cost of opening a restaurant in Austin is higher than it is in Philadelphia and Seattle, and costs four times as much as it does in San Antonio.

The report suggests that the red tape and high costs may be driving small businesses out of Austin or discouraging them from opening altogether. Ya think?

William Inboden: Academics, Reagan, Cold War and Hot Conflicts

Dr. William Inboden was appointed Executive Vice President and Provost of the University of Texas last year and is a leader in the effort to restore trust in American universities. He also served on George W. Bush’s National Security Council and is the author of the seminal book on Ronald Reagan, entitled “The Peacemaker: Ronald Reagan, the Cold War and the War on the Brink.” He joined me on my podcast this week where I talked with him about all that as well as what he sees today as America is engaged in a hot war with Iran.

WINNER: March Madness Continues to Score

The University of Texas Longhorns lost an absolutely terrific game to Purdue last night in the Sweet 16. The Longhorns had to play their way into the Big Dance, and went on to win a couple of games nobody expected them to win. For a short time early in the week, they earned the coveted “Cinderella” moniker, before being outlasted at the last second by the Boilermakers.

The No. 1 seed University of Texas women face Kentucky in the women’s Sweet 16. No. 3 seed, TCU, is also still in and will play Virginia on Saturday.

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.

Every Friday morning I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk1370 Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. In a weekend with long lines at every airport and record heat predicted, here’s who made the list.

WINNER: 7 Countries Unite for Strait of Hormuz Coalition

Seven nations have signed a letter expressing their support for re-opening the Strait of Hormuz for commercial ships and oil tankers. Left-leaning media, which is most of it, insist the Coalition letter doesn’t mean much because none of the countries committed naval vessels, but that assessment misses the point. The countries raised their hands to sign up for the Hormuz Coalition because Trump did a great job reminding them that most of their oil comes through the Strait and there’s no reason the U.S. should have to take care of the problem—which is closer to them than it is to us—alone. Time for them to put their big nation pants on.

This report by Axios tells a great story of how French President Emmanuel Macron was absolutely opposed to signing any kind of letter and German Chancellor Friedric Merz was also skeptical, but British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary General Marc Rutte convinced them to come around because it is important to keep Trump happy. The other countries that signed on were Italy and the Netherlands along with Japan and Canada.

Meanwhile, a new poll released yesterday found that despite frequent reports of schism, there is virtually no division among Republicans in support for the war against Iran. Currently, 83% back the president and only 8% say they agree with podcasters Tucker Carlson and Megan Kelly in opposing the war. Finally, Al Jazeera published a column this week reporting the success of America’s military operation in Iran—yep, Al Jazeera.

LOSER: The Legacy of Cesar Chavez

The fact that the legacy of Cesar Chavez evaporated so fast speaks volumes.

My colleague Ariana Guajardo published an excellent and damning piece immediately following the breaking story by the New York Times, which revealed the history of molestation, rape, abuse and sexual harassment perpetrated by labor leader Cesar Chavez throughout his life. Ariana details how “The Left Hid Cesar Chavez’s Rapes and Turned Him into a Saint.” You can read it here.

I met Cesar Chavez, the saint, in the 1980s when the United Farm Workers were recruiting Mexican farmworkers who worked in the Willamette Valley outside Portland, Oregon. He was “saintly”—soft-spoken and singularly focused on the dangerous conditions the farmworkers experienced in the fields where they were not covered by any of the workplace protections American workers had. Chavez was completely different from the hateful, screaming leftists we see on American streets today. His demeanor was Gandhi-like. Former President Bill Clinton referred to Chavez as “the Moses of the farmworker movement.”

But Chavez wasn’t Moses, he was just another leftist who used farmworkers to build a socialist movement while keeping them trapped in the fields, lying to them about the opportunities provided by capitalism. The women weren’t the only people he betrayed.

It is telling that since the news of his many sexual crimes became public on Monday, there has been no pushback on the news report, even among those who do not take the New York Times as gospel. Not even the democrat socialist or communist worker types are challenging the news reports, either by suggesting the usual caution or calling for an investigation. No one is reminding us these are just “allegations.”

Instead, Cesar Chavez Day marches have been cancelled across the country. The Cesar Chavez Foundation announced it was shutting down. Gov. Greg Abbott immediately ended any official state observance of Cesar Chavez Day while Austin and cities across the country have begun the process of changing the names of Cesar Chavez streets and boulevards. Preparations for the celebration of the 100^th year anniversary of his birth next year have been halted, and statues are being slated for removal.

Everyone involved in the cover-up during Chavez’s life and in the 33 years since his passing is at least morally liable for all of it—and they know it.

WINNER: Cornyn’s Bill to Stop Congress from Jumping the TSA Line

Texas Sen. John Cornyn knows where the rubber hits the road, or perhaps where the landing gear hits the runway. This week he introduced a bill he calls the Special Treatment for Congress at Airports Act, which pretty much says it all. His bill would prevent members of Congress from being able to jump the TSA line at airports. This would give them a glimpse of how the rest of the country has to travel since they stopped paying TSA workers. Hopefully, the threat of this legislation will cue some outrage and get Congress moving to fund TSA and the rest of Homeland.

WINNER: UNT Closes Low Enrollment Program

Add the University of North Texas to the list of state funded schools that are closing down programs that students aren’t enrolling in and are unlikely to get much return on the cost of their degree. Because the classes include ethnic and gender studies—Africana, Mexican American, Asian, women and LGBTQ classes—where fewer than 20 students are enrolled, the media is treating the UNT action like a conservative attack on higher education. The Dallas Morning News noted that the University of Texas made similar moves after “months of conservative pressure to eliminate programs deemed too liberal for the state’s flagship university.” There are almost 47,000 students at UNT, so it is hard to figure how eliminating classes where fewer than 20 students enroll is some kind of ideological purge.

WINNER: Texas Drag Show Ban in Public Spaces Can Be Enforced

Two years after Texas banned drag shows in public spaces, the Federal Fifth Court of Appeals ruled this week that Texas can enforce the law even as a lawsuit moves forward challenging that is unconstitutional. The opinion in the unconstitutional ruling stated that drag shows are not sexual at all, but whoever wrote that has clearly never seen a drag show.

Shortly before the bill was passed, I published an op-ed showing how drag shows use the same belittling techniques to demean women that blackface used to disparage African Americans. You can read it here. Drag Shows are Blackface.

LOSER: Everything Mamdani Did in NYC This Week

It’s good to keep an eye on New York City, to stay current on how socialists run things. The Big Apple’s democratic socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, had a busy week. First, he lowered the speed limit in school zones to 15 miles an hour and announced police would be enforcing the zones 24 hours a day, making it clear his move is all about increasing traffic fine revenue and has nothing to do with safety.

Then he responded to the news that the city is spending $81,000 per person on homeless services by announcing a plan to increase that to over $90,000 per “unhoused individual” next year, with no changes in policy, even though people are still sleeping and dying in the streets.

On St. Patrick’s Day, he greeted the former President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, lauding her for her support of terrorists and describing Palestinians as victims of genocide. Finally, the mayor is expanding city-run Pre-K centers, and increasing regulations which are forcing privately run centers out of business—essentially forcing parents to send their children to city-run Pre-K programs. Again, that’s just this week.

WINNER: Republicans Nationwide and in California

Democrats don’t appear to have changed their thinking much since the last election. The latest polls continue to show that former Vice President Kamala Harris remains their top choice to run for president in 2028. She has double the support of the next folks in line, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is in single digits.

Meanwhile, in the crowded race for governor of California (there are 10 major candidates), a new poll from Berkeley’s Institute of Government Studies found that Republican Steve Hilton, a conservative who used to have a show on Fox News, is in first place. The guy in second place is also a Republican—Riverside Sheriff Chad Bianco. Two big name Democrats, Rep. Eric Swalwell, D-Calif, and former Rep. Katie Porter, D-California, are further down on the list. It’s a long time until the election, but these are good numbers for Republicans.

ICYMI – Podcast with The Texan Founder & CEO Konni Burton

WINNER: March Madness & First Bracket Update
In the opening round of the men’s tournament, the big news is that the Longhorns beat Brigham Young University and will face Gonzaga tomorrow. Texas A&M and Houston also advanced to the second round and will face each other on Saturday.

The NCAA Women’s Tournament kicks off today with the University of Texas, a number one seed, playing Missouri. No. 3 seed TCU, No. 6 seed Baylor and No. 7 seed Texas Tech are also on deck. The University of Texas at San Antonio is returning to the NCAA tournament for the first time in 17 years. They will face the reigning champions from the University of Connecticut on Saturday.

It will all look very different by this time next week.

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.

Every Friday morning I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk 1370 Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. It is Friday the 13^th and oil is going for over $100 a barrel this morning, but some good things are happening too. Here’s who made the list:

WINNER: Day 14-Epic Fury is Still a Winner

I married into a military family where it is frequently noted that every battle plan falls apart after first contact with the enemy. That is not exactly what happened to Trump and America—the U.S. has decimated Iran’s military capacity: destroyed its navy and eliminated its nuclear weapon aspirations. But now the focus of the war has shifted. As the Wall Street Journal reports this morning, Iran is now putting its remaining chips on the Strait of Hormuz, betting that shutting down the oil supply and driving up gas prices will bring enough political pressure on Trump that he will back off.

Many in America—Democrats, Trump’s enemies and even many of his friends—do not seem to understand this dynamic. They are blasting the president with charges of creating a forever war, but they are wrong. No president in my lifetime has been as anti-war as President Trump. No one has pushed diplomacy harder in Iran—a place where his predecessors only used appeasement, dropping sanctions and delivering cash payoffs. President Trump has said he is mystified that Iran doesn’t stop its ancient aggression—killing Jews as well as its own people—and start leveraging their wealth to make their country prosperous for everyone. But the Iranian regime doesn’t think like that.  

Iran is not just the leader of the “death to America” crowd, they are the enemies of every good thing Western Civilization has accomplished for the last 2000 years. If America can take down the regime, it will substantially lower the threat level across the planet. Trump is absolutely right not to back down.  

LOSER: UofH Professor Says Students Can Only Handle One Idea at a Time 

Curriculum reforms at universities across Texas—fueled by the passage of Senate Bill 37 last session—have become a national model and drawn praise from the taxpayers who pony up over $30 billion for our universities every couple of years. Texas A&M stopped giving bachelor’s degrees in Women’s and Gender studies and restricted professors from advocating race and gender ideology—the idea that one race or sex are always victims and others are always oppressors—in classrooms.  

Texas Tech prohibits any professor from advocating for any ideology in the classroom and has made it mandatory that classes that teach about sex recognize there are only two genders. Meanwhile, the University of Texas has launched a system-wide syllabus review to ensure that the guidelines laid down in Senate Bill 37 are followed.

The media opposed all these reforms, but the Texas Tribune led the charge against Senate Bill 37. Since its passage, the Trib has published dozens of news stories, peppered with quotes from Texas members of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), asserting that the new regulations are censoring professors and inhibiting academic freedom. The stories don’t say, but always imply, that the new law is racist and sexist and routinely characterizes the movement for higher education reforms in Texas as a Republican plot.

This week the Tribune published what looked like another one of its typical news reports featuring distraught faculty members at the University of Houston, who are aghast that their deans have forced them to pledge they are “teaching and not indoctrinating.”

Apparently, the Tribune didn’t notice the “money quote” deep in their story in which UofH professor Robert Zaretsky, a 37 year faculty veteran who teachers in the Honors College, who said SB 37 requirements “could complicate classroom instruction, particularly the recommendation that faculty present multiple perspectives on controversial topics.”

“Our students struggle with even one article,” Zaretsky said. “To have them read multiple articles … it’s going to sink the course. It’s too much ballast.”

And there it is. Faculty either don’t want to teach a wide range of viewpoints because it is too hard or they believe their students aren’t smart enough to grasp more than one idea on a topic. Whichever is true, it would seem to be a problem. The Texas Tribune didn’t ask Zaretsky to follow-up.

WINNER: Cruz and Patrick Proclaim Zero Tolerance for Anti-Semitism

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick pulled no punches this week when they spoke at the anti-Semitism symposium hosted by National Review and the Republican Jewish Coalition at the Museum of the Bible in Washington, D.C. Both blasted former Fox News host Tucker Carlson for his anti-Semitic messaging, his criticism of the war against Iran and the capture of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela with Cruz calling Carlson “the single most dangerous demagogue in this country.”

Patrick also criticized Carlson, noting that he had denounced anti-Semite Nick Fuentes when he visited Texas several years ago and he has been adamant that there is no place for anti-Semitism in the conservative movement or the Republican Party in Texas.

Both Texas leaders also spoke about their continuing concern about the rise in anti-Semitism among younger people on the right.

LOSER: Harris County Judge Hidalgo Fights for “Rodeo Privilege” 

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo has been at the Houston rodeo a lot recently, sitting in the Harris County suite (undoubtedly paid for by Harris County taxpayers). Rodeo officials said she’d also been given floor passes for herself and various guests worth about $9,000 so far, although they told her on Wednesday night that she would not be able to go down to the stage where Megan Moroney was performing.

The judge went anyway, saying she’d always been admitted in the past even without a ticket or wrist band. When she couldn’t get in, and refused to go back to her suite, she claimed that she was manhandled and insisted that if she hadn’t been a woman, she would have been treated differently.

Rodeo officials denied it all and added the judge had demanded to be allowed on the floor, not only for the Moroney concert, but also for Creed, Chris Stapleton, and Shaboozey. Today, the Houston Rodeo Board voted her off the island—she’s no longer an “ex-officio” member. It’s not clear what Hidalgo meant when she said the incident made her worry about people who are not “white passing,” but it looks to many like she believes she has something that might be called “rodeo privilege.”

LOSER: Daylight Saving Time Springs Forward Again 

Almost 70% of Texans support ending the whole daylight saving time thing, but here we are, once again having lost an hour early Sunday morning, dragging around for the next several days, reminding ourselves that we are not sleepy because it’s not really bedtime.

State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, has most recently carried legislation to end clock switching twice a year, but the problem is that he and most Texans actually want to make Daylight Saving Time permanent. Federal law, which has the final say on what time it is, says states can’t legalize daylight savings time. The only option for individual states is to adopt standard time—the “fall back position.” Only Hawaii and Arizona have taken them up on that.  

If Congress would pass the Sunshine Protection Act, “Springing Forward” would become standard time and changing our clocks would no longer be part of the human condition. The Sunshine Protection Act was filed again this year by Sen. Rick Scott, R-Florida, but so far there has been no congressional movement. President Trump agrees daylight saving time ought to go but he says it’s hard to get excited about it. That’s probably because he reportedly only sleeps four hours a night.

WINNER: CBS News Gets the California Hospice Fraud Story

After undergoing the slings and arrows of legacy media for months, Bari Weiss, founding editor of groundbreaking Free Press who got the top job at CBS News, proved everybody wrong this week when CBS released an investigation revealing massive hospice fraud in California.

The investigation found hundreds of phony California hospice companies—one building had 89 hospice agencies inside—that steal Medicare numbers off the dark web and perpetrate fraud. California had a 1500% increase in hospice care costs despite no real change in the number of elderly in the Golden State. The fraud estimate is over a hundred million for 2019 alone. This fraud, like the fraud in Minnesota, is appalling, but what is more interesting is that it took what Weiss calls “heterodox media” to get the story—challenging the dominant viewpoints of the mainstream media. Weiss has just shown that would include going after fraud in the largest state controlled by Democrats.

WINNER: New Oil Refinery in Brownsville

Granted, it will take a while, and the announcement timing is clearly more than coincidental, but President Trump said this week that a $3.5 billion oil refinery is going to be built at the Port of Brownsville. The refinery will be the first constructed in America in 50 years and will be built by America First Refining. The president said it is expected to contribute $300 billion to the trade imbalance.

In other oil news, ExxonMobile said this week it is planning to move its legal headquarters out of New Jersey and into Texas, citing the Lone Star State’s better business environment. ExxonMobil has been headquartered in Spring since 1989 but the company is still legally incorporated in New Jersey. The Board of Directors will vote on it in May. About 30% of ExxonMobile’s employees work in Texas.

LOSER: Democrats Growing Love for Socialism 

A new poll from Fox News this week found that 55% of Democrats believe that America should move away from Capitalism. Among Democrats under the age of 45 that jumps to 66%—two thirds—who think moving toward socialism would be a good thing.

People who are old enough to know better are keeping the country in line. In fact, 75% of voters over the age of 65 understand that socialism is a terrible idea.

LOSER: Austin Facing Major Exodus

Newsweek included Austin on the list of top 10 cities people are trying to move away from because of rising home prices and the high cost of living. One of the “pandemic boom towns” that saw quick and massive growth as remote work skyrocketed, Austin, along with places like Charlotte, North Carolina, are now being abandoned alongside Los Angeles (at the top of the list) New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C. and Chicago. Austin was the only Texas city on the list.

The same story also includes a list of the top 10 cities where most people want to move and San Antonio is the only Texas city that made the cut. Most of the other destinations are in Florida although Boise and Spokane are also big draws.

WINNER: Luke Kornet Stops NBA Strip Club Promotion

When I first saw this story a few weeks ago, it didn’t look like San Antonio Spurs Center Luke Kornet had a chance at stopping an Atlanta Hawks arena promotion of Magic City Night—a legendary Atlanta strip club that is also known as a hip hop launching pad where Future, 2Chainz, Young Thug, and Jeezy, among others got their start.

When Kornet went public and said he didn’t believe the NBA should be doing a promotion for a strip club, it seemed everyone in Atlanta pushed back, insisting, that Magic City Night is a beloved institution in Atlanta and the promotion would be very popular in the community.

That was weeks ago, but Kornet stood his ground, reminding people that, beloved or not, Magic City is a strip club and doesn’t reflect his values or those of many others in the NBA.

In a victory for the forces of good, NBA Commissioner Adam Silver announced yesterday that while Atlanta had made a strong case, the NBA had decided to cancel the promotion. Kornet is a winner.

WINNER: Bam Adebayo Breaks Kobe Bryant’s 81-Point Record

A new stat for the history books: Bam Adebayo broke Kobe Bryant’s single game scoring record this week when he made 83 points in a game against the Washington Wizards.

WINNER: Texas Women are SEC Champions

Is that 83-point record breaker a bigger deal than the University of Texas women’s basketball team beating powerhouse South Carolina and winning the SEC championship for the first time in history? Certainly not in Texas.

Currently, the University of Texas women are projected to be a No. 1 seed on Sunday when the bracket is drawn for the Big Dance. On the men’s side, fifth ranked University of Houston is projected to be a No. 2 seed. The Men’s Bracket will be announced at 5 p.m. Texas time and the Women’s Bracket will be announced at 7 p.m.

So fill out your bracket and 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.

Every Friday morning, I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk 1370 Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. As we wade through the fog of war and analyze who really did win and lose in Tuesday’s primary election, here’s who made the list:

WINNER: Trump’s Epic Fury

It was almost a week ago now, but it is still important to applaud President Donald Trump for decapitating the No. 1 sponsor of state terrorism in the world. Iran’s long record of killing and death includes the creation and support of Hezbollah, Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Houthis, all of whom have murdered hundreds of thousands of people, including Americans. The Iranian regime’s violence against its own citizens, including the tens of thousands killed in the last several months, are another good reason. So are the proxy wars, most recently the October 7 attack on Israel. But the bottom line, of course, is Iran’s nuclear weapon threat.

Nobody made that clearer than Secretary of State Marco Rubio, when he said this week that “Iran is run by lunatics, religious fanatic lunatics.” That is why we can’t let them have nuclear weapons.

Trump’s recognition of this obvious fact makes it even more appalling to recall that former President Joe Biden thought the way to deal with Iran was to butter them up by lifting the sanctions against Iran’s oil exports. And his predecessor, Barack Obama, simply gave them $1.7 billion, $400 million of which was flown in in cash, because sanctions prohibited Iran from using the U.S. banking system. Cash, of course, can more easily be used to finance terrorism.

Trump had tried talks and negotiations, and he’d bombed their nuclear program before, but they didn’t back down. He and Rubio are right. Bombing is the only option left.

Democrats lost a Senate vote on Wednesday to force the President Trump to pull out of Iran by invoking the war powers act. Congress conveniently forgot that in 2011, Obama intervened in Libya against Gadhafi, without its approval. That’s when Obama drew his famous “red line,” threatening Syrian dictator Bashar al Asad with retaliation if he used chemical weapons against his own people. A year later, when Asad killed more than 1,500 people with sarin gas, Obama gave him a pass.

The majority of official Democrats have set their hair on fire in response to Epic Fury, wailing that the President is conducting an “illegal war.” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries predicted the Iran action will fail, an inexcusable statement coming from an elected leader when our troops are fighting. California Gov. Gavin Newsom actually said that bombing Iran goes against our national security interests. Apparently, they are all unaware that bombing Iran to ensure that they never obtain a nuclear weapon is not only critical to our national security, it is critical to the security of the world. Trump is a winner.

WINNER: CBS Austin Reporter Vinny Martorano

After the Americans and Israelis attacked Iran on Sunday, a spontaneous rally erupted outside the Texas Capitol with demonstrators—including  some Iranian Americans—and immigrants waving flags and shouting, “Thank you Trump!” A CBS Austin reporter, Vinny Martorano, who was covering the event, was recorded on camera receiving a text directing him not to include the pro-Trump supporters in his news report. Martorano said no. He’s a winner. CBS Austin says it didn’t happen, but there is the tape.

This report becomes more important in light of this exchange between White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt and CNN’s Kaitlin Collins about how CNN is selectively covering the war. Outkick is trying to track down the story.

WINNER: Trump’s Change in Leadership at Homeland

Who knows the entire backstory behind the removal of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem yesterday, but the front story is bad enough. Secretary Noem has had charge of implementing President Trump’s immigration policy, his signature issue—for almost a year. Her actions have created massive distrust and dissension around a policy that the vast majority of the country supported before she took over. It is far beyond time for her to go.

LOSER: New York Times and Washington Post Obituary Pages

No one wants to speak ill of the dead, but it is hard to figure how both the New York Times and the Washington Post managed to turn the Ayatollah Khamenei, the head of Iran who was killed in Saturday morning’s bombing attack, into some kind of cultural hero.  The Iranian regime leader, who oversaw the murder of 30,000 of his own people just last month, was portrayed as a religious scholar as well as a writer and translator of works on Islam by the New York Times. The Washington Post highlighted his love of Persian poetry and classic Western novels, especially Victor Hugo’s Les Misérables. Both newspaper obituaries emphasized the ayatollah’s bushy white beard and avuncular style while ignoring the mass executions, torture, crushing of political dissent and keeping women in line with rape and sexual abuse by security forces.

WINNER: Jorge Borrego Wins GOP Nomination for Texas House

We at TPPF are careful not to get involved in partisan elections, but I must give a shout-out to our former colleague and partner on the Next Generation Texas team who won the GOP nomination for House District 118 in Tuesday night’s primary. State Rep. John Lujan, R-San Antonio, who previously held the seat, is currently running for Congress. Borrego faces a Democrat challenger in November.

LOSER: Kamala Harris’s Endorsement & That Big Democrat Turnout

Former Vice President Kamala Harris is one of the top contenders for the Democrat nomination for president in 2028, but her endorsement of U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, for U.S. Senate was not enough to put Crockett on top. Crockett lost to State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, by about 144,000 votes. Meanwhile, most of the candidates backed by President Trump won their primaries … just saying.

Much has been made of the primary election night turnout numbers, in which about 200,000 more Democrats voted than Republicans. As always, Democrats started talking about a “Blue Wave,” predicting this November that Texas Democrats will finally end their 32-year losing streak and elect a Democrat statewide. Anything’s possible, but probably not. In case you missed it, my colleague Brian Phillips goes through the voter turnout history and the math here.

LOSER: Talarico Has Pronouns on His Business Cards

The Federalist has a good list of woke statements and weird traits of State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin the Democrat nominee for the U.S. Senate in Texas. For starters, he owns an Anthony Fauci action figure and he describes women as our “neighbors with a uterus.” He has repeatedly asserted there are “many more than two biological sexes,” and that “God is non-binary.” He bragged that he was the first state representative to put pronouns on his business cards. It is going to be a fun campaign. Polls show Texans strongly oppose boys playing in girls’ sports, sex change operations and cross-sex hormones for minors, and allowing people to use the public restrooms designated for the opposite sex.

WINNER: Melania Trump Chairs United Nations Security Council

Remember shortly after President Trump was re-elected, the editors at Vanity Fair magazine, which had done no fewer than three cover stories on former First Lady Jill Biden, said they would not consider profiling First Lady, Melania Trump. Many staffers threated to walk out if publishers overrode their decision.

As outraged conservatives rushed forward to defend her, Melania, who was a professional model and had appeared on the cover of Vogue (owned by the same company as Vanity Fair) before she was First Lady, said she didn’t care about magazine covers anymore because she had many more important things to do. This week, we saw one of those things.

The First Lady chaired a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, the first time a spouse of any serving world leader has taken that chair. Her agenda was a discussion of the issues surrounding children in conflict and in war zones.

“The U.S. stands with all of the children throughout the world,” Melania said.  “I hope soon peace will be yours.” It is not clear yet whether Vanity Fair will pick up the story.

WINNER: SCOTUS Says California Can’t Allow Schools to Hide Gender Confused Kids from Their Parents

This U.S. Supreme Court opinion goes on the winners’ list even though it’s still in play, because California got another stay to allow school employees to withhold or even lie to parents if their child is presenting his or herself as the opposite sex in school.

Before California fired back, a 9^th District Court of Appeals judge wrote the opinion requiring California schools to notify parents if their child appears confused about their gender.  The signs are good that the Supreme Court has got this right and ultimately will see to it that California does too.

WINNER: Texas Wins Governor’s Cup Again

It didn’t get much coverage this week when Site Selection Magazine announced that Texas had won the Governors’ Cup for being the best state in the country to do business. The reason it didn’t make much news is that Texas has won the award for the last 14 years.

Site Selection editors said Texas had attracted 1,400 new business creations and expansions representing $75 billion in capital investment and 42,000 new jobs. Texas has created what a Site Selection Executive called “a dynasty in economic development.”

WINNERS: Counting Down to the Big Dance

The NCAA Tournament bracket is coming up fast, so if you do a bracket pool in your office, it’s time to get the organizers together.  Selection Sunday falls next weekend on the Ides of March. Taking a quick look at the current standings, the University of Texas women are the highest ranked team in Texas at No. 4 on the AP top 25. Both the men’s and women’s teams at Texas Tech are ranked in the top 25—the men are ranked No. 10 and the women are ranked No. 21. The University of Houston is the highest ranked men’s team in Texas at No. 7 and is the only other Texas men’s team in the mix. The women of TCU and Baylor are also ranked at No.10 and No. 20.

Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs are No. 2 in the Western Conference and continued their home court streak last night, defeating Detroit. Wemby scored 38 points!

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.