Category: Winners & Losers

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.

Every Friday morning, I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk 1370 Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. Here’s hoping you don’t have Winners & Losers fatigue after our first Winners & Losers LIVE show on stage last night at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. Click here if you missed it and want to watch:

There are still a few winners and losers who need to be acknowledged. Here’s who made the list:

WINNER: Donald Trump’s State of the Union

Most people agree that President Donald Trump’s State of the Union speech was mostly a win for him. He was disciplined and stayed on script, employing one of the most important political messaging strategies—show it, don’t say it. He did this by repeatedly introducing guests who demonstrated what is great about America. He clearly hoped his confidence and reminders of his impressive accomplishment list would help reverse his very low polling numbers. Trump is at his best when he’s connecting with real people and tying policy outcomes to their successes.

Despite what many feared going in, the President refrained from chastising the Supreme Court following its ruling against his tariffs. His statements immediately after the ruling were pretty mean, but by the time he got to the speech, he brushed it off as no big deal, since he’s going to keep imposing tariffs. Trump’s relatively respectful treatment of the Court was in stark contrast to former President Barack Obama, who lambasted the justices for the “Citizens United” ruling in 2010.

The best moment of the night came when the President brought in the U.S. men’s hockey team, which had just defeated the Canadians (who had booed Team USA at the last Olympics). Trump also said the gold medal winning women’s hockey players would soon be feted at the White House. The hockey team story has turned into another battle in the culture effort to prove that President Trump is a sexist (because the women weren’t there) but most Americans will just remember those guys in the House Chamber and the chants of “USA! USA!”

LOSER: Democrats Failing to Stand for Protecting Americans

Most Democrats did not stand when Trump asked if they agreed that prioritizing the protection of American citizens, rather than illegal aliens, should be the government’s first duty. Trump used that moment and several other points in his speech where they sat on their hands to show Americans that even if they are disappointed in him on some issues, the Democrat alternative is not really an option.

Rep. Ilhan Omar couldn’t stop screaming that Trump was a murderer. Texas Rep. Al Greene, D-Houston, got thrown out again and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Massachusetts stood a few times and not at other times, at one point shrugging as if to say “what are you going to do?” Nobody remembers what Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger said in her Democrat response, although she did support school children protesting against ICE. Add it all up and the Democrats didn’t seem to have a message.

WINNER: California Gov. Gavin Newsom

Speaking of no message, California Gov. Gavin Newsom nailed that point when he went on CNN and urged Democrats to become “culturally normal,” and forget about pronouns and free transgender operations for illegal aliens. His comments were immediately labeled “political suicide” by a high-profile progressive influencer, who also chided him for failing to support a tax on billionaires.

WINNER: Houston Chronicle Nails Democrat Lt. Governor Candidate

Another unexpected name on the winner’s list is the Houston Chronicle, which pointed out that one of the Democrat candidates for Lieutenant Governor revealed in an interview with them that he does not know who represents him in the Texas House, or even the Texas Senate, which he would be leading should he somehow manage to be elected. Marcos Velez, the Democrat candidate running against the better known State Rep. Vickie Goodwin, is a labor organizer and negotiator for the Steelworkers Union. He has gotten the endorsement of the AFL-CIO, which is not nothing. Recall that the recent Democrat upset in the Special Jan. 31 election in Senate District 9 in Tarrant County also was a labor union representative, and reports are coming in that the Texas Majority PAC, which is supposed to be neutral, is secretly pushing Velez. The Texas Majority PAC, of course, is funded by the far-left moneybags guy—George Soros.

LOSER: National Trans Bill of Rights is Back

Like the monster that doesn’t die no matter what kind of weapon you use, a congressional resolution for a so-called “Transgender Bill of Rights” surfaced this week based on the pretense that (1) People can be born in the wrong bodies and (2) There is such a thing as non-binary and (3) Those people are being discriminated against.

Gay rights advocates including Andrew Sullivan, who spearheaded the gay marriage movement, insist that discrimination against trans people is already against the law, but this week’s Democrat loser move is a swipe at the dozen or more states, including Texas, that have restored privacy rights to women in public restrooms, dressing rooms, locker rooms and showers—actions that have the support of the majority of Americans.

New ground is breaking on this all the time. This week, the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled against allowing a civilian male employee who works for the U.S. Army who thinks he is a woman from using the women’s bathroom. He was working at Ft. Riley in Kansas.

WINNER: Sweet Tea on Women Leading the Left

I was a recently a guest on the Sweet Tea podcast, hosted by TPPF’s Ariana Guajardo, where we discussed the predominant role women play on the left, first organizing Black Lives Matter protests, then the pro-Hamas protests and now the No Kings Marches. A post script to that discussion is that the early vote tallies coming out of the Texas primary election show that 57% of the Democrats who have cast ballots are women, compared to 46% of Republicans. Today is the last day of Early Voting and so far, Democrats are outvoting Republicans by about a hundred thousand ballots.

LOSER: Charley Crockett’s Bad Karma

Country star Charley Crockett made a lot of fans mad earlier this month when he went off on President Trump and Elon Musk, who he accused of being grifters. He praised Bad Bunny for, among many things, his anti-Trump, anti-American messages. You’d think the Canadians would eat that up but this week, the Texas-born star was denied entry at the Canadian border because his record included a 2016 felony possession of marijuana charge with an intent to sell. Crockett was forced to cancel his entire Canadian tour.

WINNER: Team USA

When they finally turned out the lights in Milan, Team USA ended up with 33 medals including 12 golds, second only to Norway. It wasn’t just the hockey team bringing home the gold, so if you missed any of it, go to YouTube for the clips.

WINNERS: Texas Round Ball

Here in Texas, the University of Texas Women are ranked No. 4 in the nation, TCU is No. 11, Baylor is No. 18 and Texas Tech is No. 20. On the men’s side, the University of Houston is ranked No. 5 and Texas Tech is No. 16.

In the NBA, the San Antonio Spurs just completed an undefeated month of February and are riding an 11-game winning streak.

Have a great weekend.

Every Friday morning, I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk 1370 Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. Next week you can join us at the Texas Public Policy Foundation for Winners and Losers LIVE. Click here for more info.

See you there. Here’s who made this week’s list.

WINNER: Marco Rubio & Western Civilization in Europe

There is no question that the biggest winner of this week (and in many weeks) was Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s speech at the Munich Security Conference, where he reminded Europeans and the rest of the world exactly what Western Civilization is and why we must fight for it. There were many “best lines” in Rubio’s speech, but here’s one of my favorites:

“It was here in Europe…which gave the world the rule of law, the universities, and the scientific revolution. It was this continent that produced the genius of Mozart and Beethoven, of Dante and Shakespeare, of Michelangelo and Da Vinci, of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. And this is the place where the vaulted ceilings of the Sistine Chapel and the towering spires of the great cathedral in Cologne, they testify not just to the greatness of our past or to a faith in God that inspired these marvels [but] how it is critical to our make up as countries with shared heritage.”

Rubio’s speech has been compared to Churchill. I have no doubt going forward that it will become required reading in our history books. You can read or listen to it here.

WINNER: Protecting Western Civilization in Texas

Although it was undoubtedly written before Rubio gave his speech, the University of Texas Board of Regents passed a new set of guidelines for faculty this week that requires professors to “not attempt to coerce, indoctrinate, harass, or belittle students, especially in addressing controversial subjects and areas where people of good faith can hold differing convictions.”

Predictably, UT faculty has gone wild, calling the move an end to academic freedom. Meanwhile, the media, both in Texas and nationally, are running headlines screaming that the University of Texas is limiting the teaching of “controversial subjects,” instead of saying what is true — that the new initiative prohibits coercion, indoctrination, harassment and bullying, in classrooms at public universities.

Rubio said in his speech that America does not want allies in Europe to be “shackled by guilt and shame, but who are proud of their culture and heritage and understand that we are heirs to the same great and noble civilization.”

Similarly, Texans want those who graduate from state universities to also understand who they are — with pride, not shame, which is why classrooms that were indoctrinating students with the idea that America’s founding motivation was racism — the bedrock principle of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) programs — have been eliminated along with women’s and gender studies classes that teach that the patriarchal subversion of women is the driving force behind America’s government and economy.

Stating that “people of good faith can hold different convictions” may seem obvious to most, but it is a sentiment that has long been absent from too many college classrooms. Just ask the young woman at Texas A&M who was told to leave class because she challenged an instructor’s insistence that there are more than two genders.

The war against American universities, including those in Texas, over the last several decades has actually been a war against Western Civilization, a fact that became horrifyingly clear when we watched thousands of college student mobs across the country demonstrate in support of terrorists killing Jews.

The war on Western Civilization that Secretary Rubio spoke about in Munich is the same war that the leadership of the University of Texas is fighting over on the Forty Acres. Rubio says America is “charting a path toward a new century of prosperity.” The latest changes by the Longhorns indicated they are committed to doing the same through truly open dialogue and debate.

LOSER: Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Air Quotes “Western Culture”

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York, condemned Rubio’s speech about Western Culture, which she put in air quotes to show her contempt for even having to discuss it. She insisted that, somehow, it wasn’t the West, but enslaved Africans (and not the Spanish) who brought horses to Mexico. If you don’t believe we are in a war about Western Civilization, watch AOC’s comments. Also, showing that she had clearly gone to schools that were long on DEI classes and short on geography, she lost lots of points for claiming that Venezuela was below the equator.

LOSER: California Gov. Gavin Newsom is Historically Illiterate

After California Gov. Gavin Newsom said this week that the U.S. has never deployed the National Guard domestically, Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz blasted him for being “historically illiterate,” pointing out that the National Guard had been deployed a number of times during the civil rights movement to help enforce racial integration in the schools. Newsom fired back, insisting that Cruz was making fun of him for being dyslexic. I didn’t bother to follow it after that, but want to make sure you know that Newsom is on the losers list again.

LOSER: The Brother of the King of England, formerly known as Prince Andrew

The week’s list must include the perpetually clueless British Royal, Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, who was arrested this week on suspicion of having given British trade secrets to Jeffrey Epstein years ago when the two were friends. The former prince was stripped of all his titles the other year when his close relationship with Epstein and his entourage of underage women was revealed. Mountbatten Windsor denies doing anything illegal, but then how can you believe a guy who says that the only reason he stayed at Epstein’s apartment in New York was that it was convenient for his meeting schedule. Andrew is still eighth in line to the throne, but I suspect they will pull him off the chart in the coming days. Meghan Markel probably has a better shot.

Things also don’t look good for the real leader of the British people, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who appointed Peter Mandalson, another Epstein buddy, as U.S. Ambassador. Some say Andrew’s antics could bring an end to the monarchy — but I doubt it. Who would want to jeopardize the next season of “The Crown?” After this, it’s going to be terrific.

WINNER: Kansas Legislature Champions Privacy for Women & Girls

Republicans in Kansas overrode the veto of Democrat Gov. Laura Kelly this week and passed a law that will require that public buildings including schools and state offices to designate restrooms and locker rooms based on biological sex. The fact that this is an 80/20 issue among most thinking Americans was revealed in the vote, which was 87 to 37 in the Kansas House and 31 to 9 in the Kansas Senate.

LOSER: Southwest Airlines is the new New Coke

Southwest Airlines is a great Texas brand that many used to call the “company jet,” because it worked especially well for the Lone Star State. You could fly between all the big cities in our massive state in about an hour, crossing hundreds of miles with ticket flexibility that allowed for late meetings and early starts. You got a ticket with a number on it and you got in line and got on board. That’s all over now.

Southwest flyers must pick a seat in advance, like every other airline, and wait in a large group to board — even if you are in seat A1. But on Southwest it’s worse. The overhead bin space is a mess — whoever gets on first takes all the space — blocking both entry and exit to the plane. The result has been chaotic boarding and departures.

TPPF CEO Greg Sindelar voiced his complaints on X, where thousands agreed with him and Southwest’s hometown newspaper, the Dallas Morning News, reports that nobody is happy. Still, it doesn’t appear changes are likely. We can only hope they will look at what happened to “New Coke.”

WINNER: Rescinding Greenhouse Gas Endangerment

It’s finally done — the 2009 Endangerment Finding has been rescinded in what is being called “one of the largest deregulatory actions in US history.” TPPF has all the background facts here, but the short version is that greenhouse gases that contribute to global warming will no longer be treated like pollutants because they are just not that dangerous. This will be a huge blow to professional protestors and the upcoming No Kings March. Polls show 85% of Generation Z describe themselves as “climate worriers,” or even worse, victims of “climate anxiety.”

LOSER: New York Times Neglects to Report Ice Hockey Shooter is Transsexual

Four days after the shooting, and Breitbart points out that the New York Times has yet to report that the shooter at a Pawtucket High School hockey game in Rhode Island is a transsexual. There is lots of disagreement about whether the data indicates that the number of mass shooters who are transsexual is increasing, but it is hard to see how that would justify the New York Times not reporting that the shooter was named Robert when he was born and now he goes by Roberta.

WINNER: USA Women’s Hockey Team Restores Global Order

After the whiney speech by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney at Davos last month, complaining that President Trump’s arrogant attitude not only hurt everyone’s feelings but had created a “rupture in the global order,” it was especially gratifying when Team USA slammed the Canadian team this week in women’s hockey. The American women took the gold, capping off an undefeated season after shutting out the Canadians in all five preliminary games.

Carney initially got a standing ovation for his anti-American comments immediately following his speech, but enthusiasm has cooled as even the EU Secretary made a point of saying she didn’t agree with him. Canada’s progressive policies have devastated the country’s economy where stagnant productivity has driven the GDP lower than Alabama. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had the best critique of Carney’s remarks, saying that he would have been better off just saying thank you, adding: “In the context of the United States, I’ll point out the Canadian economy is smaller than the economy of Texas.”

Medal Count

The U.S. moved past Italy to the No. 2 position in the Olympic medal count today, way ahead of Canada. Norway is No. 1 — it’s winter sports, after all.

Have a great weekend.

Every Friday morning, I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk 1370 Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. Friday the 13^th may be the reason for so many losers this week, but there are some big winners too. Here’s who made the list.

WINNER: Sen. Paul Bettencourt Gets the Story at Texas A&M

Only a small percentage of Texas university professors actually belong to the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), but it seems like any time one of their members opens their mouth, reporters in the Texas media copiously write down everything they say and treat it as news. When Houston Public Media reported about the Texas A&M decision to eliminate women’s and gender studies classes last week, they described life over at College Station as “academic and political turmoil.”

This week, Texas State Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, waded right into that “academic and political turmoil” at A&M and he should win some kind of Texas Pulitzer Prize for getting the real story.

Bettencourt hosts a radio show on KSEV in Houston every week, “The Amigos,” and, while nobody in the Texas press could manage it, Bettencourt invited Texas A&M President Tommy Williams to explain every detail of the process that culminated in the cancelling of bachelor degree programs in women’s and gender studies at Texas A&M.

Bettencourt questions Williams for 30 minutes or so asking about the dozens of faculty members and administrators Williams got involved in weighing the value of the women’s and gender studies programs—which served only 56 students. Williams reported that the process took weeks before the final decision was made. He didn’t mention any turmoil—academic or otherwise.

Bettencourt did not ask anyone from the AAUP what they thought.

If you want to know what actually happened, listen to Sen. Bettencourt’s interview on KSEV with Williams here. 

WINNER: Henry Cuellar is the John Fetterman of Texas

Laredo congressman Henry Cuellar is the John Fetterman of Texas, spewing common sense wherever he sees it. Cuellar is the only Democrat who voted in support of requiring a photo ID in order to vote when it came up in Congress this week. Facing the ire of his fellow Democrats, Cuellar said, “I believe in the fundamental principle that American citizens should decide American elections.”

Cuellar also noted that the proposed federal law mirrors Photo Voter ID laws in Texas, which have been in place for years, and have the support of the vast majority of Texans including Hispanic and African Americans.

WINNER: GOP Lawmakers Pushing to Lift Time Limit on Detransitioning Lawsuits

When the battle for tort reform began in Texas, there weren’t enough doctors. The likelihood of getting sued was so high, particularly in South Texas, that physicians were leaving the state—particularly obstetricians and orthopedic surgeons—because they could not afford malpractice insurance. Fraudulent lawyers who targeted those specialties were allied with corrupt judges to ensure big settlements. Tort reform changed that, bringing doctors and accessible health care back to Texas.

At that time, nobody could have imagined that medical doctors and health care professionals would set up clinics to counsel people with a wide range of issues—from autism to anxiety disorders—into thinking that they had actually been born in the wrong body and could be fixed if they took massive cross-sex hormones and had their reproductive organs removed.

No one imagined that doctors would tell parents they could prevent their child’s suicide by allowing him or her to go through sex change surgery.

But that kind of corruption is now routine. In fact, the anti-life group Planned Parenthood is one of the largest providers of these so-called “gender-affirming care” programs.

That’s why we hope we are reading the tea leaves correctly from the arguments before the Texas Supreme Court, where a number of Texas GOP lawmakers are asking the justices to allow Soren Aldaco to sue the therapist who helped her “transition” from female to male at the age of 19, including a complete, medically unnecessary mastectomy. Aldaco is past the time limit on this kind of case, but this is not a frivolous lawsuit. This woman is the victim of a horrible scam, and she and others should be allowed to sue their doctors and anybody else involved in these programs. The lawmakers are winners this week, and the Texas Supreme Court is teed up to be a winner too if it lets Aldaco’s case move forward.

WINNER: Greg Abbott Cracking Down on Illegal Drivers Licenses

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced this week that he has told the DMV to tighten up their rules to ensure illegal aliens are not being issued drivers licenses. There’s lots of good reasons for that, including getting the state out of the business of creating phony ID cards, but, speaking for the millions of people who drive on I-35 every day, it is also a public safety move. The U.S. Dept. of Transportation is now keeping track of fatal crashes caused by illegal immigrants driving 18 wheelers, and in Congress, Rep. Jim Banks, R-Indiana, launched a tip line this week that will allow people to report illegal aliens who are driving big rigs.

WINNER: Trump Invites Democrats After All

It was a good move for Trump to backtrack—or whatever he did—to make sure the Democrat governors were included in the traditional White House meeting of the National Governors Association in Washington. The president is pretty charming in person and Democratic leaders should get a chance to see that.

On a similar note, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-New York, is begging his fellow Democrats not to disrupt President Trump during his State of the Union address on Feb. 24—not because it wasn’t nice, but because it didn’t work. Even Texas Rep. Greg Casar admitted that their antics last year—which ultimately got Houston Rep. Al Green escorted off the floor—were counterproductive. Americans are tired of Congress turning into a reality show.

LOSER: Bad Bunny Wasn’t Very Good

I live in San Antonio, so when it comes to music in Spanish, I’m all in—but Bad Bunny just wasn’t that good.

Even if we let the NFL off the hook for picking a guy for their half-time show whose literal brand is to bash America—and I’m not suggesting we do that—the dancing trees and the crotch-grabbing was just too much. Best line I saw on X was that the Bad Bunny show is the final nail in the coffin of Puerto Rico ever becoming a state. It goes without saying that the TPUSA show was better, even though it was their first year.

LOSER: Threatened Investigation of “The View”

ABC’s “The View” is a talk show with four Trump-hating ultra-liberal women, including most famously former Hollywood movie star Whoopi Goldberg, who spend an hour every morning blasting all things conservative. They have high profile liberal guests like the Obamas and Kamala Harris, as well as other political people. But mostly it’s celebrities selling books or movies. If you don’t watch it, there’s no reason to start now.

It’s not clear why this week the FCC announced it is going to investigate “The View,” because Texas Democrat U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico was on the other week and he didn’t get the same amount of time as his Democrat primary opponent, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas. I’m not sure if the FCC thinks the incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, or his current challengers, Attorney Gen. Ken Paxton and former Congressman Wesley Hunt, also deserve equal time, but whatever, government should drop this.

Television talk shows are on the air to make money—as long as people keep buying advertising, “The View” should be allowed to continue—just like Greg Gutfeld should be allowed to continue on Fox, along with all the other late night shows, which are virtually all left-leaning. If advertisers want to pay for them, they should be able to continue. Nobody wants the government deciding who can be on television.

LOSER: The French Figure Skating Judge 

So far at the Winter Olympics, Team USA is running third in the medal count, with Norway in the lead and Italy working its home court advantage into second place, ahead of America in both the gold and overall medals.

There is a bit of a scandal over the figure skating competition in which Team USA lost the gold to the French skaters—because of a vote by the French judge. There’s a big petition going online, calling for an investigation. It is true that the same French judge has been found guilty of swapping votes in the past, but it’s been a while, so we’ll see how it goes.

The NBA All-Star Game Sunday afternoon has two Texas teams represented—Kevin Durant and Alperen Sengun from the Rockets and, of course, Victor Wembanyama, from the San Antonio Spurs.

Have a great weekend.

P.S. We will be doing a live, in-person recording of Winners & Losers at TPPF headquarters on February 26. Audience members will be invited to make their own nominations and ask questions during the program. RSVP here.

Every Friday morning, I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk 1370 Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. With the Super Bowl looming on Sunday and Texas’ primary election less than a month away, here’s who made the list:

WINNER: Compared to What?

Monday looked like the start of a pretty bad week for conservatives, Republicans and other thinking people. Rioting against Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in Minnesota and across the country threatened President Donald Trump’s immigration agenda, and all kinds of polling showed Americans increasingly weighing their commitment to a secure border with their rejection of the use of deadly force against people who oppose it. Thanks to the leadership of President Trump and Border Czar Tom Homan, the temperature has dropped dramatically and many of the battles have moved over to Congress via budgeting votes. But riots and protests continue nationwide and, as the president himself said this week, nobody is happy.

This comes on top of the special election in Tarrant County that became national news on Saturday when a ruby red state senate seat flipped blue, giving hope to the perpetually hopeless Texas Democrats. But in assessing how all this will play out politically, it’s important to employ the one political rule that does not change: The only relevant question is, “compared to what?”

When you ask that question, things look much better for the right.

Currently, the top contender for the Democrat nomination for president in 2028 is California Gov. Gavin Newsom —the same Gavin Newsom who has taken his state from budget surpluses to deficits and virtual bankruptcy. His catastrophic mismanagement of California’s forests resulted in the bigger and hotter fires that destroyed entire communities in the most beautiful part of the state. Now the state’s onerous regulations are blocking any meaningful rebuilding. California’s energy costs are astronomical and its grid is unreliable. They spend billions on homelessness strategies that have had no impact beyond changing the term “homeless” to “unhoused persons.” And yet, according to the betting markets right now, Newsom is far and away the front runner for the Democrat presidential nomination in 2028.

Happily, the bookies go even farther and ask the “compared to what” question, which leads them to say that, if the election were held today, it would be very close but Vice President J.D. Vance would defeat Newsom.

LOSER: State Rep. James Talarico (Compared to what in Texas)

Meanwhile, in Texas, State Rep. James Talarico, who is running for the Democrat nomination for the U.S. Senate, is the biggest political loser of the week. Talarico ran into a virtual buzz saw after a Democrat podcaster reported that he referred to former Rep. Colin Allred, who ran for the U.S. Senate against Sen. Ted Cruz last cycle, as a “mediocre black man.” Stopping just short of calling Talarico a racist, Allred promptly endorsed Talarico’s opponent, U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, saying, “this man should not be our nominee for United States Senate.”

It’s all here in a Washington Post article entitled “Texas Democrats Taste Victory, then Turn on Each Other.” Talarico says he didn’t say it or at least that it isn’t as bad as it sounds, but Democrats don’t seem to be paying attention.

If that wasn’t enough, Talarico appeared on ABC’s “The View” and told the ladies that he’d missed a lot of votes in the Texas House because he’d left the state to bust the quorum last year. Of course, here in Texas, everyone knew that’s a big fat lie. When there’s no quorum, there are no votes.

The Dallas Morning News editorial board called out the Democrats for identity politics and fighting among themselves, which is hysterical since identity politics is the No. 1 plank in the Democrat Party platform. But the Morning News may have had the best line of the week when it warned that Texas voters will see the Democrat infighting as “a better fit for the faculty lounge at Berkeley than for public office in Texas.”

LOSER: ‘Stolen Land’ at the Grammys

One of the advantages kids who go to public school in Texas will have as a result of the Bluebonnet Curriculum is that if they ever get famous and win a Grammy or an Oscar, they won’t go to the award show and say something stupid like Billie Eilish’s dumb quip this week, “no one is illegal on stolen land.”

Any educated person knows that pretty much all the land in the world is “stolen land.” Take England, which was Celtic before the Romans came about 40 AD. Lots of Roman walls are still standing over there. No one has proposed tearing down those historic marvels and charging the Romans with being land stealers. After the Romans left, the Anglo-Saxons ran the show before William the Conqueror arrived with the Normans in 1066. Lots of people accused William of “stealing land” at the time, but he defeated them, which sort of explains why Charles is now the King of England.

How far back should we go in prosecuting for “stolen land?”

The Romans came to the British Isles only a few years after Christ’s crucifixion, and were there for over 400 years. That seems like a pretty strong claim. Should Britain give England back to the Italians? Of course, the Celts were there first, except for whoever it was that built Stonehenge — if we figure that out, does England belong to them? The country is named after the Angles, which could count for something, although the Saxons might also sue since they somehow got lost in the naming rights. You get the point.

LOSER: What’s Going on in Wylie

Reports from Wylie, a suburb of Dallas, revealed this week that a group called “Why Islam” was handing out Qurans, hijabs and pamphlets on Sharia law at the high school there.

The “Why Islam” action comes just a week after two large Texas school districts considered—and then rejected—proposals to use public school facilities for so-called “Islamic Games,” a sports program where only Muslim students could participate. Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is a winner for issuing an interim charge last week directing lawmakers to prevent the establishment of Sharia law in Texas. The latest news coming out of Wylie is that a teacher is on administrative leave for inviting people on campus without approval, but many questions remain, the biggest being “Why Islam?”

LOSER: Public School Students Walking Out of Classes in Austin

Public school students—even elementary and middle school students—have been participating in protests against ICE all over Texas. Among the first school systems to release students to protest was Austin ISD, where it is increasingly clear that teachers, rather than students, were the instigators. For an eyewitness account of what happened in Austin, read my colleague, Brian Phillips’ report of how it all came down last week when the busy city center was flooded by children carrying protests signs. The Texas Education Agency is investigating.

WINNER: Texas A&M Ends Women & Gender Studies Degrees

Some professors at Texas A&M issued a letter this week wailing and gnashing their teeth because the Board of Regents decided to stop giving a BS and BA degree in women’s and gender studies. You won’t believe what they said. In case you missed it, I wrote all about it here.

WINNER: Women’s Basketball

The No. 4 ranked Lady Longhorns won the Red River Shootout with Oklahoma last weekend in a great game. (I know, we are not supposed to call them the Lady Longhorns, but I never really got how “lady” became a bad word). Anyway, UT is the only Texas women’s team in the top 10, although TCU, Baylor and Texas Tech are in the top 25. The University of Houston men are ranked No. 8 and Texas Tech is No. 13. They are all playing this weekend.

SUPER BOWL SUNDAY

No way to call winners and losers on Super Bowl Sunday yet. Will Bad Bunny give Americans one more reason to loathe the NFL, or will he follow the advice of Commissioner Roger Goodell and use the giant platform to unite people? Trump says he’ll be watching Kid Rock, who will be streaming at the same time on Turning Point USA’s livestream and a bunch of other YouTube channels. Can they compete? Some are asking the same thing about New England. The Seahawks are the heavy favorite, but who knows. Let’s just hope nobody mentions “stolen land.”

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. Texas’ electric grid and the hard work of Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to strengthen it would all be at the top of the winners list, but with the threat of more winter is coming, it’s too soon to call. Here’s who else made the list.

WINNER: Trump Sends Tom Homan to Minnesota

The situation in Minneapolis remains dicey, but President Donald Trump made the right call in sending White House Border Czar Tom Homan to Minnesota. Homan’s job is to oversee federal immigration enforcement policies, and it’s obvious that more oversight is needed.

Trump has been gracious, but no one doubted the message he delivered when he sent Homan into the Minnesota hot zone and stated he’d be reporting directly to him, not Homeland Security Chief Kristi Noem.

Two American citizens have been shot by federal officers in Minneapolis, and in both situations, Noem immediately went on camera to proclaim the shootings were justified before any investigations were conducted. If she had more information from people on the ground, she didn’t share it.

By contrast, Homan met immediately with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, where he stressed cooperation between law enforcement and a more targeted focus on getting criminals off the streets. Homan’s task is to identify and close the gaps in the sanctuary city and state policies in Minnesota that have allowed illegals to be released after being arrested, rather than being turned over to ICE.

The media is humming with stories documenting the shift in Trump’s immigration enforcement strategy in Minnesota — some gloating from the Left, some outraged on the right. But we should never forget that Trump is a baby boomer and when he makes an assessment, he has a longer historical memory to draw on than most of his team — including Vice President JD Vance and Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller.

Trump undoubtedly remembers that although the country was also polarized in 1970, a majority of Americans still supported the war in Vietnam — until members of the National Guard shot four protestors at Kent State. Sympathy shifted, seemingly overnight, to the protestors, even among the Greatest Generation, most of whom hated anti-war marches. No one who lived through that time ever forgot it.

For more historical perspective, Homan pointed out that he began working on border issues under President Ronald Reagan and has worked for all six presidents since. He suggested that if protesters didn’t like immigration enforcement laws they should direct their anger at Congress rather than law enforcement officers.

LOSER: BP Commander Greg Bovino’s “Choices” Speech

We can only imagine how the astutely media savvy President Trump reacted when he saw Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino open a Minneapolis press conference following the shooting of Alex Pretti with a condescending speech explaining that everything in life is a series of choices, implying that the man shot by an ICE agent (an American citizen with a license to carry a gun) had made a bad choice.

While that is undoubtedly true, it is hard to imagine a worse message to deliver to the country after a law enforcement shooting than “it was the guy’s own fault.” No one paying attention is surprised to learn that far left networks are organizing and bankrolling the ICE protests and, just like the George Floyd riots, we know almost none of the daily street violence is unscripted or spontaneous. But none of that is an excuse for Bovino to give a win to the protesters by demonstrating a complete lack of sensitivity. Thankfully, Trump sent Bovino back to his old office in El Centro, California and he is no longer the Commander in Chief of the Border Patrol. Everything in America is prime time right now, and Bovino is nowhere near ready for it.

WINNER: Last Hostage Out of Gaza

It doesn’t feel right to be celebrated as a win, but it is a rite of passage that Hamas finally returned the body of the last hostage this week. Ran Gvili, 24 was killed on Oct. 7, 2023. Gvili was in the hospital during the attack, but he put on his uniform and left, going first to the music festival where he fought Hamas in the initial assault on Israel and then on to another battle at Kibbutz Alumim, where he was killed. Despite repeated pleas from his family and the Israeli government, Hamas refused to return his body for 842 days.

This is the first time in over a decade that no Israeli, living or dead, is being held in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this week that people can now remove the yellow ribbons they were wearing to remind the world that hostages were still being held.

Since the October 7 attacks, 255 hostages from the Gaza Strip were rescued and brought back home. Of those, 168 were alive and 87 were deceased. Twelve Americans were kidnapped. Four were killed and eight were freed.

WINNER: Comedian Bill Maher Says the “C” Word

Conservatives admittedly hold HBO comedian Bill Maher to a very low bar. His weekly political comedy show is filled with lefties, although conservative Sen. John Kennedy, R-Kentucky, was on this week pushing his new book, “How to Test Negative for Stupid,” and he was very funny.

His political comedy show has a bigger platform than most anybody, and he frequently takes on left-wing lunacy, which is why he can continue to compete for a spot on Winners & Losers.

This week he made the list when he called out Democrats for using mushy words to describe New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani:

“Democrats seem to be having this debate over whether Mamdani is a socialist or a democratic socialist. Let me settle it: He’s a straight-up communist.” Maher joked that he came to this conclusion by “reading between the lines” after one of Mamdani’s top advisors urged people to “elect more communists.” He told his fellow Democrats that running communists is not a good idea.  

LOSER: San Antonio School District Continues to Ignore Cell Phone Ban

The Northeast Independent School District in San Antonio is still refusing to comply with Texas new law that bans students from using cell phones while they are at school. The culture has already changed at most schools, where students report that the day goes better when they are disconnected from their phones.

But at NEISD, a district with a “C” rating, students are never off their phones unless they are actually sitting in class. They can use their phone between classes, at lunch and at bathroom breaks. I am willing to bet the number of bathroom breaks have skyrocketed.

Still, school board members pretend they are taking some kind of principled stand against the Texas Education Agency, which enforces the cell phone ban, and the Texas State Legislature, elected by the people of Texas, which passed the cell phone ban. 31 states — both blue and red — have passed cell phone bans as an important step in arresting the continued decline of the reading and math scores of kids, including Texas kids.

Research shows students check their phones a 100 times a day, on average, a fact that hurts their performance. Research also shows that for every 100 minutes that a student spent using their phone per day, they drop 6.3 places in terms of academic ranking. This effect doubles when students use their phone during class. None of this research surprises anyone who has watched a kid with a cell phone. You have to wonder why NEISD is taking a stand that is virtually guaranteed to leave their students behind.  

LOSER: Arresting Don Lemon for Minnesota Church Riot

Don Lemon was fired from CNN the other year because nobody watched him. Even lefties could see he is a narrow-minded, race-baiting elitist with no insight or perspective to add to the public conversation. Before last week, he was literally roaming the streets of New York City with a cell phone trying to find people to talk to so he could post on YouTube.

Attorney General Pam Bondi changed all that today when she had Lemon arrested. In one of the biggest loser moves of the week, Lemon was charged with helping plan the Jan. 18 church invasion in St. Paul. The evidence we have seen so far is thin. By arresting Don Lemon, the Attorney General just revived his career — he’s got a new brand and a whole new platform. He is already boasting that he has been made the “face of the St. Paul demonstration.” Television interview requests and speaking engagements are pouring in. By next week there will be a book deal. Lemon has declared that Bondi will turn him into “the next Jimmy Kimmel.”

Nobody watched Jimmy Kimmel either, but outrage about government overreach into free speech got Kimmel back on the air even though his show was hemorrhaging money at ABC. Granted, Lemon is just one more leftist pushing propaganda, but why help him do it?

WINNER: Musk Predicts Robots by 2027

The sale of Teslas continues to plummet as fewer people want or can afford an electric car. The company’s net income fell 61% to $840 million in the fourth quarter. But Tesla stock is rising because everyone is betting on Elon Musk to become the first mass producer of personal robots. Musk told the crowd at Davos that Tesla will begin selling robots by the end of next year, and ultimately he predicts everyone will have one. Something to ponder if temperatures drop again as predicted. Can robots shovel driveways? No word yet on cost — or on what Musk means by “everyone.”

WINNERS: Republicans in the Texas U.S. Senate Race

The latest poll shows that U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and State Rep. James Talarico are in a dead heat in the race for the Democrat nomination for U.S. Senate. Crockett leads 38% to 37% in the latest public poll, which is notable because Talarico was up by 9 in the last one.

This is good news for Republicans, because it is hard to imagine that any of the three guys running for the GOP Senate nomination couldn’t easily beat Crockett, who has managed to offend lots of Texans — including Hispanics, who she charged with having a slave mentality because many of them supported Trump’s re-election in South Texas.

Sticking with the slavery theme, Crockett has said her support for illegal immigration is rooted in the fact that African Americans are “done picking cotton” and, of course, she referred to Gov. Greg Abbott, who uses a wheelchair, as “Governor Hot Wheels.”

The old Democrat guru James Carville said this week that Crockett’s rhetoric “offends anybody with a sense of humanity.” We are 32 days out from the March primary and Texas Democrats are trying to choose who will least offend our humanity.

By the way, Talarico whined today that Crockett told him before he announced that she wasn’t going to run for U.S. Senate until 2030, suggesting he wouldn’t have run against her if he had known she was going to get in the race. Doesn’t that kind of prove Crockett’s primary campaign message — that she’s a fighter and he’s not?

WINNER: Everybody — U.S. Life Expectancy is now 79

CBS News reported this week that U.S. life expectancy has risen to 79, highest on record, driven by the final end of the COVID-19 pandemic and lower rates of death due to cancer and heart disease. Yay!

CBS doesn’t mention this in its story, but the increase is also driven by the increase in life expectancy for women, which is 81.1. For men, it’s 75.8. They went with the average. For a global perspective, life expectancy in the U.S. still ranks in the 40s, internationally, with tiny Monaco at number one at 86.5. Japan, Australia, Switzerland, France, Italy, Canada and Spain all have life expectancies over 80.

ICYMI: Islamic Games are Identity Sports

The Free Beacon released a new report this week showing how the Qatari Foundation International (QFI) is funding dozens of educational initiatives in Georgia public schools, providing training for teachers and instruction in Arabic. TPPF documented months ago that this is also happening in Texas. Qatar, the top foreign funder in American colleges and universities, has wormed its way into public schools.

This week I published a 9^th & Congress piece on why Texas schools should reject an “Islamic Games” events proposed for several Texas public schools. In case you missed it, you can read it here

TPPF will hold an online panel discussion on how the Muslim Brotherhood, the Council for Arab and Islamic Relations (CAIR) are working to influence Texas public schools on February 10. You can register here: https://www.texaspolicy.com/events/the-muslim-brotherhood-cair-their-networks-working-to-influence-western-civilization-destabilize-texas-2

Winner: Texas Women Takes on Oklahoma Saturday

The No. 4 ranked Women Longhorns will play the No. 10 ranked Oklahoma Sooners on Sunday for the women’s basketball version of the Red River Shootout. ESPN’s College Game Day will broadcast live from Austin, the first women’s basketball game it has covered this year. Texas is 20 and 2 and are picked to win it, but Oklahoma has momentum, moving up six spots in this week’s AP poll. They crushed Texas A&M last night.

Every Friday morning, I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk 1370 Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. Currently, it feels like we are living in scenes of “Game of Thrones” in which dark, ominous voices keep warning us that “winter is coming.” As we prepare to face down a national storm, here’s who made the list.

WINNER: Trump Gets the Win at Davos

Americans who pay attention knew before President Donald Trump got on the plane to the World Economic Forum in Switzerland that he was going to get some kind of deal on Greenland. In the end, it all seemed to be handled almost immediately after Air Force One landed in Davos. Trump said he had a framework to move forward with in Greenland, so he would not have to slap a bunch of new tariffs on Europe, which was circling the wagons around Denmark. And, of course, he added that there was never any real chance that he’d put boots on the ice to force the takeover.

No details regarding the framework were provided, but talks with Denmark will continue and the scuttlebutt is that the U.S. will expand its military bases – which we could already do.

Some, including the Free Press’s Niall Ferguson, have suggested that Trump’s decision to make Davos all about Greenland was another example of what a great strategist he is. He distracted the European leaders with Greenland to buy himself more time to consider Iran.

If that’s true, it totally worked. As U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant told the European elite to chill, saying, “America First doesn’t mean America alone,” Trump posted a graphic on Truth Social that showed America taking over Greenland, Venezuela and Canada. The European leaders took the bait and went ballistic, lining up to take turns taking umbrage. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney became their spokesperson, with a long whiney speech insisting that the West could no longer count on the United States. Carney said international relations were irretrievably broken because the World Health Organization, the Conference of Parties (one of the UN’s climate change outfits) and the United Nations have been stripped of their power.

Seriously, Carney actually listed the World Health Organization first, the people who “managed” the global COVID 19 pandemic and currently push international guidelines for “gender affirming care.” If anyone should be stripped of power, it’s the WHO. As for the UN, its mission is to protect world peace. Let’s compare its heir success rate to Trump’s.

In the end, Trump gets the “W.” He controlled the entire narrative and came away with the framework of a deal on Greenland and a template for a new Board of Peace. All the European leaders have to show for the week is telling the folks back home that they gave the Canadian Prime Minister a standing ovation.

LOSER: The Media’s “Bible-Infused” Curriculum

The term “Bible-infused curriculum” popped up again this week in the Texas media. It is a dishonest and deliberately misleading term designed to hamper all those working to improve reading skills in public schools.

At the direction of the Texas Education Agency, following the lead of the Texas Legislature, the State Board of Education has created a required reading program for Texas schools, including listing about 30% of books and readings that are required for students.

What is causing Texas reporters to light their hair on fire is that Texas students will be exposed to 10 excerpts from the Old and New Testaments during their 12 years in public school. Kindergarteners will be required to learn the Golden Rule and hear the story of the Good Samaritan. “Jonah and the Whale” will be required reading for seventh graders, along with the Sermon on the Mount. These are foundational documents for human rights and Western civilization, which any minimally educated person of any faith should be familiar with.

Opponents of the reading program showed up in meetings holding signs that read: “Public School is not Sunday School.” The Houston Chronicle posted the entire reading list, which includes over 320 books and readings, so it’s hard to see how 10 excerpts from the Old and New Testaments results in a “Bible-infused curriculum.”

LOSERS: Democrats in Texas, Gavin Newsom and the Rest of Them

Texas House administrators announced this week that the 50 Texas Democrats who left the state last summer to block a quorum vote on a new Texas congressional redistricting map will be fined $9,354 each to cover the cost of the 14 days the House was unable to do business while they were gone, as well as their share of $125,000 the state police spent trying to round them up.

Democrats spent their campaign funds to charter planes to Chicago and Washington, D.C. and pay for hotels, but Texas House rules require that they come up with the money themselves to pay the fines. The lawmakers are trying to portray themselves as heroes (or martyrs or even just people who matter), but even on left wing television shows in Chicago and New York, they were being asked “why are you here?” They called it a “quorum bust,” but it was just a bust. The redistricting bill passed.

Meanwhile, as national Democrats try to resurrect their brand, California Gov. Gavin Newsom refused to give a straight answer to conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro this week when he asked him whether boys should play in girls’ sports.

Newsom has said in the past that he didn’t believe boys playing in girls’ sports was fair, but he was blasted by his Democrat base, so this week he inexplicably replied to Shapiro, “there but for the grace of God.”

He doesn’t make clear, “but for the grace of God,” what? Would he be a boy who wanted to play on a girls’ team? Would he be a girl who had to fear playing against a boy? Would he have been caught on tape like Kamala Harris, saying he totally supports sex-change surgeries paid for by the government? “For the grace of God,” what?

Polling clearly indicates that American oppose boys playing in girls’ sports, and it was a factor in the Democrats’ wipeout defeat in 2024. Still, leading Democrat voices don’t have talking points on this issue. Axios, a left-leaning media source, asked this question of Harris, New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker, New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Connecticut Sen. Chris Murphy, California Rep. Ro Khanna and California Gov. Gavin Newsom—and they all declined to comment.

LOSER: Norway Cheats at Skiing

We have to add Norway to the losers list this week after the International Ski and Snowboard Federation suspended two coaches and an equipment manager who were caught on tape during the winter Olympics reconfiguring the ski pants of two members of Norway’s national ski jumping team. In what is being reported as a national scandal, the coaches apparently managed to stitch something into the ski pants that made them more aerodynamic, so the skiers could fly even higher through the air. It’s kind of a reverse of the New England Patriots deflating footballs.

The cheating scandal has shaken Norway’s national identity. They have dominated Olympic skiing for at least 100 years, and have always been sticklers for following the rules. However, every skier is going to want those ski pants, which will undoubtedly become legal, and every athlete will have them by the time the next winter Olympics roll around. Can’t wait to watch.

LOSER: Texas Still Moving in on Wall Street

President Donald Trump is a big fan of Texas and most Texans love him, but he is also a native New Yorker and he made it clear this week that the New York Stock Exchange is in bad shape if Texas is opening up its own stock exchange in the Metroplex.

Trump criticized New York City’s socialist mayor, Zohran Mamdani, and New York businesses for letting it happen—although there’s no indication that he blames Texas for the financiers making the move. Dallas Mayor Eric Adams calls Dallas the home of capitalism.

WINNER, LOSER? Kamala Harris

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is one of the most prominent Jewish leaders in America. He was on Kamala Harris’s short list for vice president and is now always listed as a potential Democratic candidate in 2028. He is releasing a new memoir, which made news this week when he reported that Harris’s vetting team asked him if he’d ever been an agent of the Israeli government. Shapiro rightly viewed the question as hostile and anti-Semitic.

Harris made her pick while progressive Democrats around the country were marching against Israel and in support of Hamas terrorists, so most believed there was never a chance she would pick a Jewish running mate. We do not know if she asked the guy she actually did pick, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, who had made dozens of trips to China, if he was a Chinese agent. Apparently, she also didn’t ask Walz about the Somali fraud investigations already underway in Minnesota.

Shapiro believes Harris’s team was incompetent, but not everyone agrees. Harris is still touring the country selling her book and, reportedly, the former vice president is drawing big crowds in the South. Jacksonville, Mississippi gave her the keys to the City. Women are cheering her on, apparently unaware that the transformation of Mississippi schools, which have moved the Magnolia State from the bottom to the top in reading and math scores, was accomplished only when the locals managed to push back the teachers unions, who were one of the largest financial supports of Harris’s presidential effort.

LOSER: Global Trust at an All Time Low

A new global report on the disappearance of trust in institutions provides a bit more insight into what happened in Davos this week. Researchers found that increased polarization is not only happening in America, but also throughout the world. The latest findings released last week show that shared facts are becoming non-existent.

The late New York Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan iconic political saying, “you are entitled to your own opinion, but you are not entitled to your own facts,” is no longer true. Everyone has their own facts, and trying to challenge them is like trying to communicate with someone speaking in another language.

The global report found that people’s trust in government and media remains at rock bottom—nobody believes a thing they say. However, people do report feeling more trusting of what they hear from their friends and families and even their boss. Only 35% of people report that they regularly get information from a source they disagree with and 70% are unwilling or hesitant to connect with someone who:

• Lives by different core values than me
• Believes different facts and trusts different sources than I do
• Wants to address societal problems differently than I do
• Has a different culture, background, or lifestyle than mine

If you haven’t spoken to anybody who disagrees with you today, go out and find someone and say hello.

WINNER: Indiana Football Deserves a Movie

According to Texan Mark Cuban, it’s time for “Hoosiers,” the classic film about Indiana basketball, to get a sequel. Cuban is an Indiana alum. Like most people who saw Indiana win the national championship in Miami on Monday night, he believes the next one will be even better.

“Now, it’s a movie,” Cuban said. “Now, we’re all a part of it.”

Against all odds, Indiana won the College Football Championship after having the worst record of any school in the country. It was an exciting championship game against the University of Miami Hurricanes, which also has a good comeback story. The best moments included Trump getting cheered by the crowd and seeing him with his granddaughter, Kai who has committed to the University of Miami golf team. It was also inspiring to see both quarterbacks kneel to pray before kickoff. Every detail capped off a terrific college football season.

LOSER: What is Wrong with the NFL?

If only we could settle into the NFL playoffs for the rest of the winter, but, unfortunately, the guys over there must have missed the college playoff game—the quarterbacks demonstrating their faith, Trump getting cheered, the military being honored.

The Super Bowl announced this week that Trump haters Green Day will be playing at the opening ceremony, joining “Bad Bunny,” who is the starring act at half-time. Green Day has revamped its signature anti-American song, “American Idiot,” to say “I’m not part of a MAGA agenda.” Meanwhile, Bad Bunny has said he’s afraid to perform in America because ICE might pick him up.

NFL, please give us a break.

We’re inching up on March Madness, and in college basketball, the men of the University of Houston, ranked No. 6, will play Texas Tech on Sunday if weather permits (which it probably won’t). The No. 4 ranked Texas Lady Longhorns are scheduled to play Arkansas on Monday.

Finally, just asking. Is Landman a Conservative TV Show? Watch my podcast with my TPPF colleagues Brian Phillips and Michaelanne Hurst here.

Stay glued to those weather alerts 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.

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, I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk 1370 Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. President Donald Trump finally has a Peace Prize, Texas has a team in the Super Bowl hunt and it looks like Verizon is working again. Here’s who made the list:

WINNER: Gov. Greg Abbott’s $106 Million Campaign War Chest

In what the Dallas Morning News calls a “chest-thumping number,” Texas Gov. Greg Abbott officially reported this week that he has a total of $106 million on hand for his re-election campaign this year—a figure that withers any efforts by Democrats to take over the Governor’s Mansion anytime soon. Note that Texas House Democrats bragged this week that they have raised a little over $2 million, mostly from folks around the country who supported their Capitol walkout last year. The Texas Democrat big dog, Beto O’Rourke, who has declined to run for anything again, also raised $2 million. Democrat U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico has raised over $6 million and his opponent, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, reportedly has close to that amount, although her progressive allies are currently criticizing her for taking money from the wrong people.

Which is not to say that it is all about the money—or even mostly about the money. Abbott’s broad support from the business community of Texas is a clear sign that people like the direction the state is going—job creation, productivity increases and, of course, Abbott’s lead role in passing school choice last year. The response from Texans is “let’s keep going.” Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick also broke campaign fundraising records reporting $38 million on hand for his re-election. Both Abbott and Patrick are running for fourth terms.

WINNER: Maria Machado Gives Her Nobel Peace Prize to Trump

After the Nobel Committee passed over President Trump in October, I reported that peace prizes are not usually awarded on merit—(see Barack Obama). But sometimes they are. Yesterday, Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado gave her Nobel Peace Prize medal to President Donald Trump, expressing gratitude to Trump for taking out dictator Nicolas Maduro, and for his support of the resistance movement.

Bloomberg says that Norway is stunned by the news that Machado gave her prize to Trump after they specifically told her it was not transferable.

According to the news report, “a sense of disbelief gripped the Norwegian media and expert community”—don’t you love that Scandinavians have a “media and expert community?”

Janne Haaland Matlary, a professor with the University of Oslo and a former politician said, “That’s completely unheard of. It’s a total lack of respect for the award, on her part.” [It is] “meaningless” and “pathetic.”

Of course, Dr. Matlary has it backwards. “Meaningless and pathetic” are what the Nobel Peace Prize has become. Machado has made it relevant again.

LOSER: Immigration Wars in the Streets

We are accustomed to living in a world in which half the people have a viewpoint that is diametrically opposed to the other half. The immigration wars going on in the streets of Minneapolis now are a stark example.

There is no question that the progressive left had been looking for a “George Floyd” moment and they believe they got it when an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and killed Renee Good on Jan. 7. Fully 80% of Americans say they have watched all the videos of the shootings and most everyone has an opinion.

A strong majority—over half—do not believe the ICE agent was justified in using deadly force against Good.

Meanwhile, the same poll shows that just over 60% of Republicans believe the shooting was justified. Almost all Democrats—over 90%— do not, which means that the country has settled into their camps on this issue, before there has been any investigation.

There are lots of arguments we would all like to hurl at the progressive anti-ICE marchers, starting with why they never seem to get mobilized in response to victims who have been killed by illegals, but it is also fair to ask for an investigation to determine why this woman was killed by a law enforcement official. Unfortunately, by the time the investigation gets moving, people will be even more dug in. Nobody is going to win the immigration war in the streets. Everybody is a loser.

LOSER: Verizon’s “Software Issue”

If we needed more evidence of how our fragile world is held together by our cellular service, it came on Wednesday when Verizon’s system went down for about 7 hours—people with Verizon phones couldn’t call out and nobody could call them.

Verizon couldn’t tell you how many of their customers lost service, only saying that 1.5 million people reached out to them to complain. I kept wondering how they could complain if their phone wasn’t working—which is why I suspect it was many more than 1.5 million.

Verizon called it a “software issue,” not a cyberattack, but the reports from other cell phone companies all seemed a little shaky. AT&T and T-Mobile said some customers reported problems to them, but they think it was only because they were trying to call Verizon people. Shouldn’t they know whether their systems are working or not?

Verizon is offering $20 credit to people who were affected, but speaking in solidarity with Verizon customers, I don’t think that will nearly cover the pain and suffering.

LOSER: Crockett Has a Bad Week

Woke apologies are pretty much over, everywhere except in Hollywood and among progressive Democrats, which is apparently why two comedians apologized to Texas U.S. Senate candidate Jasmine Crockett this week for telling voters they should not waste their money on contributions to her campaign.

Two guys nobody has heard of, Bowen Yang and Matt Rogers, described by their compatriots as “white and white adjacent,” went on Instagram to say how sorry they were to have been insensitive, shortly after they were accused of attacking Crockett because she is a black woman.

In addition to the fundraising story noted above, Crockett has not had a great week. The first real poll in the U.S. Senate Democrat primaries from Emerson College shows State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin leads Crockett 47% to 38%. Pollsters say that Talarico is leading among white and Hispanic voters, while Crockett has about 80% of black voters.

LOSER: Bill & Hillary Clinton Duck Subpoena

Granted, nobody really expected former President Bill Clinton and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to show up on Capitol Hill this week to answer questions about what they knew about Jeffrey Epstein.

The Clintons called the whole thing a “witch hunt,” a term frequently employed by the current president, and they insisted they’d already told everything they know.

Well, maybe, but I don’t believe we have gotten to the bottom of those silky silver shirts that the former President and Epstein are wearing in the most recent set of photographs that were released earlier this year.

House Oversight Chair James Comer, R-Kentucky, is moving forward to hold them in contempt of Congress, but that probably won’t make much difference. It is already pretty clear they have nothing but contempt for Congress.

WINNER: More Evidence the Whole Trans Thing is Over

Now that the U.S. Supreme Court is finally considering whether boys should be allowed to participate in girls’ sports, one of my colleagues on the radio version of Winners & Losers actually made the Supreme Court losers this week because the justices wasted so much time asking the pro-trans lawyers dumb questions that all boiled down to what a woman is.

But cultural change is a long process, and if the reading of the tea leaves is correct and the Supremes are poised to block boys and men from playing in girls and women’s sports, this will be an important victory for our women, our values and culture and our country. Since all that is at stake, the Supreme Court was right to push the ACLU attorneys for the details of their case—they need to put their case on record, even if the Court’s liberal justices, aside from Ketanji Brown Jackson, did not seem inclined to join in.

Just in case the Supremes don’t act, Nevada’s governor is collecting signatures to put a Trans ban on the ballot in the Silver State. Meanwhile, in San Antonio, they are still fighting for rainbow sidewalks.

LOSER: Shake Shack Gaining Ground in Texas

News reports came out this week that another Shake Shack is going up in Leander, forcing speculation that the New York City-based hamburger joint is trying to oust Whataburger from the No. 1 burger spot in Texas.

Granted, there are only 30 Shake Shacks in Texas now, compared to about 800 Whataburgers, but Texans cannot be complacent. Now that red meat is back on the top of the food pyramid, we cannot let some New York ground beef restaurant spawned in the middle of Manhattan threaten Texas’ iconic Whataburger.

It is true some folks believe that Whataburger lost its claim to a Texas title after it sold controlling interest to a Chicago company. But Whataburger is still headquartered in my hometown of San Antonio, and they are bullish about maintaining their Texas brand—and we all should help them. You can’t just show up in the Lone Star State, throw up a hamburger stand and say you belong here.

WINNER: College Football Championship & Super Bowl Speculation

Indiana will play the University of Miami on Monday night for the College Football Championship. To review how we got here, pull up the last 15 weeks of Winners & Losers.It’s a great story. Kick-off is at 6:30 p.m., Texas time.

Meanwhile, Super Bowl Sunday is Feb. 8, but the Elite 8 is set, so it’s time to start official speculation. Let’s begin with the projection model at the New York Times which somehow calculates that the Seattle Seahawks have the highest percentage chance—23% of the eight teams still in the fight—to win the Super Bowl. The Times ranks the NFC higher than the AFC and give the Rams the second highest chance. They give the Texans a 10% chance to win—the Patriots and the Broncos do a little better in the AFC.

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, I join the Cardle & Woolley Show on Talk 1370 Radio in Austin to announce the week’s Winners & Losers. The holidays are totally over now, and 2026 is up and running in earnest with big happenings all over the world—and in Texas. Here’s who made the list:

WINNER: Trump Takes Out Maduro

President Donald Trump’s capture and arrest of Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro reinforced several foundational American values and principals, but it was also another demonstration of a smaller, but important point in the world conversation—no other country has the military capability to do what we did in Caracas last weekend. Like the obliteration of Iran’s nuclear facilities, Maduro’s arrest and capture is a clear reminder to the world of America’s military supremacy. Even America’s biggest detractors (including the Democrats in Congress) should sleep better at night knowing that the good guys have all that power.

My TPPF colleague, Joshua Treviño, has made the most succinct statement on why Trump was right to take out Maduro on Jan. 3, so I am just going to quote him here from an op-ed published earlier this week in National Review:

Venezuela’s corrupt leaders got away with it for too long. They sent forth millions of their own citizenry to be trafficked, and they got away with it. They trafficked the drugs that killed and addicted millions of our neighbors and family, and they got away with it. They formed alliances with cartels dealing in goods and people, and they got away with it. They entered into the business of narco-terrorism, and they got away with it. They invited the worst enemies of the United States into the Americas — the Russians, the Chinese, the Iranians — and they got away with it. They did all this for years, and they got away with it.

This impact of Maduro’s arrest will continue to play out in the coming days—and probably for years to come—and we’ll keep watching, but there is no doubt Trump made a winning move and executed it masterfully.

America’s thinking on Trump’s action in Venezuela has been shifting all week as people get more information. Early in the week most polls showed only about a third supported the president but new numbers put out by CBS News yesterday show about half of Americans now believe the president is doing the right thing. A strong majority of Republicans supported the action from the beginning.

The president also gets a thumbs up for withdrawing from 31 United Nations organizations and 35 other international groups that push left-wing ideologies and operate contrary to American interests. The U.S. sends billions to the United Nations which they spend on programs pushing climate change, DEI and other anti-American ideas. To paraphrase former U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on another topic, “let them hate us on their own dime.”

LOSER: Gov. Tim Walz, the Minnesota Fraud

“Tim Walz and the Minnesota Fraud,” sounds a little like a rock band. Financial shakedowns are an old tradition in the Democrat party, dating at least from President Bill Clinton, whose administration used them extensively when doling out HUD money. However, our top loser of the week, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, seems to have lifted Democrat corruption to a whole new level.

Testimony before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform this week revealed that the state auditor knew as early as 2009 that there was extensive fraud in the welfare system in the state of Minnesota, but Gov. Walz looked the other way and nothing was done. State workers continued to raise concerns, but they were ignored.

Happily, it has finally all come crashing down, and Gov. Walz announced this week that he will not run for reelection. Hopefully, losing his job won’t be the only consequence for his ignoring the fact that billions in federal funds earmarked to feed children during the pandemic, provide services for children with autism and other special needs, provide housing for poor people and treatment for drug addicts was instead given to fraudsters in the Somali community in Minnesota.

The Wall Street Journal Editorial Board provides a good summary of what has happened so far—including charges against 90 offenders—but the best political perspective on the fraud perpetrated by the Somali community in Minnesota came from Congressman Brendan Gill, R-Texas, in that same congressional hearing.

WINNER: Another Congressional Hearing Home Run for U.S. Rep. Brendan Gill, R-Texas

We all remember when Rep. Gill took down NPR CEO Katherine Maher by reading her tweets back to her after she denied ever saying such things as “white people all feel subconsciously superior.” This week, Rep. Gill brought the same chainsaw to the congressional hearing on welfare corruption in the Somali community in Minnesota, questioning local officials about some interesting statistics:

73% of Somali community Minnesotans are on Medicaid, compared to 18% in the general community.
81% of the Somali community are on welfare. After living 10 years in Minnesota that percentage drops to 73%.
54% of Somalians are on food stamps, compared to 7% in the general community.
Rep. Gill closed by asking the officials whether Somali voters back Democrats or Republicans. The answer of course, is that they overwhelmingly vote for Democrats. It’s all here in the video. Really makes you proud when you hear Chairman James Comer say, “the Chair recognizes Mr. Gill from Texas.”

LOSER: Home Ownership is a Weapon of White Supremacy

When I was in high school, there was a sign over the water fountain that read, “What Communists Believe.” The first and only item I remember on this list was “communists believe there is no God,” which was a deal-breaker for me and my other fellow teenagers at the time, so I didn’t pay attention to what came next.

Now the Democrat Socialist mayor of New York City has appointed Cea Weaver to serve as head of his Office of Tenant Advocacy, and she’s revealed some more details about what communists believe regarding private property.

In an August 2019 tweet, which Weaver recently deleted, she wrote “Private property including and kind of ESPECIALLY homeownership is a weapon of white supremacy masquerading as ‘wealth building’ public policy.”

In 2021 Weaver said “…for centuries, we have really treated property as an individualized good and not a collective good.” Her plan is to transition to a model of shared equity in order to think about property differently. She explained what she means by saying that, “white families and some POC [people of color] families who are homeowners… are going to have a different relationship to property than the one that we currently have.”

Seeing Weaver’s words on the page doesn’t do them justice. Take a look at the video.

LOSER: Los Angeles Homeowners

In case you missed it, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass this week marked the one year anniversary of the devastating fires in the California Palisades by boasting that 12 houses have been rebuilt. Yes, Mayor Bass is claiming victory that 12 houses, out of the over 13,000 homes that were destroyed, have been rebuilt.

However, the mayor’s unbelievable effort at positive spin is not the worst thing about California’s inability to rebuild. In an echo of the old liberal cliché, “World ends—women and minorities suffer most,” the folks at UCLA are more concerned about whose homes are being rebuilt rather than the numbers. According to them, African-American homeowners made up a large share of the population of Altadena California, which was destroyed by the fires, and the professors at UCLA‘s Latino Policy and Politics Institute warn that those homes are likely to be the last to be rebuilt.

Since virtually nobody’s home is being rebuilt in California, you have to wonder why the folks at UCLA want to suggest that white people are cutting in line. The point is there is no line, just a brick wall of state government red tape.

Still, so far, at least black homeowners in Altadena don’t have to fear that some bureaucrat is suggesting they shouldn’t actually own a home because it is a “symbol of white supremacy, masquerading as wealth building public policy.”

Let’s pause for just a moment and give thanks that we live in a state where “wealth building public policies” are known to be a good thing.

LOSER: Beto O’Rourke Hasn’t Gone Away
Perhaps this is good news for Republicans, or maybe it doesn’t matter, but just so you know, Axios reported this week that Beto O’Rourke, who has been defeated by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Gov. Greg Abbott and pretty much every Democrat who ran for president in 2020 (except Kamala Harris), is now reportedly working behind the scenes to help Texas Democrats. You may have missed the fact that he’s been campaigning in red zones like Amarillo, Wichita Falls and Tyler, and a September University of Texas/Texas Politics Project Poll showed he had higher favorability ratings among Democrats than U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas. Not seeing a ripple effect here, but will keep you posted.

WINNER: Texas Supreme Court Ends Bar Association Hegemony

In another blow against the hegemony of DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion), the Texas Supreme Court formally announced this week that the American Bar Association (ABA) will no longer determine which Texas law students can sit for the Texas bar exam. Instead, the Texas Supreme Court, whose members are elected by the people of Texas, will now develop their own criteria to approve law schools.

The ABA has long required law schools to establish strong DEI programs that are now in conflict with new Texas laws that require student admissions and faculty hiring to be based entirely on merit. And although the ABA claims to be non-partisan, it has taken official positions in support of a number of issues, including restricting fossil fuel use and limiting the death penalty. To show how out of touch they are with Texans, the ABA’s strongly opposed requiring a photo ID in order to vote—a policy that is supported by 85% of Texans, including minorities and members of both parties.

The Texas Supreme Court is the first state to make this winning move, but news reports indicate that Florida and Ohio are also poised to cut ties with the ABA.

WINNER: Eat Real Food

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s edict this week that America “Eat Real Food” has implications that go far beyond the dinner plate. One of the chief ideological tenets of the progressive left—along with the notion that there are lots of different genders and there should be no enforcement at the border—is that what you eat says a great deal about who you are.

The left would classify eating steak as a sin, if they believed in sin, so the new food pyramid—with its big picture of red meat at the top—is likely to make lefties go crazy. There’s also a left-wing war on dairy, causing us to live in a world where people actually drink something called “oat milk” and demand gluten-free communion wafers.

The rest of us, who have known since the Atkins diet in the 1980s that protein, fruits and vegetables are the key to health and carbs are the road to oblivion, were not surprised by Kennedy’s policy change, although we know it will take more than a new pyramid graphic to make it happen. The phony flavors created by food companies—like the orange stuff on Cheetos—are as addictive as cocaine and will be hard for people, especially children, to kick.

My favorite recommendation is that kids be prohibited from having added sugar until they are 10 years old, although I have no idea how they will pull it off. Currently, the recommendation is age 2, and I doubt if many parents are following that guideline.

It is disappointing that RFK, Jr., did not include a recommended daily requirement for coffee and chocolate, which we all know are two essential nutrients that make life worth living—along with steak.

WINNER: A 1951 Treaty Gives America Lots of Rights in Greenland

Secretary of State Marco Rubio is going to Denmark this week to discuss U.S. interests in Greenland. That’s a good sign that both Rubio and Danish officials read the very interesting op-ed in the New York Times this week that pointed out that the United States signed a treaty with Denmark during the Cold War which gives us broad military access to Greenland. According to Mikel Runge Olsen, of the Danish Institute for International Studies in Copenhagen, “the U.S. has such a free hand in Greenland that it can pretty much do what it wants.”

The Danish op-ed writers say the agreement allows the U.S. to construct, install, maintain, and operate” military bases across Greenland, “house personnel” and “control landings, takeoffs, anchorages, moorings, movements, and operation of ships, aircraft, and waterborne craft.”

So perhaps we can just start constructing, installing and operating and see where it goes from there. Greenlanders are pretty dug in against allowing the United States to take over at this point, but once they get to know us, I’m betting they will like us. We can barbeque a bunch of steaks, schedule a few country music concerts and win them over in a week.

WINNER: The College Football Playoffs

Despite everything that went wrong and continues to go wrong in college football, we are coming to the end of a terrific season. Last weekend, college football fans watched as the so-called “big dogs,” Ohio State, Alabama and Georgia, became “former big dogs” and last night’s semi-final game between Ole Miss and Miami was one of the best of the season, with Miami coming out on top in the last minute.

The Red Raiders, the last Texas team in the CFP fight, were defeated by Oregon last week, but Tech has stepped up with a “get ready for next year” messaging strategy this week that has been dazzling, including getting a commit from almost a dozen new players from the portal, including Brendan Sorsby.

I married into an Oregon Duck family and am a longtime fan who’ll be watching the other semi-final game tonight to see if the Quack Attack can overcome the seemingly unstoppable Indiana Hoosiers on their second try. There’s a 3.5 point spread in Indiana’s favor. The game is at 6:30 p.m. and the winner will face the University of Miami on Jan. 19.

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.

Listen to Winners & Losers on Talk 1370, the Cardle & Woolley show, every Friday morning at 8:30 AM. Here’s the listen live link.

If you were forwarded this email, you can sign up to receive it 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.

After a year of debating and finally passing a new curriculum for Texas public schools, it seems like the day after Christmas is a good time to re-visit this piece I wrote in 2024 about cultural illiteracy and the importance of understanding the role Christianity plays in the foundation of our western culture.

“Sermon on the Mound,” Shows Religious Illiteracy
August 15, 2024

One could only laugh at the news report by CBS 5 in Austin that cited “concern over a ‘Bible infused public school curriculum in Texas.’” According to the reporter, one of those “concerns” is that students would be taught about the “Sermon on the Mound.” Here’s what she wrote:

But criticism sparked when the teaching materials released, included biblical principles like the “Sermon on the Mound,” the life of Jesus Christ from birth to resurrection, and Bible prophecies.

Yep. Sermon on the Mound. Insert your own baseball joke here.

The obvious reference to the “Sermon on the Mount” could have been a typo—but if so, not only did the reporter miss it, the proofreaders also missed it. It was posted for almost a day before being corrected.

Did they miss it because they don’t know that the Sermon on the Mount is widely considered to be the most famous sermon ever delivered? If they didn’t know that, then they should understand that is precisely the reason the new public school curriculum they are “concerned” about is necessary.

To give the Sermon on the Mount an historical, non-religious cohort, it was the “I Have a Dream” speech of its time. Of course, Martin Luther King Jr. never would have written the “I have a Dream” speech if not for the Sermon on the Mount, because there never would have been a civil rights movement, or emancipation from slavery. In fact, there would never have been an America, at least as we know it today, and Martin Luther King Jr. would not have been named Martin Luther.

The basis for “all men are created equal” is rooted in “blessed are the poor in heart, blessed are the meek, blessed are the merciful”—all from the Sermon on the Mount.

Religious illiteracy is not rare in America. Years ago, while working in a newsroom, I was asked to coach a junior reporter on a piece she was doing for Christmas. She wrote, “Like the old saying goes, it is better to give than to receive.”

I informed her it was not an “old saying,” that, in fact, Christ had said it. The reporter had no idea, apparently having never made a link between Christ and Christmas.

Like all illiteracy, cluelessness about the Bible reflects a lack of basic cultural knowledge akin to not knowing what the Declaration of Independence is and how it is related to the Magna Carta, and how the Magna Carta is related to the Sermon on the Mount.

The Sermon on the Mount is one of the primary building blocks of Western Civilization—changing our values from hierarchy, entitlement and barbarism to humility, forgiveness, and caring for others.

When the leadership at the Texas Education Agency followed the direction of the Texas Legislature with the passage of House Bill 1605, the goal wasn’t to convert students to Christianity in the classroom. Instead, the goal is to ensure that Texas students understand the values and principles that resulted in the exploration and settlement of North America, the founding of our country and the systems and laws that guide our country today.

It’s not just a story for Christians. Educated Jewish and Muslim Americans know the story of the Sermon on the Mount and how it fits into the American story—they also know how its history is related to the stories of their faith.

Teaching isn’t preaching, even if some of the stories come from a historical source like the Bible. Using another Bible story example, the Good Samaritan can help teach children how to be good neighbors to all. Discussing the Golden Rule and its origin reinforces the civilized way to treat one another. Going back to Martin Luther King Jr. again, he used the Bible to make the case for moral law in his famous Letter from Birmingham Jail, a document that every Texas student is required to read and learn about.

A majority of Texans support adding the Bible to the historical sources used in the classroom. According to a new poll conducted by WPAi for TPPF, 64% of Texans support the inclusion of historical religious stories and examples into state provided curriculum, while only 33% are opposed. Further, 58% say the biblical stories provide students with a greater understanding of the development of Western civilization, versus just 25% who say it has the potential for religious indoctrination.

Of course, biblical illiteracy is not the only problem that has come up in the debate over Texas’ new public school curriculum. In the CBS 5 news report, a distinguished political science professor from Rice University snidely insisted that the curriculum probably violates the “separation clause” of the Constitution.

There is, of course, no “separation clause” in the Constitution. What the Constitution bans is an official, government supported church. Literate Texas students should know that too.

The reporter who wrote “Sermon on the Mound” in a news report demonstrates precisely why a curriculum for Texas public schools should include all the historical resources, including the Bible, that contribute to our country’s identity. It is one of the things needed to understand what it means to be an American. It’s all connected. It’s impossible to understand the importance of Juneteenth, for example, without understanding the significance of the message of the Sermon on the Mount—that’s Mount, not Mound.

May your Christmas season continue to be merry and bright.

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

Listen to Winners & Losers on Talk 1370, the Cardle & Woolley show, every Friday morning at 8:30 AM. Here’s the listen live link.

If you were forwarded this email, you can sign up to receive it 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.