Every Friday morning at 8:30 a.m., I join the Cardle & Woolley show, Talk 1370 Radio, in Austin to pick the week’s top Winners & Losers. Right after the show, today, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke at the United Nations, calling it a “swamp of anti-Semitic bile.”
Netanyahu’s speech would undoubtedly have put him at the top of the winner’s list this week if he had spoken before the deadline. I’ll take a closer look at what he said and circle back on that next week. Here’s who made the list:
Winner: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
Paxton is suing the Biden-Harris administration for their latest requirement that the state actively recruit “LGBTQ+ affirming” foster parents for children who are gay or are suffering from gender confusion or gender dysphoria. This outrageous new federal rule would also require that foster parents pledge to provide “appropriate mental and behavioral health support to LGBTQ+ youth,” an ambiguous statement that could usher in all kinds of bureaucratic interpretation and abuse.
This is one more attempt to inject the inaccurate idea that gender is non-binary into our institutions and adopt the current progressive thinking about how to deal with so-called “transgender” children. Children, including those who think they are the opposite sex, can flourish under loving foster parents. They should not be required to be indoctrinated with left-wing gender theory. Paxton is right for not giving an inch on this.
Loser: Kamala Harris’ Holistic Interview
Even the New York Times panned Vice President Kamala Harris’ interview with MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle, saying she “failed to answer questions substantively.” That may be the understatement of the year. Harris was simply awful, answering a question about the economy with some gibberish about transportation and its relationship to housing and the need to look at it all “holistically.” She used the word “holistically” three times in 30 seconds.
This was Harris’ first one-on-one interview on cable and she could not have had a stronger champion than Ruhle, who said following the interview that it didn’t matter that Harris had not provided “clear or direct answers” because they weren’t talking about “clear or direct issues.”
By contrast, former President Donald Trump held a press conference at Trump Tower in New York City yesterday where he addressed dozens of “clear and direct” issues from immigration and the economy to Ukraine and the Middle East. The New York Times didn’t like Trump’s comments either – charging that he rambled and talked for far too long. They aren’t wrong about that, but the comparison of the two candidates’ public appearances highlights one of the most basic rules of politics – you can’t beat something with nothing – a rule that is increasingly a problem for Harris.
Loser: Harris Cleanup Tour
After Harris’ disastrous MSNBC interview, Mark Cuban, who still owns 27% of the Dallas Mavericks, went on a Harris media clean-up tour, saying he was supporting the Vice President over Trump because he thought she would be better for business. Cuban doesn’t like Trump’s tariff proposals, but it’s still hard to see how he believes Harris would be better for business, particularly because she proposes to increase the corporate income tax rate to 28% – more than they pay in China or the EU. What could be a more anti-business, job-killing move?
But the bottom line is that Cuban said Harris’ team liked his ideas better than Trump did – so it was kind of a reverse Shark Tank thing.
Cuban told Fox News that he would like to be head of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in a Harris administration – which may be a very long shot considering how large a role DEI would likely play in hiring, should Harris be elected. Most of the “White Dudes for Kamala” aren’t actually looking for jobs.
Loser: Gavin Newsom Apology for Slavery
California Governor Gavin Newsom issued a statement this week apologizing for the Golden State’s role in perpetrating slavery, even though California entered the Union as a free state in 1850. The problem with this kind of apology put forth by someone who played no role in perpetrating the crime is that it requires the apologizer to affirm that our history of slavery continues to cause harm in American life today and deny that any progress has been made in working for racial equality.
Newsom’s apology comes after California spent a couple of years determining how to award reparations to African Americans whose descendants had lived in California prior to 1900. The cost, at $1.2 million per person or about a trillion total, was not financially feasible, so Newsom just said he was sorry.
If Newsom wants to offer an apology that would matter, he should tell the veterans, drug addicts, broken families and the mentally ill who are sleeping on California’s city streets how sorry he is that his state’s drug and housing policies have exacerbated their problems. That’s something he actually should apologize for.
Winner: Bastrop County
Elon Musk is moving the headquarters for “X,” formally known as Twitter, to Bastrop County. Space X and The Boring Company are already located in Bastrop County where Musk has also built Hyperloop Plaza – which includes a bodega and a pub. Musk’s move to Texas continues to benefit the state as the billionaire entrepreneur’s innovation and energy perfectly align with Texas’ productivity and spirit.
Loser: China
China’s newest nuclear submarine has sunk in a shipyard near Wuhan, although it’s not really news, since it happened sometime last spring. China had been trying to cover it up, but news leaked out this week, even as the government still has no official comment.
The U.S. has an advantage over China in submarines and undersea technology and this latest sinking ship makes it clear we will stay in the lead for some time. China’s immediate push in developing submarines is to put pressure on Taiwan and discourage outside intervention. When it comes to military parity, it is always good news if China is losing.
Loser: Britain’s Last Call
England voted in a liberal government the other month and I am adding this to the loser list as a reminder of how progressives think. It seems some in the new Labour Party government believe it would be a good idea to require that bars and pubs close earlier in an attempt to force the Brits to drink less.
Progressive government bureaucrats sanctimoniously note that the state of British health is “morally reprehensible” – a problem they insist must be addressed. They are looking at ways to tackle obesity too. In response to outcries about individual freedom and “nanny state” policies, the government has backed off, but only a little. They will try to work with industries to get them to cut back on drinking hours and fatty foods on their own, but if they don’t, there’s the threat of regulation.
Winner: Texas is Still No. 1
Top ranked Texas is playing Mississippi State in Austin tomorrow and Texas State will play Sam Houston State in San Marcos. Fans will have to maneuver around Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York and Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, who will be campaigning before each game for Austin Democrat congressman Greg Casar, D-Texas and we are all hoping that it doesn’t put a damper on either the Longhorns or the Bobcats. Meanwhile, Texas A&M is playing Arkansas in Arlington – one of those “neutral site” games.
With 37 days to go until the election, we are all looking for a “neutral site.”
Have a great weekend.