The War and The Debate – 31 Days Until the Election

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.

A strong new job report came out this morning, just as the radio show was going on the air and I am sure President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will take the credit. However, it is often the case that a huge percentage of new jobs created nationwide are in Texas as a result of the state’s conservative low tax rates and reasonable regulation policies that let businesses grow. Once we get the Texas numbers, I will report back.

Winner: Israel & Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

We know now that while Netanyahu was making a monumental speech at the United Nations last week, the Israeli Defense Forces were taking out Hassan Nasrallah, a founder of Hezbollah (which means “party of God”), a murderous killer who is responsible for, among other things, the suicide bombing that killed over 200 Marines in Beirut in 1983. Netanyahu said Nasrallah wasn’t “a terrorist,” he was “the terrorist.” His primary mission was to kill Jews.

“War on the West” author Douglas Murray said this week that the Torah teaches not to feel joy over the death of your enemies. That said, Murray notes that he is not Jewish, and he is going to rejoice over the death of Nasrallah. I am not Jewish either and I am also happy that this force of evil has been taken out. It has been noted that Israel has eliminated more people on the U.S. terrorist watch list in six weeks than the U.S. has eliminated in 20 years.

Learning nothing from all this, the Biden-Harris administration continues to push back against Israel moving forward in the war even as they give lip service to supporting Israel’s right to defend itself. They refuse to understand that the only real way for Israel to defend itself and stop the escalating conflict in the Middle East is to go in and win the war. Netanyahu is rightfully ignoring Biden and Harris.

Winner: J.D. Vance’s Debate Performance

U.S. Sen. J.D. Vance’s smashing victory over Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz in the Vice Presidential Debate on Tuesday was the biggest unmasking of a media lie since they tried to tell us that Biden was fit and ready for duty. The media’s incessant attacks on Vance had resulted in astronomical negative ratings for him. Before the debate, he was very unpopular. After the debate, his ratings went up 19 points. Vance busted out of his “cat lady” image immediately and introduced America to a smart young guy who knows about issues and is quick on his feet. It’s been a while since we’ve seen one of those, and it was beyond refreshing.

Vance called his opponent “Tim,” as if they were friends, acknowledged points of agreement and generally reminded people how to disagree respectfully. A “sub-loser” this week is Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who played Vance in Gov. Tim Walz’s debate prep. Whatever Buttigieg did, it was wrong. Walz wasn’t ready for Vance. He clearly didn’t know what hit him.

Losers: VP Debate Moderators Margaret Brennan & Nora O’Donnell

Of course, Walz didn’t need to do much to defend himself in the debate—the moderators were taking care of all that. Going into the debate, it was hard to imagine that the moderators could be any more biased than ABC’s David Muir and Lindsey Davis, but the two women from CBS News lowered the bar even farther, seemingly unaware that every question they asked was premised on the Democrat Party’s view of the world.

They did not ask questions about the war in Ukraine or the faltering economy. When they asked about immigration, they focused on the grave injustice against Haitian immigrants in Springfield, Ohio instead of the millions of Americans in border states and now U.S. cities that are crumbling under the weight of Biden-Harris’ open border policies. Instead of talking about the Biden-Harris sluggish response to Hurricane Helene (Biden didn’t come back from the beach to monitor the storm) the moderators asked an outraged question about “climate change denial,” which is not even a thing anymore.

Since the moderators knew they had an abortion question, why didn’t they bother to read the abortion legislation Walz signed which does not limit abortion at any stage of pregnancy—up to the nineth month. Walz denied that when Vance pointed it out, so perhaps the governor hasn’t read it either.

Democrats invariably blame former President Donald Trump for the hate and vitriol in our political discourse but if you want to see what real hate looks like up close, check out the contempt on Margaret Brennan’s face when she condescendingly “woman-splained” to Vance that the illegal immigrants in Ohio are actually legal. When Vance insisted on laying out the facts, Brennan simply seethed.

It was clear from the beginning that the debate was another “Three Against One” situation for Republicans but by the time it was over, it turned out to be “One Against Three.” The senator whipped them all.

Winner: Greg Abbott’s October 7th Proclamation and His Request to the Texas Media

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued a proclamation this week directing that flags fly at half-staff on Monday, Oct. 7 and proclaiming a moment of silence for the victims of the terrorist massacre in Israel last year. He also asked the Texas media to read out the names of the seven American hostages who are still being held by the Hamas terrorists. They are:

Edan Alexander

Itay Chen

Sagui Dekel-Chen

Gadi Haggai

Judith Weinstein Haggai

Omer Neutra

Being forced to watch the Biden-Harris administration vacillate on its support for Israel daily, it is great to live in a state that unequivocally supports our strongest ally in the Middle East—Israel.

Winner: Tony Gonzales’ Release of ICE statistics

U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales, R-San Antonio, drove the news cycle for several days this week when he released statistics from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on the number of criminals who are in the country who entered illegally—including 13,000 who have been convicted of murder either in the U.S. or abroad. Gonzales went after the long-sought statistics from ICE and made them part of the immigration narrative—which is a tough thing to pull off. Gonzales, whose district includes a huge part of the Texas border, knows as much about the negative impact of the deluge of illegal immigration under the Biden-Harris administration as anyone. Democrats have quibbled with the ICE numbers, but they can’t make them go away.

Loser: State Sen. Molly Cook’s statement on Israel

State Sen. Molly Cook, D-Houston, was elected to replace former Sen. John Whitmire who was elected Mayor of Houston last year. Whitmire is a strong supporter of Israel, resisting pressure from left-wing progressives who pressured him to issue a proclamation in support of a ceasefire shortly after the Hamas attack. Whitmire told the Jewish community: “When some of your enemies asked me to issue a proclamation for a ceasefire, I did not respond.”

His replacement, Cook, who never condemned the Oct. 7 attack and declined to attend a film about it at the Holocaust Remembrance Museum in Houston, has a different view. Last week, she issued a statement saying: “I cannot stay silent while the United States facilitates the indiscriminate bombing and starving of an entire population.”

Jewish leaders in Houston called Cook’s comments extremely harmful. They worry that her comments could fuel anti-Jewish hatred and spur attacks on Jewish institutions. We should all worry. Hopefully, Houston Democrats will continue to look to Whitmire, not Cook, for leadership.

Winner: Caitlin Clark – WNBA Rookie of the Year

No. 2 ranked Texas doesn’t play this week, but there is a round ball story that makes the winner’s list. Caitlin Clark has transformed the WNBA, just as she transformed women’s basketball in the NCAA and she was just named “Rookie of the Year.” Clark averaged almost 20 points a game and set a league record for the number of assists—19 in one game—and for triple doubles. She hit 122 three-point shots this season. Clark’s team, the Indiana Fever, also led the league in attendance, even though they didn’t make the playoff finals—which says it all. Women’s basketball has arrived. Many women players, past and present, have played a role in that, but nothing outweighs Clark’s contribution this year.

Texas A&M kicks off against Mizzou tomorrow at 11 a.m., and Texas Tech takes on Arizona at 10 p.m., book-ending more than 12 hours of college football tomorrow.

Have a great weekend!

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

 

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

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