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.
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