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

WINNER: 7 Countries Unite for Strait of Hormuz Coalition

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

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

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

LOSER: The Legacy of Cesar Chavez

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

WINNER: UNT Closes Low Enrollment Program

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

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

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

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

LOSER: Everything Mamdani Did in NYC This Week

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

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

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

WINNER: Republicans Nationwide and in California

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

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

ICYMI – Podcast with The Texan Founder & CEO Konni Burton

WINNER: March Madness & First Bracket Update
In the opening round of the men’s tournament, the big news is that the Longhorns beat Brigham Young University and whttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-x8AU0J4jcill face Gonzaga tomorrow. Texas A&M and Houston also advanced to the second round and will face each other on Saturday.

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

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

Have a great weekend!

 

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