Many long-standing American newspapers have jumped the shark with regard to ridiculous commentary – almost always slanting aggressively left-wing, sometimes radically so – but the San Francisco Chronicle is probably the worst. A column posted over the weekend, titled "Trans athlete ban part of Trump’s quest to ruin L.A. Olympics and sports, one step at a time," shows just how far-gone the newspaper, which was founded in 1865, is at this point. The writer, some guy named Scott Ostler, has apparently worked at the paper since 1991. His bio labels him a sports columnist, which – based on this article alone – seems generous, at best. Before we even dive into the article commentary, let's take a look at the headline. The idea that banning men from women's sports is "part of Trump's quest to ruin… sports" is one of the most gaslighting headlines I've ever read. The term gaslighting is often overused, particularly in 2025, but it fits here too perfectly to ignore. Ostler is trying to convince people that banning men from women's sports is ruining sports, when the exact opposite is true. People like Ostler, who are perfectly willing to sacrifice safety and fairness in women's sports in the name of inclusivity, are the ones attempting to ruin sports. It's an odd position for a "sports columnist" to take. And we haven't even started the column yet! S.F. Chronicle columnist simply hates Donald Trump These columns always stem from the same idea: the writer hates Donald Trump. Thus, any position that Trump takes, the writer must take the opposite. Even if that position is that men don't belong in women's sports – hence, the creation of women's sports – he must go the other direction. Ostler is one of these writers. "How did the world ever hold an Olympic Games before Donald Trump came along to show us the way? That guy’s latest move to fix the Games is his executive order barring transgender athletes from competing for the U.S. team in women’s events at the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles. This is in the wake of Trump saving the city of L.A. from total annihilation at the hands of rampaging mobs. You can already feel the order, peace and love building for this Olympics, can’t you? Try harder," the column begins. OK, so Ostler takes a sarcastic tone to begin. Fantastic start. For a guy who's been a "columnist" for over 30 years, this isn't even good writing. This line, in particular, caught my attention: "You can already feel the order, peace and love building for this Olympics, can’t you?" Since when are the Olympics, or any sports for that matter, about "peace" and "love"? This reads more like a line from a pamphlet being passed out at Woodstock in 1969 than a 2025 column in a "major" newspaper, but I digress. Sports are about competition, discipline, preparation and execution. Liberals are constantly trying to inject their own feelings into everything, and Ostler is no exception. Ostler is also mad at the U.S. Olympics and Paralympics Commitee This week, the USOPC quietly changed its policy on transgender athletes, now complying with President Donald Trump's executive order to keep men out of women's sports. Ostler isn't happy – which is probably not uncommon for this guy. "By its federal charter, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee has exclusive authority over all matters regarding U.S. representation in the Olympics. The USOPC receives no federal funding. Its policy on trans athletes — which is that each U.S. sporting body sets its own rules — was formulated over years of study and discussion. Then the USOPC tossed that policy out the window like night water in a chamber pot," he writes. "Formulated over years of study and discussion." Sure, we need decades to study whether male athletes have advantages over female athletes. We certainly can't apply thousands of years of human biology and common sense to come to a logical conclusion without studying more. OK, Scott, whatever you say. Seriously, this guy fancies himself a "sports columnist." "Whatever you do, make it sound like you’re taking the high road, not that you’ve been bullied into submission. If rolling over and playing dead becomes an Olympic sport for ’28, the USOPC ‘leaders’ have a shot at the gold. But they’ll face stiff competition from heavyweight law firms, universities, TV empires, tech titans, big newspapers and elected officials," Ostler continues. Sure, Ostler is correct. The USOPC was under no obligation to change its transgender athlete policy to exclude men from women's sports, despite Trump's order. They were well within their right to continue the utterly insane practice of allowing males to compete against women – so long as the men claimed to be women. However, the fact that they did make the change is great news for anyone who values fair and safe competition. Ostler doesn't appear to be one of those people. Sports columnist, amirite? Then, the writer can't help but interject his own politics into the discussion. It's also funny that he lists "big newspapers" as capitulating to President Trump, while he continues to pen this nonsense for what still qualifies as a "big newspaper." Oh, the irony. Ostler goes on to list what he views as all of Trump's "failures" in the realm of sports. Some have merit, some don't. But it's not worth listing them all. "But if one were to rank Trump’s proudest sports accomplishments, his attack on trans folks would be at or near the top. It’s where his heart is. He recently pulled the plug on a national suicide hotline for LGBTQ+ kids," Ostler concludes the section. There are several problems with this paragraph. First, it's not an "attack on trans folks" but a very pro-woman agenda. Ostler, at least based on this commentary, comes across as very misogynistic. After all, he's vehemently arguing for the destruction of women's sports. As far as "pull[ing] the plug on a national suicide hotline for LGBTQ+ kids," that's not entirely true and is quite misleading. I'm not going to dive into the specifics – since that's not what we're here to focus on – but if you want to look into "The Trevor Project," you'll see that it's not as straightforward as Ostler implies. Next, one of the favorite arguments of left-wing radicals This wouldn't be a far-left-wing column without trotting out some tried-and-true talking points. Ostler happily obliges. "According to the International Olympic Committee, less than 0.001% of recent Olympians openly identify as trans and/or nonbinary. I did the math. About 11,000 athletes will compete at the L.A. Olympics. By statistical probability, one-tenth of one athlete at those Olympics will be a trans woman. If that athlete wins a medal, it should be the size of a dime," Ostler writes. Yes, the old "this isn't really happening so who cares" argument. How original. Two points on that. First, if it doesn't actually affect anyone – as Ostler posits – then why does he care? After all, only one-tenth of an athlete is going to be affected. So, why write a column about it, Scott? Second, and perhaps more importantly, this is about far more than just the Olympics. The USOPC oversees dozens of National Governing Bodies in sport, so those organizations are likely to fall in line with the new policy, as well. USA Fencing, which came under fire earlier this year for allowing a male to compete in women's events, has already changed its policy to align with the USOPC. This policy change has the capability of protecting thousands of young female athletes from having to face males in their sports and in their locker rooms. This IS a big deal, even if Mr. Ostler tries to downplay it for his own political agenda. "Granted, this is not a black-and-white issue. Recent polls show that a majority of Americans are not in favor of trans women and girls competing against cisgender women and girls. OK, if we’re going to decide controversial issues simply on the basis of polls, then we should anticipate Trump signing executive orders to institute tough gun-control laws, restore female reproductive rights, and give back to immigrants the due process guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution," the column continues. Oh, good, we've got a strawman argument too! Man, Mr. Ostler is going to make AOC blush with his ability to execute the radical-left-Democrat playbook. First, recent polls show that the OVERWHELMING majority of Americans are not in favor of MEN competing against WOMEN. Fixed it for you, Scott. It is not simply "a majority" as Ostler implies. However, in the other political debates he mentions, it is much closer. There is no huge majority among Americans with regard to gun-control laws, although a slight majority do favor stricter gun-control laws, or abortion (not "female reproductive rights" as Ostler softens). As far as the last one, Ostler conveniently says "immigrants" when he really means "illegal immigrants," and clearly, a vast majority of Americans believe the country should deport illegal immigrants. That's a ridiculous argument, and a disingenuous one. Also, none of these issues have anything to do with the topic at hand. A classic strawman meant to distract. The column wraps up with a familiar refrain OK, this is getting long already, and I thank you if you've made it this far with me (and Scott Ostler). Though, I don't blame anyone who hasn't. I'm going to skip over a bunch of the rest of the lengthy column and get to the end (finally, you're probably thinking. Also, you're welcome that I read the entire thing so you didn't have to). "In a way, isn’t it much simpler when one person makes all the rules and decisions for all of us? Eliminates so much mindless chatter and red tape. There should be a name for a guy who runs the whole show with unquestionable authority and ruthless, unchecked power. Any ideas, send ’em our way," Ostler concludes. Ah, yes, we finish with "Trump is a dictator." Seriously, does this guy work for the DNC? If not, he really should. This is some high-level Democrat propaganda. Well, high-level in the sense that it hits almost all the major platforms of the modern Democratic Party. It's not exactly high-level writing, and it certainly doesn't represent high-level thinking. Of course, we have another fantastic dose of irony here. Ostler is openly criticizing the U.S. President in a major American newspaper. Pretty sure that dictators don't tolerate that. The fact that Ostler is alive, not in jail, and still writing terrible columns directly rejects his dictatorial claims. But, I don't expect someone like him to grasp a concept like irony.