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President Joe Biden regularly touts his Catholic faith despite advancing a policy agenda deeply unpopular with religious Americans. He has now nominated the co-chair of Catholics for Biden, California attorney general Xavier Becerra, to be his secretary of Health and Human Services. Catholics tempted to welcome this nomination may be surprised by Becerra's record.

Becerra has been nominated to lead one of our most important government agencies, tasked with enhancing the health and wellbeing of all Americans. Yet he is a deeply partisan and ideologically driven nominee with no formal education, training or background in medicine or health. His most notable experience could best be described as waging left-wing culture wars while serving as attorney general of California.

Like the president who nominated him, Becerra has a track record of open hostility to the moral teachings of the Catholic Church. He is flagrant in his opposition to Catholic teaching on family, marriage, biological science, religious freedom and of course, the pre-eminent issue of the sanctity of human life.

Perhaps the most egregious example of Becerra's commitment to political warfare is his years-long legal battle with the Little Sisters of the Poor, a group of nuns who care for the elderly poor.

Obama administration officials notoriously dragged these nuns to the Supreme Court over a mandate forcing them to provide certain types of contraception and abortion-inducing drugs. After years of litigation, the Supreme Court ruled for the Little Sisters in 2016, and in 2017 the Trump administration granted them full conscience protections.

Becerra, however, wasn't satisfied. He sued the Trump administration in an attempt to block the protections granted to the Little Sisters and similar faith-based groups.

Becerra's rigid posture opposed all religious-liberty accommodations, arguing "millions of women in California may be left without access to contraceptives" and that the rule would cause "immediate and irreparable harm" to the state.

These baseless accusations were soon exposedBecerra's office couldn't identify a single person who would lose contraception coverage. Furthermore, Becerra hadn't sued to overturn similar protections for big corporations, and even admitted there were other resources in California for women seeking contraceptives.

Unsurprisingly, the Supreme Court ruled for the Little Sisters a second time in 2020. Then-candidate Biden blasted the Court's decision, pledging to restart the war on the Little Sisters if elected.

Becerra's crusade against people of faith didn't end with Catholic nuns. As attorney general, he renewed his predecessor Kamala Harris's prosecution of David Daleiden, bringing 15 felony charges against the undercover journalist who had exposed Planned Parenthood's role in trafficking the body parts of aborted babies. Even the left-leaning Los Angeles Times editorial board described Becerra's quest as a "disturbing overreach."

As attorney general, Becerra also defended an unconstitutional California law that forced crisis-pregnancy centers to post notices informing would-be patients about state-funded abortion and contraception services. Fortunately, again, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 for the National Institute of Family and Life Advocates, arguing the California law violated the First Amendment right to free speech. Had Becerra gotten his way, pro-life pregnancy centers across California would today serve as advertisers for the abortion industry.

Finally, Becerra is most recently known as the legal architect of California governor Gavin Newsom's sweeping COVID-19 shutdown orders, which imposed restrictions on church and worship services. These unconstitutional orders were likewise struck down by the Supreme Court in early February.

President Biden has nominated a deeply unqualified man with a long history of antagonism toward people of faith. Xavier Becerra has consistently used his power to punish political opponents in pursuit of an extreme ideological agenda. The Department of Health and Human Services deserves a secretary with a record of protecting the rights and health of all Americans, not a culture warrior best known for ruthless prosecution of nuns and trying to keep churches closed.

Brian Burch is president of Catholic Vote.

The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.

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Culture Warrior Xavier Becerra is Unqualified to Lead HHS Department | Opinion - Newsweek

A government that wanted to protect people could have prevented whats happening right now in Texas.

Because of the winter storm freezing the state, basically every large source of energy in Texas is down or barely functioning, and rolling blackouts have been announced.

Predictably, the blackouts have not actually been rolling. Instead, they have been heavily weighted towards poorer areas and diverted away from richer, whiter areas. This could be seen coming from a mile away, since it happens every time a widespread disaster occurs. For its part, ERCOT, the nonprofit council that controls power in Texas, dodged questions about why blackouts were longer term and not rolling, simply saying that doing so prevented bigger problems, without elaborating.

This is a pattern. Time and time again, resources are shifted away from marginalized communities and towards the rich and the white. While SARS-CoV-2 does not discriminate in who it infects, the lions share of injuries and deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic have come at the expense of Black people and the poor. Climate change is affecting the entire planet, except its causes come from the wealthy, who can just flee to a mansion on higher ground when the waves inevitably roll in.

The results of the governments action are an admission. I cant read hearts or minds, but if a group of people wanted to protect, say, an energy sectors profit margin above all else, they could skip over needed infrastructure upgrades to save money. When, inevitably, a disaster struck, they would probably protect the wealthy and powerful, those who had the ability to change things, affect state politics, or make a lot of noise. They might even fall back on nonsense excuses for their failures that simultaneously attempt to stoke culture wars, the kind that have gotten many Republicans elected in the first place.

80% of the power used in Texas comes from natural gas. After the last time a winter storm came through, in 2011, Texas had the opportunity to winterize its energy infrastructure. Power companies operating in a deregulated state market simply declined. Since Texas has its own power grid, separate from the rest of the country, there was no one to answer to. Inevitably, another storm came, froze Texass natural gas production, and that was that. Prominent Texas politicians then tried to blame statewide blackouts on the 10% of the states power that comes from green energy sources like wind, an explanation that fails both smell and sight tests.

Now, Texas grocery stores are empty, people have gone days without heat or running water in freezing temperatures, and at least 30 people have died, with that number expected to grow in the coming days.

Another winter storm like 2011 was bound to come one of climate changes many effects is the disruption of the polar vortex, a swirl of cold air thats normally restricted to the Arctic. It may seem contradictory, but warming temperatures globally actually disrupt the polar vortexs normal pattern, sending it south, meaning that Canada and the continental United States will feel it more often and more intensely than they otherwise would. Theres nothing freak about this anymore, and doing nothing in 2011 was a dereliction of governance amounting to a humans rights violation.

Electric grids that answer to no one, by the way, are also contributing to Californias reoccurring wildfire catastrophes. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) simply prioritizes profits over updating its infrastructure, providing service to people, and protecting against climate change.

So of course this disaster happened. The Texas government simply didnt care to do anything about it. It wont be the last time climate change and profit margins butt up against human rights. Texas will freeze again. Gulf states will continue getting slammed multiple times per year by once-in-a-century hurricanes. Those storms will start creeping up the Eastern seaboard more and more often. California is going to continue burning to the ground year after year. Big Ones are just Normal Ones now.

Maybe the most frustrating part is that the solutions for many of these things are huge endeavors, but none of them are complex or hard to understand. Were past the point of climate denialism. Were in climate nihilism now, where climate change is so big, so obvious, so glaringly killing people today, right now, that government policy in places like Texas is a denial of the principles people in the 21st century need to live well into the 22nd.

Every government action is an admission. That every time the white and the wealthy are shielded from the worst of every climate change-induced catastrophe is an admission. Inaction is an admission from the government of Texas and the US government at large: poor, Black, and marginalized people are not worth protecting. The final admission, the thought that governs: if they die, so what?

Originally posted here:
What's happening in Texas is climate nihilism Read now - Massive Science

But then, this is just what it means to be a Republican politician now. Accountability is out, distraction is in. You dont deal with problems, you make them fodder for zero-sum partisan conflict. As president, Donald Trump refused to treat the coronavirus pandemic as a challenge to overcome with leadership and expertise. Instead, he made it another battle in the culture wars, from whether you wore a mask to whether you remained away from public places. He spent more time trying to racialize the virus for cheap points calling it the China virus and the kung flu than he did giving guidance to the American public.

Yes, Trump is an easy target. But youll find the same dynamic at all levels of Republican politics. At no point during the Georgia Senate race, for example, did the Republican candidates, Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, produce a platform to rival the detailed policy proposals of their Democratic opponents. Instead, they ran on fear, identity and fealty to Trump. Are you ready to keep fighting for President Trump and show America that Georgia is a red state? asked Loeffler at one campaign stop. We are the firewall to stopping socialism, and we have to hold the line.

This turn away from even the appearance of traditional governance is most apparent among the newest members of the House Republican caucus. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, also of Georgia, is a glorified social media influencer, seemingly more concerned with making content for fans than bringing aid or assistance to her district. And shortly after taking office, Representative Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina announced to his colleagues that he would be building his congressional staff around comms rather than legislation.

In his Inaugural Address, President Biden urged unity. This wasnt a call for bipartisanship. It was a plea to lower the temperature and to see each other not as adversaries but as neighbors. Politics, he said, need not be a raging fire destroying everything in its path and every disagreement doesnt have to be a cause for total war.

Bidens appeal stands in stark contrast with the reigning ethos of the Republican Party as it exists today. Nothing, not even a deadly crisis, will turn Republicans away from a politics that rejects problem-solving in favor of grievance-mongering.

Our system has room for two major political parties. One of them, however imperfectly, at least attempts to govern. The other has devoted its energy to entertainment. It is a tragedy for the people of Texas that at this moment of danger, they have to deal with a government of showmen.

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Opinion | Ted Cruzs Excellent Adventure - The New York Times

Ken Herman|Austin American-Statesman

The Dallas Cowboys, arrogantly self-appointed as Americas Team, have won only two playoff games this century. The once-vaunted Texas Longhorns now churn through football coaches as if there were term limits. Texan presidential candidates now cant even get the nomination of their own parties.

And now, the state with Texas swagger, the state of Giant and the real-life stories that inspired that Hollywood fable of oil and wealth and independence, the state that thinks of itself as the biggest and best, is dealing with the very cold slap in the face that its been a state living in a state of delusion.

So much oil. So much natural gas. So many other sources of energy. So much statewide suffering when all that power was for naught when winter blew through.

More than one non-Texan seems to be taking some measure of delight in twisting around our Dont Mess With Texas anti-littering slogan to point out that right now Texas is a mess.

Was this the week when TEXAS! was humbled into texas? Even the most arrogant of Texans that would be Sen. Ted Cruz was humbled into retreat. When reminded of his tweets mocking California power outages, Cruz tweeted: "I got no defense. A blizzard strikes Texas & our state shuts down. Not good. Stay safe!" (This was before he headed to Cancun.)

Secede? Heck, weve shown we cant even get our own power into our own homes.

Howd we get here? Maybe the leaders weve elected have been spending a bit too much time and rhetoric worrying about perceived issues such as who should use which bathroom when they should have been keeping an eye on keeping the lights on.

Were suffering and staggering through the consequences of a generation of Republican leaders including many whove prioritized the pandering of vote-seeking culture wars over the solid principles that once were GOP core issues.

The consequences include the previously imponderable, such as an Austin City Council members email with advice I never thought Id see from an Austin City Council member. Alison Alters guidance echoed that offered in song by the late, great Frank Zappa in 1974: Watch out where the huskies go. And dont you eat that yellow snow.

Alters less poetic, but timely, recent advice:

We know some residents do not have any water. Boiling snow or ice will make it microbiologically safe for consumption, but only if it hasnt been contaminated (think sludge or snow off the street). Use the absolute cleanest snow you can find.

Instructions on how to survive by boiling snow. Austin, Texas. February, 2021.

During this crisis, the anti-Washington hubris of many Texans gave way to welcomed help from the feds, including, so far, 729,000 liters of water, more than 50,000 blankets, and generators and fuel for hospitals and water facilities. Many Texans will be counting on more federal help in the days, weeks and months to come. Lives have been shattered. Lives have been ended.

The image of the Texas miracle has been frozen for now by a few days of very non-Texas weather. But the truth is, much as its been with COVID, the cold has exposed a quality-of-living gap too long ignored as a result of the your-own-bootstraps mentality repulsively repeated by a Texas elected official during the Big Freeze of 21.

Tim Boyd, mayor of the West Texas town of Colorado City, (pronounced colarayda, not like the state) turned to Facebook to showcase his heartless ignorance (and spelling deficiencies) in a post he acknowledged would hurt some feelings.

No one owes you are your family anything, nor is it the local government's responsibility to support you during trying times like this! Boyd posted on Feb. 16.

Only the strong will survive and the week shall parish, he warned. "Sink or swim it's your choice! The City and County, along with power providers or any other service owes you NOTHING! I'm sick and tired of people looking for a damn handout. If you dont have electricity you step up and come up with a game plan to keep your family warm and safe. If you have no water you deal without and think outside the box to survive and supply water to your family.

But wait, theres more.

If you are sitting at home in the cold because you have no power and are sitting there waiting for someone to come rescue you because your lazy is direct result of your raising! Only the strong will survive and the weak will parish. Folks God has given us the tools to support ourselves in times like this. This is sadly a product of a socialist government where they feed people to believe that the FEW will work and others will become dependent for handouts.

Not satisfied that hed delivered his message, his dishonor continued:

Am I sorry that you have been dealing without electricity and water, yes! But Ill be damned if Im going to provide for anyone that is capable of doing it themselves! We have lost sight of those in need and those that take advantage of the system and meshed them in to one group!! Bottom line quit crying and looking for a handout! Get off your ass and take care of your own family!

Why people who dont believe in government go into government is beyond me. This particular person realized he was ill-suited for government service and resigned after this post. But I fear that his brand of plain-spoken nonsense lies not far beneath the surface for many of our leaders who are politically savvy enough to keep it beneath the surface.

Attitudes like that allow many non-Texans to caricature what it means to be Texan. I recently was reminded of this assessment of Texas and Texans by a Brit who did a stint as a newspaper editor in Richmond, Texas near Houston.

Upon returning to Great Britain, Nicholas Maillard reported Texas was "filled with habitual liars, drunkards, blasphemers, and slanderers; sanguinary gamesters and cold-blooded assassins; with idleness and sluggish indolence, two vices for which the Texans are already proverbial; with pride, engendered by ignorance and supported by fraud.

Maillards description is blatantly ridiculous because at least two of those are inaccurate. And Im unaware if any gamesters I know are, or ever have been, sanguinary.

Maillard arrived in Texas on Jan. 30, 1840 and headed home that August (which means his assessment of Texans came despite never meeting Cruz). His critical review of Texans came in his 1842 book: The History of the Republic of Texas, from the Discovery of the Country to the Present Time and the Cause of Her Separation from the Republic of Mexico. It could have been subtitled Texas Sucks.

He was wrong. Nothing is as bad as he portrayed Texas. And, as we chillingly found out during the Big Freeze of 21, nothing is as great as Texas thought it was. There is, weve found, room for improvement.

Maybe we need this challenging reminder. Im sure our leaders do. Unfortunately, Gov. Greg Abbott initially instinctively retreated to finger pointing by going on Fox News Channel and somehow blaming this on the Green New Deal, something that, at this point, is just an idea in some politicians' heads

A few days later, with a politicians dexterity, Abbott simultaneously took responsibility and placed blame.

Im taking responsibility, he told reporters, for the current status of ERCOT.

Yes, the tragically misnomered Electric Reliability Council of Texas is overdue for overhaul. But the current state of generation of electricity in Texas is the product of a generation of GOP leadership. It would have been refreshing to have heard Abbott say to Texans: We failed you.

Because, despite what a now-former West Texas mayor told his folks, thats the truth.

Were still Texas. But maybe this is a good time for some introspection and ballot-box action about what it means to be Texas. If we learn from this, more power to us.

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Herman: The humbled state of the state of Texas - Austin American-Statesman

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Students return to Highland High School in Salt Lake City on Monday, Feb. 8, 2021.

By The Salt Lake Tribune Editorial Board

| Feb. 19, 2021, 6:30 p.m.

But it is the Legislature that holds the pursestrings and makes the policy. And, for many lawmakers, education is less a public institution than a culture wars wedge issue.

Lawmakers often cant seem to mention public schools unless it is to criticize, undermine or defund them, or to score political points by attacking the schools for engaging in social engineering or, well, not engaging in social engineering.

The health situation in Utah schools, even with no pandemics, suffers from our longstanding policy of stacking em deep and teaching em cheap, with too few nurses or counselors and sometimes hardly any room to turn around. It is hardly surprising, then, that many teachers, parents and students are not eager to return to school full time, and some school boards and administrators are reluctant to call them back, even as they acknowledge the limitations of remote learning.

These feelings survive despite growing scientific evidence that schools have not been the sort of superspreader locations that they were reasonably feared to be.

Younger children, to our great relief, seem particularly resistant to the coronavirus, both in terms of becoming ill and transmitting the disease to their older relatives.

In secondary schools, evidence suggests that students and their families are much more likely to contract the disease from places other than school, including typical teenage-heavy spots as shopping centers and restaurants, or just hanging out at each others homes.

One thing we should all take from this experience is that teachers are really important, and that dreams of replacing them with computers have been exposed as, well, flawed.

All of us, members of the Legislature particularly, should be working with schools and teachers, not against them, to make the necessary return to schools not only be safe, but feel that way.

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Tribune Editorial: Utah schools need to open. The Legislature isn't helping. - Salt Lake Tribune