Texas Tragedy, Trump Acquitted Again, About Those Republicans

Gary Bauer

by Gary Bauer: Texas Tragedy
Our prayers are with people of the Midwest and Texas who are suffering through a terrible winter storm. President Biden, who wants to be known as the environmental president, has apparently solved global warming in three weeks! But this really isn't a joking matter.

Democrats say never let a crisis go to waste, which is very cynical. I say we should learn from this crisis and there are lessons to be learned.

For example, the state most known for energy is suffering through rolling blackouts right now. More than 4 million people are without power and heat as temperatures in the Lone Star State have plummeted to below zero.

While Texas is known for its oil and natural gas, it has also embraced so-called "sustainable energy sources" like wind power. But the giant wind turbines froze in the Texas plains, and that's one major reason why the state's energy grid is on tilt.

Wind and solar can be part of our energy future. But this fiction that we can end the use of carbon-based fuel in 10, 20 or 30 years will end up killing people and our economy.

By the way, there are other alternatives, but the left opposes those too. The left has scared people away from nuclear power. We have abundant natural gas, but President Biden has effectively declared war on that.

Consider what he has done in his first days in office: He canceled the Keystone pipeline. Left-wing activists are demanding that more pipelines be shut down. Biden suspended drilling on federal lands. And he rejoined the Paris Climate Accord, which will destroy the American energy industry if it is ever fully implemented.

The environmental extremists and politicians like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have already cost America tens of thousands of jobs. Now environmental extremism is costing lives in places like Texas. We should learn from these mistakes, rather than repeating them all over the country.

Many people seem to think that younger generations are smarter than we are, but they are like fish in water. They think the things we have always had will always be here.

But they have no idea what had to be done to develop the abundant energy that fuels America's great economy. We must explain to them all the progress that was made possible by carbon-based fuels before they wake up one day and wonder where all the heat and food went.

Trump Acquitted Again
While we were celebrating Washington's birthday, one former president had real cause to celebrate this weekend and it was Donald Trump. He was acquitted for the second time as the latest sham impeachment trial came to an end.

Unfortunately, the homes of Trump's attorneys were vandalized. Their law firms and their families were threatened. And the left fought just as dirty on the Senate floor too. Speaker Pelosi's impeachment team altered tweets and censored video of the president's January 6th speech.

I think Democrats thought they had a chance to prevail. They have a good sense of the weakness in the GOP. But then they unexpectedly decided to call witnesses and won the vote to begin taking depositions.

Senator Lindsey Graham called their bluff and demanded to depose Speaker Nancy Pelosi. One of Trump's lawyers said they would depose 100 witnesses. Others wanted to hear from the Capitol Hill Police to learn why requests for additional reinforcements were denied before January 6th.

Suddenly, the Democrats backed off and dropped their demand for witnesses. The Senate then voted to acquit the president, with seven Republicans voting with all Democrats to convict.

About Those Republicans. . . That seven Republicans broke ranks and voted with Democrats to convict President Trump was disgusting.

Most Republicans (45) were already on the record supporting a resolution by Senator Rand Paul declaring the impeachment of a former president, now a private citizen, unconstitutional. But two senators, Louisiana's Bill Cassidy and North Carolina's Richard Burr, changed their positions over the course of the trial.

Louisiana is one of the most pro-Trump states. Trump won it by 19 points over Joe Biden. But for whatever reason, Sen. Cassidy joined the left to destroy a president who has done more for Louisiana's energy industry than any president in history. And Louisiana Republicans wasted no time in expressing their outrage with Cassidy's vote.

Many of us were frustrated that the Senate Intelligence Committee led by Senator Richard Burr never seemingly got to the bottom of the Russia collusion hoax and what happened with the FBI's 2016 investigation of the Trump campaign.

Burr seemed more interested in bipartisanship and following the lead of committee Democrats than he was in rooting out corruption at the FBI. His public defenses of Trump were always weak. But he announced his retirement months ago, so now we get to see the real Richard Burr.

There are no words to describe the perpetual frustration that is Mitt Romney. When it comes to fighting the left, Romney seems most committed to losing gracefully. Not surprisingly, his actions have spurred talk of a serious primary challenge by conservatives who want a fighter to represent them.

That's what Romney and so many of these renegade Republicans find so disturbing about Donald Trump. He's not in politics to get rich. In fact, he lost much of his wealth over the past four years.

He doesn't buy into the left's false narratives about America, and he fights back. I don't recall Burr, Cassidy or Romney rushing to defend America from the radical left.

Worst of all is Mitch McConnell. While he voted the right way, he has spent more time lately attacking Trump than Joe Biden.

Insiders say McConnell believes it is imperative for the GOP to move away from Trump. If that's true, then he must believe it is imperative for the party to commit suicide, as many polls show Trump with high ratings among Republicans.

I think McConnell is showing by his actions that this is his last term in the Senate.

About That Science. . .
Democrats insist that they will allow science to guide their plans for reopening our schools. Well, the CDC's updated guidelines suggest otherwise.

In fact, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky acknowledged that the new school reopening guidelines were developed after receiving "an understanding of the lived experiences . . . of teachers and school staff, parents, and students."

Notice who comes last in that framework – parents and students.

In other words, the teacher unions, not science, are calling the shots. Who knows when our schools will ever reopen.

Parler's Back
Parler, the conservative social media alternative to Facebook and Twitter, is back online. As you may recall, Parler was silenced after Amazon shut off its servers last month.

Parler's interim CEO, Mark Meckler, said, "We're thrilled to welcome everyone back. Parler is being run by an experienced team and is here to stay. We will thrive as the premier social media platform dedicated to free speech, privacy and civil dialogue."

You can follow me on Parler.
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Gary Bauer (@GaryLBauer)  is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families

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