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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's (R) decision to fully reopen his state has led to heightened backlash and a widely known newspaper in his home state has released a scathing op-ed criticizing the Republican governor's "failed leadership."
On Thursday, March 5, the Houston Chronicle's editorial board made its sentiments clear describing Abbott as failed governor.
<iframe style="vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%; width: 654.953px; height: 0px !important; min-height: 0px !important; border-width: initial !important; border-style: none !important; margin-bottom: 0px !important;"></iframe><p>"Even in a state that celebrates limited government, most Texans can agree to this much:<strong> </strong>Gov. Greg Abbott's top duty is to protect Texans' lives, and at the very least, do nothing to put them in harm's way. He has woefully failed," the newspaper wrote.</p><p>The newspaper also scrutinized the Republican governor's dismantling of coronavirus mitigation practices. Not only did he reopen the state, but he also cancelled the state's mask mandate; a decision that he did not discuss with the state's medical advisors.</p><p>According to the publication, Abbott "blindsided the medical community, business leaders, and millions of Texans in his decision to drop all state restrictions on Wednesday that had been<strong> </strong>aimed at slowing the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus."</p><p>Although the publication acknowledged the hardships businesses are facing and how reopening could serve as an advantage for them, it also accused Abbott of "putting politics over people's lives."</p><p>The Houston Chronicle wrote, "While the desire to allow struggling businesses to open fully is understandable on some level, there can be only one motivation for dropping the simple, commonsense requirement that we all wear face masks: the governor is putting politics over people's lives."<br/></p><p>"Such recklessness in the service of political expediency has become a pattern for Abbott," it added. "His cynical calculations, and the deaths they cause, will define his legacy."</p><p>The publication also urged voters not to be distracted by the diversion Abbott is allegedly attempting to create amid the state's failed handling of the coronavirus pandemic and the disastrous aftermath of the Texas winter storm.</p><p>"Voters must not allow the diversionary tactic to work," it wrote. "Abbott's failures related to the power crisis cost lives — dozens and counting <strong>—</strong> and so will this week's decision to toss out the only meager tools local leaders had to require Texans to protect each other from a virus that has already killed more than 500,000 Americans and roughly 44,000 Texans."</p><p>Despite all that has transpired over the last year, the Houston Chronicle insists Abbott still has not yet learned his lesson as it warned that the state could be "doomed to repeat" some of its failures again. The newspaper wrote, "Because he hasn't learned that lesson, Texas may be doomed to repeat it — just as we are doomed to repeat the grave loss of life that followed Abbott's disastrous reopening last spring."</p>
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The Pentagon announced on Friday that it has identified the remains of a US Army chaplain who died in a prison camp during the Korean War and is being considered for canonization by the Vatican.
Captain Emil Kapaun, of Pilsen, Kansas, was captured by Chinese forces near Unsan, North Korea, in November 1950 and held with other American soldiers at a prison on the south bank of the Yalu River.
<p>The Pentagon said Kapaun ministered to other prisoners of war while in captivity and died of exhaustion and possible heart failure induced by pleurisy on May 23, 1951. He was 35.</p><p>The Defense Department's POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Friday that his remains had been identified.</p><p>"After 70 years Chaplain (Capt.) Kapaun has been accounted for," acting Secretary of the Army John Whitley said in a statement. "His heroism and resilient spirit epitomized our Army values of personal courage and selfless service."</p><p>The Pentagon said Kapaun's "faith and leadership" had inspired thousands of prisoners to "survive hellish conditions."</p><p>Kapaun was declared a "servant of God" by Pope John Paul II in 1993, the first stage on the path to canonization.</p><p>He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, the highest US military award for valor, by president Barack Obama in 2013.</p><p>Some 7,500 service members remain unaccounted for from the Korean War, according to the Pentagon.</p>
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Arrested Trump appointee complains about ‘cockroaches crawling over me’ in first hearing: report
March 05, 2021
Donald Trump appointee Federico Klein complained about jail conditions during his first hearing after being arrested on charges related to the fatal January 6th insurrection seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
"Magistrate Judge Faruqui is reading Klein the charges now. Notes that obstruction of Congress charge carries a 20-year max, assaulting police [with] dangerous weapon also 20-year max," Politico's Josh Gerstein reported Friday.
<p>Klein went on to complain about the conditions in the jail.</p><p>"I'm wondering if there's a place I could stay in detention where I don't have cockroaches crawling over me while I'm trying to sleep," Klein <a href="https://twitter.com/joshgerstein/status/1367918145688702979" target="_blank">told</a> the judge.</p><p>Klein was caught as part of the FBI's efforts to spread photos of the insurrectionists on social media and hope for tips.</p><p>"An FBI lookout bulletin issued two weeks after the Capitol assault included a photo of Klein, prompting two tipsters to contact the FBI and finger him as the man in that picture, according to an affidavit filed in federal court in Washington," Politico <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2021/03/04/trump-appointee-arrested-for-capitol-riot-473825" target="_blank">reported</a>. "The affidavit says video from police body-worn cameras on Jan. 6 shows Klein jamming a riot shield into doors at the Capitol as police were trying to secure them to keep the mob out. Klein was also heard on video trying to encourage others to clash with the police, the complaint says."</p><p>Klein was wearing a red "Make America Great Again" hat.</p><p>"Klein is charged with several felonies, including assault on police officers, interfering with police during civil disorder and obstruction of an official proceeding, as well as lesser offenses," Politico reported. "Before joining the 2016 Trump campaign, Klein worked as a researcher for the conservative Family Research Council and served as a Republican state convention delegate in Virginia, according to his LinkedIn page. He graduated from George Mason University in 2002."</p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="21f4038f9d748602557c0cba94734b5b" id="ec78d">
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<div style="margin:1em 0">Defense lawyer says Klein will likely be moved somewhere else today. (probably to DC Jail.) Judge says if bad condi… https://t.co/nvy1SKH3Pg</div> — Josh Gerstein (@Josh Gerstein)
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