Commentary

We are in the midst of a digital revolution fueled by technology and information. It is the dawn of the awakening age of information, and the arousal of seminal moments of machinations and exaggerations that feed the ravenous need to believe in someone, in something, in anything, that can transform the reality of disillusionment and bitterness into an illusion of Biblical dimension and delusional proportion. It was foretold, and it has come to be.

Unless the Texas Health and Human Services Commission decides to cancel a procurement or delay a decision until the Legislature can act, three of the state’s largest nonprofit children’s health plans, including Driscoll Health Plan (DHP), may lose out on the state’s $9 billion annual Medicaid contract. This decision could impact 700,000 families, pregnant women and children statewide. The commission’s focus should be on making the right decision for the recipients rather than strictly following a flawed procurement process that affects nonprofit health plans currently serving our communities. Losing Driscoll Health Plan from this contract would be detrimental to the Corpus Christi community and the South Texas region.

America has experienced some embarrassingly cultic, racist and repressive moments over the past couple of hundred years: the Mormon polygamy experiment in the 19th century; Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow politics in the south after the Civil War; the anti-Chinese riots in San Francisco in the 1870s; Woodrow Wilson’s crackdown on free speech during World War I; internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II; McCarthyism’s “liberals are pinko communists” campaign in the 1950s, to name just a few. The leaders of those movements all knew they were turning the citizenry in an anti-American direction, but were too drunk on ignorance, self-importance and power to stop themselves from going there.

Some 21,000 to 23,000 years ago, in what is now called White Sands National Park in New Mexico, a cluster of people, young men and women, perhaps some children, were playing in a shallow water hole. They may or may not have seen, far in the distance, herds of mastodons and wooly mammoths. Judging from the evidence they left in the form of fossilized footprints, this group was neither running away from nor walking purposefully toward something. They were simply milling about, like people do when they are having fun splashing in the water.

I was 7 when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and destroyed most of the U.S. Navy. I was 9 when the invasion of Europe happened, probably one of the most complicated in history. Those years of growing up and events birthed a question in me that became a lifelong one: How can good people do bad things? As a near-lifelong student of World War II and its history, my research actually found a book by that name, that question. Why does that matter now?

On March 30, McAllen police stopped by a nondescript house in north McAllen to investigate a report of a serious stench. Turns out it was live dogs, living in their own excrement, room after room full of them, 90 in all. The one cat on the property was the only one capable of grooming itself.

The GOP candidate for president is a convicted felon. He was convicted of sexual assault and more than 20 women have accused him of sexual misconduct. He stole national top secret documents and tried to hide them from the U.S. government.

As we celebrate Father’s Day this weekend, it’s a poignant time to reflect on the pivotal role we, as men, play not only as fathers but as guardians of our family’s health.

The exclusion of Driscoll Health Plan from Texas Medicaid contracts is a disheartening development that threatens the healthcare safety net for some of the state’s most vulnerable populations. As a physician in Brownsville, I have seen firsthand the positive impact Driscoll Health Plan has had on our community, providing essential services to low-income children and pregnant women.

When it comes to energy, you can always count on Texas’ innovative spirit and get-it-done attitude to lead the way. Our vast natural resources and ability to provide affordable, reliable energy has made Texas a global energy leader and an economic powerhouse.