Love. Unity. One nation of care and compassion for all. Those were the inspiring messages of President Joe Biden during his Jan. 20 inauguration speech. In 11 days of action, Biden has mocked his words.

Consider a few excerpts:

— "I will be president for all Americans."

— "The American story depends not on any one of us, not on some of us, but on all of us."

— "Unity. Unity."

— "We can put people to work in good jobs."

— "We can teach our children in safe schools."

— "We can reward work, rebuild the middle class, and make health care secure for all."

— "Hear one another. See one another. Show respect to one another."

— "What are the common objects we love that define us as Americans? I think I know. Opportunity. Security. Liberty. Dignity. Respect. Honor. And, yes, the truth."

— "I understand they worry about their jobs, about taking care of their families, about what comes next. I get it."

— "We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal."

— "A cry for survival comes from the planet itself."

— "stand in the other person's shoes just for a moment."

Anyone possessing a smidgeon of decency had to appreciate these concepts. The average listener would hope a man pursuing this agenda of unity, social justice and care for the planet would distinguish himself among the great leaders of all time.

As we so often learn, words are often betrayed by the speaker's actions.

With a simple executive order, Biden shut down the Keystone XL Pipeline on the same day he spoke so eloquently about unity, the middle class, health care and the need for good jobs. He devastated Canadians, our neighbors to the north who need the pipeline.

He divided thousands of men, women, and all varieties of minorities from current and future jobs. These were the essence of good middle-class jobs, paying $80,000 and up for people with degrees and those who never had the benefit of a college or high school education.

By killing working-class jobs, Biden grew the rift between white-collar and blue-collar Americans — commonly conflated with the "urban and rural" divide the president mentioned. He effectively told hard-hat workers their jobs don't matter. Those left without incomes and employer-based insurance must perceive little presidential concern for their spouses and children who need income and health care. They'd probably like Biden to walk in their shoes in the desperate days ahead.

Consider the president's expressed concern for schools. Less than a week after taking office, Biden sided with unions keeping paid teachers from classrooms by exploiting exaggerated COVID-19 concerns.

Eight days after taking office, Biden issued an executive order to ban natural gas leasing on federal lands. This jeopardizes schools and ignores the planet's "cry for survival."

"A ban doesn't lessen our need for #oilandgas, it just ensures we get more of it from foreign countries with fewer environmental protections," tweeted Dan Haley, president and CEO of the Colorado Oil & Gas Association and former editor of The Denver Post's center-left editorial pages.

"... Our state has the third-highest number of federal leases in the country ... our cash-strapped state government received $120 million from federal leases — half of that went to public schools."

The Western Energy Alliance estimates Biden's promise to permanently ban federal oil and gas leases will cost the nation 72,000 jobs, $44 billion in Gross Domestic Product, and $5 billion in environmentally friendly conservation funding.

After taking his oath, Biden said "unity" eight times, "together" six, and "Hope" and "love" on four occasions each. "Work," "workers," and "jobs" combined for nine mentions. Biden said combinations of "one nation," "the nation," "our nation," "great nation," and "this nation" 14 times ("nation" means "people united") to emphasize how much he cares for every person on U.S. soil.

Nothing says "unity," "love," "schools," "hope," "workers," "jobs," "middle class," "nation" and "stand in the other person's shoes" like dictates that kill jobs, deplete school funding and revert us to dependence on energy from regions that care little about diversity, civil rights, the environment, or any of our nation's core values.

Americans should hope and pray for President Biden's success. We should embrace the American virtues he extolled in that speech. Meanwhile, we should rate him by his actions and never be fooled by his words. As Biden warned at his inauguration, "there is truth and there are lies."

REPRINTED FROM THE COLORADO SPRINGS GAZETTE

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