media news, national news, political news

Coverage is maddening, confusing

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The horse-race coverage of the 2024 campaign for the U.S. presidency carries many adjectives, none of which that come to mind are positive.

It is confusing, maddening, contradictory, chaotic.

I see headlines on the news services I read each day that tell me “Harris surges with new poll,” and then I see where “Trump is looking at a blowout win.” I am careful, of course, to check the source of these “news” items. Leftie organizations generally will tout Harris successes, while rightie outlets sing the praises of Trump’s efforts.

Even the mainstream outlets send confusing messages hither and yon, confusing the daylights out of folks like me.

All of this, I suppose, is to confirm that the contest is a dead heat. Kamala Harris and Donald Trump well might cross the finish line on Nov. 5 shoulder to shoulder.

Or … there’s a hidden vote out there that is waiting to awaken and put one of these candidates into the Oval Office. One theory believes that the hidden mass of voters comprises suburban women who want to protect their reproductive rights but who have been reluctant to tell pollsters of their desire. Another theory suggests another wave of Americans who aren’t yet ready to elect a woman as POTUS.

I’ll go with the former theory. That’s my hope … but you knew that.

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So long, political tradition

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Political tradition has been tossed angrily into the crapper and, yes, this is a “both sides do it” argument.

I am going to discuss briefly one of those tradition. It’s the one in which the loser of the race places the call to the winner to concede and to pledge support for the new president’s massive undertaking.

Ten days from Election Day and we have heard some of the nastiest campaign stump rhetoric I’ve ever heard.

Who’s to blame for discarding this tradition? Why, it’s Donald John Trump, of course!

He called the 2020 election rigged. He didn’t attend President Biden’s inaugural. He has been steamed ever since at losing the Electoral College and the popular vote by 7 million ballots.

The stump-speech volume in 2024 has been even more harsh. Kamala Harris accuses Trump of being a fascist, echoing opinions expressed by many of Trump’s key military and national security advisers.

For his part, Trump calls Harris a dim bulb, “a nasty person,” and “the worst vice president in history.”

Obviously, one of these people is going to win. Will the loser be able to suck it up long enough to call the winner and resume the traditional concession call?

If Harris is the winner, don’t think for a moment that Trump will concede anything. If hell freezes over and Trump wins, I wouldn’t bet on Harris making the call, either.

media news

Profiles in cowardice!

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John F. Kennedy is doing somersaults in his grave at Arlington National Cemetery, given the news that has come out this week about the Washington Post.

The Post has declared that it will not issue an endorsement in this year’s presidential election. That’s right, the newspaper that once exposed the Watergate scandal to the world and which has prided itself on providing editorial page leadership on key issues and the people who make policy decisions has decided to sit this election out.

JFK, who wrote “Profiles in Courage” — and was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his work — would be a profoundly unhappy man.

The Post has just become a poster child for a profile in cowardice.

The Post isn’t alone. The New York Times is turning its back on this formerly essential duty that print journalists used to cherish. And … I am sure that there are many others out there that have been cowed by the blathering of Donald Trump and other blowhards who have persuaded millions of gullible Americans that the free press is the “enemy of the people.”

It isn’t. A free press keeps its eye on those who make policy decisions for all Americans. It serves as a watchdog on the alert for corruption. It also helps provide leadership in recommending who it believes is best suited to seize the reins of power.

No one really believes editorial endorsements determine electoral outcomes these days … if they ever have. What they do is put newspapers’ thoughts on the record and they leaven the discourse.

This election in particular cries out for leadership and for leading newspaper editorials to forgo that responsibility is an act of cowardice.

military news

Shop for a saddle, dude

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A former colleague of mine had a number of quips he was fond of pulling out when the opportunity presented itself.

One of them was: If someone calls you an ass, hey, no worries. If two or more call you an ass, then you need to start shopping for a saddle.

So it should be for Donald Trump to start saddling up, as several distinguished military men have called him a “fascist.” They have referred to him as a man who wants to serve not as president of the USA, but as a dictator!

Retired Marine Corps Gen. John Kelly, retired Marine Corps Gen. Jim Mattis, retired Army Gen. Mark Milley, retired Admiral James Stavridis, retired Army Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster all speak in unison.

Donald Trump is unfit to serve as commander in chief.

That is their message. Many of them have worked directly for Trump during his 2017-2021 term as POTUS. Gens. Kelly, Mattis, Milley and McMaster all have seen him up close and personally. They have seen him demonstrate his unfathomable distaste for men and women who serve in uniform. John Kelly, a Gold Star dad, actually heard Trump refer to those who die for their country as “losers.”

They did not like what they saw. And these men of honor have spoken out on millions of Americans’ behalf.

They have performed one more stellar act of public service.

national news

Pollster surrenders

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So, you may want to know: How close is the Kamala Harris-Donald Trump race for the presidency?

It is so close — drum roll! — that Nate Silver, a leading statistician who boasts an astonishingly accurate record at predicting these things, says he’s no longer going to try to predict who becomes the next president.

Silver uses all sorts of statistical probabilities to predict who wins these races. He’s been accurate — a lot. His polling firm, 538, is considered one of the premier polling outfits in the world.

This year he’s waving the white flag. He cannot predict who will be up on Election Day. So he won’t even try. He’s out of the game.

Silver does suggest that the contest might not end up as close as so many of us believe. He said there’s enough uncertainty out there on how Harris or Trump voters will react when they enter the polling booth that one of them could win going away.

I am going to stick to the photo-finish so many are predicting. At least for now.

I’m going to gnaw on my fingernails for the next few days and hope for all I can that Americans are going to wise up to what they could get if this election ends with the wrong person winning.

Let’s elect Vice President Kamala Harris to the top job … shall we?

military news

Dad would be enraged!

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Pete Kanelis is my favorite veteran … but you know that already about him.

He was my dad. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy within hours after hearing that our forces had been attacked at Pearl Harbor and, by God, he wanted to get into the fight of his life immediately.

I now am going to put words in Dad’s mouth.

He would be enraged at what we are learning about what Donald Trump has said about Adolf Hitler, about veterans, about prisoners of war, about those who were wounded — and killed — in action.

The revelations about the Republican presidential nominee’s hideous assertions come from flag officers who served in Trump’s administration. Marine Gen. John Kelly has said Trump wanted generals like those who served Adolf Hitler. Army Gen. Mark Milley has called Trump “fascist to the core.”

Trump’s response has been to denigrate these two patriots, men who have fought with valor. Gen. Kelly is a Gold Star father whose son died in combat in Afghanistan … and who heard Trump refer to KIAs as “losers.”

This latest battering of Trump is getting worldwide coverage as we enter the final two weeks of this campaign. It damn sure should get it.

Dad was not a particularly scholarly man. He wasn’t a deep thinker. However, he was the purest patriot I’ve ever seen. That he traveled to downtown Portland, Ore., on the day our forces were attacked to get into a fight to defend our nation, tells me everything I need to know about the love he had for this great nation.

And this veteran, who faced down Hitler’s forces in combat would be enraged beyond all measure at what a tinhorn GOP politician said about history’s most despicable tyrant.

I would share Dad’s rage.  To think that Donald Trump would want to take command of the world’s greatest military simply makes my blood boil. I only can imagine what my favorite veteran would be thinking today.

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Trump channels Hitler

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There should be zero doubt at this stage of the 2024 presidential campaign that Donald Trump envisions himself as a new version of Adolf Hitler.

A widely attributed quote says that Trump hopes he can get “generals like the ones Hitler had.”

I’ll just say it out loud. Donald Trump is insane. He is beyond merely being ignorant, even though he doesn’t seem to know that Hitler’s generals tried three times to assassinate the 20th century’s most despicable tyrant. Trump only sees the blind, frothing loyalty that many of them exhibited toward Hitler.

The former Joint Chiefs chairman, Army Gen. Mark Milley, says Trump is “fascist to the core.” Former Homeland Security secretary/ former White House chief of staff/former Marine Gen. John Kelly says Trump is unfit for public office. Former Defense Secretary/former Marine Gen. Jim Mattis has called Trump a “moron.”

This man wants his old job back, the one from which 81 million Americans fired him four years ago.

You didn’t hear it here first, but I will say it again: If he gets back into office, ladies and gents, you and I are in a world of hurt.

local news, political news

Early vote shows early enthusiasm

Well, I did what many other Americans have dedicated themselves to doing and I voted early. Indeed, I \was among the first people lined up at the Princeton Municipal Center waiting anxiously to cast my ballot for a plethora of races on our lengthy ballot.

I haven’t normally done sort of thing, given my former distaste for voting early. I preferred to wait until Election Day to cast my ballot. Something in my inner self prompted me to vote early this year … so, I did.

I was heartened by the number of North Texans who were waiting. Everyone was quite glad to be there, awaiting their turn to perform this wonderful act of citizenship.

I won’t get into what partisan impact the early-voter turnout will have on our voting pattern. Analysts say Democrats prefer to vote early; Republicans prefer to wait until Election Day. I do not know how they can make that calculation. I had no feel for how my fellow early voters stand on the presidential race, which is as it should be.

Hey, it’s done. I am now going to block any further electronic correspondence I have been getting from those wanting me to spend money on their candidates’ campaign.

media news

Cruz goes 0 for four

US Sen. Ted Cruz cannot count on the support of four of Texas’s largest newspapers, as the Dallas Morning News this past weekend joined the three other media giants in backing US Rep. Coln Allred in the men’s fight for Cruz’s Senate seat.

I know what many of you might be thinking: Is this a big … deal, given newspapers’ dismal standing these days of media-hating?

I’ll hold onto the notion that it kind of is a big deal. But you have to read what the newspaper editorials are saying.

The DMN joined the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express-News in backing Allred over Cruz.

The Morning News noted: Cruz “could have supported the peaceful transfer of power in the 2020 presidential election,” it said. “He instead was the first senator to rise in objection to certifying the electoral vote and one of just six to do so. His actions were a catalyst for what became one of the worst days in our nation’s history.”

I might just toss this endorsement off as a home-town guy winning favor from his local newspaper. Except that Cruz now calls Houston home and the Chronicle went with his opponent.

I am acutely aware that newspaper editorial pages no longer possess the clout they once had. Readers are far less inclined to be influenced by high-falutin’ newspaper editors and publishers. I used to make endorsements as part of my job as an opinion journalist over the course of my print journalism career.

Moreover, I am far from high-falutin’. So, there’s that.

I did my homework when our endorsement season rolled around.  I considered myself to be reasonably well-informed on the candidates, their policies and whether they would be a good fit for the office they sought. My friends at the DMN know their way around the public policy pea patch.

Therefore, I am going to heed their words carefully.

local news, political news

‘Election day’ arrives

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Notice the quotation marks around the words “Election day,” and also notice I didn’t capitalize “day.”

It’s because the actual election day will be15 days from now. However, I am going to march into the belly of the beast sometime Monday to cast my ballots for a slew of candidates and issues along my lengthy ballot in Princeton, Texas.

I still cannot define with clarity why I have decided to break with the tradition of waiting until Election Day to cast my ballot. I won’t try.

I am just going to drive to the polling place and wait to cast my ballot. I am going to vote enthusiastically for a number of races, such as for president and the US Senate. I won’t belabor the points on why. You know why.

It’s a full ballot and none of the candidates with whom I am most familiar present any real threat of a candidate making a deal-breaking mistake between now and the day they count all the ballots. I will split my ballot among Democrats and Republicans.

I do enjoy the pageantry, such as it is, about Election day or Day. Indeed, I would support shutting down everything for Election Day, which this year falls on Nov. 5. Why not make casting our ballots for whom we want to lead us a national holiday?

That’s another story for another day.

A big day awaits tomorrow as Texas goes to the polls.

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