International news

What happened to Middle East peace?

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

This thought just kicked in.

Didn’t the most recent ex-POTUS task his son-in-law to come up with a comprehensive peace agreement?

Jared Kushner got the assignment from Donald Trump. He went here and there during Trump’s term in office. The administration announced deals between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and with Bahrain, right?

But what about Hamas, the terrorists who run the West Bank and Gaza? They launched rockets into Israel; the Israelis fought back.

Then the Joe Biden administration turned up the heat on the Israelis and on Hamas to get a cease-fire deal done … as in right now!

They did.

However, I am just wondering why Jared Kushner’s alleged diplomatic “genius” failed to produce an agreement.

medical news

Back to hugging, kissing

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

LOS GATOS, Calif. — I must have heard it a half-dozen times while visiting a friend in this high-end Bay Area community.

We went to a gathering of fellow Rotary Club members, where my friend once served as club president and later as governor of the Rotary district.

Several folks were hobnobbing, chatting and laughing at each other’s jokes. When they embraced, they would say to each other, “Oh, it’s so nice to be able to hug again.”

Yes, this is the sound of the post-pandemic age setting in slowly. “Hey, don’t worry,” one of them told me. “We’ve all been vaccinated” against the COVID-19 virus, they said.

So, there you go. So have my wife and me.

I had no issue at all with the way folks were interacting. I am intrigued, though, at the response to federal medical experts’ changing guidelines regarding masks and social distancing in this region that takes safeguard measures quite seriously. They, too, are relieved at the relaxed guidelines and are as anxious as those of us in Texas are to get back to living the way we used to live before the pandemic began killing Americans.

I am not going to jump with both feet into the life we once led prior to the pandemic hitting us where it hurts. We still wore masks when we entered public places. We will continue to do so until someone down the road delivers the all-clear signal. Who should deliver that message when the time arrives? I guess when Dr. Anthony Fauci says it, then it must be true.

Even in this time when politics infects everything, it is striking to my ears to hear folks who live in a deeply blue/Democratic-leaning part of the nation express a strong interest in returning quickly to the life we all led before disease and death changed everything.

local news

Gerrymandering? Holy cow!

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Wow! Take a gander at this Houston-area congressional district.

The caption atop the map says it clearly: gerrymandering is a serious problem.

I don’t blame Rep. Dan Crenshaw for it; he merely was elected to a district redrawn after the 2010 census.

Texas legislators who have worked on this issue have told me the alleged “goal” always is to create districts where residents share what they call “common interests.” For the ever-lovin’ life of me I cannot envision common interests between residents living in the far reaches of Crenshaw’s district.

I generally avoid a “both sides do it” argument on issues, but I cannot do so this time. Democrats have done the same thing to congressional and legislative districts that Republicans do now in Texas. When Democrats controlled the Legislature after the 1990 census, they drew a line separating the 13th and 19th congressional districts through the middle of Amarillo, which from 1991 until 1995 was represented by a Democrat elected in Potter County and a Republican elected in Randall County.

The Democrat, Bill Sarpalius, had a vastly different legislative view than the Republican, Larry Combest … which put Amarillo in the middle of a political tug-of-war that didn’t do the city much good.

That changed in 1994 with the election of Republican Mac Thornberry in the 13th District, which includes the Potter County portion of Amarillo.

The Legislature is going to make another run at redistricting again. The 2020 census has established that Texas will get two additional congressional seats. Will the Legislature find the wisdom to redraw the congressional boundaries that do not look as hideous and ridiculous as the Houston district represented by Dan Crenshaw?

Hah! I am not holding my breath.

local news

Shut up, Rep./Dr. Jackson

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Ronny Jackson is making me very angry.

By all rights I shouldn’t really give a crap what this former physician and current congressman representing the Texas Panhandle thinks … except that I do. I used to live in the district this bozo now represents.

Jackson has adopted Twitter — in the mold of Donald J. Trump — as his primary bullhorn to spout nonsense. His most recent tweet now contends that because of inflation and rising fuel prices President Biden is marching this nation toward being a “Third World country.”

Good grief, dude.

The inflation is a result of pent up demand being released on shortened supply caused by the COVID pandemic. We are vaccinating more Americans than ever; infection rates are declining; so are death and hospitalization rates. Isn’t that cause for celebration … doc? Hmm?

Get the hell off the partisan clown car, Rep. Jackson and look more realistically at the big picture.

DC riot

Riot wasn’t a riot?

(AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Andrew Clyde has become a charter member of the Congressional Dipsh** of the Year Club.

The Georgia Republican has said publicly for all the world to hear that the Jan. 6 insurrection/riot/terrorist attack was none of that. That it was similar to a group of tourists strolling through the Capitol Building on a guided tour.

As Yahoo News reported: Clyde asserted that television footage from Jan. 6 showed people entering the Capitol and taking videos and pictures “in an orderly fashion” and “if you didn’t know the TV footage was a video from January the 6th, you would actually think it was a normal tourist visit.”

Really! Can this guy ever be taken seriously ever again on anything that pours out of his pie hole?

GOP lawmaker claims ‘there was no insurrection’ and Capitol riot looked like a ‘normal tourist visit’ (yahoo.com)

But … he said it.

Wow! I don’t believe any of us ever have seen a guided tour that included police officers being bludgeoned by rioters. Or by individuals smashing through windows. Or those who decided to take a dump on the floor of the Capitol.

Clyde objected to the formation of a bipartisan commission to examine the cause and effect of the Jan. 6 insurrection.

But for this idiot to suggest that the riot that killed five individuals was nothing more than a guided tour is — and the language fails me here — is the stuff of a traitor.

DC riot

Yes on Jan. 6 commission

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

What in the name of governmental transparency is the congressional Republican leadership seeking to hide from the public regarding the Jan. 6 insurrection?

The U.S. House of Representatives has voted — with 35 GOP members joining all House Democrats — to support a bipartisan panel to examine the events leading up to and including the insurrection occurred on the sixth day of 2021.

However, the commission faces a huge obstacle in the Senate, where it needs 60 votes to pass. A 50-50 Senate isn’t likely to get 10 GOP members to join their Democratic colleagues in enacting this commission.

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy opposes it; so does Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell. Yep, McConnell — the guy who personifies partisan politics — calls the effort, um, too political.

House approves Jan. 6 commission over GOP objections | TheHill

We need a thorough factfinding mission. The idea is to appoint five Democrats and five Republicans to the panel. It would have subpoena power. Members from both sides would be able to have input into who to summon.

This notion is fair and equitable. It also would bring us many miles closer to the truth into what happened and why on the day terrorists stormed Capitol Hill and sought to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election.

I want answers. I am sure other Americans are demanding answers too. There needs to be a 9/11-style commission to seek the truth.

I have a good hunch I know what such a panel would discover … which I also have reason to believe lies behind the reluctance of Republicans to support it.

crime news

Trump now part of a ‘criminal’ probe

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Well now, it appears that Donald J. Trump might have a new line of crap to sling for those of his “political base” to embrace.

Hey, he can say that New York prosecutors are looking at alleged “criminal activity” inside the ex-POTUS’s sprawling business empire.

It won’t matter to the Trump fanatics out there. They seem to embrace the shenanigans upon which Trump built his organization. Now, though, the stakes well might be getting mighty hot for the former liar/imbecile/prevaricator in chief.

The Hill reports: “We have informed the Trump Organization that our investigation into the organization is no longer purely civil in nature. We are now actively investigating the Trump Organization in a criminal capacity, along with the Manhattan DA. We have no additional comment at this time,” Fabien Levy, a spokesperson for the New York attorney general’s office, said in a statement.

New York prosecutors investigating Trump Organization in a ‘criminal capacity’ | TheHill

Trump hasn’t commented on this latest bit of news. He has chided the Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into Trump’s financial matters as a “political witch hunt.” It’s a standard Trump mantra; it’s all political.

Now, it appears that the stakes are getting mighty steep.

I would love to be a fly on the wall of the room where Donald Trump might learn that he is being indicted on a felony criminal charge.

So would you like to watch Donald Trump’s reaction to such news … if it comes.

medical news

Vaccine arguments: idiocy

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The debate in this country over whether to get vaccinated against a disease that can kill you simply is astonishing in the extreme.

I cannot get past this utterly irrefutable fact: vaccines save lives and prevent misery, agony and heartache.

Polio struck millions of Americans. Then in the 1950s, they discovered a vaccine. What happened to polio in this country? It vanished. The same can be said of tuberculosis and smallpox. Same for diseases such as scarlet fever, the bubonic plague. We vaccinate our children against measles, mumps, chicken pox, you name it.

But now we have a disease that has killed nearly 600,000 Americans and the debate rages over whether we should get vaccinated. I even have members of my family who suggest — and this just blows my mind — that the Food and Drug Administration didn’t actually approve the vaccines that are being given to Americans and that these family members simply refuse to get vaccinated because, um, it’s all political.

We need to get past the politics that has poisoned the national discussion about the pandemic and how the government has responded to it. If we do not, then I am confident in projecting many more unnecessary deaths … and heartbreak.

State news

Abbott acts prematurely with this order

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has decided he knows what is best for local governments, including local school districts in their efforts to ward off the COVID virus among the people they serve.

He has issued an executive order that prohibits cities, counties and school districts from requiring masks for the people who work there or attend classes.

Sigh …

How many ways can we describe “overreach”? Abbott’s order offers an important marker.

As the grandparent of a North Texas second-grader, I am quite appalled that the governor would make this call as it regards local school districts. We call them “independent school districts” in Texas because we imbue local school trustees — supposedly — with the power to make decisions independent of other government intrusion.

Not so, apparently.

The Texas Tribune notes: While 30% of Texans have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, the vast majority of children are unvaccinated.

My granddaughter is one of them who hasn’t yet received a vaccine to protect her against the killer virus.

I believe the governor has acted prematurely to a degree that smacks of irresponsibility.

The Tribune also reports: Starting Friday, any government entity that tries to impose a mask mandate can face a fine of up to $1,000, according to the order. The order exempts state-supported living centers, government-owned or -operated hospitals, Texas Department of Criminal Justice facilities, Texas Juvenile Justice Department facilities, and county and municipal jails.

No Texas mask mandate in public schools, Gov. Greg Abbott says | The Texas Tribune

The virus is far from being eradicated. Yes, infection rates, hospitalization rates and deaths are down across the board. This makes everyone feel a little safer. Are we in the clear? Can we now declare victory?

Not yet.

Gov. Abbott has gotten way ahead of himself on this one.

International news

‘Quiet diplomacy’ might need more volume

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

President Biden is committed to working through “quiet diplomacy” to end the fighting between Israel and the terrorists who govern the Gaza Strip and who have been launching rockets into Israeli cities.

Allow me this caveat: The quiet diplomacy that Biden prefers might need to get a bit louder if matters don’t settle down soon in the region.

Biden keeps to ‘quiet diplomacy’ as calls for Israel-Hamas cease-fire ramp up (msn.com)

The Israelis have hit back hard at Hamas, which governs Gaza and the West Bank. Hamas has dedicated itself to the destruction of Israel and has launched the rockets to protest Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory.

It has targeted civilians. Hamas has been indiscriminate in killing innocent people.

President Biden should be able to use his formidable contacts with leaders in the region to seek to broker some sort of peace agreement. He is working the phones. He is talking through back channels. I wish him — and those in the region — all the very best to search for peace.

Quiet diplomacy, though, might not be enough. I hope the president is prepared to turn up the volume when the moment presents itself.

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