State news

What if a pardon comes and he accepts it?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Let’s a play that old game of “What If … ”

What if Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is looking for a presidential pardon, which was his reason for filing a hopelessly stupid lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court.

Paxton sought to persuade the court to require that four states that voted for Joe Biden for president toss their votes and give the majority to Donald Trump. SCOTUS said “no” to the lawsuit. The justices tossed it into the crapper. They dismissed Paxton’s complaint that alleged the states changed their election laws in violation of the Constitution.

What if a pardon comes. Trump pardons Paxton for any federal crimes he might have committed. Indeed, the FBI is examining complaints filed by whistleblowers who worked in Paxton’s office; the individuals were fired or resigned in protest.

What if Paxton accepts the pardon. Isn’t that a de fact admission of guilt? Does that mean the state’s top legal authority has committed crimes worthy of a presidential pardon?

And does that mean we have an acknowledged criminal serving as the elected attorney general, the individual who represents Texas’s legal interests?

What if he accepts the pardon. Where I come from, that means the Texas attorney general should resign from office.

Am I off base?

legal news

My thoughts exactly …

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

A member of my family, a highly educated man who lives in the Pacific Northwest, sent me an email today that asks: What the hell is going on down there?

I’m trying to figure it out.

He is referring to Ken Paxton, our state attorney general, who filed a lawsuit in the U.S. Supreme Court that sought to give Texas the right to tell other states how to run their elections. The four states in question, I hasten to add, all voted for President-elect Joe Biden. Paxton sought to order the states to toss out those Biden votes and then endorse Donald Trump for re-election.

The SCOTUS said “no can do.” Paxton doesn’t have the standing to make that demand, justices said.

I would have hoped the high court’s dismissal of Paxton’s idiocy would spell the end of Donald Trump’s effort to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Silly me. It ain’t happening … at least not yet.

Meanwhile, Paxton vows to keep fighting. For what, I have no clue. The SCOTUS is at the very tippy-top of the judicial chain of command in this country.

Now the AG is turning Texas into a laughingstock. Who out there is laughing? I mean, really! It ain’t funny, folks. Some of us in Texas are embarrassed beyond measure at what our state’s top legal eagle is trying to do.

Consider that he’s already indicted for securities fraud and is awaiting trial in state court. Plus, the FBI has subpoenaed records from his office as part of a federal probe brought forward by seven assistant AGs who blew the whistle on what they allege is criminal behavior by Paxton.

How in the world this guy, Paxton, got elected as AG in the first place is beyond me, let alone re-elected four years later.

My dear family member, I am sad to admit, has asked me a question for which I have no good answer. I do not know what the hell is going on here. 

local news, State news

Some advice for next Texas House speaker …

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Admittedly, I am a long time and a long way from my days in Beaumont, Texas, covering and commenting on politics of the region.

So I am drafting this blog post with a bit of trepidation. It appears that a young man from that corner of the state is set to become the next speaker of the Texas House of Representatives.

He is state Rep. Dade Phelan, a Republican. He is the son of a prominent developer in the community, a fellow I knew only casually. Still, I feel only a couple of degrees separated from Rep. Phelan.

I wish him well if he musters the support he claims to have lined up to be elected speaker in advance of the 2021 Texas Legislature. Phelan succeeds a fellow who turned out to be an abject failure as speaker, state Rep. Dennis Bonnen, R-Angleton, who served a single term as speaker before deciding against running for another term in the House.

So, it’s one and done for Bonnen. The dude found himself in a meeting with a right-wing zealot who taped the event secretly. The two of them talked about Bonnen turning on 10 of his GOP colleagues, offering them as targets for Michael Quinn Sullivan, guru of Empower Texans, to defeat in the 2020 Republican Party primary.

Bonnen denied saying those things. Sullivan then produced the recordings of Bonnen deceiving his colleagues. Bonnen apologized. Then when the sh** hit the fan, he decided to retire from the Legislature. Now he’s about to be gone.

In steps Phelan, a young man who pledges to work across the aisle. He wants to curry favor with Democrats as well as Republicans … or so I have been led to believe.

That’s not a bad goal. Some previous House speakers have done well serving the entire body, not just the members of their own party. I think of Republican Joe Straus of San Antonio and Democrat Pete Laney of Hale Center; I happen to know Laney fairly well, as I covered him when I moved from Beaumont to Amarillo in early 1995. Texas House speakers can govern effectively if they adhere to the traditions of the Legislature, which include bipartisanship when it becomes necessary.

OK, so here’s the final bit of advice I for Rep. Phelan: Don’t speak privately to Michael Quinn Sullivan without frisking him to ensure he isn’t recording what you tell him.

national news

Legal wrangling produces a benefit for ordinary folks

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

All this wrangling about an election that took place freely, fairly and securely has produced at least one positive benefit for those of us sitting out here in the Peanut Gallery.

It has awakened our awareness of what the U.S. Constitution says about elections and about how strong and sturdy the nation’s governmental document framework remains.

Ken Paxton concocted a phony argument that went straight to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Texas attorney general, who’s turned our state into an international laughingstock, challenged the presidential election results in four states; none of them was Texas. The states all voted favorably for President-elect Joe Biden. The nation’s high court tossed Paxton’s lawsuit without argument.

What we learned is that the Constitution is crystal clear about national elections. It is that states retain the sole authority to conduct they way they elect presidents. Attorneys general, such as Paxton, cannot intrude on those states’ business.

Yes, I knew all of that intellectually. What is gratifying as a political junkie, though, is that the SCOTUS decision drags this issue into the glaring spotlight of international attention. We also have been exposed to the rank hypocrisy of politicians who, under previously “normal” circumstances, would stand foursquare behind Article II of the Constitution, which grants this electoral power to the states.

These aren’t normal times. The Republican Party has become the Donald Trump Party and is beholden — ironically, I should add — to someone who doesn’t give a sh** about anyone other than himself.

As we watch this needless, senseless, feckless and reckless drama play out, I am heartened by the knowledge we are gaining about the government our founders created. They didn’t create a perfect system for us to follow. Then again, they only sought to create a “more perfect Union.”

It has been made a good bit more perfect as this spectacle staggers toward its conclusion … which will occur on Jan. 20 the moment President Biden takes his hand off the Bible.

national news

Hey, GOP lawmakers … you need to resign!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

A thought occurs to me that I want to share on this blog.

A number of those 126 Republicans who signed on to a lawsuit challenging the election of President-elect Joe Biden serve in the U.S. House of Representatives come from four critical states: Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin.

They ought to resign their House seats immediately.

You see, here is what happened. They signed a brief that endorsed a suit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who sought to throw out the results of those aforementioned states. Thus, the House GOP members admit they were elected illegally. If they believe in Paxton’s loony lawsuit then they also believe the voters in their congressional districts cast their ballots in violation of whatever Paxton sought to argue.

They won’t quit. The rank hypocrisy of them and that idiotic lawsuit speak terribly of the state of the Republican Party these days.

The Supreme Court decided to toss the complaint that Paxton brought. Two justices dissented: Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. The rest of them voted correctly, including Donald Trump’s three nominees: Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch.

The Constitution is clear. It says that states have the exclusive power to run their elections. The court said Paxton, as the Texas AG, has no standing to bring a complaint against how other states conduct their electoral business.

What about the House members from those contested states who joined the lunatic lawsuit? Should they remain in office? I can argue they should not. They should quit. As in right now.

If hey won’t quit, then the voters in their respective districts should remember in 2022 when they run for re-election what they did to subvert the Constitution they took an oath to defend and protect.

legal news

Lunacy continues

2 Comments

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Oh, my … it appears that political lunacy is a bottomless well.

There must be no end to it.

The U.S. Supreme Court has tossed aside a stupid lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to overturn election results in four states. Donald Trump keeps yammering about rampant and widespread voter fraud. The court said he hasn’t made the case and that Paxton lacks the standing to challenge other states’ electoral process.

That’s the end of it, right? Not even.

Trump now is considering the appointment of a special counsel to examine the baseless allegations he has leveled. He also wants to look into Hunter Biden’s finances; yes, the son of the president-elect who defeated Trump this past month in the presidential election.

Lunacy, man. Lunacy!

Trump appears ready to take this fight all the way to Inauguration Day. Maybe even past it. Donald Trump might go for as long as he walks among us.

Yes, the nation elected a lunatic as its president in 2016. It decided it had enough of his idiocy and tossed him out in favor of President-elect Biden.

He ain’t going quietly. He is showing himself to be the lunatic many of us realized we were getting four years ago.

media news

Yes, Virginia …

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I am in the mood to share something here.

It is a classic editorial written by a legendary newspaper editor. It comes from Francis Pharcellus Church, editor of the New York Sun. He wrote the editorial in 1897 in response to a little girl’s question. You’ve seen it many times already, I am sure. I just want to share it here in this season of joy. This essay has withstood the test of time and will do so forever and ever.

DEAR EDITOR:

I am 8 years old.   Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.   Papa says, ‘If you see it in THE SUN it’s so.’   Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

VIRGINIA O’HANLON.

115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

legal news

Lack of ‘courage’? Really?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald J. Trump blasted the U.S. Supreme Court overnight for striking down that idiotic lawsuit filed by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Trump said the court lacked “courage” and “wisdom” in declining to hear the suit that sought to overturn the election results in four states that voted for Joe Biden.

Hmm. Wow! 

I shall insist that the real courage was shown by three justices in particular, all of whom voted with the majority in refusing to hear the case. Those justices are Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett.

What do they have in common? They were nominated by Donald Trump to join the nation’s highest court and now are facing the wrath of their political benefactor.

They weren’t my preferred picks to join the court. In this case, they stood tall … and courageously.

local news

Lights bring smiles

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Farmersville (Texas) Mayor Bryon Wiebold had this notion that one way to bring smiles to the faces of community residents who have endured one of the most miserable years in memory was to light up the city he leads with Christmas lights.

So, he persuaded the City Council to approve a resolution establishing a program called Farmersville Lights. Judging from what I saw tonight while touring Farmersville Parkway and the downtown square is that the mayor’s idea is paying off … in spades!

The city turned on the lights on Dec. 1. They’ll shine in the city until the end of the month. Wiebold hopes it becomes an annual event. I share his hope for a bright future for Farmersville and its effort to bring a little holiday cheer to its residents and those of us who come to visit the city and enjoy the lights.

Indeed, my wife and I drove from our home in Princeton and, oh yes, we had our granddaughter and her parents, who came from Allen to take a peek at the holiday lights.

Farmersville Lights is being financed through a number of donations from businesses throughout the city. Wiebold received commitments for sponsorships, went to the council for its approval and the program took off.

I want to offer a round of applause for the City Council’s endorsement of the mayor’s idea. Rest assured, I saw more than a few smiles on the faces of those who enjoyed the lights as this lousy year draws to a welcome close.

I have this sense that a lot of communities all across our great land are reaping the benefits of similar programs this time of year. I mean, when we endure a nasty presidential election in the midst of a deadly pandemic, how can any city in America miss the chance to put smiles on people’s faces?

Well done, Mr. Mayor and City Council!

legal news

SCOTUS delivers the KO

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I am worn out, bushed, whipped, exhausted by all this legal wrangling, which means I am delighted beyond belief that the U.S. Supreme Court has put an end to Donald Trump’s challenge of a free and fair presidential election.

Oh, wait. I should mention that Trump lost that election. President-elect Joe Biden will take office in about 39 days.

SCOTUS rejected a specious lawsuit brought by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that sought to get four states to throw out their election returns that went favorably toward Biden. The high court, in a brief summary statement, said that Texas could not interfere in other states’ electoral process.

Ba da boom!

More to the point, the court ruling stated  that Texas lacked standing to pursue the case, saying it “has not demonstrated a judicially cognizable interest in the manner in which another state conducts its elections.”

This is the end of the road for Donald Trump, for his Trumpkin toadies, his cult of personality followers.

The lesson once again comes in the form of the strongly conservative court ruling with dispassionate analysis what almost every legal scholar in the land had predicted it would rule.

My advice now for Donald Trump: Shut the hell up about an election you lost; accept the results … and go away.

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