crime news, education news, State news

Police chief had to go!

Pete Arredondo had become a household name in communities throughout the nation for reasons he likely never imagined when he first strapped on a firearm and pinned a badge on his chest.

Well, now the embattled top cop for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District no longer works for the school district. Its board of trustees today voted unanimously to fire Arredondo because of the former chief’s shameful response to the massacre that erupted at Robb Elementary School in the South Texas community.

Nineteen precious children were slain that day, along with two heroic teachers who fought to save their lives. Arredondo led the UCISD police force that responded to the shooter who had walked into the school.

Then he did nothing! Arredondo said eventually in the aftermath that he didn’t know he would be in charge of the police response.

Imagine the full-on rage the community would have expressed had the school board decided to keep Arredondo on its payroll.

Yep, he had become far more than a “distraction.”

For my money, the man should find work far away from law enforcement.

I doubt that Arredondo’s discomfort will end just because the school board canned him. He will face countless lawsuits from the loved ones of those who died in the massacre. And he should!

Uvalde now can move on. It won’t ever forget what happened on that terrible day. At least, though, the community no longer will carry the burden of paying the salary of a law enforcement officer who failed to do his job.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Setting aside an evening of election returns

I am all but lead-pipe-cinch certain I know what I am going to be doing on one November evening.

I will be watching midterm election returns from my North Texas home. Election Day is Nov. 8. Some Texas school districts are taking that day off, telling students and teachers there won’t be class that day. Why? They want those who are eligible to vote to be sure to do so, which strikes me as being about as close to declaring Election Day an official holiday as anything I have seen so far.

Regular readers of this blog know of my partisan leaning. To anyone who is unaware, I will disclose that I want Democrats to fend off the Republican “red wave” that everyone was predicting would swamp Congress.

Spoiler alert: Republicans aren’t quite so smug these days. There has been some actual out-loud discussion that suggests Democrats could be in position to maintain — and possibly increase — their control of the Senate.

And get a load of this: At least one bellwether U.S. House race ended Tuesday with the Democrat edging a Republican opponent for a New York congressional seat that everyone this side of House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy thought was going to be swept up by the Republican.

What gives? Speculation is that the Supreme Court decision to overturn the landmark abortion ruling has energized pro-choice voters to, um, actually vote.

What’s driving this apparent change? Democrats have scored some legislative successes and are finally able to nationalize local races the way Republicans have been so successful at doing.

Plus, Republicans have fielded some certifiable dunderheads for public office, particularly in the Senate. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania (or is it New Jersey?), Herschel Walker in Georgia, J.D. Vance in Ohio and Lord knows who else is out there making an ass of himself or herself in front of voters.

What about the House lineup? Democrats hold a slim majority there, but the chatter is beginning to build that they well might be able to fend off that red wave … even in the House!

I cannot yet buy into the Democrats’ optimism about the House. The Senate does seem to look more promising for those of us who fear what could happen if the GOP takes command of both congressional chambers.

Vengeance appears to be at the top of Republican minds. Which tells me that governance would grind to a halt.

If Democrats can persuade enough voters over the course of the next few weeks what would ensue if the GOP grabs control of Capitol Hill, well … we might have a fun night of TV watching ahead of us.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

education news

Student debt decision? Eh …

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You can count me as one American who has categorically mixed feelings about President Biden’s decision to forgive a portion of student debt across the nation.

Biden today said that anyone who earns $125,000 or less annually will see $20,000 taken off their student loan debt obligation. The president’s decision appears to be a compromise of sorts. Progressives want Biden to forgive a whole lot more; maybe even every penny that every American owes when they borrowed the money to pay for their college education. For my money, that was a non-starter.

As for what the president has decided, it doesn’t do much for me one way or another. Twenty grand is no small amount of change.

However, consider this aspect of the debt that these former students incurred: They did so willingly when they enrolled in college. Thus, aren’t they obligated to pay back what they borrowed?

Thousands of Texans could benefit from student loan forgiveness | The Texas Tribune

My sons didn’t incur huge debt when they obtained their college degrees. My wife and took out a parent loan for one of our sons. We paid it off many years ago.  We never one time considered asking for any sort of waiver or request a suspension of our payback obligation.

I get that the pandemic brought a lot of havoc to families. Thus, to the extent that the president can seek forgiveness of debt on that basis, I guess that’s an acceptable reason.

I just don’t understand fully the notion of forgiving the debts of those who incur them willingly and with a clear thought about the consequences of refusing to pay it back.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news

Resisting the pull of anticipation

Getting one’s heart to racing over the possibility that bad people will be made to account for the misdeeds can be dangerous to one’s emotional well-being.

I know that. Because I am suffering a bit from high expectations stemming from the myriad investigations into the conduct of a former president of the United States.

Yeah, that one … named Donald John Trump.

I keep hearing from commentators, legal eagles, constitutional scholars and assorted lawyerly minds that Trump is in deep doo-doo over many issues. He’s going to pay the price, they keep saying.

I’ll admit that I don’t listen to the Trump cultists/apologists who spend little time denying he did wrong but who question the motives of those who are doing the investigating.

I am resisting the temptation to get swept up in what I admit would be “joy” if indictments land on Trump’s thick but vacuous skull.

It’s tough, to be sure. I’ll remain strong.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Twice elected? He’s out!

This thought didn’t come from me, but I want to share it anyway … because it’s too damn funny to ignore.

Donald Trump won election to the presidency in 2016 by securing more Electoral College votes than Hillary Clinton. It was legal and constitutional.

Trump says he was re-elected in a landslide four years later. Of course, he wasn’t. He lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, who pulled in 7 million more ballots than Trump and won with an Electoral College majority that virtually mirrored Trump’s win four years earlier.

But …

If Trump is right — which he isn’t! — that he won re-election in 2020, how can the former Dipsh** in Chief, with a straight face, purport to consider running for POTUS in 2024? The Constitution allows two terms. That’s it!

Hit the fu**ing road, Donald!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Another run for Donald?

The political world cannot seem to stop talking about Donald Trump and whether the two-time candidate for president wants to make a third run at an office in which he garnered fewer votes twice than his opponent.

Given that I cannot predict what this nimrod will do, I am left just to speculate out loud and wonder: Does this guy actually believe he can win after being impeached twice and has since been revealed to be an individual who is incapable of fulfilling the duties of his office?

It’s a stretch even for The Donald.

At least that’s my belief.

He has prided himself on his unpredictability. He said as much when he garnered more electoral votes in 2016 than Hillary Rodham Clinton. He was right. I couldn’t predict a single move this guy would make during his single term in office.

So, if he’s still an unpredictable moron, does that mean all this fancy footwork, this teasing his followers that he is going to run — again! — mean he doesn’t really intend to do it?

Let’s suppose for instance that Attorney General Merrick Garland indicts Trump for violating the Espionage Act by squirreling confidential documents away from the White House and hiding them in the basement of his Florida mansion.

How in the name of political idiocy can a man run for POTUS while fending off what could be a lifetime sentence in prison?

Or, what happens if the Fulton County (Ga.) district attorney indicts him for voter interference? Or if the New York AG indicts him for falsifying his net wealth to obtain loans?

I just am having trouble grasping how anyone — even someone as slimy and slippery as The Donald — can possibly run for president under those circumstances.

Well, I ain’t predictin’ nothin’, man. I am just going to remain skeptical that The Donald is going to take this plunge yet again. There well could be a crowded Republican Party primary field awaiting with opponents ready to skewer him over what we now know to be the truth about him.

OK. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part. Accuse me all you want of bias. Or of hating Trump. I won’t deny any of it.

Nor will I deny loathing the sight of him clenching that tiny fist of his in that show of defiance intended to portray this coward as a tough guy.

If you do, don’t forget to accuse me as well of loving my country enough to prevent it from enduring any more misery that this individual can bring.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

Go after Fauci? Why?

Did I read this right, that if Republicans take control of Congress after the midterm election that they’re going to “go after” Dr. Anthony Fauci?

This prompts two immediate questions: What has he done to provoke this vengeful reaction? Why go after a man who has decided to retire from public service after serving presidents of both parties with distinction for many decades?

The threat comes from Sen. John Kennedy, the Louisiana Republican who bears not a single similarity to the late president whose name he shares.

Fauci announced this week he is stepping down in December as President Biden’s chief medical adviser. The man has had a full plate over many years. It became a heaping plate when the coronavirus pandemic broke in late 2019.

His advice rankled many on the right, including the man who brought him on board to help deal with the pandemic … Donald J. Trump.

So now there might be another persecution in store, if the cards align and the GOP takes back Congress.

So says John Kennedy.

Good grief! The man saved many thousands of lives with his advice to two presidents of the United States, Donald Trump and then Joe Biden.

It looks for all the world to me as though Kennedy wants to make as much hay as Americans can stand.

Well, he can count me out.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Vote fraud? Yes, but …

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The purveyors of The Big Lie keep insisting that the 2020 presidential election is the result of “widespread vote fraud,” of millions of dead people casting ballots, nations using orbiting satellites to manipulate votes.

Am I going to deny the existence of some voter fraud? No. I cannot possibly make that denial with a straight face. Nor can I presume that election deniers have anything credible to assert the “widespread” of the fraud they insist occurred in November 2020.

The “Big Liar in Chief,” Donald J. Trump, keeps leading the chorus of deniers. The cultists who hang on his every lying word hang on them as if they are gospel. They continue to foment The Big Lie and continue to insist they’re going to end it.

End … what? Precisely?

This is the ultimate frustration for those of us who happen to maintain reasonable trust in the local election officials who do a great job of protecting the sanctity of our cherished freedom to vote for the candidates of our choice.

I am more than willing to acknowledge that individuals here and there occasionally try to pull some funny stuff at the ballot box. They are caught and they are prosecuted. The conspiracy theorists out there will not be satisfied as long as they can cling to The Big Lie and pretend it is true.

They call themselves “patriots.” They are traitors.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Clock is ticking, 1/6 panel

U.S. House Select Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson doesn’t need unsolicited advice from little ol’ me on how he does his business.

Too bad. I am going to give him some anyway.

Mr. Chairman, I am acutely aware that the clock is ticking on your 1/6 investigation. Which makes me implore you to get your probe done sooner rather than later.

You must ignore the happy talk among Democrats who have stars in their eyes and who are thinking they can retain control of the House after the congressional midterm election. The fate of the Senate is another matter. The House, though, remains vulnerable to a Republican takeover of leadership of that legislative chamber.

That means if the committee’s work is unfinished when the new Congress convenes in January, the new Republican leadership is going to scuttle every damn thing the panel did. It will toss all the evidence it has collected implicating Donald Trump in the insurrection and his effort to deny the peaceful transfer of power to the Biden administration.

A new GOP House speaker is going to launch investigations of his own into the panel’s conduct. There might even be efforts to impeach Attorney General Merrick Garland. Believe this, too: The Trump cultists who comprise the Republican Party will have vengeance on their minds if they seize control of the House.

I say all this to remind the chairman that he has to finish the committee’s work sometime this fall. The committee is set to reopen the public hearings next month with a new round of witnesses. They are likely to add even more evidence to the growing pile of it already gathered through hours of public and private testimony.

The panel might ask former Vice President Mike Pence to testify. Fine. Do it and then get him to spill whatever beans he can under oath.

Look, Mr. Chairman, time is not your friend. It is your relentless enemy as you seek to finish your work, compile a report and present it to us — and to the attorney general.

He must not be deterred by whatever blowback he gets from the diehard cultists who stand with the insurrectionist in chief. They have loud voices, but so do the rest of us who want to make sure those who are responsible are held to account for the dastardly deeds they launched against the government they all swore an oath to protect, preserve and defend.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

Many thanks, Dr. Fauci

Just got word of what many of us expected all along: Anthony Fauci is going to retire from a several-decades-long career in public service.

To which I want to offer the good doctor a heartfelt expression of thanks and gratitude for all he has done to help protect us against infectious disease.

Fauci, of course, became the face of medical awareness during the COVID-19 pandemic that spanned two administrations, from Donald Trump to Joe Biden. He is the nation’s — if not the world’s — leading expert on infectious disease. He spoke the truth to us when he had the answers to a disease that was killing thousands of Americans daily. When he didn’t know the answers, he had the guts to say so.

Oh, but the man who served as President Biden’s senior medical adviser, had to endure the defamatory criticism that came from the far-right wing of our political life. They didn’t trust him. They bristled at mask mandates, at calls for social distancing, at government telling citizens what they needed to protect themselves and others from a killer virus. He even had to endure the undermining of his public statements that came from Donald J. Trump, who hired him to manage our pandemic response.

Fauci served through several administrations, going back to the time of Ronald Reagan. He served with honor and with dedication to the practice of medicine and public health.

Fauci said he will leave in December. Presumably he will head toward a private life with his wife and family.

The man has earned some time off.

As the saying goes to those who have devoted their life to the cause of serving the public … thank you for your service, doc.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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