DC riot

Disqualification … maybe?

A good friend brought something to my attention while responding to an earlier blog post wondering about how to keep Donald Trump from ever holding public office for as long as he lives.

He cited Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which states the following: No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.

The U.S. House select 1/6 committee is examining whether Donald J. Trump committed an act of insurrection against the government on 1/6 by inciting the assault on Capitol Hill by the mob of traitors who sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election … the one that Trump lost to Joe Biden.

What does any of this mean? Consider what could occur.

The Justice Department, after hearing all the evidence — which to my mind is pretty damning already — could indict Trump for citing an insurrection. Trump could go to trial. A jury could convict the former POTUS of deliberately seeking to overturn the election results.

Then Congress — with a conviction in hand — could vote, under the Constitution’s rules, bar Trump from ever seeking public office.

Few things in life would make me happier than to see that occur.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot

Can we ban this guy from public office?

I cannot possibly presume to know more than the legal eagles who work for Congress and its assorted committees, but this question is worth pondering as we digest what we are going to learn from the 1/6 House select committee’s televised hearings.

Is it legally possible to ban Donald J. Trump from serving in any public office, even though the ex-POTUS survived two impeachment trials in the U.S. Senate?

Had he been convicted and booted from office, there was a clause in the proceedings that allowed Congress to ban this moron from ever seeking public office for the rest of his life.

After one evening of public testimony broadcast around the world about the 1/6 insurrection that sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election result, this much is crystal clear to me: Donald Trump was hideously derelict in his duty as commander in chief, as chief executive of the federal government and as our head of state by his refusal to stop the violence that was unfolding on Capitol Hill.

By any reasonable measure, this lying, self-serving narcissist has no business ever darkening the doors of the White House ever again. Under no circumstance should he be allowed into the People’s House. To think that there are serious political analysts who believe he actually has a chance at returning as POTUS simply makes me shudder. I do not believe he will run in 2024 … but that’s just me and as you know already, I am wrong far more frequently than I am right.

However, I am not wrong about my belief that this idiot ever should be allowed to run for public office based on what we have heard all along about his conduct on 1/6 and what we are likely to hear in the weeks to come.

Again, I need to know whether there is a way to stop this dangerous fool from re-entering the public political arena.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Rage mounts hourly

I have said all along that the 1/6 insurrection is difficult to watch and it gets more difficult as time marches on, reminding me a bit of the 9/11 attack’s effect on my emotions.

Still, the House select committee’s hearing that came to prime time this evening has been riveting, even as it fills me with rage over what happened that day during the siege on Capitol Hill.

There will be more to learn and more to discern from the hearings that will continue over the course of several weeks.

I am left to wonder how in the name of governmental integrity those who dismiss what occurred on 1/6 can continue to deny what the rest of us witnessed yet again tonight.

It was not a “routine Capitol tour.” It was not a part of “normal political discourse.” It was not a “peaceful demonstration.”

Good grief, man! It was an insurrection against our democratic process! We have been told in the clearest terms possible that Donald Trump orchestrated it. He did nothing to stop in real time. Trump sought to cling to power and do something that no previous president ever had attempted, which was to commit an act of sedition against the government he took an oath to protect.

I am even angrier than ever at the man who masqueraded as the nation’s chief executive. I thought I had maxed out by anger.

Silly me. I need to get ready to get even angrier.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

economic news

Shall we slow down to reduce fuel prices?

Of all the possible remedies being discussed on how to deal with the skyrocketing price of motor fuel, I have yet to hear one notion that got a lot of attention in the 1970s when we experienced an earlier form of sticker shock at the gas pump.

Those of us old folks recall when the Middle East oil embargo forced prices to zoom out of sight. Our response then in real time? It was to slow motorists down to 55 mph. Do you recall that? Sure you do!

Congress acted with relative dispatch.

The slowdown on our interstate highways lasted until the mid-1990s when Republicans took control of Congress and then lifted the mandated speed restrictions. We’ve been zooming along ever since.

I want to offer that as a possible talking point in the current climate.

It is clear that slowing down our motor vehicles from 75 and 80 mph to something a good bit less than that results in significant fuel savings. So, if you play that out just a bit you come up with a notion that greater supply and diminished demand on a commodity — such as gasoline or diesel fuel — could drive the price of that product down to more reasonable levels.

I was a huge proponent of slowing motorists in the 1970s. I received plenty of grief from my West Texas friends about my desire to drive more slowly.

Well, I don’t expect anyone to take this seriously. Perhaps the current price spikes are far beyond simple remedies such as what we enacted in an earlier time.

I just would like to see this talking point introduced once again in the public debate on energy policy. Let’s all remember this indisputable fact: Fossil fuels will not last forever.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot

Waiting for bomb blast

I am awaiting the start of televised testimony tonight into the insurrection that sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

I’ll admit to having made up my mind long ago about what happened, who is responsible and what should occur. Still, I await the testimony tonight and in subsequent 1/6 House select committee hearings with a bit of eager anticipation.

I know that Donald Trump incited the riot. I also know that he did nothing to stop it. I know he hasn’t expressed the slightest shred of public regret or sadness at the loss of life and the injuries suffered that day. I also believe the Justice Department should indict the ex-POTUS on charges of conspiring to commit sedition.

My mind will not change as a result of these hearings. Indeed, it might harden. I well might feel more inclined the believe the very worst about a man I have despised long before he became a politician.

But … I intend to watch. You’ll be hearing from me in the days to come. Honest.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Where is outrage over child deaths?

Kevin McCarthy is furious. He is steaming hot over a threat made against Supreme Court Associate Justice Brett Kavanaugh by someone who allegedly sought to assassinate him.

The House of Representatives Republican leader wants the House to enact a bill that would protect SCOTUS justices from threats. I happen to agree that justices on the nation’s highest court need maximum protection.

McCarthy said this on the floor of the House.

How many times do they have to be threatened? How many people have to be arrested with a gun outside their home? What would have happened had he not called 9-1-1? He didn’t just have a gun. He had zip ties. But somehow you want to leave. This bill could be on the president’s desk right now.

I just have to ask, though: Where is McCarthy’s outrage over the murders of dozens of school children and other innocent victims in supermarkets, houses of worship, movie theaters, concert venues and wherever else they are slaughtered by those wielding assault rifles?

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

economic news

Fuel costs take big bite

Well, there’s a first time for everything, I suppose. Consider, therefore, that for the first time in our more than 50 years of married life together, my wife and I are forced to amend our travel plans because — get ready for it — the cost of fuel is making extensive travel unaffordable.

I keep hearing about how the price of motor fuel nationally is averaging $5 per gallon. Then we hear from analysts who tell us there’s “no end in sight” to the skyrocketing price increases.

All I am left to do now is plead with the authorities who can control this madness to get a handle on the price of fuel.

Our sole vehicle — at the moment — is a three-quarter ton, diesel-fueled pickup. The price of diesel in Texas is selling for something a bit north of $5 per gallon. Out west it’s going for a whole more than that. We intend to travel out west sometime this year, but only if the price of motor fuel comes down.

We’re getting a new vehicle soon. It is a gasoline-powered pickup; it’s a smaller vehicle to boot. Its fuel rating is pretty good, about 22 miles per gallon. But that’s when it’s not pulling a travel trailer. Then the fuel-efficiency rating will decline.

I never thought I would have to lament how the price of fuel is affecting our retirement journey.

However … it damn sure is taking a bite out of our best-laid plans.

I am not going to blame President Biden for this cost spike. I do want to insist that the president do whatever he can to pressure whoever he needs to pressure to put an end to this madness.

My bride and I are not alone. We are among millions of Americans living on a fixed income who want to enjoy our time on this good Earth by venturing outside of our North Texas home community. We cannot afford to do much of it now.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Uncategorized

Pulling for Democrats

I cannot hide my partisan leanings, so I won’t even try to pretend I am so politically neutral that I don’t care which political party wins control of policy making in my state.

Truth is, I do care. I am tired of Republican Party vise-grip control of policy in Texas. I might not mind so much about whether the GOP maintains control of state government, except that today’s Republican Party bears practically no resemblance to the party of the late former Gov. Bill Clements and the late U.S. Sen. John Tower.

Clements and Tower personified what has been called “establishment Republicanism.” These days, establishment GOP pols have become targets of epithets hurled at them by the MAGA crowd of cultists who adhere to the phony populism of Donald J. Trump. MAGA fanatics call these real Republicans, RINOs … Republicans in Name Only.

Gov. Greg Abbott, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton are three amigos in pushing forward the MAGA agenda that seeks ostensibly to “make America great again.’

Earth to MAGA cultists: The MAGA mantra means nothing to me. America is great. It has been a great nation for far longer than I arrived on this good Earth.

The race for Texas governor is drawing a good bit of national attention. Democrat Beto O’Rourke is making his second run for statewide office in the past four years. He came close to defeating Ted Cruz in the 2018 race for U.S. Senate. Then he ran for president in 2020 and flamed out. Now he’s up once more … it might be his final run for statewide office.

I want Beto O’Rourke to defeat Gov. Abbott, who has been a terrible disappointment to me as the state’s chief executive.

Furthermore, I want to declare that my weariness of Republican Party dominance of public policy is no invitation for Democrats to veer too far off the mainstream middle ground that demands that many Texans are demanding to have their concerns heard, too.

It’s clear to me that Republicans aren’t listening to the vast middle ground. I consider myself to be a good-government progressive, which I believe requires plenty of compromise to find common ground.

Thus, we have an election coming up that could swing the state significantly away from the nastiness we see too often from Republican political leaders. May it come true.

Johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

 

national news

Right wingers win the argument … so far

This is no great flash to those who are smarter than I am, but I have concluded how the right wingers out there are able to outshout the rest of us in this so-called “battle of ideas.”

They succeed because they appeal to Americans’ base instincts. We are so very quick to criticize those in power. The right wingers, therefore, are appealing to Americans’ lowest common denominator. It is fueled by ignorance.

Thus, when I see President Biden’s diminishing approval ratings in public polls, I see an opportunity for Biden’s supporters to strike back … and hard!

The obvious consequence will be that the quality of the political debate will sink faster a cruise ship that hits an iceberg.

The equally obvious alternative is to let the MAGA crowd win the argument, which then will lead to MAGA candidates emerging victorious.

I do not want that to happen. I do want the reasonable center-left and even some “mainstream Republicans” to tear a page from the MAGA playbook … and then hit the far right wingers with the same demagoguery they have been pitching.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news

And the war slogs on

We have been fixated – and rightly so – on gun violence and ways to reduce it, if not end it altogether. I just want to remind everyone that we have a war underway on another continent that deserves our attention as well.

Those damn Russians continue to bombard Ukrainian targets and they continue to kill Ukrainian civilians in their attempt to further the aims of the dictator who sent them into battle illegally. That would be Vladimir Putin, the despot about whom Donald J. Trump used to speak so glowingly in his effort to make nice with a known killer.

Joe Biden has all but declared Putin to be a pariah among world leaders. Which is an apt description. He has called Putin a war criminal. By my reckoning, war criminals need to be prosecuted for crimes against humanity and, if convicted, they deserve to be punished.

Does that mean Putin needs to go to prison for his crimes against Ukraine? For his targeting of hospitals, schools, churches and apartment complexes?

Well, uh, yeah! Do you think?

The Ukraine War slogs on. It continues to break my heart, which already is shattered by tragedy here at home.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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