national news

Presidents Day? Why honor some of ’em?

Presidents Day is a federal holiday that for decades has gotten past me, in that I don’t understand it.

The day is meant to “honor” the men who have served as our head of state, head of government and our commander in chief. But … why?

Some of these individuals were truly despicable men, let alone presidents.

I remember when we used to honor only the birthdays of two of our presidents: the “father of our country,” George Washington and the “man who saved the Union,” Abraham Lincoln.

For my money, these gentlemen stand above the crowd of others who served as president. Indeed, they tower like the Colossus of Rhodes over a number of them.

I need not mention the names of the more despicable among the individuals who served as president. In my lifetime, I can think of just one man who not only never should have been elected in the first place, but who stands alone as the most vilified, despised and indisputably venal man ever to take the presidential oath.

I cannot honor him. Or many of the others who preceded him.

Yes, I have my favorite presidents. I already have mentioned two of them — Washington and Lincoln. They stand together at the top of the presidential heap.

I’ll just leave it at that.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

In defense of where I live

I haven’t lived for very long in Princeton, Texas, but I am hearing some buzz out there from those who aren’t impressed with the community that Princeton is becoming.

A candidate for a city council seat in another city spoke about the growth that is coming to that city.

The candidate said the community shouldn’t become another Princeton. I didn’t challenge the statement in real time. I will do so now, but just briefly.

Princeton is in the midst of a growth explosion. The 2010 census figure of 6,807 grew to 17,027 when 2020 rolled around. The latest census count is obsolete, as city officials have told me they believe the population of Princeton now is closing in rapidly on 30,000 residents.

The housing boom is fueling the growth. What is not happening, at least not yet, has been the arrival of significant new commercial or light-industrial development.

The single-family residential construction and apartment complexes that are springing up serve as an indicator that Princeton must hold some attractiveness to individuals and families looking to relocate.

I see evidence of increased commercial expansion along U.S. 380. Strip malls are being completed; they contain a variety of businesses. I have heard rumblings about a major grocery chain opening an outlet in Princeton.

I will concede one point about Princeton’s lack of community identity: It has no “downtown district.” Princeton needs a city center, a place that identifies the community, where its nearly 30,000 residents can congregate.

However, I am glad to have chosen Princeton as my new hometown. I tell folks all the time that the city is a “work in progress.”

Give it time. That’s all it needs.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Tragedy brings form of comfort

There was no way on God’s good Earth I could have foreseen this happening … but it has happened.

My dear bride’s passing from cancer has allowed me to share my grief with those who are willing to read about it. Kathy Anne would want me to continue to “do what you love to do.” Indeed, she encouraged me to do so even as we believed a good outcome was possible when she was stricken at the end of this past year.

I have done that. You know what? It has given me a peculiar sense of comfort to share my grief.

Kathy Anne often would joke that since my career came to an end in 2012 that I was being “paid to have fun.” Yes, writing is “fun” for me. It’s what I do. I’ll leave it to others to assess the quality of the work I churn out. I’ve been called a “prolific” blogger. That’s probably true, as I was able to write a heavy volume of news stories on deadline back in the day when I was filled with loads of energy.

These days I am a whole lot longer in the tooth, but am still able to kick it out. I have done so even as I grapple with this intense feeling of loss and sadness.

And it helps. A lot! It gives me a curious feeling of peace. I cannot begin to define its source or why it happens. It just does!

So, if you don’t mind, I will continue to share segments of this still-developing journey toward the rest of my time on Earth. Many of you might be able to relate to the struggle that we all face.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

military news

‘Crimes against humanity’? Yep!

Vice President Kamala Harris laid it on the line while attending a European security conference in Munich, Germany.

She has accused Russian goon/strongman/thug Vladimir Putin of committing “crimes against humanity” while waging the immoral and illegal war against Ukraine.

There you have it. The VPOTUS put it on the record. She is correct to call Putin what he clearly has been. A war criminal!

What in the world will the great powers gathered in Munich going to do about it? For my money, and I’ve said this already, Putin needs to stand trial for the crimes the troops under his command have committed against Ukrainians.

The International Court appears to have sufficient evidence against Putin to put this monstrous leader on trial.

He has ordered the shelling of hospitals, schools and houses of worship. Ukrainians have dug up mass graves containing the remains of women, children and men who clearly were not able to participate in battles on the field.

This individual, Putin, has targeted civilians in a strategy that clearly violates treaties signed that govern the conduct of modern war.

Does that make him a war criminal? Uhhh … yeah! It damn sure does!

The supposed vaunted Russian military machine has been anything but the fearsome machine Putin and his henchmen thought they were commanding. They have learned the bitterest lesson possible, which is that people whose national sovereignty is threatened will fight to the death, which the Ukrainians have done as they have turned back the Russian onslaught.

A war that was deemed to be a cakewalk when Putin invaded Ukraine a year ago has now turned into an epic quagmire. What’s more, Putin has committed multiple crimes against humanity in an effort to get the Ukrainians to surrender.

The Ukrainian armed forces are having none of it.

Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, should be in leg irons and locked up.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Such cynical times, indeed

Oh, how we live in an era full of cynicism and spite, as a friend posted on a social media message board overnight.

My friend Rick noted that upon hearing of former President Carter’s decision to commit to hospice care one of the first thoughts that entered my friend’s mind was the tasteless, tactless and narcissistic comment that is likely to come from Donald Trump.

Yes, despite the presence of several former presidents, most of whom possess grace and class, my friend had to mention what we might expect from the Election Denier in Chief who has become damn near legendary in his penchant for saying exactly the wrong thing.

I despise this cynical age.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

It’s OK to laugh while mourning?

2 Comments

I continue to mourn the passing of my bride and I figure I will do so for a good while.

However, some bizarre thoughts coarse through my noggin as I seek to find my way toward a new normal life without my beloved Kathy Anne. One of them involves laughter.

I am 73 years of age. We were married for 51 years. That means she was a major part of my life for most of my time on this Earth.

There are moments when I laugh out loud at something I see, or when Toby the Puppy performs one of this pooch tricks, or when I watch someone tell a joke. I told a friend on a social media message that I feel strangely embarrassed when I laugh out loud. It’s weird, man.

There is no way I will wear black in public the way my grandmother did after my grandfather died in January 1950. Yiayia mourned Papou in a formal matter for the rest of her life, which ended on July 4, 1978.

However, I don’t want to feel oddly self-conscious when I chuckle at something. Those who have been through this level of grief perhaps know of what I am mentioning.

Hey, I’ll get through this, too.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

‘News’ becomes propaganda

When does news become propaganda? It happens when an organization that purports to be “fair and balanced” in its reporting of the news allegedly hides the truth and foments The Big Lie.

A company that manufactures voting machines has alleged that Fox News — the aforementioned “fair and balanced” organization — knew that Joe Biden won the 2020 presidential election but rather than tell the truth it promoted the Big Lie offered by the moron who lost the election, Donald J. Trump.

The Fox propagandists continued to suggest that the voting machines had rigged the election by wiping out Trump votes and adding mythical votes to Biden’s total.

Dominion Voting sued Fox for a couple of billion bucks and is coming out on top in the preliminary court rulings.

To be clear, I do not watch Fox largely because the network is allegedly doing what I have suspected all along. The networks’ premier hosts — Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Sean Hannity and Maria Bartiromo — all have been heard furthering The Big Lie about the 2020 election.

What’s more, they all have said quite the opposite in private, according to court records. They have referred to the fraud allegations as so much bullsh**, that they were “seriously offended” by suggestions that fraud existed. With all those personal feelings being expressed in private, they still went on the air to promote the specious notion of “widespread election fraud” where none existed.

Indeed, investigators have determined that there was no election fraud in 2020, as the Fox propagandists have suggested. The lawsuit seeks to put an end to The Big Lie.

All of this gives credence to my belief that the right-wing mainstream media comprise liars and frauds masquerading as journalists.

Shameful.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

What’s fair is well … fair

Fairness is forcing me to hold back on my feelings about the MAGA crowd’s unwillingness to refer to Joe Biden with the title he won during the 2020 presidential election.

The right-wing extremists refuse to use the term “President Biden” when referencing the commander in chief. But yet — and this is where the conflict arises — they attach the word “President” in front of Donald Trump’s name.

Where am I going with this?

I acknowledge freely and without apology my own refusal to afford Donald Trump the same “recognition” the MAGAites refuse to grant to President Biden.

Years ago, when Trump took the presidential oath of office, I vowed publicly on High Plains Blogger that I never would place Trump’s name after the word “President.” I have delivered on that pledge. Spare me the lecture that Trump did get elected in 2016 because he garnered enough Electoral College votes to declare victory.

It is incumbent on me, therefore, to withhold any outward criticism of the MAGA cult members who refuse to bestow the courtesy of referring to Joe Biden as President Biden. I am acutely aware that none of this has a thing to do with policy differences.

I have been tempted, to be sure, particularly when I see the likes of Ronny Jackson, the Republican-MAGA member of Congress who represents my old haunts in the Texas Panhandle, harp continually on phony allegations regarding President Biden’s mental acuity.

But … I won’t go there.

I was taught all about leveling fair criticism long ago as a much younger editorialist. This critical reluctance on my part falls into the category of remaining fair.

Hey, if the other side is going to engage in the same behavior that I did, then who in the world am I to criticize ’em? I’ll keep my powder dry for the issues that matter.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

education news

Define ‘CRT,’ please

I need someone to offer a definition of “critical race theory.” From all I have been able to discern, I have determined it is made up, fiction, something created from nothing.

And yet … culture warriors on the right wing of the political divide keep tossing CRT out there as some sort of “enemy” of what they perceive to be “normal.”

What the hell is it?

I get that it’s become a target of the likes of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is banning it in public schools there. Same for Texas, where another Republican governor — Greg Abbott — with possible White House ambitions is furthering the debate against CRT. He’s got a mostly Republican elected State Board of Education on his side to aid in the fight against an unseen and unknown adversary.

CRT is seen by some as a method to denigrate the nation’s history. What? They don’t like discussing such issues as, oh, slavery, which — yep! — existed in this country until we went to war with ourselves in 1861. Remember what you learned? White slaveowners held Blacks in bondage, owned human beings like property; Blacks were considered to be three-fifths human.

Our children aren’t supposed to learn about that? Teachers are instructed to avoid talking about it? Ridiculous! It’s part of our nation’s mostly glorious history.

Still, I am waiting for someone to define CRT to me in a manner that I can grasp.

I’m all ears.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

DeSantis: No. 1 GOP target

As I wend my way through Collin County’s back roads, I have seen precisely one 2024 campaign flag flapping in the North Texas breeze.

It has Ron DeSantis’s name on it; the flag flies in the yard of someone living off Farm to Market Road 546 between Princeton and McKinney.

So … with that I want to say a few words about the Florida governor who, I presume, is going to declare his candidacy for the presidency of the United States.

He’s every bit the charlatan as his political daddy, Donald J. Trump.

The dude wants to ban any discussion in Florida’s public schools about Black history. He has launched a “don’t say ‘gay'” campaign in the state’s public school system. DeSantis is dismissing the vaccines that have saved millions of American lives in the wake of the COVID pandemic. He attacks the mythical “critical race theory” curriculum he says is being taught.

The guy is a right-wing, MAGA-loving nut job of the first order.

In a way, though, I am kinda/sorta pulling for him to defeat Trump for the GOP nomination, although I cannot quite explain why. They’re both stomach-churning demagogues. Furthermore, I am still not yet convinced that Trump is going to get his campaign off the ground, given what I believe will be a series of criminal indictments coming down that will accuse him of some very serious crimes against the government he once swore to protect.

DeSantis, though, is a goofball who needs to be exposed for what he is. A fraud and a fruitcake.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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