local news

Texas cannot secede, period!

Bryan Slaton has lost his mind. I mean, how else can one explain why the second-term Republican Texas state representative wants to give Texans a chance to decide whether to secede from the United States of America?

Slaton represents a portion of Northeast Texas and has authored a bill that calls for a referendum to determine whether Texans want to leave the nation.

Earth to Slaton: The Civil War settled that issue. The Texas Tribune reports: “The legality of seceding is problematic,” Eric McDaniel, associate professor of government at the University of Texas at Austin, told The Texas Tribune in 2016. “The Civil War played a very big role in establishing the power of the federal government and cementing that the federal government has the final say in these issues.”

Slaton, a Royse City Republican, apparently doesn’t accept that notion.

Good grief, man! May we stop this idiocy from taking root in the Legislature?

Texas can’t secede from the U.S. Here’s why. | The Texas Tribune

This is the kind of craziness that infects any notion of good government coming from Austin.

The first secession in 1861 was declared illegal, too, by the Supreme Court. Yet, Texas joined the Confederate States of America and went to war against the Union. Any effort to do so again would be deemed not just illegal, but insane.

As for Slaton, someone needs to determine this young man’s fitness for public office. From my perch in Collin County, he is sounding like a certifiable nut case.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

‘Sightseers’ rioted? Sure thing

Tucker Carlson, one of the Fox Propaganda Network’s chief duplicitous faces, has revealed what many of us have known all along about the organization that pays his handsome salary.

It is not only unfair and unbalanced, it denies the truth even when the truth is broadcast live in real time to its faithful audience.

Carlson went on the air last night to proclaim that the 1/6 assault on the nation’s Capitol was a peaceful event, that the traitors who launched the attacked were mere “sightseers.”

Oh … my.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy granted Carlson access to the video of the assault. Carlson looked at what we all saw and has concluded that the attack on our democratic process was, um, no biggie. What a crock of sh**!

I no longer will refer to his employer as a “news” organization. It is nothing of the sort. Its talking heads recognized privately The Big Lie for what it was, yet they pitched the notion that the former POTUS had been robbed of an election.

Imagine for a moment that Walter Cronkite knew that President Kennedy had been shot to death, but then told viewers that he was alive. Imagine, also, any of the news anchors reporting on the tragedy of 9/11 telling viewers that the planes didn’t really fly into the Twin Towers or the Pentagon.

The Fox Propaganda Network has committed the most egregious sin possible in reporting on events of the 1/6 insurrection. It has broadcast blatant, bald-faced and outright falsehoods and portrayed them as fact.

The Fox propagandists have allowed conspiracy theorists to vilify a vote-counting company, Dominion, accusing the company of manipulating the returns to grant Joe Biden a victory they say belonged to the guy he defeated. Dominion has sued Fox for defamation. I am one American patriot who wants them to prevail over the liars at Fox.

So, here we are. Truth has become the enemy of a media outlet that purports to report the “news,” but which in reality has engaged in egregious propaganda.

Sickening beyond measure.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Take a gander at this

I will dispense with any more commentary about my bride’s passing, other than to refer you to this link from KETR.org.

It contains an essay just published at the public radio station affiliated with Texas A&M University-Commerce.

I would say “enjoy” reading it, except that it is about a somber subject.

Grieving has no playbook, but an informed approach can ease suffering (ketr.org)

Still, it means for me to have put these thoughts down and I thank my friends at KETR for allowing me to share them.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

A path to recovery?

Allow me this bit of unsolicited advice: If you have lost a cherished loved one, placing a picture of that person in a prominent place could be far less painful than you might believe.

The picture you see with this very brief post is of my dear bride, Kathy Anne. She collected angels for far longer than the 51 years of our marriage.

My sons and I decided to hang this portrait of her next to this partial collection of her angels.

We could not possibly have found a more appropriate place to put the picture — which my daughter-in-law snapped about a decade ago — than next to her cherished angels.

It gives me a tiny measure of comfort when I gaze at it. I didn’t believe it would … but it does.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Streets torn to shreds

Derek Borg is a man of his word. When he says the city plans to do something big, he means it … and then some!

The Princeton (Texas) city manager told me a couple of years ago about plans afoot to reconfigure streets in the middle of the city. It took some time to assemble the strategy, I reckon.

But … oh, brother the city has embarked on a reconstruction project that will be a thing of beauty when it’s done.

The city is tearing part of Yorkshire Drive at the Veterans Park near the old police station. Second Street is being torn up and will be rebuilt from scratch. The city has detour signs posted everywhere.

However, there’s good news to report even as construction proceeds: the signs make sense! Occasionally, you encounter detour signs that seek to guide motorists around the construction, but they aren’t delineated clearly. The Princeton project guides motorists around the work sites easily.

I know because I had to wind my way through all the street work today en route to running an errand.

The work needs to be done. The quality of many city streets, to say the very least, is um, unacceptable.

Borg promised me two years ago that the finished project would make us all happy. Given that he’s been good on his word on the construction that has commenced, I’ll accept his pledge that a better day for Princeton residents lies ahead.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Adaptability: name of game

It looks as though I will get to show off my adaptability chops once I head west next on my journey to the Pacific Ocean.

I had planned to head north from the Grand Canyon, into Utah, and then across Nevada along what they call the “Loneliest Highway in America,” U.S. 50.

Plans change, you know?

Immense snowfall has closed many highways near Lake Tahoe and through the Sierra Nevada Range.  So …

I’m going to take a more southerly route on my way to the ocean.

This I can do.

Toby the Puppy and I are planning our trip to clear our heads and our hearts after the passing my beloved bride, Kathy Anne. It’s something I must do and Toby is all in. At least he’s indicated as much.

I’ll get to see plenty of family members and friends along my journey. My sisters and their husbands await, along with nieces, cousins and their spouses, and many of the friends I have made over the years. I might even reunite with some of my high school classmates.

Just so you know, my plans only extend as far as the trip in a westerly and northerly direction. I haven’t even thought about the return trip.

I am going to stay — shall I say it — adaptable.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

State news

Texas GOP: rigidity matters

Yep, by all means it is true that the Texas Republican Party has gone bonkers over its fealty to the gun lobby.

The State Republican Executive Committee voted 57-5 to censure state Rep. Tony Gonzales of San Antonio over his vote for gun-control legislation. No can do, said the GOP, which now has opened the door for the party to oppose Gonzales in the next Republican Party primary race in that district set for the spring of 2024.

What a sham! And a joke! Not to mention a disgrace!

Texas GOP censures U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales | The Texas Tribune

“The reality is I’ve taken almost 1,400 votes, and the bulk of those have been with the Republican Party,” Gonzales said, according to the Texas Tribune. Ahh, but this vote was the deal-breaker.

The Tribune reported: Gonzales did not appear at the SREC meeting but addressed the issue after an unrelated news conference Thursday in San Antonio. He specifically defended his vote for the bipartisan gun law that passed last year after the Uvalde school shooting in his district. He said that if the vote were held again today, “I would vote twice on it if I could.”

Good for you, Rep. Gonzales.

His campaign issued a statement: “Today, like every day, Congressman Tony Gonzales went to work on behalf of the people of TX-23. He talked to veterans, visited with Border Patrol agents, and met constituents in a county he flipped from blue to red. The Republican Party of Texas would be wise to follow his lead and do some actual work,” campaign spokesperson Evan Albertson said.

Unbelievable, yes? Not really.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Wrestling with outreach effort

I am in the midst of trying to determine whether I should accept a fellow’s attempt to reach out to me in my time of intense grief and mourning.

You might wonder: Why? He means well. Give him a chance to provide some help.

My wife passed away a little more than a month ago. I have received dozens of cards, notes, expressions of love and support from loved ones, friends, even some strangers. Kathy Anne would be pleased beyond measure with the compassion that has been extended. I know she is watching over all this.

This fellow who reached out to me today is a member of the church I have been attending and which I plan to join officially in due course. He heads a group of men who have lost their wives. For the record, I am going to refuse to use the word — which I detest — that identifies such men.

I told him I would call him back. I will keep that promise.

However, I am not interested in sitting around with a group of men reminiscing about our lives with the women who made us whole. Nor am I interested in sharing with them the misery I am enduring. I am reading a book titled “It’s OK To Be Not OK,” written by Megan Devine. It’s an excellent book … and an easy read. She says that others who share their like-minded tragedy mean well when they offer advice on how to deal with grief, but it seldom provides much comfort.

If they want to socialize, fine. If they want to get together to talk about, oh, college football or share life experiences associated with our careers, I’m in.

I am just not certain I am ready for some form of a 12-step program aimed at ridding me of the grief I am feeling. It’s all too damn fresh in my mind and in my still-broken heart.

I’ll get back to you later when I make a final decision. Meantime, I have determined that writing about my dark journey on this blog gives me sufficient comfort from my intense loss.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

How about the ‘I’ word?

The MAGA cabal within the Republican Party wants to impeach President Biden for … what, precisely, is beyond me.

We keep hearing the yammering from the likes of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who proclaims that the president is a failure. She doesn’t specify a “high crime or misdemeanor” on which she would base an impeachment. She just talks about it.

Actually, Greene is as stupid a member of the MAGA cabal as there is.

It’s good to remember the last three presidential impeachments that occurred within the past 25 years. Two of them were legit; the third was, well, questionable.

House of Representatives Republicans were looking for a reason to impeach President Clinton throughout the 1990s. When the late Kenneth Starr, the special counsel appointed to examine a real estate deal called Whitewater, began snooping around beyond his original charge, the president handed the GOP a reason to impeach him.

He lied to a federal grand jury about an affair he was having with a White House intern. Yes, Clinton committed a crime by perjuring himself. That was all Republicans needed. They impeached him on three counts. He was acquitted. I question the political motivation behind that impeachment and wonder to this day why impeach a president for lying about a dalliance.

Then came the twin impeachments of Donald Trump, who in my mind committed far worse offenses. The first impeachment was triggered by his seeking a “favor” from the Ukrainian president; Trump wanted a foreign leader to dig up dirt on Joe Biden. Wrong! He can’t do that, says the Constitution.

Then came his incitement of the assault on the Capitol on 1/6, which was a clear violation of his oath of office.

The House impeached him for each offense. The Senate trials ended up with Trump staying in office. The second trial resulted in a 57-43 vote to convict, but it wasn’t enough, as the Constitution requires a two-thirds majority to boot a POTUS from office.

One can argue that all three were “legitimate” issues for which a president could be impeached. The Clinton case was technically legit; both Trump cases were the real thing.

Now we have the MAGAites calling for Joe Biden’s impeachment.

I am left to ask: for … what?

Impeachment madness must end in the House. Joe Biden has done not a damn thing that falls remotely into the category of “impeachable offense.” All he has done is seek to right a ship of state that was damaged when he took office.

To my reckoning, he has largely succeeded. That won’t shut down the MAGA cultists. They are a shameful pack of demagogues.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

Lamenting slow demise of proud craft

As I lament the agonizing, excruciating, painful demise of a once-proud craft — print journalism — I remind myself of this frightening fact.

I worked for four newspapers during my nearly 37 years as a print journalist and two of them are long gone, while the other two are mere shadows of their former selves.

In 1976, I landed a job on the copy desk of the Oregon Journal, the evening newspaper of record in my hometown of Portland. In 1982, the Journal folded. It was gone forever.

I had moved by that time to Oregon City, to work at a suburban newspaper just south of Portland. We published five days each week. I became editor of the paper in 1979, which probably was a serious career mistake, as I wasn’t prepared to take on that task. The Enterprise-Courier folded in 1988. It, too, was relegated to the dust bin.

I had moved on to Beaumont, Texas, in the spring of 1984 to become an editorial writer for the Enterprise. I was promoted to editor of the opinion pages later that year. I stayed until January 1995, when I moved to Amarillo to become editor of the opinion pages of the Globe-News.

What happened in Beaumont and Amarillo is nothing short of heartbreaking. Both papers are still around … so to speak. Their staffs have been obliterated. The Enterprise’s parent company is trying to sell the building where the newspaper once was a thriving presence. The Globe-News’s parent company sold to another media giant and it moved the paper out of its iconic structure and has sold that property to another business.

The Enterprise and the Globe-News once were pillars of their communities. Now they are battered hulks. They once covered vast distances. The Enterprise reached into Deep East Texas and as far east as Lake Charles, La. The Globe-News once had a bureau in Clovis, N.M. and covered everything in the Texas and Oklahoma panhandles and even reached into southwest Kansas.

The Globe-News once won a Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service for its work in revealing corruption in county government.

No more.

Maybe it’s me, that I jinxed all of ’em. Just kidding.

I simply am saddened at the pending demise of what used to be communities’ major source of information about themselves and told many thousands of readers the news of the state, nation and the world.

I am left just to sigh.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Commentary on politics, current events and life experience