national news

GOP voters = numbskulls

All right, gang, here’s a confession coming your way: I have been far too willing to overstate the intelligence of the average Republican presidential primary voter.

Therefore, I am going to presume the worst among my GOP friends, that they aren’t as discerning a group of voters as I have presumed for far too long.

Evidence of my misguided attitude? It is that Donald J. Trump stands out among the Republican pretenders for the presidency as the hands-down favorite for the party’s nomination next summer.

So help me, God in heaven. I never thought that Republican voters would be so gullible to believe that a twice-impeached, once (for now) indicted politician could emerge from a field of supposedly competent pols as the frontrunner.

What in the world is happening to our body politic?

A party that once stood for fiscal responsibility, for democratic rule over autocracy, for maintaining our standing as the world’s indispensable nation, for equality for all Americans has become an organization that is steeped in the politics of fear.

They tell us that Democrats intend to “take our guns away,” that they are “socialists” and that they condone pedophilia. They look the other way as Russia attacks a sovereign neighbor and seeks to bring Ukraine under the Russian jackboot.

Republicans are following the lead of the former POTUS, the guy who was impeached for seeking political favor from a foreign head of state and for inciting an assault on the Capitol Building as Congress was seeking to ratify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Here he is again, never once conceding that he lost the 2020 election, seeking yet another turn in the Oval Office. And Republicans are lining up behind his overfed backside to support him.

Who knew — or thought — this could happen?

Well, not me.

I’ve been sitting out here in Flyover Country suggesting that Trump’s candidacy is going to flame out, that Republicans would come to their senses and look for someone else to lead their party. How silly and naive of me to think such a thing.

I’m not going to surrender my thoughts on the future of Trump’s candidacy. I will cling to the belief that the upcoming indictments — which constitute the main event in this titanic brawl — will doom his candidacy ultimately.

The legal system might be the only thing left to rid us of this hideous monster. We certainly cannot rely on Republicans’ (non-existent) good judgment.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Biden: ‘Watch me’

OK, Mr. President. I’m going to keep an eye on you … in fact, I’ll keep both eyes on you as you navigate your way to what I hope is a second term as president of the United States.

I am glad you announced your intention to seek re-election. I am profoundly disappointed and astonished that I have overstated the intelligence of rank-and-file Republicans, who reportedly still want to nominate a twice-impeached and indicted former POTUS.

Go … figure.

In some perverse way, I would welcome a rematch between you and the moron you defeated in 2020. I am not going to spend much time worrying about him. I am going to spend the bulk of my political attention on you, sir, and hope that you continue to maintain good health as you continue to lead the nation while campaigning for another term in the White House.

And, yes, I am glad as well that your re-election announcement ad featured Vice President Kamala Harris, who I believe has served you — and the country — well in her history-making role as second-in-command of the executive branch of government.

Your age isn’t a plus. That’s a given. What also should be a given is the record of accomplishment you have piled up in your first term as president.

With that, I will wish you Godspeed, Mr. President, as you launch the final political campaign of your career.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news

Move over, Clarence Thomas …

Now we hear that Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch might be in a bit of a jam over ethical conduct.

What the … ?

First it was Justice Clarence Thomas, whose wife Ginni, got caught up in The Big Lie nonsense over the 2020 presidential election. She attended the rally in which Donald Trump urged the angry crowd to march on the Capitol and “take back” our country. It didn’t work out well. Then the justice cast the lone vote against a decision requiring the ex-POTUS to turn over documents to the National Archives. A connection? Hmm … looks like it to me.

Then came the Harlan Crow matter, with the Dallas zillionaire lavishing gifts on the Thomases, which the justice didn’t report.

Now comes Justice Gorsuch, who reportedly sold a $2 million piece of property to an executive with a mega-legal firm that does business with the court.

It all calls to question the lax ethical standards intended to govern the behavior of the nine men and women who serve on the nation’s highest court.

There needs to be an ethical standard for the nation’s highest court. Chief Justice John Roberts so far has refused to act. The Senate, which must confirm nominees to the federal bench, can do the right thing, if it can muster up the will. So far it has refused.

I daresay the nation’s founders are likely spinning in their graves over the politicization of the SCOTUS. They sought to remove the judiciary from the political arena. Their experiment has failed, sad to say.

The high court demands lower courts adhere to ethical standards. Yet it doesn’t have any such standards for its own justices to follow.

It’s a shameful (or shameless) dereliction of duty.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

What about those tapes?

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy turned over about 40,000 hours of video recording of the 1/6 insurrection to Tucker Carlson, the former star of the Fox Propaganda Network.

Fox canned Carlson this past week. My question now is this to the speaker: What about the video recordings you turned over to Fox? Are you going to get them back or is Carlson now free to use them whenever and wherever he pleases?

Carlson edited the video heavily while trying to develop a narrative on Fox that the insurrection wasn’t a violent attack on the government, that it was just a bunch of tourists out for a stroll through the Capitol grounds.

It was all part of The Big Lie that Carlson fomented after the 2020 presidential election.

Well, he’s gone from Fox. Speaker McCarthy must be compelled to get those recordings back … realizing, of course, that Carlson can reproduce them anyway.

The damage is done, but McCarthy needs to cut his losses — and the losses suffered by Americans concerned about what happened on that horrifying day of insurrection.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

DA lays indictment groundwork

Fulton County, Ga., District Attorney Fani Willis has given the world fair warning.

She is going to seek criminal indictments against Donald John Trump no later than September and is putting out the word to law enforcement to be ready for possible violence as a result.

Willis made the statement today in a letter posted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper. Why is this significant? Because Willis is acutely aware that she is seeking multiple indictments against the former POTUS and possibly against many of his compatriots who colluded with him to seek to overturn the results of a legitimate, free, fair and legal presidential election.

The Manhattan, N.Y. indictment alleging hush money payments to a porn store, thus, will be reduced to the small potatoes case it appears to be. Willis — as well as special counsel Jack Smith, hired by the Justice Department to examine document theft and inciting an insurrection — is preparing to suit up for the main event.

I long have thought that the Georgia charges against Trump had the most starch, and well might be the most provable. We have an audio recording of Trump bullying the Georgia secretary of state into seeking to “find” enough votes to hand the state’s Electoral College votes to the defeated ex-POTUS.

And there likely will be much more to learn later this year when DA Fani Willis drops the indictment bombs on Donald Trump … whose life is likely to get a whole lot worse.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

Carlson, Lemon gone … now what?

Tucker Carlson has departed the Fox Propaganda Network, seemingly resulting from The Big Lie over which the network was sued and then had to pay $787.5 million to settle with Dominion Voting Systems.

OK. What does that mean in my house? Not a damn thing, because I don’t watch Fox. However, I regret to acknowledge what I believe is the sad truth that Carlson is likely to land somewhere, continuing to spew the garbage he seeks to disguise as legitimate commentary.

Some right-wing network is likely to add Carlson to its roster of blowhards.

Oh, but wait! Don Lemon got the axe from CNN. Lemon said he is “shocked” by his ouster. Why did CNN let him go? Well, I must concede I know little about that, too. Because … I don’t watch Lemon, nor do I heed much of what he says about anything.

Here’s the thing about Lemon, too. A network is going to shell out a lot of money for him as well.

So, I won’t cry for either of these fellows.

***

Back to Carlson for a moment.

He became a major household talking point over his role in fomenting The Big Lie. Evidence was discovered in the run-up to the defamation lawsuit that Dominion settled with Fox that Carlson didn’t believe The Big Lie. He reportedly expressed extreme displeasure with the 45th POTUS in private.

Yet he went on the air with The Big Lie anyway.

Part of me wants to believe the Fox hierarchy cannot tolerate lying openly on the air. The rest of me believes Carlson’s departure is driven instead by a loss of revenue from supporters backing away from the network.

The Big Lie will fester in what passes for the minds of those who believe that the 2020 election was stolen from the 45th POTUS. It will fester whether Tucker Carlson is the air with Fox or with whichever network is willing to allow this know-nothing to blather about the lie.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Indeed … all things must pass

The recent tragedy that befell my family and me has forced us to learn some of life’s harshest lessons.

The great singer/songwriter George Harrison once told us that “All things must pass … all things must pass away.”

Indeed, if I have learned anything about myself while I mourn the passing of my beloved bride, Kathy Anne, is that grief and mourning are part of life.

This is my way of reporting to those of you who have been following me along this journey that I am a fairly quick study when it comes to learning that lesson. I am able to go through most days now without welling up, or without weeping openly at the thought that my bride is no longer by my side.

I am able to complete household tasks. I am able to look at Kathy Anne’s pictures without sobbing. I am able to talk about her (most of the time) without stopping to collect myself.

Granted, there remain many more hurdles to clear as I continue this trek through the darkness. They don’t look quite as daunting today as they did soon after cancer took my bride away from us. Do not misunderstand me on this point, which is that those hurdles are formidable, but I am beginning to have faith that I’ll be able to get past them … eventually.

One of the lessons that has been drummed into my noggin is to not “rush anything,” that I am entitled to grieve in my own way and at my own pace. I accept that and I am adhering to that advice.

Thus, my grief will continue, but I damn sure won’t let it burden me. That’s life, man … because all things must pass.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Going to vote early … for once!

Today I am going to do something I generally avoid like the proverbial plague.

Yep. I am going to vote early in advance of the May 6 election date. You see, I usually wait for Election Day to cast my ballot. My concern usually is to avoid being surprised by candidates for public office who mess up between the time I vote and the date we are scheduled to cast our ballots.

The Princeton, Texas, ballot features a bond issue request from the Princeton Independent School District. It’s a big one: $797 million to pay for construction of several new campuses over the next 10 years; my mind is made up on that matter. There also will be some seats to decide on the Collin College Board of Regents; I am going to take a chance and cast my votes for those seats with the hope that no one gets in trouble.

I am going to be out of town on May 6, which means I have to vote early. It’s the only reason I would do so. If I were King of the World, I would persuade the state to move Election Day to suit my schedule.

I can’t do that … obviously.

So I will do my civic duty as a proud American patriot and cast my vote early.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

SCOTUS strikes blow for restraint

The U.S. Supreme Court, the panel with that conservative supermajority, has done what many of us didn’t expect from it.

The court stemmed a judicial rampage launched by a lower court judge in Amarillo, who ruled that a tried-and-proven pill used by women to end pregnancies no longer is suitable.

The SCOTUS allowed the use of the pill approved 20-plus years ago by the Food and Drug Administration for several more weeks while appeals play out.

Two justices voted in the minority: Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito. There might have been more, but only those two let their dissents be known.

The federal judge, Matthew Kacsmaryk, tossed judicial restraint out the window with his ruling against the drug. It is an ironic ruling, given conservative judges’ inherent dislike for what they call “judicial activism.”

The case now will go to the Fifth U.S. Circuit of Appeals, considered the most conservative appellate court in the federal system. I am going to hold out a glimmer of hope that the Fifth Circuit will follow the lead established by the Supreme Court and keep the drug in use.

Matthew Kacsmaryk, meanwhile, has breathed life into the upcoming political battle that well could determine whether Republicans maintain control of Congress in 2024 … and whether they can reclaim the White House as well.

Public opinion is not on the GOP’s side in this brewing battle for reproductive rights.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

State news

State troopers to look for vote fraud? Please …

Someone will have to prove to me that the incidents of “widespread voter fraud” justify the deployment of Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to polling places to look for incidents of fraud.

Oh, brother. The ham-handed approach to this issue is disturbing to the max.

The Texas Senate has endorsed a plan to deploy the troopers. Why? Because Republicans — who else? — believe the threat of voter fraud makes the presence of troopers a proper deterrent to mischief.

The bill passed along party lines — imagine that, eh? One Senate Democrat, Borris Miles of Houston, calls it “another attempt of voter intimidation and suppression in Harris County.”

The bill’s GOP sponsor, Sen. Paul Bettencourt, also of Houston, said, “All too often, violations of election code occur and they’re not addressed.” Baloney!

I keep circling back to the dubious notion that the incidents of vote fraud justify this heavy-handed approach to solving a problem that truthfully does not exist.

Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, said the bill is “like taking a sledgehammer to swat a fly.” Yeah … do ya think?

The proposed law would allow the Texas secretary of state to appoint “election marshals,” who then would deputize other officers employed by DPS, who then would be authorized to order local election officials to halt conduct they believe violates state election law.

There just is something bizarre about the prospect of armed uniformed state police troopers patrolling polling places looking for mischief where none is likely to occur.

Weird.

This is what we’re getting in this new age of Republican government activism.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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