local news

How about taking the test yourself … doc?

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson keeps making a name for himself as a rookie member of Congress. It’s not the kind of “name” that should do him, or the folks he represents, proud.

Jackson, who represents the Texas Panhandle’s 13th Congressional District, wants President Biden to take a cognitive test. Jackson, who once treated President Obama and the fellow who served as POTUS just prior to Joe Biden taking office, declared POTUS 45 to be in excellent health. He said Joe Biden needs to prove he has the mental capacity to do the job.

Good grief! This clown — Dr. Jackson, that is — is making an ass of himself.

Instead of working on legislation pertinent to the residents of the sprawling congressional district he represents — and about which he knows next to nothing — this goofball has taken to Twitter to make pronouncements such as the ridiculous notion calling for President Biden to prove his mental fitness.

Jackson is far from free of any controversial baggage of his own. POTUS 45 nominated him to become secretary of veterans affairs, only to pull his name out when we learned that he misbehaved while serving in the Navy. He had this habit, allegedly, of prescribing medications a little too generously. He also, again allegedly, drank too much.

If it were up to me, I would suggest that Rep./Dr. Jackson take a cognitive test himself … just to make double darn sure he’s up to his job.

I worry that my many friends and former neighbors in the 13th Congressional District — where I lived for 23 years — aren’t getting the kind of representation they deserve. Then again, many of ’em well might have voted for this clown. So, maybe they’re getting precisely what they deserve.

political news

Term limits turn politics on its ear

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

You know how this plays out.

Conservatives who are upset with government want to rewrite the U.S. Constitution to impose new rules that the founders never imagined when they drafted it back in the late 18th century.

What do they want to add to our Constitution? Why, they insist on limiting the terms of members of Congress, House members and senators.

But … wait a second!

Aren’t these folks the so-called “strict constructionists” among us? Aren’t they the individuals who supposedly honor what the founders had in mind when they cobbled together our nation’s government document?

Sure. As long as it suits their current political agenda.

It’s why I continue to resist the idea of term-limiting the legislative branch of government; I also oppose limiting the terms of the federal judiciary. For that matter, I am not at all crazy about term limits for the president of the United States. The founders didn’t limit the POTUS’s term, either. That came in 1947 when congressional Republicans, reportedly fearing an all-powerful presidency (given that Democrat Franklin Roosevelt won four presidential elections) decided to push for the 22nd Amendment; it was ratified in 1951.

However, again I must wonder what happened to the strict constructionist wing of the GOP, which is fond of suggesting that we need to honor what the founders intended originally when they built our country from the ground up?

Sure, we have corrected some of the mistakes the founders made back in the beginning. Women now can vote; we have made slavery illegal, to name just two midcourse corrections.

I continue to believe the founders got it right when they declined to limit terms of service. Indeed, as I long have noted: We already have term limits; we call them “elections.”

medical news

ACA survives again; time to let these challenges go

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The Affordable Care Act is alive and likely quite well.

The U.S. Supreme Court issued a remarkably united decision — 7 to 2, to be precise — that keeps the landmark health care program intact.

According to The Hill: The case was decided on fairly technical grounds. The Court ruled that the challengers did not have standing to sue, given that the penalty for not having health insurance at the center of the case had been reduced to zero, so it was not causing any actual harm that could be the basis for a lawsuit. 

Five takeaways on the Supreme Court’s Obamacare decision | TheHill

What does this mean for the future of what has been known colloquially as Obamacare, named after President Obama’s signature domestic victory? It should signal the end of Republicans’ futile attempts to repeal the law. I say “should,” but it likely won’t.

Only two of the court’s conservatives ruled to repeal a portion of the law: Justices Samuel Alito and Neil Gorsuch. Other right-wing jurists — Justices Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett, Clarence Thomas and Chief Justice John Roberts — sided with the liberals on the court, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Stephen Breyer in determining that the litigants didn’t have standing.

I am delighted to know that the ACA no longer has a president in office who keeps yapping about ending the law while producing not a single idea for how to replace it. For four years, President Biden’s immediate predecessor kept telling us how he would repeal the ACA. It didn’t happen. Indeed, two previous court challenges ended with conservatives coming up short.

I get that the ACA isn’t perfect. So does President Obama. He has said repeatedly that he took no exclusive ownership of the law, insisting that he was open to anything to improve it. Republicans so far have some up with, well … nothing! All they have sought was to remove the ACA from the books, cheered on by POTUS 45, who just could not stomach being shown up by the black guy who preceded him as president.

Here we are. A 7-2 Supreme Court decision should spell the end of these ridiculous challenges. I fear it won’t.

Still, to borrow a phrase muttered into a hot mic by then-VP Joe Biden when the Affordable Care Act became law more than a decade ago, this court ruling is a “big fu**ing deal.”

national news

Juneteenth receives deserved honor

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Texas has celebrated this glorious day for decades.

Now it’s time for the rest of the nation to join us.

Juneteenth will become the nation’s latest national holiday once President Biden puts his name on the legislation that sailed through the Senate unanimously and through the House in overwhelmingly bipartisan fashion.

It becomes the first national holiday since Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday was declared such in 1983.

I am delighted as a Texas resident to see this state take a front-and-center place in this discussion. June 19, 1865 was the day that African-Americans were informed in Galveston that they were, indeed, free from enslavement; the announcement came two years after President Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. News didn’t travel nearly as fast as it should have in those days … you know?

Cornyn calls GOP lawmaker’s position against Juneteenth ‘kooky’ (msn.com)

And so, with the exception of 14 GOP knuckleheads in the House, virtually the entire legislative branch of government is on board in that rare bipartisan event.

This day deserves the honor it is about to receive, as do the descendants of those who were declared finally free of humanity’s greatest sin.

State news

Bye, bye casinos

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

You can count me as one Texan who is glad that the Legislature fell short in a plan to put a measure on the ballot that would determine whether we should allow big-time gambling at casinos in the state.

I need to stipulate that when the Texas Lottery came into being in 1991, I argued on behalf of the newspaper where I worked at the time against the creation of the lottery; it was approved by something around 70 percent of the vote.

Whatever. The Sands Hotel of Las Vegas decided to invest a good deal of money and its standing trumpeting the casino idea for Texas. You’ll recall those TV ads, I’m sure, prior to the end of the Texas Legislature. They told us how so much money was leaving the state when Texans were gambling their savings away in casinos in neighboring states. The TV spots sought to persuade us that it is better to keep the money in this state; thus, the campaign for casino gambling took root.

I also want to declare that I will not use the euphemistic term for gambling, which is “gaming.” There are those associated with the gambling industry who don’t want to refer to this activity what it is: You gamble on the chance that you’ll strike it rich at the blackjack table, the roulette wheel, the craps table, the slot machine … or whichever form of gambling you prefer.

The Texas Tribune reported that the Sands proposal was to build casinos in the state’s four largest metropolitan areas, making them “destination resorts.” Well, that includes the Dallas-Fort Worth metro area where I live with my wife No thanks, Sands. I have no interest in squandering my money at one of those destination resorts.

The Tribune published a story explaining how the gambling expansion failed. You can read it on the link I have attached below.

Here’s why the effort to legalize casinos in Texas by Las Vegas Sands failed | The Texas Tribune

And so, the Legislature adjourned without getting the gambling idea placed on the ballot. That is more than just fine with me.

***

Just so you know, I have played the lottery twice. Shortly after the lottery came into being, I bought a ticket and won $3. That put me $2 ahead, given that I paid a buck for the ticket. I played it a second time. I didn’t win anything. So, I quit while I was a dollar ahead.

I don’t need — or want — to be tempted again.

Note: This blog was published initially on KETR-FM’s website, ketr.org.

International news

Biden to Putin: Shape up or else

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Well, that went about as planned.

President Biden said he would confront Russian strongman Vladimir Putin on issues that obstruct warm-and-fuzzy relations between the nations. He did what he vowed to do.

Putin’s response? It was to suggest — among other things — that the Jan. 6 insurrection was just an example of Americans seeking to have their grievances heard. I’ll get back to that one.

Biden vowed to deal directly with Russian interference in two presidential elections. He delivered on that one. Biden said he would challenge Putin on his invasion of Ukraine. Ditto on that one, too. President Biden promised also to challenge Putin’s harsh treatment of political dissidents. Bingo, Mr. President!

It was on that final point that produced Putin’s strange suggestion that the Jan. 6 riot was just a demonstration of Americans’ desire to have their grievances addressed. Uh, Mr. Dictator, that was a frontal assault on our democratic process … not that you would understand the value of democracy.

I continue to believe that it was smart for Biden and Putin to stage separate news conferences. Putin went first. Then it was Biden’s turn. The sequence enabled President Biden to correct the record when and where he deemed it necessary.

Both men have called their initial head-of-state summit as productive and constructive. That’s a good thing, to be sure. What must not happen ever again, though, is for the U.S. president to roll over when Russia’s leader denies doing what our intelligence experts concluded he did — which was interfere in our election. We saw that disgraceful display in 2018 when Putin met with Biden’s predecessor.

So, now they have parted company. My strong hope now is that Putin understands that President Biden — with decades of foreign-policy experience under his belt — will not be played the way he was able to manipulate the former Sycophant in Chief.

national news

‘Audit’ won’t change a thing

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Earth to the cabal of Republican Party fruitcakes who just cannot free themselves from the death grip of the cult of personality surrounding the recent past POTUS …

The phony audits that are wrapping up in places like Arizona will not “change the outcome” of the 2020 presidential election. Joe Biden won the election. It has been certified, verified, signed into law. The former Dipsh** in Chief’s assertion of widespread vote fraud will never bear fruit.

According to The Hill: A majority of Republicans in the poll, 51 percent, indicated they think reviews of the 2020 election will change its outcome, including 29 percent who “definitely” think it will change the outcome and 22 percent who think it “probably” will change the results.

Majority of Republicans think state reviews will change 2020 outcome: poll (msn.com)

Umm. How can I say this? No. Nothing will change. The fruitcakes need to have their numb skulls examined.

International news

Biden-Putin summit sets up drama

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

President Biden has made the right call in deciding to conduct a separate press conference after he and Russian goon/strongman Vladimir Putin conclude their first summit on Wednesday.

You’ll recall the time in Helsinki when Putin stood next to Biden’s predecessor after the two of them met in their initial meeting in 2018. Reporters asked the former POTUS about Russian interference in our 2016 election and the ex-Suck Up in Chief said there was “no reason why” Russia would interfere. It was a downright disgraceful denigration of our intelligence network that concluded the Russians did what everyone knew they did.

Joe Biden won’t give Putin a shared platform. He is dealing with the Russian dictator from a position of strength. President Biden’s predecessor sought to elevate Putin’s standing by appearing with him in Helsinki.

What I find particularly appealing about the Biden approach is that his presser will occur after Putin speaks. That will give President Biden a chance to refute whatever lies fly out of Putin’s pie hole after the men have their meeting.

The president and the Russian despot will have plenty to discuss. I trust they’ll get to cover some of the issues that went unspoken when Putin met with the previous POTUS.

I look forward to what we can learn about the nature of U.S.-Russia relations.

national news

Domestic terror deserves national attention

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Yes, the headline on this blog is one of those no-brainers.

However, to hear the U.S. attorney general speak so forcefully about the threats posed by domestic terror reminds me of why I support this fellow and the individual who nominated him for the job, President Biden.

AG Merrick Garland continues to give voice to issues that need to be heard.

Just as he spoke the other day about the Justice Department’s commitment to ensuring that all Americans have access to the electoral process, he spoke again today about the existential threat posed by domestic terror.

We all saw that threat play out on Jan. 6 when the mob attacked the U.S. Capitol as members of Congress led by Vice President Mike Pence were certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election. Congressional Democrats and a handful of their Republican colleagues want a bipartisan commission to explore in detail the cause and effect of that insurrection. We know already what to call it: an act of rebellion against the government, incited by the immediate past president who continues to foment The Big Lie about the election being “stolen” from him.

The men who served as attorney general under the former president’s single term in office did not speak with anything approaching the passion and eloquence about domestic terrorism that AG Merrick Garland has done.

“We will never take our eyes off the risk of another devastating attack by foreign terrorists,” he said in remarks delivered today at the Justice Department. “At the same time, we must respond to domestic terrorism with the same sense of purpose and dedication.”

Attorney General Merrick Garland unveils plan to combat domestic terrorism – CBS News

CBS News reported: Administration officials, in briefing reporters on the strategy, pointed to an increase in politically, ethnically, and racially motivated acts of domestic terrorism in the U.S. over the years, including the congressional baseball shooting that took place four years ago this week, when a shooter opened fire on members of Congress because they were Republican. 

So it must proceed. FBI Director Christopher Wray has called domestic terrorism an even greater threat to Americans than terrorists from abroad. It is time to respond accordingly.

national news

Rep. Greene comes clean

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Given that I have spent a good bit of emotional capital — not to mention filled a fair amount of cyberspace with commentary on this congresswoman — fairness dictates that I offer a good word when she seeks to atone for her loud and brash mouth.

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the QAnon queen of the House, popped off not long ago comparing mask-wearing mandates to what Jews suffered during the Holocaust.

Rep. Greene toured the Holocaust Museum in Washington and then this week issued what looks to me to be a sincere apology for what she said.

“I’m truly sorry for offending people with remarks about the Holocaust,” Taylor Greene told reporters outside the Capitol on Monday. “There’s no comparison and there never ever will be.“

To be clear, this apology did not contain that non-apologetic cliche “If I offended anyone … “ This sounds to me like the real deal.

This is a good thing from this otherwise reckless ultra-right winger who’s been known to say some patently outrageous things.

Will this signal a new turn for the Georgia congresswoman? Has she found some form of religion that will enable her to retain a semblance of decorum and dignity in her public pronouncements? Time will tell if it lasts.

I just feel the need to express my own appreciation that on this matter, she had the good sense to own her mistake and seek to atone for it.

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