local news

How am I supposed to feel?

2 Comments

AMARILLO, Texas — Allow me this bit of candor, which is my admission that I do not know how I am supposed to feel upon returning to a city my wife and I called home for 23 years.

We moved to the Metroplex in early 2019 to be near our granddaughter, but my sons and I are gathered here to say goodbye to my dear bride, Kathy Anne, who passed away barely three weeks ago after a brief, but fierce battle with brain cancer.

Our granddaughter and our daughter-in-law have joined us for what we will call a “celebration of life” on Saturday that Kathy Anne led. We will be among many friends. They will offer their love for her they will remember her as a joyful servant to her Christian faith.

I find myself feeling wistful at times, wishing it were different, but knowing the brutal truth about why we have come back here.

Yes, my journey continues through this dark passage we call grief. I know there will be light. When I will see it remains an open question for my family and me. We miss her terribly. Our celebration will not be free of tears.

Joe Biden himself — a man who has experienced the painful loss of two children and a spouse — has said it well many times … that the tears we shed today will give way to a smile when we remember the loved one we have lost.

I am prepared to wait for as long as it takes for that moment to arrive. Right now? I am just preparing for what likely will be a day filled with as much pain as joy.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

military news

Happy anniversary, Vlad!

This is an “anniversary” that Russian goon/strongman Vladmir Putin likely never presumed he would commemorate.

It’s been one year since the Russian tyrant launched his illegal and immoral war against Ukraine. He sought to bring the former Soviet republic to its knees in days. It didn’t happen.

What Putin is now realizing, even if he doesn’t admit it, is that people whose sovereignty is threatened by an evil aggressor will fight to the death to protect themselves and their nation.

Ukraine has done that … and then some!

Yes, the Ukrainians have had help. It has come from President Biden, whose leadership has melded the North Atlantic Treaty Organization into a cohesive alliance hell-bent on ensuring the Russians do not attack NATO. Doing so would doom the Russians.

Putin’s cakewalk into Kyiv has turned into a stumble-bum quagmire.

May the Russians continue to suffer the shame they have earned by their conduct on the battlefield. May they also be denied a second “anniversary” of this disgraceful episode.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Learning lessons of life

My journey through the darkness of mourning the loss of my bride is teaching many life lessons along the way.

I believe many millions of others have learned them, too. Indeed, I take comfort in knowing I am not the first person or the last person — and damn sure not the only one — ever to be thrust into this “life-lesson classroom.”

In many ways, I am taking a page from Kathy Anne’s own book. She imbued in me during our 51 years of marriage the knowledge that “everything happens for a reason.” We don’t know the reason, nor can we anticipate its arrival. I certainly did not expect the cancer diagnosis we received on Dec. 26 to produce the conclusion that it did.

Her belief that fate is not a blind exercise taught me well. I adopted that philosophy for myself, although I will admit freely that at this moment it is difficult for me to wrap my arms around the “reason” for my intense sadness.

But it is a lesson in life that I am learning.

I will be on the road soon to get away from the home we shared for just a few years. I will return with what I hope are wounds that continue to heal. Then … who knows what lies ahead?

My effort to get on with living might include a part-time job; I’ll keep writing for the weekly newspaper group that signed me on a couple of years ago, as I am having too much fun doing what comes quite naturally.

My bride would insist on it. Honest.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

State news

Should we pay ’em more?

The reporting on three Texas legislators being eligible to collect a whopping six-figure salary after serving in the Legislature for a long time brings to mind an issue that has stuck in my craw for as long as I have lived in Texas.

Do we pay these men and women enough to serve in the Legislature?

State Sen. John Whitmire and state Reps. Senfronia Thompson and Tom Craddick now are eligible to collect salaries totaling $144,000 annually, thanks to a law enacted in 2021 that rewards legislators for their lengthy terms of service. Whitmire turned it down; Thompson and Craddick haven’t disclosed their plans.

They earn normally just $7,200 per year, plus a per diem expense when the Legislature meets every other year for 140 days.

Is that enough to sustain these individuals’ interest in public service? I tend to think it’s a challenge.

Many legislatures put their members on full-time salary status. Yes, they become professional politicians. Then again, so do Texas legislators, even though we pay them a mere pittance to write laws. Even the lieutenant governor — as the Texas Senate’s presiding officer — draws the same measly “salary” as the senators over whom he presides.

This chintzy salary structure makes it nearly impossible for a working man or woman — someone with a regular job — to take time away, to spend five months every other year in Austin. How does that work for a guy who, say, sells shoes for a living at JC Penney? Have you seen any shoe salespeople serving in the Legislature? I didn’t think so!

What’s left? We get seriously rich men and women, such as heirs to family fortunes. A “citizen legislature” ought to be a place where working men and women can serve. I am not sure we have that now.

I am not suggesting a hefty six-figure sum is in order, but something a good bit more than the chump change they receive now is worth at least some serious discussion.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

How does MTG get away with this?

Marjorie Taylor Greene is one of the MAGA cultists who routinely blasts what she refers to as the “mainstream media.”

That is so rich it defies any rational response. Why? Because the second-term Georgia congresswoman — and reigning QAnon queen of the House — somehow manages to get the very same media to cover the nonsense that flies out of her pie hole.

The idiot Republican has pitched some notion of a “national divorce,” with conservative Americans separating from liberal Americans. Hmm. Ponder that one. She wants a civil war? Is that what this moron suggests?

The media cover her rubbish. Bloggers such as me comment on it, too. Therefore, I will assume responsibility for giving this nimrod far more coverage that in a perfect political world wouldn’t get it. But … she does receive it!

She has proclaimed her belief that the U.S. is a “Christian nation.” It isn’t! She derides President Biden for visiting Ukraine to proclaim the nation’s support for that nation’s war against Russian invaders.

Seemingly every utterance she makes become punch lines.

I would pledge at this moment to never cover another statement she makes, except for this bit of wisdom. Which is that it is better to keep your adversaries out front in plain sight, lest they be allowed to hide in the shadows where they could do even more harm.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

State news

Double dipping = bad optics

Surely I am not the only Texan who is aghast at reports of three Texas state legislators being able to collect $144,000 annually in salary just because they’ve each been in office for more than 43 years.

Democratic Sen. John Whitmire, Democratic Rep. Senfronia Thompson, both of Houston, and Republican Rep. Tom Craddick of Midland qualify for a “double-dipping” perk to which they are entitled.

Wow! Talk about “bad optics!”

The Texas Legislature has long prided itself as being a collection of 181 “citizen legislators” who travel to Austin every other year to do state business for 140 or so days. Then they go home to suffer the consequences or reap the rewards of the laws they enact. They do so for just $7,200 per year, plus a per diem expense when the Legislature is in session.

They all say they don’t serve “for the money,” that they are driven by the desire for engage in “public service” to the state or the districts they represent.

Now we hear about this? The 2021 Legislature passed this law that enables senior lawmakers to haul in a huge salary.

The Texas Tribune reports: Jon Taylor, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio who has taught public administration ethics, said the arrangement has problematic optics.

“It may not be illegal, [lawmakers] may in fact be quietly encouraged by some HR person, but when it comes to the public, it’s the appearance of something that just doesn’t feel right,” he said.

Whitmire and Thompson both have served for 50 years. Craddick is the senior House member, with 54 years of service under his belt. Craddick and Thompson haven’t said whether they are collecting the windfall, according to the Tribune. Whitmire said he turned it down.

Why three Texas lawmakers are now eligible for an extra $140,000 a year | The Texas Tribune

This falls under a quirk in the Texas Employee Retirement System, which is a creation of the Legislature.

I will admit this law got past me in 2021 when the Legislature enacted it. It’s in full view now. I don’t like it. Not one little bit.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Watch out, big-city mayors

Some mayors of Texas’s largest cities appear headed for easy re-election in May, according to an article in the Texas Tribune.

The Tribune notes that Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson is unopposed, Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker has token opposition, as does San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg.

It’s a walk in the park for them, the Tribune notes. Hey, this makes me say: Not so fast.

Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio’s incumbent mayors face easy May races | The Texas Tribune

I recall a time in my hometown of Portland, Ore. — another “big city” of some note — when the incumbent mayor, Francis Ivancie, was thought to be headed toward easy re-election in 1984.

Then along came a saloon owner named Bud Clark, who surprised everyone with an upset victory. How did he do it? Well, Clark had appeared on a poster promoting the arts community in which he posed with his back to the camera, he opened his trench coat in front of some statue and the caption read: “Expose yourself to art.”

A word of warning to Nevadans – High Plains Blogger (wordpress.com)

Ivancie thought he’d make a big deal out of the “immorality” of such a poster. He turned a non-issue into a big issue … except that it backfired on the mayor. Portland voters became smitten with Clark’s approach to life in general and in municipal governance.

So, they elected him.

This is my way of saying that the big-city mayors in Texas need to pick their battles carefully if they intend to stay in office.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Awaiting next hurdle on grief journey

The next major hurdle looms just ahead on my journey through my intense grief. I am looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time.

We’re traveling to Amarillo very soon to conduct a memorial service to honor the life of my beloved bride, Kathy Anne. My sons, daughter-in-law and granddaughter and I are returning to the place where Kathy Anne and I cultivated many friendships; we spent more years in the Texas Panhandle than we did in any other place where we lived during our 51 years together. My sisters will be there, traveling from the Pacific Coast to bid their goodbye.

I expect to get a lot of hugs and expressions of love from many friends.

I anticipate a lot of tears along the way. Then again, that’s nothing new. I have spent many private moments since Feb. 3 crying. My friends tell me it’s natural. They tell me not to rush my full recovery. Mourning takes time, they tell me.

I get it. I am prepared for the long haul. This next obstacle will be difficult to overcome. However, I have noted already that I am far from the first human being to lose the love of his life to a dreaded disease. I won’t be the last one.

Perhaps I can apply the experience I will have gathered from this journey to lend comfort to someone else who undergoes similar grief.

That’s not exactly a silver lining. It is my way, perhaps, of finding some positives to pull from my sadness.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Who’s going to get indicted?

OK, allow me to admit it: I am officially on pins and needles awaiting the details of the sketchy outlines of what a Georgia grand jury foreperson said about “several indictments” coming out of the Donald Trump election-manipulation scandal.

The grand juror said out loud, in a most unusual fit of candor, said several people will be indicted. She didn’t mention any names, but the “big name” everyone ought to be on the lookout for is none other than Donald Trump.

My ol’ trick knee, which I have kept under wraps for some time, suggests that Trumpie is going to face the Fulton County criminal justice system. You see, I have thought all along that the Georgia probe was the easiest for prosecutors to prove, given the existence of that phone recording with the Georgia secretary of state and Trump demanding that Brad Raffensberger “find 11,780 votes” to give Trump the state’s electoral tally that he lost to Joe Biden in 2020.

Well, whatever …

I’m just going to wait now for DA Fani Willis to finish the job — and indict Donald Trump!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news

Joe Biden: ‘wartime president’

Joe Biden has done the impossible by becoming a “wartime president” without a single American fighting man or woman engaging in combat with a foreign enemy.

How did the president do it? By sneaking into war-ravaged Ukraine and delivering one of the more stirring speeches in recent memory, assuring Ukrainians that the United States and our many allies worldwide stand with them in their fight against the immoral invaders from Russia.

“Kyiv stands. Ukraine stands. Democracy stands,” Biden told the Ukrainians. Yes, it’s all true.

It was a remarkable feat for President Biden to venture into Ukraine under the cover of darkness. He strolled the streets of Kyiv, the capital city that just a few months ago was under siege by Russian artillery. Yes, there were sirens blaring to warn Ukrainians of pending danger from Russian artillery. Joe Biden would not be deterred … nor should he.

The visit reportedly buoyed the Ukrainian troops who are fighting valiantly — and successfully — against Vladimir Putin’s armed forces.

To be sure, the president’s visit drew expected criticism from the MAGA wing of the Republican Party back home. These are the nimrods who express skepticism about Ukraine’s ability to fend off the Russians, who invaded their country on multiple phony pretexts uttered by Putin.

Biden, though, has stitched together a strong alliance comprising NATO and EU nations committed to opposing Putin’s land grab in Ukraine as he seeks to reincarnate the Soviet Union-style of ham-handed rule. Putin sought to weaken NATO. Thanks to Joe Biden’s leadership, all he has done is strengthened the alliance formed after World War II to protect Europe against the kind of aggression the world is witnessing at this moment.

Joe Biden spoke like a man in the middle of a struggle. Indeed, he is. President Biden is fighting to preserve democracy, which is fighting for its life against the authoritarian instincts of a brutal killer.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Commentary on politics, current events and life experience