All posts by kanelis2012

national news, political news

Trump = racism, cruelty

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Donald J. Trump’s penchant for racist and cruel rhetoric was on full display this week and as usual, it was an ugly sight to see and an even uglier message to hear.

The president of the United States of America took particular aim at a member of Congress. She is Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who emigrated to the United States from Somalia when she was a girl. She became a naturalized American and then a few years ago decided to delve into public service by running for a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Trump has called her garbage. He labels her place of birth a “shithole country.” He wants her deported. He said Somalia is known only for corruption, violence, disease.

Trump’s moronic rant cannot be allowed to stand. Yet his Republican allies in Congress sit on their hands, keep their lips zipped tight and let the POTUS hurl epithets at a woman who chose to move to the Land of Opportunity to escape the dangerous surroundings of the land where she was born.

I’ll never understand why the GOP caucus allows this fecal-brained idiot continue to speak the way he does about one of their colleagues. Nor will I ever grasp why the MAGA cultists guffaw out loud at the tasteless rhetoric that flows freely from the mouth of their exalted leader.

I am not qualified to judge the job Rep. Omar does for her constituents. I do know that she gets re-elected to office every two years, which tells me that the residents of her district think she’s doing well for them. About all I know about Omar is that she is a stern critic of Donald Trump.

However, I am fully qualified to declare that an elected member of Congress, a citizen of this great land, deserves to be treated with respect … even from the man with whom she has serious disagreements.

Omar won’t get it from the man masquerading as president of the United States and it is to his everlasting shame.

local news

City needs careful search for new manager

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My head is still spinning over the news that former Princeton City Manager Mike Mashburn quit after less than two years on the job in the fastest-growing city in the United States of America.

I am trying to process the enormous task that awaits the City Council as it ponders who to hire to manage that explosive growth. Frankly, this is where the council is going to earn its keep … which doesn’t involve money because the council basically serves for zero pay.

Mashburn seemed to be in way over his head as Princeton’s chief municipal officer. The city is growing at a 30% annual clip, totaling today more than 45,000 residents — give or take. It falls on the city manager to ensure the city can provide services to those new residents who are flocking here because of the relatively inexpensive cost of housing.

Princeton by definition has become a classic bedroom community, with the vast majority of its growth coming with new homes being built. The city has added little commercial development compared to what has occurred with its residential explosion.

What kind of individual should the council hire? Here’s an idea. The city needs to find someone with proven skill at managing a city on the go, such as Princeton. There might be a newly retired city manager out there looking for a challenge. My goodness, Princeton’s enormous growth rate should present anyone with a significant task of managing its constant change.

Or … there might be a younger person lurking who has a bold vision for what he or she wants in this city. He or she might have a doable plan that guides Princeton from a city known primarily for its hideous traffic along its main drag to a place full of entertainment opportunities. I have lost count of the times people have asked me, “How do you cope with that traffic?” I answer: It’s simple; I just stay home during rush hour. But if I have to plunge into the belly of that traffic beast, I always budget longer travel time knowing I will suffer through plenty of “stop time” on U.S. 380 or on any of the many side roads that thousands of others take to “avoid the traffic.”

I am left to wish the council good luck as it seeks to make this next key hiring decision. Oh, and one request must come with it: Conduct this search openly, telling us where you stand, where you are looking and what precisely you need in the next person who will manage the city I call home.

local news

Let’s get this one right

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Well, kids … the Mike Mashburn era at Princeton City Hall has come to an end with the resignation of the city manager after being on the job for just shy of two years.

The search now is on for the next chief municipal administrator. I am going to use this blog to insist loudly and clearly that the City Council must conduct the search in the open and avoid the underhanded appearance associated with Mashburn’s hiring. The council makes one hiring decision. It is the man or woman who will implement council policy. They had better get this next one right.

Mashburn came to Princeton from Farmers Branch, where he served as an assistant manager; his field of expertise is in parks and recreation, and I presume he carried out his duties well in Farmers Branch. However, he seemed to lack any general municipal administrative experience.

I happened to be present at the City Council meeting when the council met Mashburn for the first time, went into executive session and then returned to open session to hire him. The vote was unanimous. Frankly, it was an astonishing turn of events. Then-Mayor Brianna Chacon had met with Mashburn privately before presenting him to the council. She contended it was all done with full transparency. My view? No … it wasn’t.

Here’s an idea for the council to consider as it starts to collect data on prospective city manager candidates. Why not follow the lead of other cities and pare the list down to, oh, three or four finalists? Then the council can invite the finalists to Princeton to meet the public and also to visit at length with each of them to assess their respective strengths and/or look for possible weaknesses.

Fort Worth did something like that when it chose its current police chief. It settled on former Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia, but only after showing the public all of the finalists.

The Princeton city manager is going to make something in excess of a quarter-million bucks. He or she will inherit a job in a city that is in the midst of a growth explosion. We all have a stake in the quality of the person chosen for this job. It shouldn’t fall on one person to make that call all alone.

City officials moved into our new municipal center a while back pledging to conduct business in the open and in full public view. Let’s ensure the next city manager gets chosen in a manner that keeps that promise.

media news

Political mystery: How does he get away with this?

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One of the great American political mysteries keeps playing out and it continues to baffle many millions of Americans.

Donald Trump in the span of about three days totally reversed himself and told yet another in an infinite string of bald-faced lies as he sought to wiggle out of his initial statement.

Rachel Scott of ABC News asked Trump if he was going to release the video of the second strike in September of a speed boat off the Venezuela coast; the strike killed two survivors of an initial missile attack on the boat. Trump said he had “no problem” releasing it and said Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth could do “whatever he wanted” regarding the issue. Three days later, Scott followed up on her first question, reminding him that he said he would release the video, to which Trump said “You said that, I didn’t say it.” Then he turned to someone at the table and muttered, “She’s with ABC fake news.”

Trump’s Republican allies in Congress continue to keep letting him get away with (a) telling outright lies and (b) heaping verbal abuse on female reporters who are simply doing their job.

When in the name of decency and decorum will the GOP caucus in both congressional chambers wake up to what their hero is doing? He is denigrating his exalted office. He hurls epithets at journalists who are practicing a craft protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.

He recently called a female reporter “piggie” while dismissing a question she posed to him aboard Air Force One. Trump continues to harangue reporters as being “stupid,” “incompetent” and purveyors of “fake news.”

Meanwhile, the men and women whose constitutionally granted power is being usurped by Trump sit on their hands and keep their lips zipped.

They are disgracing themselves and the offices they occupy.

crime news, military news, national news, political news

Bombing boats: self-defeating ‘strategy’

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A whole lot of top U.S. military brass is weighing in on Donald Trump’s decision to order missile strikes on speed boats that allegedly are carrying lethal drugs into the United States of America.

You know the drill. We have sent an aircraft carrier strike force into the Caribbean Sea to look for boats that the Trump administration says are loaded with fentanyl. They’re killing people at sea, basing their actions on the aim of protecting U.S. citizens against the drug horror that allegedly is coming to this country from the speed boats.

The brass is saying: What a minute. Let’s rethink this nonsense!

What I am hearing is that retired general-grade officers are saying the better strategy is to board the boats, seize what they’re carrying, take the operators into custody and then interrogate them to get information on the drug networks for which they are working.

But … no-o-o-o-o! Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth want to shoot first and ask questions later. What they are doing is destroying evidence they could use to prosecute the drug runners!

We have this ridiculous strategy that also has encountered allegations that the administration is committing a war crime by launching these “double-tap” air strikes to kill survivors of the initial missile strikes against the speed boats. And, get this: Donald Trump — who claimed to have bone spurs to avoid service in the Vietnam War — is talking openly about sending U.S. troops into Venezuela to launch a ground combat operation to root out the drug dealers. What the hell … ?

This fraudster in chief is out of ever-lovin’ control!

national news, national security

Axe to fall on Cabinet?

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Donald Trump reportedly is sharpening the axe he will use to chop possibly as many as three Cabinet members off his team … or so some media are reporting.

One of them is FBI Director Kash Patel, who shouldn’t be in office in the first place. Dude has zero FBI field experience. Another might be Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, who’s fallen out of disfavor with Trump policy chieftain Stephen Miller for failing to implement money appropriated from the Big Ugly Bill approved by Congress. Then we have Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, another Cabinet pick far and away out of his league who’s been fingered in a growing scandal over whether he committed war crimes in ordering the deaths of survivors of a missile strike on alleged drug boats off the Venezuela coast.

Trump is standing with all of ’em. But you know that goes … right? He’ll say he’s with them until he isn’t.

As for whether he could replace any of them with seasoned professionals who know what they’re doing, that’s another matter altogether. I am not hopeful any of this is going to end well for the nation Trump was elected to lead.

military news

For the love of country …

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Of all the lessons my dear ol’ Dad taught me before he died tragically in 1980, the one that stands out is to love one’s country and be ready to fight to the death for it.

I am thinking of Dad today as the nation remembers the event that exploded over Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on this date in 1941. Dad was a 20-year-old sophomore at the University of Portland when the Japanese attacked our military forces that day. Dad was the oldest of seven siblings born to my grandparents, who were living in Portland when the attack occurred.

I didn’t learn until much later — after Dad had been gone for nearly 40 years — about what he did on that day. The youngest of his two brothers told my wife and me that on the afternoon of the “Day of Infamy,” the kids were gathered around a radio in my grandparents’ house listening to the events of that tragic day. Dad got up, walked out of the house and made his way downtown to the armed forces recruiting station. He intended in that moment to enlist in the Marine Corps; the USMC office was closed that Sunday morning. Across the hall, Dad noticed the Navy office was open so, he joined the Navy at that moment.

He wanted to get into the fight against the tyrants who sought to conquer the world.

And, oh brother, did he ever.

He never boasted about the decision to enlist on the very day our nation went to war. Indeed, he never even mentioned it to me. My uncle Tino, though, remembered that moment vividly. “I was 9 years old and I remember it to this day,” Tino told us.

Therein is the lesson my favorite veteran taught me. Even without saying so out loud, Dad imbued in me the belief that if falls on each of us to do what we can do individually to protect our nation against forces that seek to destroy it.

economic news

Go big or go home … ya think?

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Perhaps you have heard it said that one should “go big or go home,” correct?

Well, gang, the Texas Department of Transportation has taken going big to a whole new level. It is pondering construction of a new interstate highway that would stretch — and get hold of yourself — from Amarillo to Port Arthur. All in the same state! That would be Texas.

The interstate would track the course already traveled by U.S.Highway 287.

I will stipulate that there is no way on this good Earth that I will live to see this project completed. I don’t know that TxDOT even has a strategic completion date in mind. I also must stipulate that I cannot quite wrap my arms around the scope of this project.

Expensive? Yeah … it is. TxDOT is projecting 670-mile-long project to cost something exceeding $24 billion. It would employ 40,000 people to work on it. I venture to suggest that a huge portion of the cost would be in the purhase of private land. The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution stipulates that the government must provide “just compensation” to property owners who have to surrender their land to the government. Given that more than 90% of all land in Texas is under private ownership, TxDOT would have to fork over a ton of dough to complete that transition from private property to land converted for “public use.”

To be candid, this scope of this idea — and that’s all it is! — is too much for my feeble noggin to ponder. It took TxDOT, for example, more than two years to complete an Interstate 40 expansion just through Amarillo. U.S. 287 begins just east of the Panhandle city and courses through many cities and towns on its way south and east through the Metroplex and into Deep East Texas. The idea of expanding a four-lane highway into a limited-access freeway through towns such as Chillicothe, Vernon, Claude or Clarendon simply blows my mind. There are more developed communities, such as Decatur and Fort Worth that lie in the path of this enormous project. Then you find yourself in Beaumont, the Mid-County area of Jefferson County until you end up in Port Arthur.

It is way too early to pass any form judgment on this project. I am not even sure TxDOT will pursue it. The highway agency will have to determine if the expense and the enormous disruption will be worth the effort.

When will that occur and what in the world will Texas even look like when they take down the last construction cones?

military news

Recalling the ‘day of infamy’

I feel like visiting for a moment on this blog the date that President Roosevelt said would “live … in infamy.”

FDR stood before Congress on Dec. 8, 1941 to seek a declaration of war against Japan, which the day before had attacked our fleet and Army Air Force in Hawaii. That day occurred 84 years ago.

The United States mobilized immediately and before World War II ended, this country would suit up 16 million of its young men and women to defeat the Axis Powers, who were the embodiment of evil.

I remind myself of a quote attributed to a Hawaii teenager, Daniel Inouye. The Japanese-American boy watched the fighter aircraft overhead flying low over his house. He could see the red ball painted on the wings. Young Dan reportedly said, “Those goddamn Japs.” He would enlist later in the Army, suffer grievous wounds in battle in Italy and would receive the Medal of Honor for his heroism. Oh, Inouye also served in the U.S. Senate for decades.

The Americans who enlisted after the “date which will live in infamy” rose to the challenge. They defeated tyranny. They came home to start families. They are dying off now. Only a few thousand of them are still with us.

I also have heard about aging Japanese men visiting Pearl Harbor to this day. They fought our forces during the war. Yet they feel shame for the sneak attack. Many of those old men are returning to seek forgiveness for the deeds they committed on that quiet Sunday morning in Hawaii.

As the son of an American patriot who answered FDR’s call to join the fight, I am willing to forgive them.

national news, political news

The longer he stays …

Gotta make an admission … which is that the longer we have to endure Donald Trump’s ignorant idiocy the more I miss traditional Republicans, the men and women who stood for principles they hold dear.

I have admitted on this blog that for as long as I have voted for president, dating back to 1972, I have voted for Democratic nominees. It hasn’t been a partisan thing but rather based on the candidates’ philosophies and those intangibles we all seek in the individuals we choose to lead our nation.

I came close to flipping, in 1976. I had to hold my breath just a bit to vote for Jimmy Carter. I thought about casting a vote for President Gerald Ford. My feelings for President Ford were more or less based on one of those intangibles. I just liked the man.

Now I am yearning for someone who cares about principle and who acts on some moral authority he or she can claim. That includes Republicans!

We don’t have a principled man in the White House. We have an immoral/amoral moron. He sees every single political relationship he has forged as a transactional event, which he can parlay into something that benefits him. He has demonstrated racist qualities time and again. He is ignorant of the document he was supposed to protect and defend. Trump doesn’t appreciate that dissent not only should be welcomed, but it is guaranteed in the Constitution’s First Amendment.

Trump is a Republican In Name Only. The RINO in chief doesn’t adhere to traditional GOP principles. The Party of Lincoln, which welcomed political diversity, has been shoved aside. The party of Trump is something quite different … and despicable.

If only the real Republicans who are left standing in the political arena could find the backbone to stand up to this fraudster. If only …