Category Archives: national news

national news

Why support this POTUS?

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(Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

No one has asked for my opinion on this matter, but I feel the need to offer it anyway.

Pollsters overlook our household when asking Americans this question: Do you have a favorable or unfavorable opinion of President Biden?

Here’s my answer in the event someone would ask: I have a highly favorable opinion of the leadership he is providing this country.

Do you want to know why? Here it is.

President Biden has restored dignity, decorum and a sense of normal behavior to the White House. He has signed a number of executive orders that have sought to reverse some bone-headed policies enacted by his predecessor. He has shown an ability to perform a sort of two-track function while working his Republican colleagues in Congress: He talks to ’em, listens to ’em and then if they don’t see things his way, he turns to his more dependable Democratic allies to move legislation forward.

Joe Biden was able to send us payments in a COVID relief package over the objections of his GOP friends in Congress. I appreciated the cash, just as I appreciated what came to us in the final year of POTUS 45’s tenure in office.

What I have learned to appreciate most of all, though, has been the restoration of the presidency as an office with dignity. President Biden vowed to restore our “national soul” when he ran for the office. I am not yet sure whether our soul has been brought back to life as we knew it just yet.

I do know, though, that the president no longer denigrates war heroes. Nor does he stiff our nation’s allies. The president no longer scolds public officials for certain policies while their cities and states are fighting nature’s wrath. The president now is able to step into his role as consoler in chief and he performs that role flawlessly.

Has the 46th president had a hiccup-free entry? Of course not. The crisis on our southern border needs to be called as such and it needs to come from President Biden.

I am willing to give this individual my support because — and this is critical — he is willing to conduct himself with the dignity that his high office demands from him.

That is why I believe we are heading in the right direction under President Biden’s leadership.

International news, military news, national news

Biden keeps key promise

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

One of the few policy notions from the 45th president of the U.S. with which I agreed dealt with pulling out of “endless wars.”

He made the pledge while running for the presidency in 2016. He kept saying he would do so while serving in the office. He didn’t quite deliver on the pledge.

Today, his successor — President Joe Biden — announced that our involvement in the Afghan War ends on Aug. 31. Period. Full stop.

There will be no more U.S. troop presence on the battlefields there, President Biden told us.

And so, our nation’s longest war — which commenced our war against international terrorism — is coming to an end. There will be no victory declaration. Nor will there be, as Biden told us, any helicopters lifting off from rooftops as there was in Vietnam in April 1975.

Biden has pledged to help provide shelter for the Afghans who helped our military effort during the two decades we fought there, although the plan for providing that aid hasn’t yet been fully developed.

I endorse the pullout. The time has come for the Afghans to defend themselves. We have trained an army, provided an air force and are leaving them with resources to fight the Taliban terrorists who do present an existential threat to the government in Kabul.

Our longest war is about to end. It fills me with relief.

national news

It was an ‘insurrection’

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

For several months now, I have been referring to the Jan. 6 riot as an “insurrection,” a term that reportedly gives congressional Republicans a case of the heebie-jeebies.

Senate Republicans didn’t like the term inserted into legislation that called for creation of an independent bipartisan commission to investigate the cause and effect of the insurrection; it also would have sought remedies to prevent it from happening in the future.

Well, you know what? I will continue to call it what it was: an insurrection against the government of the United States of America.

It was nothing short of that. It was a direct frontal assault on the very democratic process which on that day was certifying the results of the 2020 presidential election that resulted in Joe Biden and Kamala Harris  being elected president and vice president of the United States.

The ticket led by the 45th POTUS incited the insurrection, for which the House of Representatives impeached him for a second time. It was a big more of a bipartisan impeachment than the first go-round, with a handful of Republicans joining their Democratic colleagues in impeaching POTUS 45; what’s more, some GOP senators ended up voting to convict the disgraced ex-POTUS at trial.

My point, though, is that no one should shy away from calling the DC riot what it was: an act of insurrection against the government of the United States. For the GOP congressional caucus to dig in against the investigative commission because they dislike truth-telling language is a cheap and shallow attempt to deny the obvious.

The effort to get at the truth behind the insurrection must not end. The House has formed a select committee. It already includes one Republican House member; others should join the effort.

Let’s not be coy about what’s at stake. It is to find a way to prevent future insurrections from occurring.

Ever!

medical news, national news

Pandemic isn’t ‘over,’ doc

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

If you thought a physician is an individual who uses common sense and scientific evidence to form opinions, then you haven’t heard the rantings of a congressman from the Texas Panhandle.

Republican Ronny Jackson, who represents the 13th Congressional District, put this gem out there on Twitter:

The pandemic is over. It’s time to FIRE FAUCI and let America open up again! Choose FREEDOM over Fauci, and liberty over government bureaucrats!

Earth to Carpetbagger Jackson: The pandemic isn’t over … you well-educated moron!

The delta variant is still sickening Americans. Granted, the big picture is a lot brighter than it was a year ago, or even six months ago. The variant, though, accounts for roughly half of the new cases of COVID-19 infections being reported.

As for “firing” Dr. Anthony Fauci, I would rather hear from him than hear from a loudmouth GOP politician who once served as White House physician, most notably for the 45th POTUS who continues to foment The Big Lie about the 2020 presidential election.

Jackson is a doctor, a retired Navy admiral. I get that he’s well-educated. He also is an interloper, moving to the 13th District of the Texas Panhandle only to run for public office.

He also hasn’t distinguished himself since taking office, blasting out ridiculous Twitter taunts and tirades daily … in the mold of the disgraced former Moron in Chief, the guy who lost his bid for re-election to President Biden.

Rep./Dr. Jackson is disgracing himself.

national news

GOP heroes do emerge

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I once asked — during one of the crises involving the 45th POTUS — whether there were any Republican heroes among members of the GOP congressional caucus.

Two of them have stepped up in the months since that individual left office.

One of them is U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, about whom I have written already on this blog. The other is Illinois U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger.

Kinzinger is standing tall and firm in the effort to explore and examine the Jan. 6 insurrection that the 45th POTUS incited with his Big Lie comments on the alleged theft of the 2020 presidential election.

The young congressman wants to know why his fellow Republicans wouldn’t want to look into the cause of the riot if they believe that Antifa, or Black Lives Matter or some other left-wing outfit provoked it. Nor does he understand why they won’t look into the cause of an event that could have put every member of Congress in dire danger of being harmed … or worse.

Kinzinger does pose the question that has piqued many of Americans’ curiosity. He wonders if GOP resistance to a thorough exploration of the insurrection would expose potential Republican complicity in the event. 

Hmm. Makes you wonder, yes?

Because he and Rep. Cheney are searching for the truth behind the assault on our democracy, they are being vilified by the cult followers who refuse to accept the legitimacy of the free, fair and legal election.

The challenges they face quite possibly could tell us plenty about the Republican Party to which they both remain faithful. Except that the party now has been hijacked by the con man who masqueraded as POTUS for four years.

Political heroes who seek to defend the Constitution and the democratic process do not deserve to be treated as pariahs. They should be honored, not pilloried.

national news

Rescue turns to recovery

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The call that no one doubted would come has arrived.

Emergency services officials in Surfside, Fla., have told loved ones waiting to learn the fate of those caught in that June 24 condo collapse that there is no virtually no hope of finding survivors.

The effort now is to recover the remains of those trapped under the mountain of rubble.

Search at Surfside condo collapse switches from rescue to recovery, a devastating announcement for families of missing (msn.com)

It becomes a cruel waiting game at some point in these operations. To that end, while our hearts break for the victims of that tragedy and the loved ones seeking to learn their fate, the higher-ups among the officials in charge of the operation have made the correct call.

My family and I understand the grief and the pain of waiting word on a loved one who is missing and “presumed to have died.” A presumption never brings closure. You find yourself playing strange mind games, waiting for the miracle that doesn’t occur. Our wait was brief those many years as we sought to know what happened to my father. It came and with it came a certain relief that we no longer had to worry and wonder.

So it is with those waiting to know the fate of their loved ones.

A nation prays for their healing.

national news

Ex-POTUS = anti-democracy

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Spoiler alert: I am about to break my vow to ban the name of the 45th president of the United States from this blog; I will mention his name once … that’s it.

Donald J. Trump’s name is going to become synonymous with nefarious and evil efforts to undermine our democratic process.

You see, the 45th president has decided to make the integrity of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost, the primary issue in the 2022 midterm election. He is going to continue fomenting The Big Lie that the election was fraught with widespread vote fraud.

The one-time Liar in Chief wants to be reinstated as POTUS. It won’t happen in a zillion years. President Joe Biden won the election fairly, squarely and legally. Despite the shenanigans being played out in places such as Arizona — where they’re conducting that fake “audit” of returns — President Biden will hold onto the office at least through January 2025.

None of that will stop the ex-Imbecile in Chief from seeking to overturn an election he lost bigly. Biden captured 7 million more votes than his predecessor; Biden’s electoral vote margin mirrored that of his predecessor in 2016.

The disgraceful and treasonous conduct of Biden’s immediate predecessor will inscribe him forever as the individual who could not accept defeat. He could not bring himself to congratulate the winner for defeating him. The ex-POTUS cannot acknowledge that he now owns an epithet he likes to hang on others: loser.

He will seek to harvest the mistrust he has helped sow into the numb noggins of those who follow him. He will use The Big Lie as grist to elect more dipsh**s just like him.

The major casualty in all of this trash-talk is the democratic process itself. The ex-POTUS won’t prevail in his effort to overturn the most secure election in U.S. history. However, I fear for the well-being of the democratic process that is being assaulted day and night incessantly by the one-time Carnival Barker in Chief.

This moron’s name will — and most certainly should — live in infamy.

national news

Waiting for next ‘greatest generation’

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The nation is about to say goodbye to yet another Fourth of July holiday and it gives me pause to reflect on a conversation I had a few days ago with a North Texas gentleman who offered an observation I felt compelled in the moment to challenge.

He told me he was unsure that today’s young people would be able to storm the beaches of Normandy the way they did on June 6, 1944 when Allied forces launched the campaign to liberate Europe from the tyranny that had gripped it tightly.

I begged to differ from my friend’s view. “Oh yes they would,” I told him. I said my only hope that be that there would be no need for them to mobilize and to act the way our parents and grandparents did.

I long have saluted the Greatest Generation, the 16 million Americans who suited up for World War II. Of that total, fewer than 400,000 are still with us. My dad was one of them. So were several of my uncles and my father-in-law. They’re all gone now and I honor their heroic acts damn near daily.

I do not believe,  though, that they will be final generation of Americans to step. Indeed, the 9/11 generation is full of incidents of young men and women signing up for active military duty on the day the terrorists struck us on that horrifying day, much like my own dad did when Pearl Harbor was attacked on Dec. 7, 1941.

The annals of heroism are full of episodes of greatness among the current generation of young Americans who are fighting for their country. They, too, are facing unique obstacles as they battle face to face with enemies of our way of life.

They are the heirs of the Greatest Generation who, I am convinced, are set to forge their own path to greatness. I am proud of them.

national news

POTUS 45 won’t run!

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Allow me to venture way out on a limb that I realize could break and send me tumbling into some form of rhetorical heap … which has happened to me before.

It is that the man who preceded President Biden until January of this year isn’t going to seek the presidency again in 2024.

The one-time Numbskull in Chief is dropping hints that he has made his mind about the 2024 campaign. He told his boy, Fox News blowhard Sean Hannity, that he has made the final call. Then he proceeded to say some things about President Biden that suggest a run for the White House is in the works.

How can I say this? OK, here goes: No one with a criminal indictment hanging over his head — not even this clown — would want to expose himself to the prying eyes of every political foe out there.

The ex-Dipsh** in Chief’s company has been indicted by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office on tax charges. Fifteen of them, to be exact. The Trump Organization’s chief money guy, Allen Wiesellberg, has been accused of bilking the feds out of millions of dollars in income tax revenue.

Do ya think this probe might find its way to the top of the heap? Hmm. I’m betting yes. It will.

Either the ex-POTUS is certifiably insane to believe he won’t suffer several — and likely mortal — economic wounds from this indictment, or he’s going to skate away cleanly.

My ol’ trick knee is throbbing once again. It does this once in a while. The throb is telling me that the DA has the goods on the Old Man.

He will be left to bellow from the peanut gallery, accusing President Biden of being the Son of Satan, the most unpatriotic POTUS in history. This one is great, by the way: He also suggests that Biden wants to take down the Jefferson Memorial and replace it with something honoring civil-rights gadfly Al Sharpton.

This is the blathering of a man who twice lost the actual vote for president, squeaked by in an Electoral College victory the first time and then got smoked by even more votes the second time.

POTUS 45 is nuttier than a pound of pistachios.

national news

Thank you, Mr. POTUS 45

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Dear Mr. POTUS 45 …

Let me stipulate right up front that I am glad you are no longer in office. I cannot even print your name in my blog and I have declared my intention to avoid doing so at all costs. Readers of this blog know to whom I refer when I mention Imbecile in Chief, or Liar in Chief, or Numbskull in Chief.

However, I want to thank you for this single thing, for exposing the fellow morons out there in public life who have sucked up to your ignorance, your naked narcissism and your utter absence of moral compass.

My wife and I had breakfast this morning with an acquaintance of ours in Dripping Springs, Texas. He is a radio personality in the Hill Country and he mentioned how Gov. Greg Abbott “isn’t a nice guy.” What prompted the critique? I suppose it is because Abbott has glommed onto your pronouncements about illegal immigrants, or your phony assertions about how liberals are trying to destroy the country and all it stands for.

It dawned on my wife and me that we owe that critique to you, Mr. POTUS 45. You have revealed Abbott to be a political jerk, just like you are! Oh, there are many others. The governors of Florida, South Dakota, Georgia, Arizona come to mind. Senators and House members scattered throughout Capitol Hill, too. They have bought into your phony vote fraud scheme. They all are adherents of The Big Lie.

Thanks for exposing them to all of us, Mr. POTUS 45.

I cannot believe I am about to say this, but … you have performed a valuable public service.