Category Archives: national news

national news, political news

Independent voter? Less so now!

My list of acquaintances in North Texas is a lengthy one, as I have become acquainted with lots of folks as I move from place to place in my daily routine.

When they learn of what I did when I was a working man — as a journalist who spent 37 joyful practicing my craft — the question often comes: Oh, say, how do you lean politically? Are you a Democrat or a Republican?

For starters, my politics had nothing to do with my job as a journalist. I generally was able to check my partisan label at the door. It’s different these days. Yes, I still cover local communities in Collin County, but the issues never tread onto partisan ground. However, I keep my head in the big game of national politics.

Now comes an admission. For longer than I dare seek to remember, I have declined to hang a party label on my politics. I long considered myself to be an independent voter. I have split my ballot generously between Democrats and Republicans. My presidential votes, though, have been Democratic since 1972, when I cast my first vote president.

Today’s national mood, I am sad to acknowledge, is driving me more solidly into the Democratic camp. I haven’t changed my basic world view. I remain a deficit hawk and I am not going to embrace some of the far-left progressive policies — such as Medicare for all and forgiving all student loans — that have become all the rage. However, I do believe government has a significant role to play in supporting Americans who need help.

When I hear the MAGA morons extol the virtues of the MAGA chieftain disguised as the POTUS, I am reminded each day how little I think of them and the nitwit they follow. I want secure borders as much as the next American, but I also want my government to treat everyone who comes here — legally or otherwise — with a degree of compassion and humanity.

Therefore, it is becoming safer to say that anyone who cares to ask me whether I “belong” to a politial party, I can still say “no,” given that Texas doesn’t require us to register with any partisan organization … but I can say the Democrats appeal to more than ever.

And it has much to do with the blind, gullible and feckless fealty that too damn many Republicans keep expressing for Donald J. Trump.

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Interesting times? Ya think?

Can it be that we all are living in an era that is producing a political climate none of us ever saw coming? I believe that is the case.

Ponder for just a moment a short series of events:

We elected an an individual to the presidency with zero public service experience and whose notoriety was forged on a reality TV show in which he fired make-believe businesspeople.

This individual has insulted a Vietnam War hero, a Gold Star family, a reporter with a physical challenge, and all the men and women who have chosen to wear the uniform of the nation’s military.

He lost an election, declared it — without an ounce of proof — to be a fraud, then instigated an insurrection against the very government he once swore to protect and defend.

He ran a third time for the White House vowing to be the “retribution” of those who cling to his cockeyed views. And he has delivered mightily on that promise.

Donald Trump then vowed to purge the nation of undocumented immigrants and deployed a poorly trained, heavily armed, masked-up army of agents who have killed American citizens on the street, arrested thousands of others wrongly.

What has all of this produced? Chaos, misery, grief, anxiety, heartbreak … and any other sort of emotion one can define.

I am disgusted beyond all measure by what is transpiring in real time in this nation I love with all my heart.

The Chinese proverb about “living in interesting times” doesn’t come within a country mile of defining what we’re enduring these days. It’s frightening, but I’ll say it once more that we have plenty of constitutional weapons we can deploy to fight this hideous trend.

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The saga continues …

There is not a single thing about the Donald Trump story I find to be “heroic,” but it surely has been a lengthy tale of tumult, a bit of woe and certainly drama.

I, along with many millions of American patriots, am anxious for the end to arrive. No one can predict how this matter will conclude. We’ll have an election in November, the result of which could turn Trump into a real-life lame duck who can wait it out until the end of his term in the White House.

Or the election, if it goes according to what the experts are predicting, will produce a ton of tempest … if Democrats win back control of the U.S. House and possibly even the U.S. Senate.

What happens then? I am quite certain an impeachment lies directly in Trump’s future. It’ll be the third such effort to remove Trump from the office he has pretended to serve for five of the past nine years.

Trump’s time in the White House has been all that many of us feared it would be and what Trump actually predicted would occur. He told us he would be the “retribution” his MAGA supporters sought. By golly, he’s delivered the goods, man.

I listen occasionally to the back-and-forth between congressional Democrats and Trump administration officials testifying before committees and I am left to wonder: How in the name of collegiality can the two sides bridge the chasm that divides them? I know the answer. They cannot.

We’ll have to weather more of what we have seen for as long as Donald Trump remains in office.

The question that will linger is this: Will the POTUS be standing for the remainder of his term?

national news, political news

Will I survive these days of tumult?

Every now and then, the thought of survival crosses my noggin … particularly after Donald Trump has inflicted more than his usual share of havoc on our beloved democratic republic.

Before I venture too deeply into the weeds, I want to declare that my “survival” does not involve my presence in this world of ours. I have zero intention of ending my life. I do, though, worry about my state of mental capacity at times when I see the man elected POTUS ranting on incessantly and incoherently about this or that matter of the moment. Then I wonder: How in the name of the founding fathers did this clown ever get elected?

That’s water over the ol’ dam, if you will. He did get elected and there’s nothing we can do about what’s happened. We can, though, control the future. Which gives me reason to cling to my sanity.

My hope for a brighter future is beginning to glow a little more brightly. Republicans in Congress are starting to grow spines by opposing Trump. They’re voting against his initiatives. They’re pissing the RINO in chief off royally (no pun intended) and he is responding with social media tirades that sound as if they’re coming from a junior high school hot head.

Some are suggesting that Trump’s mental acuity (if that’s what we should call it) is slipping away. I have declared my intention to stay away from that guessing game and I won’t engage in it here … other than to report what others might be saying.

All of this is allowing me to hold onto my sanity.

I realized a long time ago that I should never take myself too seriously. Today I am searching for a way to transfer that self-awareness into the issues that keep nipping at our heels.

I once took politics too seriously. That was in the late 1960s when it became a matter of life or death to young men of my age. I got through all of that and have settled into a quiet life of semi-retirement. The issues today are just as serious as they were in the old days. I am just seeking to cling to the marbles rattling around in my skull.

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Stand firm, Constitution

My defense of the U.S. Constitution as a defensive weapon against the assault being launched by the current president of the U.S.A. is being tested more frequently than I would like.

However, I am standing firm in my belief that the founders built a governing framework that is meant to stand against the stresses and strain that keep threatening to knock it down.

Except that it won’t. Be knocked down, that is.

I met a gentleman this past weekend and the conversation turned to Donald Trump’s assault on the Constitution. My new friend expressed fear that Trump will succeed in creating a dictatorship. I begged in the moment to differ with his view. I told him of my longstanding faith in our constitutional strength.

The strength of our system rests within the electoral system. The Constitution grants ultimate authority to American voters to determine the nature of the leadership that shall guide government policy.

Make no mistake, we don’t always get it right. Consider that Trump has been elected twice to the presidency. The man sold us a dose of snake oil that went down smoothly to enough Americans to elect him to the White House.

I believe, though, that Trump’s 15 minutes of fame are about to expire. The midterm election is approaching and when they count the ballots in November I believe we will witness a wholesale slaughter of the Republican majority that now governs us from Capitol Hill.

Right there is where the Constitution of the United States shows its teeth … and then sinks them into the throat of the beast that seeks to destroy it.

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AI scares the bejeebers out of me

For as long as artificial intelligence has been on the worldwide radar, I have been reluctant to weigh in on its benefits or its burdens.

Until this moment. I am going to declare that AI scares the living crap out of me.

I worked in a profession for nearly four decades that relied on human beings reporting the truth as we understood it. Journalism places strict rules on accuracy and fairness. AI has managed, in my view, to scramble it all up and turn what we know to be real into something that could be made up.

I am sickened by the images I see and audio I hear depicting people commenting on matters that they cannot possibly know or understand. The images are products of AI-generated computers. For instance …

I recently watched a video of two American presidents — John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan — carrying on and joking about an issue that post-dates their deaths by decades. A friend of mine in Germany sent me a video of President Barack Obama declaring that Donald J. Trump screamed at a judge that he is “above the law!”an event that hasn’t been reported by any legitimate media anywhere on Earth.

I used to trade in truth-telling. It is the AI-produced nonsense that has me melting down at times at the thought that I could be listening to computer-generated fakery being passed off as the real thing.

I get that AI is used for entertainment purposes. Some top-of-the-line artists have used it to produce fabulous music videos.

The possibilities for abuse of this astonishing technology, however, is giving me the heeby-jeebys.

I am afraid of it. Very afraid.

national news, political news

MAGA did it! Elections are work of demons!

If I were wearing a cap at this moment, I might be inclined to doff it in salute to the MAGA cult that comprises the bulk of what remains of the Republican Party.

Why the salute … even though it is a left-handed, fingers crossed tribute?

The MAGA morons seem to have successfully cast the American electoral process into enough doubt as to bring whole sale changes in the way many states conduct them. Texas is one of them. We’ve returned to paper ballots in Texas, tossing out the electronic ballots that used to streamline vote counting. We also have to provide photo ID when we go to the polls to vote.

It’s all been in the messaging and MAGA’s stern discipline in staying on message as it tells lie after lie after lie about the 2020 presidential election being “stolen” from Donald J. Trump. The MAGA cult is continuing the lies and they stick in the gullible minds of millions of Americans.

What saddens me endlessly is the damage that MAGA has done to the millions of hard working local and county officials across the nation who ensure that these elections are conducted freely, fairly and legally. I’ve worked some of the finest public officials in two states over the years covering elections and I have found them all to be men and women of good conscience. They did their jobs well and in accordance with state and federal laws.

MAGA is having none of it. Neither is their MAGA moron in chief, Trump, who just this week assailed the conduct the 2020 election. It is no coincidence, I should add, that the local jurisdictions Trump cited are those run by Black officials. Racism, anyone … anyone?

I believe the midterm election will be run legally. I place my faith in the men and women I know who are on the front line protecting our right to free and fair elections.

And the only election rigging I have seen has occurred in the Oval Office.

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ICE is making me very angry!

The more images I see of immigration thugs roughing up American citizens while searching for people to deport to Timbuktu, the angrier I become.

The testimony of Americans victimized by these goons is piling up. They have killed at least two Americans who were protesting Immigration and Customs Enforcement tactics. One of them, Alex Pretti, was shot at least 10 times by ICE goons while lying face down on the pavement. He was motionless.

These tales of horror are going on unabated. The president of the United States is saying nothing about the mistreatment being leveled against U.S. citizens. Donald Trump and his chief aides are condemning the protesters who, I should mention, are acting within the rights of free speech and expression guarenteed by the U.S. Constitution.

Yet this repression continues. ICE is kidnapping children, separating them from their parents. ICE agents dressed like hooded and masked goons are injuring Americans because they are operating with the full endorsement of the dipshit in chief.

I am not one to march in the street to protest. I prefer to make my protests known through this venue. I speak often and with considerable passion about what I perceive to be the wrong direction we are heading. If I see more ICE continue to harangue Americans in this horrific fashion, I just might be tempted to join a protest against ICE.

These goons have gone too far.

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Resignation possible?

Let us explore briefly something that virtually no one is saying out loud, but which lurks as a possibility as we ponder the future of the Donald Trump administration.

First, I’ll set the table.

The midterm election in November is shaping up as a possible blowout victory for Democrats. They might flip 30 House seats or more. If they capture the Senate majority, well, that’s just more gravy. Donald Trump then would stand a good chance of being impeached for a third time. He survived the first two impeachments because Republican senators by and large stood with him in the trials that emerged from the House impeachment actions.

Although, 57 senators voted to convict Trump in the second impeachment. It didn’t meet the two-third threshold required for conviction as stipulated by the Constitution.

Just suppose the House impeaches him again. Just suppose it goes to trial. Just suppose there might emerge a core of GOP senators who could tell Trump what many of us want to hear from them. That he cannot win a third trial. He will get the boot.

What does the president do? Does he follow the course that President Nixon did in 1974 when confronted by a group of Republican wise men … and resign?

Article II, Section 4 of the Constitution says an impeachment article could be brought against the entire executive branch. Indeed, many of them have lied through their teeth to protect the president just in the first year of his second term in office. Article II refers to “other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” The article says impeachment proceedings could be launched against “all Civil officers of the United States.” That would mean the president and vice president. Who takes over were such a stunning event to occur? The speaker of the House would become president. Presuming it would be a Democrat, I’ll go out on a limb and suggest it would be Hakeem Jeffries.

I have no clue on this good Earth as to whether that would happen. I am just tossing it out there for discussion purposes.

Who in the name of sanity knows what Trump will seek to do to continue his usurping of congressional power? I cannot answer that one. Except that if I were a member of Congress I would be outraged at what I see happening to the framework our nation’s founders laid out when they created the United States of America.

national news, political news

Vote to avoid impeachment?

Donald J. Trump reportedly now is telling supporters he needs their vote to dodge what many have said from the get-go, which is that Democrats are sure to impeach Trump a third time if they regain control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the midterm election later this year.

I will continue to insist that impeachment isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sure, it seemingly could stop legislation from moving forward if lawmakers get caught up in the drama of a presidential impeachment. Then again, legislation has all but sputtered and died as legislators have battled openly with the administration over matters that have little to do with policy.

So … what’s the diff?

What astounds me is that a sitting POTUS would appeal to his supporters on such a shallow level. Never mind the idiocy that keeps flowing from the administration. He wants to seize Greenland from Denmark; he believes Canada should become an American state; he has taken a sovereign leader captive and vowed to take over Venezuela. He put his name on the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; he cheers the notion of Americans losing their jobs; he says not a damn thing about millions of Americans being stripped of their health insurance.

Impeachable offense, anyone? Anyone at all? There are a few of them in the list of misdeeds I have just mentioned.

And, of course, he continues to lie. Bald-faced lies. He says he won the 2024 election in a landslide. He says inflation was the worst in U.S. history when he took office. Holy crap! Dude cannot tell the truth on any issue. Nothing is beyond the liar in chief’s reach!

I think Trump is correct that Democrats will seek to impeach him in 2027. Their failure to do all they can to get this guy out of office will stigmatize them for the rest of time.