Category Archives: national news

crime news, national news

Defund the FBI?

The right-wing extremists — the QAnon adherents and election deniers — need to be committed, sent to the nut house and left to fester in the dark.

These are the cretins who are calling for Congress to “defund the FBI” in the wake of the agency’s search of Donald Trump’s home in Florida for classified documents that Trump took from the White House when he left office in January 2021.

This is simply an astonishing thing to hear from those who proclaim to be “patriots” who believe in “law and order” and who declare that they are friends and allies of those who enforce our laws.

My … goodness.

Patriotic Americans wouldn’t vilify government agents who were acting on lawful orders. Nor would they attack law enforcement officers — such as what occurred on 1/6. Moreover, no friend or ally of police would ever present physical threats of harm to those who occupy the thin blue line that protects American society.

One Republican congressional candidate has actually said that Attorney General Merrick Garland should be executed. Can you believe that? Oh, sure you can! Why? Because it’s becoming part of the GOP mantra.

It’s disgraceful.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

You go, Liz … but only so far

I listened this morning to Liz Cheney explain why she remains adamant in her opposition to Donald J. Trump and why she intends to keep fighting to keep the ex-president far away from the White House.

I am all in on her effort to keep Trump out of the people’s house.

Then came some questions from ABC News’s Jon Karl, who wanted to know whether she is going to run for president in 2024 in an effort to forestall Trump’s possible nomination. She didn’t take the bait. That’s OK. I wouldn’t, either.

However, she reminded me once again why, despite the courage she is showing in fighting Trump, I generally oppose virtually all her political views.

She reiterated her stance as a pro-life, pro-gun, anti-tax Republican. She didn’t say it, but she did vote in favor of Trump’s agenda more than 93% of the time he was in office.

If Liz Cheney, who lost her Wyoming congressional GOP primary race this past week, is dedicated to keeping Trump out of power, then I’m all for it … and for her effort.

If lightning were to strike and Cheney gets nominated by Republicans in 2024, well … that’s where my admiration ends.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news, legal news, national news

So many options for AG and others to ponder

As I sit here in the peanut gallery far from Ground Zero in the Donald Trump investigation hotbed, I find myself thinking about the options that await the former president of the United States.

Only one of them looks good and at this moment it appears to be the farthest from taking shape.

Attorney General Merrick Garland is among those who are trying to determine whether to indict the ex-president on criminal charges. We also have the Fulton County (Ga.) district attorney looking into allegations of vote tampering and the New York state AG examining whether Trump’s business committed crimes. Oh, and then we have the House of Reps’ select committee examining whether Trump broke the law by inciting the mob of traitors to storm the Capitol on 1/6 and seek to stop the certification of the 2020 election … that Trump lost to Joseph R. Biden Jr.

There’s nothing cast in stone that says Garland must indict Trump on anything, let alone on the most serious charges he might be considering. The AG could determine there isn’t enough to send Trump to prison for the rest of his life, so he might decide to pursue lesser charges.

Then the DA in Fulton County, Fani Willis, also might determine that Trump didn’t really seek to interfere with the election by demanding that the state “find” enough votes to put him over the top.

New York AG Letitia James also could find that she doesn’t have the goods on Trump’s business, even though his chief financial officer has pleaded guilty to tax fraud and is awaiting a sentence.

And what about the House panel? The committee has compiled a mountain of evidence that suggests everything from inciting insurrection and dereliction of duty on 1/6. The testimony we have heard has been stunning in the extreme!

But you see, Trump is facing a mounting array of legal challenges … even as he supposedly ponders whether to run for the presidency yet again in 2024. My strong sense is that one of those challenges is going to fall hard on The Donald.

The least likely option would be for none of these probes to produce a formal criminal charge against the former president. I understand fully the gravity of taking such a step. I also grasp the blowback that would occur from the cultists out there who continue to excuse the ex-POTUS’s conduct at all levels in the period after the 2020 election.

It just occurs to me that the very last person on this Earth I would want to be is Donald John Trump.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Wyoming = cult playground

Who would have thought Wyoming — one of the most Republican-leaning of our 50 states — would serve as a petri dish to examine what has become of a once-great political party.

Its sole member of the House, Liz Cheney, got hammered in the GOP primary, losing to Harriet Hageman by more than 30 percentage points. Hageman had earned the endorsement of the Cult Leader in Chief, Donald Trump. Why would the former POTUS go against a House member — Liz Cheney — who voted with him more than 93% of the time? Because Cheney voted to impeach Trump after he incited the 1/6 insurrection.

Let’s look briefly at Cheney’s electoral history in Wyoming.

  • She was elected in 2016 with more than 60% of the vote.
  • Cheney won re-election in 2018 by an even greater margin and then was named House Republican Conference chair, putting her third in line in power behind GOP leader Kevin McCarthy and GOP whip Steve Scalise.
  • Cheney won the GOP nomination in 2020 with 73% of the vote and the general election with a 69% margin.
  • Then came the 2022 Hageman/Trump cult buzzsaw.

Now she’s out … or will be by the end of the year.

The only thing Cheney did “wrong” was to turn against Trump, who has captured the hearts, minds and what passes for the “soul” of the Republican Party, which he has transformed into a cult cabal.

Wyoming has served up the perfect test case for what is wrong with the Grand Old Party.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Don’t walk away, Liz Cheney

Right-wing media commentators have been roughing up one of their own recently and it isn’t a pretty sight.

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican and Donald Trump’s No. 1 political enemy, got thrashed in this week’s GOP primary. What has been the reaction from some in the conservative media?

They are calling on her to resign from the House now, step away from her role on the House select 1/6 committee and, in effect, keep her mouth shut.

She should do none of that. Cheney’s term in office expires at the end of this year, which means this good-government progressive wants her stay on her watch and continue to hold Trump accountable for the crimes he committed while inciting the 1/6 insurrection.

To be sure, I believe Cheney inflated the significance of her primary defeat by comparing her fate to what happened to the father of the Republican Party, America’s greatest president Abraham Lincoln.

Lincoln lost two congressional contests before being elected president in 1860, Cheney reminded us, as if to suggest that her own congressional loss might signal her ascent to the White House in the future.

She is getting way ahead of herself.

However, I do not for one instant believe she should step away. Cheney is providing a valuable voice of reason where few of them exist within her GOP.  Moreover, she is performing valuable service as vice chair of the committee led by Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson.

My advice to Rep. Cheney? Stay the course. Wyoming voters elected her to serve until the end of 2022. She has more work to do on behalf of the effort to preserve, protect and defend our precious democratic process.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news, national news

‘Law and order’ gives way to chaos

A truly astonishing metamorphosis is occurring within what we used to call a great American political party.

The Republican Party used to believe in law and order, in the sanctity of the badge that men and women wore while enforcing the law, in their belief that a strong police force was the best deterrent against runaway crime and chaos.

What’s happened to the GOP?

The FBI secured a legally acquired search warrant to allow agents into the home of a former Republican president of the U.S.A. and suddenly the FBI has become the enemy.

Now we find political progressives — whom conservatives once denigrated as being “soft on crime” — rushing to defend the FBI against the attacks coming … from the right!

The metamorphosis is unbecoming in the extreme. For instance, it features physical threats against FBI agents, with threats of “civil war” coming from the very individuals who in another era would never utter such nonsense out loud.

The world has gone nuts!

It seems the change is the direct result of the cult that has formed around a former president of the United States. The cult places idolatry of the former POTUS ahead of all else, even time-tested policies and philosophies that once formed the basis of the once-great political party.

For as long as the cult dictates how Americans shall behave, there will be no making sense of what is occurring. It does require those of us who oppose the cult to remain vigilant and alert to the dangers the cult followers present.

Indeed, any “talk” of civil war must not devolve into the real thing. We did that once in this country. It nearly destroyed us.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

One for two in midterms?

Handicapping political races is among the more dicey endeavors I ever have tried, which is why I am shying away from handicapping the 2022 midterm contests.

Specifically, it is dangerous to predict how the midterm elections will turn out, which party will control Congress’s two legislative chambers.

I do have an idea based on trends I keep hearing about.

The U.S. Senate might not flip from Democratic to Republican control. What’s happening? It appears the GOP is shooting itself in both feet by fielding certifiable nut cases in key races they had hoped to keep or flip into GOP control.

Mehmet Oz is running for the Senate in Pennsylvania. One problem: He doesn’t live there; he hangs his hat in New Jersey. His opponent, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, appears to be pulling away. GOP Sen. Pat Toomey is retiring, so that one might flip from R to D.

Ohio might go from red to blue also. Republican Sen. Rob Portman is retiring. Rep. Tim Ryan is the Democrat running to succeed him. The GOP challenger is J.D. Vance, another nut job. Ryan is leading and he, too, could pull away. Another state might go from R to D.

Democrats appear set to hold onto two seats formerly thought to be ripe for the picking. Sen. Mark Kelly is looking strong against his GOP challenger. My favorite contest this year could be Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock vs. GOP dumbass Herchel Walker. The Rs thought Walker could pilfer this one. They are wrong. Walker’s only claim to any sort of fame is his stellar college and pro football career. Beyond that? This man might be the most unfit candidate ever to suit up for a political office.

One more: GOP Sen. Ron Johnson of Wisconsin might get tossed out by Democratic challenger Mandela Barnes. Oh, how I would love to see that occur.

The Senate stands at 50-50. When the ballots are counted in November, it could be a 53-47 Democratic majority.

The House? That one looks more problematic for Democrats, although I keep seeing that the projections for a “Red Wave” are diminishing from a tsunami to a pebble in a puddle.

It is going to be an invigorating and likely angst-ridden election season coming up. The spirit of our democratic process — despite Donald Trump’s efforts to subvert it — appears to be alive and well.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Quibbling over concession?

It’s come down now to this: We’re now left to wonder whether a defeated candidate for Congress called an opponent to offer “congratulations” on the victory.

Let’s see. What have we heard?

Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming lost the Republican Party primary election this week to Harriet Hageman. Cheney is an avid foe of Donald Trump; Hageman received Trump’s endorsement because of Cheney’s stand on the rule of law.

Hageman thumped Cheney, who then stood before the nation and told us she called Hageman because the challenger got more votes than Cheney did. There was no mention of good wishes, an atta girl, statement of support from Cheney.

Then Hageman’s staff leaked something about Cheney reportedly calling the victorious candidate. The call reportedly lasted five seconds, with Cheney actually congratulating Hageman.

Cheney reportedly left a voice mail message.

Right-wing media, naturally, are all over this snippet. They contend that Cheney should issue a public statement congratulating Hageman and even offer to support her as she prepares — as expected — to take her seat in Congress next January.

Cheney has been vilified, demonized and otherwise termed into a GOP pariah simply because she remains faithful to the oath she took to protect the Constitution and our democratic process.

To be honest, she doesn’t owe Hageman anything more than a concession call. She delivered it. The story is over.

However, I do not expect it to be over. I fully expect right-wing media to continue harping on what should be a non-starter. Cheney deserves to be torqued over the treatment she has gotten from those who accuse her of being a “traitor” to a president who — dare I say — has broken multiple laws.

Then again, I need to remind everyone reading this message that Donald Trump himself lowered the standard for electoral decency by refusing to concede his own defeat in 2020 to Joe Biden, who whipped his sorry, overfed backside.

Therefore, we are witnessing more of this nonsense playing out in Liz Cheney’s valiant attempt to win re-election to her congressional office.

Our political process has gone bonkers!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Cheney: losing candidate actually ‘wins’

You know, it’s not every day that a candidate for Congress from the least-populated state in America becomes an instant potential frontrunning candidate for the presidency of the United States.

I believe that is what is happening with Liz Cheney, the lame-duck Wyoming Republican congresswoman who on Tuesday got buried under a relative landslide.

Cheney lost the GOP primary to Harriet Hageman, whom Donald Trump had endorsed. Trump has a serious hate on for Cheney because Cheney had the temerity to cast a pro-impeachment vote against Trump after he incited the 1/6 insurrectionist mob on the Capitol Building.

Cheney now has become Public Enemy No. 1 in the world of Trump.

Now, what about Cheney?

She lost her bid for a fourth term in the U.S. House. She is the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney. She is as conservative as they come, yet she now is considered a Republican In Name Only because of her outrage at Trump’s incitement of the treasonous mob on 1/6.

Cheney did not congratulate Hageman while delivering her concession speech Tuesday evening. Instead, she said the “real work” is just beginning. Media observers picked up on what they believe is a thinly veiled declaration that she might run for the GOP presidential nomination in 2024 … particularly if Trump decides to jump back into electoral politics.

In a normal political environment, Liz Cheney’s loss in a Wyoming Republican primary would disappear from the news cycle before dawn of the next day. This isn’t a normal environment, though.

Liz Cheney now becomes a potential national player. She vows to devote the rest of her time in Congress seeking to keep Trump from re-entering the Oval Office. I wish her well in that effort.

The political landscape has become so topsy-turvy simply because Liz Cheney lost a Republican Party primary in a state that formerly mattered to few Americans.

It damn sure matters now!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

economic news, Joe Biden, national news

Are we better off … ?

The Republican leader of the U.S. House of Representatives sought to make some political hay by asking if we are “better off today than we were two years ago.”

Well, Kevin McCarthy of California, your effort to denigrate Joe Biden’s presidency deserves a look. So … here goes:

  • On Biden’s watch, Congress approved a bipartisan bill — the first in 30-something years — that seeks to stem gun violence.
  • When Russia invaded Ukraine this past February, President Biden was able to present a unified NATO and European Union front in response to the illegal and criminal act of war.
  • The president was able to shepherd through Congress a massive infrastructure improvement bill that seeks to repair our nation’s roads, bridges and airports.
  • Joe Biden nominated and then welcomed the nation’s first Black woman to the U.S. Supreme Court — Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.
  • We have turned the corner on the international pandemic.
  • Fuel prices, which skyrocketed and led the inflationary surge of recent months, have retreated dramatically.
  • The United States has created more private-sector jobs in the first two years of President Biden’s term than at any similar time in its history.
  • Unemployment currently stands at 3.5%.
  • Congressional Democrats — fighting unanimous Republican opposition — managed to pass the nation’s first-ever meaningful law dealing with climate change; it also seeks to curb health costs and reduce inflation.
  • We have cut by roughly half the nation’s annual budget deficit.

So, taken together, I think I have an answer to Leader McCarthy’s question.

Yes. We are better off than we were when President Joseph R. Biden Jr. took office.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com