Category Archives: national news

national news

GOP might rescue Democrats

There can be no greater political irony imaginable than to think that Democrats’ greatest ally in the midterm competition against Republicans might be … Republicans!

The GOP was poised to grab control of both congressional chambers once we count the ballots of the midterm election. Then something odd happened: the godfather of current GOP, Donald Trump, began endorsing certifiable nut jobs for high office.

A.B. Stoddard, writing for RealClearPolitics, reports: Republicans are now panicked that what was once a dream election year could end up a nightmare. A recent report in Axios described GOP anxiety this way: “Top Republicans, once confident about winning control of the Senate in the midterms, fear they’ll blow it after nominating several deeply flawed candidates in winnable states, according to conversations with GOP strategists, pollsters and other officials.” The Senate candidates they are most worried about are Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, Herschel Walker in Georgia, J.D. Vance in Ohio, Blake Masters in Arizona, and Eric Greitens in Missouri.

Oz, Vance, Greitens and Masters are seeking to keep Senate seats in Republican control. They all are trailing their Democratic foes. Walker is challenging a Democratic incumbent in Georgia and he, too, is trailing Sen. Raphael Warnock.

Trump’s recommendations haven’t exactly helped most of his endorsees. Many of the MAGA-friendly candidates are downright frightening. Herschel Walker comes to mind.

Will Trump and MAGA Candidates Slow the Red Wave? | RealClearPolitics

The so-called Red Wave well might swamp the House of Representatives. The Senate is looking like there might be an altogether different outcome than what many of us had expected.

If the GOP falls short, I believe they should look inward and ask: Can we do better than line up behind the lawlessness promoted by a twice-impeached POTUS?

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Who’s the ‘gutless’ one?

Steve Bannon, the newly convicted felon who once served as a policy adviser to Donald J. Trump, today offered a truly laughable epithet at a key congressional committee.

Bannon came out of the federal courthouse today after being convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress and bellowed that the House select committee examining the 1/6 insurrection is “gutless” because its members wouldn’t testify in the trial.

The committee is “gutless”? Really … Steve?

What in the world how should we view your refusal to answer a congressional summons demanding you testify before the 1/6 committee? Bannon kept insisting he had nothing to hide, yet he decided to stiff the 1/6 committee by refusing to obey a lawfully ordered subpoena.

Now, for the convicted felon to lash out at a legally constituted congressional committee with a damnation he should wear himself is laughable … except that I am not laughing.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Run, Josh, run!

You know, it’s almost not worth any time to comment on one of the pieces of evidence revealed Thursday night during the televised House 1/6 select committee hearing.

Aww, but what the heck …

There was that hilarious snippet of video showing U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., scurrying to a safe place to get away from the traitors who were attacking the U.S. Capitol. Why mention it?

Because this was the same Josh Hawley who egged the mob on with that hideous clenched-fist salute earlier that day.

What do we surmise from the young man’s display of bravado.

Was it all for show? Did he realize what the mob intended to do? Was he ordered to the safe place by the Capitol cops on duty and who were fighting for their own lives while protecting senators and House members?

Whatever. It all makes for a curious juxtaposition of a young hothead senator being revealed — quite possibly — as a cowardly hypocrite.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Garland intrigue is building

Hey, what’s going on with U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, who’s signed a memo declaring that any indictment of a president or former president running for the same office must be signed off by the AG himself?

Garland has revived a Donald Trump administration policy, which brings me to why this is significant now.

Donald Trump — the twice-impeached and defeated former POTUS — is dropping hints of running again in 2024. Think of the campaign slogan he could use.

Vote for me, ’cause it’ll keep me out of prison.

Trump well might be indicted for various felonies against the government connected to the 1/6 insurrection and attack on the Capitol as officials were counting 2020 election Electoral College ballots certifying Joe Biden the winner over … yep, Donald Trump.

Garland’s memo seems to suggest to some observers to signal a reluctance to indict Trump for anything prior to the midterm election this fall.

Trump might decide to run for POTUS prior to the midterm election.

Yeah, it’s going to muddy up a lot of things.

Personally, I do not believe he’ll be nominated. Also, I do believe that Garland will have enough to prosecute Trump for something, although I dare not predict what that would be.

This disgraceful excuse for a politician — Trump — is trying to work every angle he can to keep his sorry backside out of the slammer.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot, national news

Hearings have changed my mind

No one has asked me my opinion on whether the 1/6 insurrection hearings conducted by the House select committee has changed my mind about what happened on that horrible day.

I am going to offer an opinion anyway.

Hell yes, I have changed my mind on the insurrection. After listening to several days’ worth of testimony, I am even more convinced than before that Donald J. Trump needs to be charged with any variety of federal crimes.

I thought he was guilty long ago. I still believe in Trump’s guilt. What has changed, though, has been the passion with which I believe this stuff about the former POTUS.

Does that count as a “changed mind?” If not, then it should. Therefore, I will conclude that my mind has changed about who is responsible for the insurrection.

I believed in Trump’s guilt when the hearings started. I believe in them even more as they grind on toward a conclusion.

What never will change in my mind is a demand for accountability and a prison sentence if the ex-president ever gets convicted.

http://johnkanellis_92@hotmail.com

national news

War on democracy!

House select 1/6 committee chairman Bennie Thompson said it eloquently this week as he opened the latest televised hearing into the insurrection incited by the immediate past president of the United States.

He said Donald Trump sought to declare war against our democratic process, the one he took an oath to protect and defend. Instead, when the results of an election didn’t go as he intended, he summoned the crowd and told ’em to take back their government from those who “stole” it from them.

The televised hearings have informed us of something critical. It is that Trump’s closest advisers, including members of his family, told him he lost the 2020 election to Joseph Biden. Trump knew the evidence wasn’t there. The attorney general said so, as did the FBI director, and so did practically every individual — with a few notable, infamous exceptions, of course — within earshot of the president.

Did he heed what they said? No, he went to war with the very democratic process that has been operating since the founding of the republic.

How in this blessed world does anyone accept a thoroughly discredited notion that the election was “rigged” to secure a victory for Joe Biden?

Indeed, the only thievery being attempted has been done by the guy who lost the election! That, too, has been made abundantly clear during the testimony we all have heard.

A man who swore to almighty God to protect the government from enemies “foreign and domestic” only to declare war on that very institution must not be allowed anywhere near the halls of power … ever again!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Cheney might lose … damn!

Never in a zillion years would I have imagined myself saying what I am about to say … which is that I fear that U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney is going to lose her fight to stay in Congress. 

I have seen some recent polling data that suggest that Cheney is going to lose by 20 percentage points to a challenger who’s been endorsed by Donald John Trump, the twice-impeached former POTUS who has declared Cheney — a fellow Republican — to be Public Enemy No. 1.

And why? Well, Cheney has determined that Trump is a lawless buffoon, a danger to democracy and an existential threat to the security of this nation. Why does she say that?

Because of the 1/6 insurrection that Trump incited.

Cheney is serving on the House select committee examining the insurrection and has been a stalwart, stellar champion for the rule of law. She has declared that one cannot be “loyal to Trump and be loyal to the Constitution.” She has chosen to honor her congressional oath, which pledges loyalty to the governing document.

For that she is likely to be punished by losing her GOP primary battle next month.

A lot of center-left, Democrat-leaning American patriots — such as yours truly — are sickened by the notion of Cheney losing to a Trumpkin.

Let me be clear once again. Liz Cheney is far too conservative a politician for my taste. However, she has earned my undying respect and admiration for standing up for the rule of law.

I will admit that her ferocious defense of the rule of law against Donald Trump’s cavalier notion that he stands above the law has all but wiped the slate clean as far as her previous record is concerned.

It’s not a lead-pipe cinch that she will lose the primary in Wyoming. However, it appears to be looking that way. And for that, the Republican primary voters in Wyoming should cower in shame.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Political frenzy is upon us

We have entered into a type of season with which I will need to familiarize myself. I want to call the Season of Political Frenzy.

It seems like only yesterday that the 2020 presidential campaign ended. Joe Biden won the presidency over Donald J. Trump. Except that Trump didn’t concede, didn’t acknowledge publicly that Biden is the new president, didn’t offer any support for a “peaceful transition.”

It’s now two years later. The midterm election is upon us. Republicans have stars in their eyes about taking over control of the Senate and the House. The campaign is ramping up rapidly.

The midterm campaign isn’t even over and already the speculation is beginning to overtake many of us over whether President Biden will bow out, whether Donald Trump will make yet another run for the highest office in the land, who among Democrats might want to succeed Biden and who among Republicans might want to become the “anti-Trump” within the GOP.

I enjoy politics. I take a great interest in following the ebb and flow of the political tide. I have my favorite candidates and my preferred stance on the issues of the day.

The frenetic nature of the coverage, though, seems to be worsening with each election cycle.

Truth is, I want a return to boring politics.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Biden update: Stay the course, Mr. POTUS

Joe Biden is feeling lots of heat these days from the far left as well as from the far right. The right-wingers’ criticism is to be expected. The lefties, though, present a unique concern for the president of the United States.

I am insisting, thus, that President Biden continue on a path toward finding common ground with both ends of the spectrum. It is how he has been wired since he hopped onto the national stage after winning the 1972 election to the U.S. Senate.

Biden has been on — or near that stage — for the past 50 years.

Am I concerned about falling approval ratings? Sure. Who wouldn’t be? The RealClearPolitics poll average puts the president’s approval rating at around 39%. Don’t remind me how bad that looks compared to what other presidents have experienced. I get it … totally!

Even though I won’t blame the president for all the issues that are dragging his poll numbers down, I certainly understand the need for the head of state and government and our commander in chief to get more aggressive in his use of the bully pulpit.

I remain a good-government progressive, which is how I describe a politician willing to compromise to achieve legislative success. Joe Biden has shown an ability to do such a thing over his many years in public service.

Yes, he is going to face pressure from the progressive wing of his own party and from the obstructionist wing of the Republican Party.

Stay the course, Mr. President.

johnkanelis_9@hotmail.com

national news

Prediction record remains in the tank

Well … it looks as though my miserable record of political prognostication remains in the dumper, given what’s being reported about what Donald J. Trump appears likely to do — maybe soon.

Major media organizations are reporting that Trump has made his decision. That he will seek the presidency again in 2024. Oh, my … be still my outright rage!

The twice-impeached crook who held the office for a term between 2017 and 2021 reportedly wants the office back in his grimy grip.

Against my better judgment and my horrible record, I went out on the ol’ limb and said Trump wouldn’t run in 2024.

But you know what? I am not going to wave the surrender flag just yet. All we know at this moment is that Trump is planning to make “an announcement.” Hmm. What will that “announcement” reveal? Any thoughts?

I just cannot get past the notion that Trump actually knows deep in what passes for a heart that he actually lost the 2020 election. Or that he understands that he is grievously damaged political goods, no matter the blathering of the shrinking mob of zealots who continue to stand by their cult leader.

Oh, and then we have what looks as though is a seriously legitimate possibility that the Department of Justice is going to indict the former Insurrectionist in Chief of serious crimes against the government. How does, oh, “conspiracy to commit sedition” strike you?

Thus, I find it strange in the extreme to believe that a former president who well could face a many-decades-long prison term actually will seek to sell himself to voters.

Then again … this is The Donald.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com