Category Archives: political news

political news

Donald Trump: frontrunner

Leave a comment

Donald J. Trump is demonstrating yet another trait I find loathsome … imagine that, if you can.

He is a frontrunner, a guy who latches onto candidates he perceives as winners. He’ll endorse ’em, but then is likely to abandon ’em if they prove to be — to borrow a term — losers.

Trump once stood foursquare behind former U.S. Sen. David Perdue of Georgia. He endorsed Perdue’s bid for Georgia governor. Then it became clear that the incumbent Republican, Brian Kemp, is going to wipe Perdue out in the Republican primary set for next Tuesday.

Now the ex-POTUS has tossed Perdue aside, just as he did in neighboring Alabama. You see, decided to back Rep. Mo Brooks in the race for the Senate seat being vacated by Richard Shelby.

Trump had all kinds of glowing platitudes to throw at Brooks. Then the congressman’s political fortunes faltered. What did Trump do then? He tossed Brooks into the crapper.

All this just goes to show the fickleness of a Donald Trump endorsement for public office … which is another way of saying it ain’t worth a damn!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

political news, State news

Character no longer matters

Leave a comment

This much is abundantly clear about today’s Republican Party: Character no longer matters, that party fanatics do not care whether the individuals who hold public office might be criminals, or that they are serial philanderers and admitted sexual assailants.

A Texas Tribune story published this week talks, for instance, about how Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is well-positioned to defeat challenger George P. Bush in next week’s GOP runoff for the attorney general’s office.

Why is that a big deal? Because Paxton has been under criminal indictment almost his entire time in office. Paxton has shamelessly challenged President Biden’s election in 2020. The FBI is investigating complaints filed by several top Paxton legal assistants, who allege criminal activity within the office.

Hey, no problem! The GOP is set to renominate Paxton for yet another term.

It’s all part of the pattern followed by the GOP cultists in this Donald Trump Era. Conservatives used to get their underwear tied into knots when liberal politicians got caught misbehaving.

Why Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s backers are unfazed by his scandals | The Texas Tribune

Character mattered to them in the days of Bill Clinton. Do you recall those days? I damn sure do. These days, one of their own pols — Donald J. Trump — actually boasted that he could “shoot someone on Fifth Avenue and not lose any votes.” The line drew laughter and gasps when he said it. It’s not so preposterous these days.

This is a large part of what troubles me about the demise of a once-great political party. It no longer stands for character. The only aim of GOP pols ought to be their ability to stick it to their liberal foes.

Ken Paxton has done so in Texas and he likely will win the GOP runoff next week, to the ever-lasting shame of the GOP faithful.

As for Trump … aww, hell! I have nothing to say about the former Sexual Assailant in Chief.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news, political news

How does he justify a return?

Donald Trump continues to rattle around out there, making speeches and issuing pronouncements and condemnations. He keeps yammering about the Big Lie and just cannot get past the fact that he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden.

Now we see an astonishing number of senior Trump aides turning on him.

The former attorney general, two former defense secretaries, a press secretary, aides to the ex-first lady, all have turned on The Donald.

He might be indicted for crimes committed during his term in office.

We keep hearing reports of totally bizarre notions coming from his mouth. How he considered bombing Mexico to stop drug traffickers. How he keeps talking about the size of his crowds and how all those cheering fanatics give his pronouncements credibility they do not deserve.

Oh, and how about the Mother’s Day message he sent out that was filled with epithets he hurled at left-leaning judges and anyone who opposes him?

This guy says he is thinking about running again for president. For the third time?

We’ve had one president serve two non-consecutive terms. Grover Cleveland was elected in 1884, lost re-election to Benjamin Harrison in 1888, then defeated President Harrison in 1892. Cleveland lost in 1888 because Harrison got enough Electoral College votes while Cleveland garnered more ballots. Hmm. Did the defeated Cleveland claim electoral theft? Nope.

I cannot yet come to grips with the notion that the former Moron in Chief is actually being considered a frontrunner for the Republican nomination in 2024. Oh, but wait! Now we hear from actual GOP politicians who are finally speaking out against the idiot.

All of this leaves me shaking my noggin in disbelief.

I am going to stick with my previously stated view that all of this is a sham. The Donald ain’t gonna run. I just wish he would fade away.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

political news

Way to go, Ohio GOP!

Donald J. Trump endorsed a guy who once pounded him for this and that. The endorsee, J.D. Vance, on Tuesday won the Ohio Republican Party primary vote for U.S. Senate.

Get this, though. Trump attended a rally on primary election eve and forgot the guy’s name. He stood there in front of the cheering mob and fluffed Vance’s name on at least two occasions.

Still, Vance won the GOP nomination.

I don’t know what that means, other than Ohio Republican voters must be, um, as lame-brained as their hero. Eek!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

political news

RNC concocts phony excuse

The Republican National Committee has voted unanimously to no longer take part in televised debates featuring the party’s presidential nominee, saying that past debates have been biased against the GOP.

What a crock!

The Commission on Presidential Debates has failed, according to the RNC, to enact reforms demanded by the likes of Donald Trump and other fruitcakes insisting on formats that they say would provide viewers/voters with important information about the candidates.

Again … pure horsesh**!

The RNC and its chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel, are concocting phony excuses, looking for ways to manipulate the format to their party’s and their candidate’s liking.

As Reuters reported: “We are going to find newer, better debate platforms to ensure that future nominees are not forced to go through the biased CPD in order to make their case to the American people,” the committee’s chairperson, Ronna McDaniel, said in a statement.

Republican Party withdraws from U.S. commission on presidential debates (msn.com)

How do they define “bias”? I will wait with bated breath to see what the RNC has in mind. Perhaps the committee could provide some examples of the “bias” it says existed during previous debates that somehow infringed on its nominee’s ability to get his message delivered.

I am all ears.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

political news

‘Liberal’ is no epithet

Did you know the term “liberal” has become a four-letter word? At least among right-wingers it has become a sort of scarlet letter to hang around the necks of politicians and those who support those politicians.

I am a liberal, or a “good government” liberal. The term has been replaced in the lexicon, though, by “progressive,” which I guess among liberals is more suitable to their political agenda.

For the record, I don’t mind for an instant being labeled a liberal.

Here’s what my handy-dandy American Heritage Dictionary says about the term; mind you, it contains several definitions under the term, so the first definition is generally regarded as the most acceptable or prevalent.

It states: open-minded, tolerant. The book refers to a synonym, which is broad-minded.

Wow! Is that the stuff that should bring shame to an individual? I think not. It is the kind of description one should wear proudly. So, I do. I wear that label with pride.

My pride will enable me to dismiss the snark that accompanies descriptions that come from right-wingers who seek to denigrate liberal or progressive political thought.

As a side note: I continue to hold traditional “conservatives” in high esteem. I prefer to absolve them from the antics committed by the bomb-throwers on the far-right end of the political spectrum.

I turned to my American Heritage word book. Here is what it says about “conservative.” Favoring traditional views and values; tending to oppose change. Hey, nothing wrong with that, either.

The right-wingers, though, take “traditional conservatism” to a level I do not recognize.

I remember when Newt Gingrich, the godfather of the Contract With America movement in the 1990s, said his aim was to make “liberals the enemy of normal Americans.” Isn’t that sweet? Do you get what that implies? It is to say liberals are, um, “abnormal.” That we are weirdos. That we live outside those so-called “traditional values.”

Well, none of that worked out well for Newtie. He got caught cheating on wife No. 2. He married the woman with whom he was having a fling. He also resigned from Congress and became a right-wing messenger.

That was then. These days I will continue to wear my political leaning proudly. I make no apologies for anything I believe. I am open-minded and tolerant, just as the dictionary describes me.

What in this world is wrong with that? Not a damn thing!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news, political news

Pence has grown a pair?

What do you know about this? It appears that former Vice President Mike Pence has grown a pair of … um … well, you know what I mean.

Pence has told a group of Republicans that there is “no room” in the party for those who apologize for Vladimir Putin. Gosh! About whom do you suppose Pence is referring?

According to Newsnation: “Where would Russian tanks be today if NATO had not expanded the borders of freedom? There is no room in this party for apologists for Putin,” Pence said, according to excerpts from the speech, which was closed to reporters. “There is only room for champions of freedom.”

https://www.newsnationnow.com/politics/pence-hits-trump-no-room-in-gop-for-apologists-for-putin/?utm_campaign=NewsNation-trending-now&utm_source=thehill.com&utm_medium=newsnation-cross-brand

The word is out that he is stretching the divide that is growing between Pence and the guy who selected him to be vice president for four years prior to losing the 2020 election to Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

It’s time to move past the 2020 election, Pence said. It’s time for the party to start plotting a course for the future, he said.

It took Pence a long time to become his own man. Too long, if you ask me. Even when the ex-POTUS threatened Pence because he did his job on 1/6 and certified President Biden’s election, he remained silent.

That now appears to be changing.

It’s not that Pence is going to get my vote if he decides to run for POTUS in 2024. However, I want to take this moment to offer him a word of support simply for demonstrating a smidgen of courage.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news, political news

Divide becomes a chasm

I discovered a story online that I want to share with this blog post. It tells a sad story about a man in a rural community who feels more isolated than ever in his life. Why the isolation? Because he voted in 2020 for Joe Biden and Kamala Harris for POTUS and VPOTUS, while most of his neighbors voted for the ticket that lost the 2020 election.

The result has produced a daily ritual of insults, epithets and assorted forms of verbal and emotional abuse.

The story ran in Politico. Here it is:

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/03/04/pennsylvania-rural-democrats-trump-neighbors-00008915

I can relate somewhat to what the principals in the article are feeling. I, too, voted for President Biden and Vice President Harris. We live in a suburban community in a North Texas county that voted nominally for The Donald in 2020.

The lonely Democrat told Politico that the landscape of Dubois, Pa., is littered with profanity-laced signs cursing Biden and Harris; the signage also heaps praise on Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.

According to Politico:

“We’ve never seen this before,” says Joanne Fitzpatrick, a Democrat from DuBois, running through a tally in her head of anti-Biden signs that still cover her town and surrounding communities. “I’m not a prude by any stretch, but it’s offensive. We’ve just never seen this level of vulgarity after an election — and so long after the election at that.”

“In a civilized society,” she added, “we just don’t do that.”

Well, I guess we do. Then again, I believe she was implying that her community isn’t exactly “civilized.”

I don’t recall this level of visceral anger, either. I have lived long enough to recall previous presidential campaigns that were full of venom and vitriol. We had the campaigns of 1968 and 1972 overshadowed by the Vietnam War; the 1988 campaign featured the tearing down of one candidate because he wouldn’t mandate reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools; there was 2000 and the campaign that ended being decided by the Supreme Court.

All these campaigns, though, had something in common. The loser conceded to the winner. The losing candidate did so in 2016 when she lost to Donald Trump.

The difference this year? The incumbent who lost, Trump the cult leader, hasn’t conceded. Instead, he has stoked anger among the ardent followers of his losing effort by repeating The Big Lie about the election being “stolen” via “widespread voter fraud.” There was no widespread fraud. Or electoral theft.

And therein is the cause of the deep divide that has widened into a chasm. It seems unbridgeable, as seen in the story told about the rural Pennsylvania community highlighted in the Politico article.

It is a shame. The terrible divide between neighbors never would have widened had the loser of the 2020 election done what others before him have done. If only he could have summoned the grace and class to admit he lost and extended his hand to those who defeated him.

Yes, elections have consequences. So, too, do their responses.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

political news, State news

Texas turnout: a stinker

Here is how the Texas Tribune led a story about the voter turnout in this week’s midterm primary election: Around 17% of registered voters in Texas cast a ballot in the 2022 primary, according to preliminary turnout data from the secretary of state. 

The Tribune noted also that the turnout this year was greater than the six previous midterm elections. However, I now will throw a huge dose of cold water on it.

The “registered voters” barometer is a ruse. When you factor in the number of Texans who are “eligible” to vote, but who don’t even bother to register, then the turnout nosedives into the crapper.

This is a shameful exhibition of apathy that spells potential disaster for the state of governance in Texas.

Texas, tragically, is among the lowest-turnout states in the entire U.S. of A. Seventeen percent of registered voters sought fit to cast their ballots, either early or on Election Day, to choose who their party’s nominees would be for a host of important public offices.

That is fewer than one in five Texans. The percentage plunges even more when you measure the turnout of eligible voters.

So very sad.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, national news, political news

GOP dynamic is baffling

I am likely to go straight to my grave never being able to comprehend the weird dynamic playing out within the Texas Republican Party in this age of The Donald and The Big Lie.

Let’s ponder for a moment some weird happenings that occurred during this past Tuesday’s March primary election.

The contest for Tarrant County judge featured two candidates, Betsy Price and Tim O’Hare, who fought tooth-and-nail for the party nomination. Sitting on the other side of the Metroplex, Price — the well-respected former Fort Worth mayor — seemed a good bet to prevail. Oh, no!

She got thumped by O’Hare, who accused her of being a “progressive” mayor who favored rules that don’t discriminate against transgender people. O’Hare then pledged to clamp down on all those hot-button issues that raise hackles among far-right conservatives: critical race theory, immigration reform, gay rights.

Then came the race for Congress in the Third House District — where my wife and I reside. Incumbent Republican Van Taylor was targeted by the far-righties within the GOP of being a traitor to the Republican cause. Keith Self, the former Collin County judge, finished second in the primary, but Taylor was set to engage Self in a May runoff … before he ended his re-election effort admitting to an affair with a Plano woman. So now it appears that Self, who believes in The Big Lie, is going to win the election this November and take his nut-job world view to Capitol Hill, where he’ll get join the likes of QAnon queens Lauren Boebert of Colorado and Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia.

The party has become a cult following. It has devolved into a once-great political organization into a cabal of kooks who won’t accept the results of a free, fair and legal presidential election, who hold out the fantasy that The Donald will run again in 2024 and actually win back the White House.

So help me Almighty God in heaven, I cannot think of a more frightening prospect than that.

And yet, we have fully grown human beings believing the sh** that flies out of The Donald’s pie hole and promise to restore some perverted version of “patriotism” to our national government.

What perhaps is most astounding of all is that not every Republican officeholder in America believes this crap, but so damn few of them are willing to speak out, stand up for the truth and call these wackos out for who they are. Who are they? They are dangerous cretins who have no business making laws or collecting taxpayers’ money.

By cracky, they’re in office and seek to cement their vise grip on the American political system by any means necessary. Just think, my family and I have ringside seats from which we are able to watch this nonsense play out.

Good grief!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com