Category Archives: Joe Biden

Joe Biden

Biden flexes his muscles

An 80-year-old president cannot possibly claim to have muscles as supple as they once were, but last night Joe Biden showed his opposition that he possesses plenty of fight as he prepares for the next phase of the presidency.

That involves what is lining up to be a spirited campaign for re-election.

The venue was a joint congressional session and the president’s annual State of the Union speech. The MAGA cult that comprises a good portion of the Republican caucus in the House decided to heckle the president at some curious and, frankly, dubious points. Such as when he talked about saving Medicare and Social Security.

He took ’em on in the moment. Frankly, we witnessed a side of the president I didn’t believe existed.

He was brilliant! He played the GOP fire-breathers like a cheap fiddle. Along the way he has set the stage for a 2024 presidential campaign that is going to be — at least for this partisan — fun to watch.

To be sure, the right-wing propagandists will portray the speech as nothing more than game-playing. They trotted out Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders to deliver the GOP response. Instead of offering policy alternatives, she leveled attack after attack on the “woke mob,” against “left-wing Democrats” and otherwise painted a grim portrait of a nation in decline.

Good grief! The state of our Union is as strong as it ever has been!

That all said, I want to be among the many commentators to applaud President Joe Biden for taking the fight straight to the opposition. He showed me that he has plenty left to offer the world’s greatest nation.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Joe Biden

Biden remains my first choice

I declared more than once prior to the start of the 2020 presidential campaign that Joe Biden was not my first pick to be nominated by the Democratic Party to run against Donald Trump.

My preference then was that Democrats should go with a new voice, a fresh face, some new approaches to good government. It didn’t work out that way.

The former vice president ended up as the man for Democrats around whom they would rally. I joined that crowd when it became clear that Biden would win the nomination.

That all stipulated, the president remains my first choice for the next presidential election. He should be re-elected and my hope is that he would win a second term by an even more handsome margin than he won the first time.

I have long admired the man’s tenacity. Yes, he is ambitious. He ran for president the first time in 1988, only to pull out after he got caught plagiarizing speeches delivered by a British Labor Party pol. He went after the Democratic nomination 20 years later, only to get steamrolled by a young senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, who then selected Biden to serve as VPOTUS; they won the 2008 election.

Biden has scored enough legislative victories to signal a successful term as president. Gun legislation, infrastructure rebuilding, climate change investments, tax cuts, deficit reduction, alliances are strengthened … and lastly, his steadfast support of the Ukrainians in their struggle against the Russian invaders.

Indeed, President Biden’s stance against the Russian goons who attacked Ukraine has helped strengthen the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO has held together more tightly than ever before.

Joe Biden appears to be getting ready for an announcement that is coming not long into the new year that looms just ahead.

The man is hitting his stride as president. Joe Biden needs to stay on the job.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Joe Biden

Run, Joe, run!

As a general rule, I am not inclined to presume what incumbent officeholders should do, whether to run for re-election or call it quits.

I’ll make an exception right now: President Joe Biden should run for re-election in 2024. 

OK, so why the change? It’s because I believe he is doing a good job as president and that he is prepared to take on another four years as our head of state and commander in chief.

I do not buy into the rumors about alleged cognitive decline. I know about the verbal gaffes. He’s been making rhetorical mistakes for decades. It’s nothing new; it’s likely an after-effect from the stuttering condition he suffered as a child.

I have no earthly idea who the Republicans will nominate in 2024. Given the GOP’s obstructionist nature since they lost the presidency in 2020, it likely won’t matter who carries the party banner into the political battle against the Democrats.

To that end, I hope it’s the president who carries his party’s flag onto the field.

Joe Biden has managed to get Congress to approve gun violence legislation, to back his infrastructure revamping plan, to help reduce the cost of prescription drugs. On his watch, more jobs have been created in a single presidential term than any time in history. The jobless rate is now at pre-COVID pandemic levels. President Biden has persuaded our allies to back the U.S. economic sanction effort to fight the Russians’ illegal invasion of Ukraine. NATO is more united than ever.

Yes, Joe Biden has worked to do to combat the illegal immigration problem. My belief is that he is working daily to fix it. Yes, despite the threats of impeachment and further obstruction, I am going to retain my faith in Joe Biden’s ability to work the complexities of government in search of a solution.

He’s been at it for decades. Joe Biden isn’t ready to stop.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Joe Biden, national news

Midterm result: Boring is good

3 Comments

When he was campaigning for president in 2020, I wondered at the time whether Joe Biden could somehow find a way to make “boring” a more fashionable form of politics.

I believe the result of the 2022 midterm election suggests that well might be the case. President Biden, in the eyes of Democratic political strategists, simply turned to his legislative accomplishments and sold enough Americans in key states that it’s OK to plod along and produce legislation that benefits them.

The election result produced a stunning outcome. Democrats retained control of the Senate; their grip on the upper chamber might tighten just a bit if Sen. Raphael Warnock knocks off Herschel Walker in the Dec. 6 runoff in Georgia. A Warnock victory would give the Democrats a 51-49 majority, which I realize isn’t great, but it’s better than a 50-50 tie; it’s a damn sight better than turning the body over to the wacky GOP that adheres to nutjob notions that most Americans oppose.

One of the reasons I supported Biden’s election in 2020 was that he brought a steady hand to the executive branch of government. Lord knows we needed steadiness after the chaos brought by the previous four years.

Now, to be sure the president hasn’t been successful with every single effort he has undertaken. But with the help of a strong House speaker in Nancy Pelosi and a Democratically controlled Senate that at times seemed to wobble in its support of key legislation, the president has been able to notch some key victories.

Congress enacted legislation aimed at curbing gun violence; it has enacted infrastructure repair and renovation; it has approved legislation aimed at combatting climate change; the president sought and achieved legislation that curbs the cost of prescription drugs.

How President Biden helped Democrats avert a midterm disaster (msn.com)

And, yes, the annual budget deficit has shrunk, the nation has added millions of jobs, we are vaccinating more Americans daily against the COVID virus.

Do not tell me that the inflation we are enduring is President Biden’s fault exclusively. It is nothing of the sort. The inflation is a worldwide crisis that is being felt in rich countries and poor ones. It’s a result of the supply chain issue, the Ukraine War and other factors that no U.S. president can possibly hope to control.

Yep, boring is good. I believe the boring list of accomplishments that Joe Biden has rung up has given the nation an important political victory by staving off the so-called “red wave” that frightened millions of us.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, national news, political news

Vengeance politics is alive

Vengeance politics is alive and flourishing in what passes for the hearts of many contemporary politicians.

These days, I refer to our Republican members of Congress. They are salivating over the prospect of the GOP taking control of the legislative branch of government after the midterm election.

What’s causing the collective drool? The idea of investigating Democrats who — in their sordid minds — have committed high crimes and misdemeanors.

None other than Ohio blowhard Jim Jordan, the GOP House member accused of looking the other way while Ohio State coaches were molesting young athletes, has promised investigations once Republicans take control of the House. It’s hard to take Jordan seriously, given his blind fealty to the MAGA agenda, but I will take him seriously, indeed.

They want to investigate Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas over the immigration “crisis” on our southern border. They want to investigate soon-to-retire senior White House medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci for dishing out bad advice on handling the COVID pandemic.

Some of the wackier among them want to impeach President Biden for … good grief, only God knows what lurks in their shallow brains.

Meanwhile, we have legislative matters that need attention Gun violence is one of them. Climate change, too. How about energy policy, or immigration policy, or reproductive rights issues? Does any of that interest the MAGA wing of the GOP? Hell … no!

They want revenge over Democrats outrage at the conduct of the most recent GOP president, the moron who sought political help from a foreign government and then incited the assault on our nation’s government after the 2020 presidential election. The House impeached him twice for those two misdeeds, but the cowards who comprise the Republican caucus in the Senate couldn’t muster up the courage to convict him of the obvious crimes he committed against the government he took an oath to “preserve and protect.”

If it comes to pass that Republicans take control of the House and Senate, I am going to stand watch to make sure I use this blog to remind them all of the oaths they, too, will take. They will place their hands on holy books and pledge to defend the Constitution of the United States. I fear their actions will put that document in danger.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Joe Biden, local news, national news

POTUS has bigger fish to fry

Butt out. Mr. President.

Joe Biden has weighed in on what is a quintessential local problem. It involves members of the Los Angeles City Council who were caught saying some nasty things about fellow Los Angelinos, namely Black, Asian and indigenous people.

Folks throughout LA are up in arms. They are demanding their resignation. As they should.

President Biden calls on all participants of racist LA City Council leaked audio to resign (msn.com)

But what is the president of the United States going to contribute by offering his own view on it? Is he trying to lend the huge weight of his office to this fight? “He believes that they all should resign,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. “The language that was used and tolerated during that conversation was unacceptable and it was appalling.”

OK, fine. Let him believe it to his heart’s content. President Biden need not weigh in on an issue that should be resolved exclusively at City Hall. The president of the United States has many other more pressing issues to ponder that involve protecting the rest of the country he was elected to govern.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald Trump, Joe Biden, national news

This is how POTUS should respond

At the risk of riling some of the Trumpkin Trolls who read this blog, I want to offer a brief word describing what I believe is an essential difference between the way Joe Biden handles his presidential duties and the way his immediate predecessor handled them.

Hurricane Ian hammered Florida with Category 4-level wind and storm surge. It marched across that state, headed out over water to regain its strength and then pummeled the South Carolina coast with more devastating wind and water.

President Biden’s response? He declared a federal disaster for Florida and well might do the same for South Carolina. He vowed to be there for all of those who suffered from nature’s wrath. Biden made a specific point that Republicans and Democrats alike will be treated with compassion from the government.

OK. How does that compare with how Donald J. Trump handled national tragedies? The wildfires that destroyed thousands of acres in California in 2019 became grist for Trump to lecture the state on how it should manage its forests. He would routinely castigate Democratic officials — who didn’t support him in 2016 — for their failures.

Biden, who didn’t carry either Florida or South Carolina in 2020, did not go there. He is president of all the United States, he reminded us … and he intends to carry out his response to the tragic hurricane accordingly.

There you have it. We elected a president who understands the unwritten job description he must follow.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

environmental news, Joe Biden

TEA party goes silent over aid to Florida

Hey, do you remember the TEA party gadflies who bitched out loud over billions of dollars in federal aid going to states battling natural disasters?

They would gripe about spending money without cutting expenses elsewhere to pay for the aid. My favorite example was the aid earmarked for Joplin, Mo., years ago as that city sought to recover from tornado damage; some Republicans in Congress resisted, demanding cuts in spending to pay for the aid.

Now come the Florida hurricane relief efforts. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, one of the TEA party golden boys, has resisted sending aid to other parts of the country. This time? He wants all he can get. Frankly, the state he governs deserves it! However, where are the TEA party stalwarts who complain about spending this kind of money.

Oh, wait. It might be because Gov. DeSantis is a rising political star and, by golly, the TEA party faithful dare not deny his state the assistance it deserves.

We are, after all, the United States of America.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Joe Biden, medical news

Biden’s goof causes … what?

Here I go. I am about to tiptoe into an area that I have avoided discussing on this blog, but which finally has me concerned enough to bring it up: President Biden’s mental acuity.

Now, do not misinterpret where I am heading with this brief post. I do not believe Joe Biden is losing his marbles. However, his latest gaffe — and, admittedly, it was a doozy — is going to bring the issue of his fitness for the presidency back to the front burner.

This week, the president wondered aloud at a press event why U.S. Rep. Jackie Walorski, R-Ind., wasn’t in attendance. “Jackie, where are you? Where’s Jackie?” Biden asked.

Well, she’s dead, Mr. President. Rep. Walorski died in an auto accident in August.

The White House is brushing it off. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre called it a “top of mind” moment, that Biden had Walorski’s name at the center of his attention span. That’s not good enough of an answer, Mme. Press Flack.

White House digs in on Biden’s gaffe about dead congresswoman: The Note – ABC News (go.com)

Joe Biden has been prone to this kind of verbal miscue since long before he was elected president. He gets fired up and at times seems to lose his train of thought.

Well, that’s for others to discern. I am not qualified to offer an armchair medical diagnosis of the president’s mental fitness. I do hope — and that’s all I can do, is hope — that President Biden can find a way to eliminate these kinds of gaffes that only serve to feed the multiple rural mills that swirl around the presidency.

He told “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley to “Watch me” if he doubts the president’s ability to do a difficult job. Well, Mr. President … we’re watching.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, legal news, national news, national security, political news

Will Trumpism outlive its founder?

It has been said by more than one commentator that the movement Donald J. Trump spawned will live long past the time he no longer is a political factor.

Pardon the skepticism, but I don’t think that’s necessarily the case.

I’ll start with this notion: I have doubt that Donald Trump is (a) going to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 and (b) that the GOP has gone totally braindead to nominate him if he does enter the fray.

The Republican Party has shown itself in the past, oh, six years to be a party full of gullible numbskulls who are willing to swallow the swill delivered by Trump. They ignore the threat he continues to pose to our democratic process; they give him a pass on the idiocy that flies out of his mouth; they proclaim a desire to “defund the FBI” after the feds find top-secret documents squirreled away in his Florida home.

So, what is going to happen to Trump’s movement — his cult — once he’s no longer a political player. The way I see it, and I’ll admit it is from the cheap seats, whatever “movement” that Trump has stoked will disappear. Why keep telling The Big Lie about a “stolen election” if the Main Man is no longer calling the shots?

I am going to hold tightly onto my own hope that the law’s lengthy arm is going to corral The Donald sometime soon. The Justice Department is examining whether Trump broke the law in taking those classified documents from the White House; the House select 1/6 committee is considering whether to ask for indictment related to the insurrection that Trump clearly incited; the Fulton County (Ga.) district attorney is looking into whether Trump broke state election laws by demanding that officials “find” enough votes to overturn that state’s 2020 presidential election result.

Oh, and the New York attorney general already has filed a $250 million lawsuit against the Trump Organization for allegedly falsifying its worth to obtain favorable loans.

We have, as they said in a movie, “a target-rich environment.”

The cult leader, it appears to me, is going down in flames. May the fire consume what is left of the movement that bears his name.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com