Monthly Archives: December 2020

national news

Trump backs down … or does he?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald J. Trump wanted more money for Americans suffering from the pandemic. He also wanted to get rid of wasteful spending in a bill his team negotiated with Congress.

He threatened to veto the whole thing. Then — wouldn’t you just know it? — Donald Trump changed his mind and signed the bill into law.

Merry belated Christmas, Americans. We’re going to get that $600 per person payout that Trump said was too little; he wants us to get 2 grand apiece. He also wants to get rid of waste in the bill. Except that it’s still in the legislation he signed into law.

Good news is out there. The government won’t shut down. Unemployment benefits will be restored. I guess we should be grateful for all of that. And I am.

I circle back to a fundamental question: Why in the world did POTUS subject us to this chaos, uncertainty, anxiety, misery? His team was a partner with Congress in coming up with the bill. He said he would support it. Then he changed his mind. Now he has changed his mind again.

Trump is making demands on Congress to produce a fresh bill that excludes items he has “red lined” item by item that he wants taken out. We’ll have to see how well Congress reacts to the demands being placed by the leader of the other co-equal government branch.

My head is spinning.

national news

Preparing to embrace a new year like never before

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It’s just me, I suppose. Then again, there might billions of other human beings who share my view about what is going to transpire in just a few days.

They’re going to drop that ball in Times Square and we’re going to welcome 2021. Now, I don’t know about you, but I am prepared fully to embrace the new year in a manner I have never done in my life. Not ever!

The year we are about to kick into the crapper has been the pits beyond belief. You know to what I refer: the pandemic.

To be somewhat charitable toward 2020, I should note that we end this smelly armpit of a year on a hopeful note. Researchers have developed vaccines developed to eradicate the virus and doses of it are being injected into millions of Americans’ arms as we sit here tonight.

It will take time for the killer virus to vanish. Maybe another year? Or longer? I don’t know. Neither can even the most learned infectious disease experts say with any certainty when the virus will vanish.

We have lost more than 332,000 Americans. Many more are going to die from this disease. It has caused untold heartache, heartbreak, misery and agony. Those of us who have not been stricken by the virus have been forced to change our living habits. It’s been a bit of a struggle for many Americans.

What’s more — and this is unbelievable to me — the issue of preventative measures has become a political flash point. How in the name of medical safety can this happen? Oh, I know. It happens because the president of the United States has made it one. Donald Trump has denigrated those who wear masks or take other extraordinary measures to avoid getting sickened by the virus and his followers have taken his cue.

Ridiculous!

The old year is about to pass into history. Those who write about such things no doubt will attach plenty of superlatives to describe 2020: unprecedented, historic, without parallel.

I’ll add the term “miserable.” Accordingly, when the old year passes and the new arrives I might break with a recent tradition and stay awake long enough to cheer the end of the most heartbreaking year I can remember.

legal news, national news

Pardons cross the line

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Presidential pardons remain the exclusive domain of the individual in power at the top of the U.S. political chain of command. Presidents grant them with literally no checks on their propriety.

Their impropriety often crosses party lines, with presidents of both parties abusing the power laid out in the U.S. Constitution.

However, the busload of pardons handed out by Donald J. Trump all have a peculiar and frightening look of familiarity to them. He has delivered pardons and commutations to people who (a) are friends and political allies and (b) who have committed heinous acts in defense of policies that he favors.

Procedure calls for presidents to run pardon  requests through a series of examinations by the Justice Department. They usually include those who have behaved well under federal custody or who have expressed some level of remorse for whatever deed they did. I am unaware so far of any expression of remorse from the likes of Roger Stone, Michael Flynn, Paul Manafort, George Papadopoulos or the four Blackwater contractors convicted of killing innocent civilians in Iraq.

Oh, no. They’ve been handed a free get-out-of-jail card by Donald Trump for reasons that have nothing to do with what they are accused — or convicted! — of doing.

Understand, too, that presidents are not bound by law to follow the procedure laid out. They can do whatever the hell they want and that is what Donald Trump has done so far.

This is the kind of exit we all should have expected from Donald Trump as he prepares to leave the White House for the final time; indeed, he might have done so already, having jetted off to Florida to spend the holiday with his family … at least that’s my hope.

This is an astonishing end to an astonishing term as president for Donald Trump. It ain’t normal. If only we had the last of it … if only.

national news

Yeah, good riddance … 2020!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I cannot take credit for thinking this up, but it cracks me up so much I want to share it here.

A Facebook meme showed up that reminded us that when the new year commences in a few days, that “no one is going to write the wrong year on our checks, I can effing guarantee that.”

Yep, no doubt we are going to say so long, farewell, sayonara, good riddance to 2020. I will gladly and without a single solitary moment of hesitation write the new year on any document that requires it.

Bring it on, 2021!

economic news

Mnuchin joins Trump casualty list

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin might have thought he was indestructible, that Donald Trump wouldn’t — couldn’t possibly — throw him under the proverbial bus.

Then came Trump’s bizarre video tweet and his rejection of a COVID-19 relief package that Mnuchin negotiated with congressional Democrats and Republicans on Trump’s behalf.

He now has joined the list of Cabinet officers who have fallen out of favor with a president who first picked them, then turned on them. Rex Tillerson, James Mattis, Jeff Sessions all have been booted or quit because they no longer could work for Trump. I haven’t even counted the multiple White House chiefs of staff and national security advisers.

Mnuchin’s betrayal might be the most bizarre of all.

As the Washington Post reported: The president’s denunciation of the agreement represented a stunning public broadside against his own treasury secretary, who for four years loyally shielded the president’s tax returns, endured repeated presidential tirades in private, and defended even Trump’s most incendiary and contradictory remarks. Through it all, Mnuchin had emerged with the unique ability to walk a tightrope between Trump and congressional leaders, serving as an emissary in difficult negotiations. That all ended on Tuesday, when Trump posted a video on Twitter ridiculing the agreement.

Mnuchin’s loyalty to Trump could end with painful setback as president shreds stimulus deal (msn.com)

The deal called for $600 payments to Americans; it extended unemployment insurance for millions of Americans; it keeps the government running past next Tuesday. Mnuchin packed Trump’s load for this deal while working with members of Congress. Now he’s been stabbed deeply in the back.

Wow! That’s all I have at this moment.

Trump’s chaotic end as president could possibly inflict an enormous number of casualties. I do not include Secretary Mnuchin among them. They would include millions of Americans who are waiting on some form of relief from their government. Now comes this astonishing rejection by the man elected president of the United States — the guy who took an oath to protect Americans — of a deal his team negotiated on his behalf.

Can there be anything more disgusting than this? Sure, but holy smokes, man! This really stinks!

Steve Mnuchin now stands as the latest example of how Donald Trump measures loyalty. It goes only in one direction. This individual does not return it … to anyone!

national news

Biden finally set to fulfill longtime ambition

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 BBy JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It is no stretch at all to presume that Joe Biden has wanted to be elected president of the United States for a very long time.

He won election to the U.S. Senate in 1972 and for all I know he might have harbored presidential ambitions even as he took his Senate office at age 30.

He ran for president in 1988, but then fell out when he got caught plagiarizing speeches from a British politician. Biden tried again in 2008, but got buried early and pulled out … only to get a call from that year’s presidential nominee, Barack Hussein Obama, to run with him as vice president.

Now he has reached the pinnacle of political power.

It is times like this when I try to imagine how a normal human mind processes this marvelous achievement. Biden is facing roadblocks and assorted obstacles from the man he defeated in this year’s election. Donald Trump not only has failed to assure us of a peaceful transfer of power, he has delivered a transfer that is anything but the kind of peaceful transition the world usually looks on with awe and wonder.

However, the president-elect who at many levels likely has prepared himself for this moment is no doubt trying mightily to put the resistance aside as best he can. He is trying to cobble together a governmental executive team that will do his bidding and will work for the benefit of all Americans.

How does someone wired like Joe Biden process as well the notion that his many years as a senator and then as VP set him up to take on this task? I am left to wonder if he has doubts about whether he has dotted all the “i’s” and crossed all the “t’s.”

I have known about Joe Biden since he first became a U.S. senator. I was a young college student with a keen interest in politics. I watched him take office after enduring the tragic deaths of his wife and baby daughter in a car crash. I sort of kept an eye on him as he grew into the job. I watched him chair Senate confirmation hearings and listened to him debate opponents on the other side of the Senate chamber.

I was aware of Sen. Biden’s devotion to his sons, to his new wife and the little girl the two of them produced. I watched his first presidential campaign flame out and watched his embarrassment displayed before the land as he sought to explain how he could portray another man’s story as his own.

Somehow this fellow survived. He flourished. He got knocked down. He buried another child. And he steadied his feet under him.

Now he is about to ascend to the very top of the political summit. Not bad. Still, as I watch him I am left to wonder with all due amazement: How does one really prepare for what lies ahead as he becomes head of state and commander in chief of the world’s mightiest nation.

We are about to learn whether he has studied well.

Donald Trump

Chaos reigns supreme!

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Can there be a more telling example of the chaos that Donald Trump brought to the presidency than what is unfolding as he prepares to leave it behind?

Trump’s negotiating team, led by Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, hammered out a COVID-19 relief package that includes a modest payment to eligible Americans, as well as extending unemployment insurance for millions of Americans impacted by the pandemic.

Yep, Trump’s team was involved all the way. So what does Donald Trump do when he gets the bill approved by bipartisan majorities in both houses of Congress? He jets off to Florida and says he won’t sign it. He wants more than $600 for Americans; he wants $2,000!

I appreciate the Chaos Meister in Chief’s generosity. I am baffled by what it means for the bill that awaits his signature. If he doesn’t sign it, Americans won’t get a dime; unemployment insurance will run out; and the government is slated to shut down.

What the fu** is this guy trying to do?

Congressional Democrats are pushing for him to agree to the larger payout. Republicans are digging in against it. Trump is now putting GOP officials’ careers in peril if he continues to resist, which to be candid doesn’t bother me in the least.

What bothers the living  malarkey out of me is the peril that awaits those who need immediate help. Whether it’s in the form of the modest payment contained in the bill already approved or the larger amount that Trump is now demanding, none of it will get to where it needs to go unless Donald Trump pulls his head out of his a** and signs the legislation.

A lot of us feared this kind of chaos would ensue once Donald Trump took office. He is making his exit all the more chaotic … and welcomed by millions of us who await a real president to repair the damage that this clown is delivering.

local news

What does a ‘Biden fan’ look like?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Forgive me for revisiting briefly a blog item I posted about a message I received from someone who doesn’t like the fact that I, as a former Amarillo resident, continues to write about matters related to the Texas Panhandle.

This individual, who shall remain unidentified, wrote this:  Your writings about the Sod Poodles is (sic) trash. You don’t live here so you can stop writing about stuff here. I figured by the way you look you would be a Biden fan.

‘Trash,’ you say? Why, I never … | High Plains Blogger

I already have commented on the Sod Poodles reference in this guy’s note. However, he says that he “figured” I am a Joe Biden fan because of the way I “look.”

I’m trying to wrap my noggin around that one. One of my sons figures the guy was objecting mainly to my political leanings and used the Sod Poodles angle as a way to lend it some form of relevance. Hmm. Not a bad analysis. Hey, if my son is right, that means the guy reads the blog regularly. To which I should say “thanks for reading.” There. I just did.

I feel compelled to ask: What does a “Biden fan” look like? Do we all look the same? Are the 81 million-plus Bidenistas out there who voted for the president-elect wearing the same brand of clothes? Do we all drive the same kind of vehicle? FYI, I happen to drive a monster Dodge Ram pickup, three-quarter ton brute.

My correspondent stepped in it, if you want to know my opinion about that. It’s OK. I don’t know him and he damn sure doesn’t know me. I promise I’ll refrain from generalizing about someone who would write something so utterly pointless.

I just wanted to toss this little item out there. Maybe he’ll see it. Oh, dude … keep reading the blog.

local news

‘Trash,’ you say? Why, I never …

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I feel the need to share a message I received from someone in Amarillo, Texas, who apparently believes I shouldn’t comment on matters relating to the city I once called home.

I won’t tell you his name, since he sent the message to me privately. I responded privately as well, telling him he was full of feces … except that I used a more descriptive term that means the same thing.

He wrote me this message: Your writings about the Sod Poodles is (sic) trash. You don’t live here so you can stop writing about stuff here. I figured by the way you look you would be a Biden fan.

Well, excuse me, buster!

I have taken to  writing about the Amarillo Sod Poodles, the city’s new Double-A minor league baseball team because (a) I believe the team brings a lot of pizzazz to the city and (b) the city has invested a lot of actual and emotional capital in reviving its downtown district and the Sod Poodles are a big part of that revival.

I am not sure what my correspondent has read that would anger him so much. It’s not as though I have been trashing the Sod Poodles. On the contrary I’ve been cheering them on every step of the way. I applauded the team for winning the Texas League title in 2019 in the Sod Poodles’ first season ever. Granted, they weren’t an expansion team; they relocated to Amarillo after vacating San Antonio, so the team was an established entity in the Texas League.

Moreover, I have cheered the construction of Hodgetown, the Soddies’ new ballpark that was erected downtown. If I have one concern about the project it has been the absence of any businesses buying retail space in the parking garage the city built next to Hodgetown. The park itself is a thing of beauty. Granted, I haven’t yet attended a ballgame there, but I have seen it up close on visits to Amarillo. Hodgetown is a beaut, man!

I am not sure what my correspondent’s assessment of my political leaning has to do with anything. I guess he was just looking for something else to sling at me. Whatever.

My goal is to continue to comment on matters relating to Amarillo. I still have a member of my family living there. My wife and I spent many years there and grew to love the community.

That qualifies me as someone who is fit to comment on matters that I deem appropriate. So … there.

national news

Tuberville making an a** of himself

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

U.S. Sen.-elect Tommy Tuberville, the Alabama Republican who exhibited a profound ignorance of government while campaigning for the office to which he was elected, seeks to make a dubious spectacle of himself even before he takes his seat in the next Congress.

Tuberville couldn’t identify the three branches of the federal government but managed to get elected this year because he is a Republican in a deeply Republican state. Now he wants to challenge President-elect Joe Biden’s victory over Donald Trump in the presidential election.

Tuberville is hinting broadly that he intends to challenge the result when Congress meets Jan. 6 to ratify the Electoral College’s certification of Biden’s clear and decisive victory.

Good news, though. Senate Republicans are resisting Tuberville’s goofy notion that the election is illegitimate because of phony allegations of voter fraud.

He has joined another Alabama nut job, Rep. Mo Brooks, in challenging the results. If they succeed, the House and Senate will have to stage two-hour debates before deciding to do what they must, which is to declare President-elect Biden the winner.

We are being disserved by this kind of idiocy in the halls of our elected Congress.