Monthly Archives: January 2021

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Surviving these trying times

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

To suggest we have been living in trying times is to commit the Mother of Understatements.

We have just said good riddance to someone who in my humble view is without question the most incompetent, imbecilic, venal and vile man ever to occupy the office of president of the United States. You know to whom I refer, so I won’t bother mentioning his name.

We also have this pandemic that continues to kill an alarming number of Americans every day.

It is fair to ponder how we get through this time, through all these crises. I do so practically daily.

My hope is for strength and for patience. Our new president, Joe Biden, is a decent man, in many ways the antithesis of the individual he replaced in the White House. He is enacting policy changes at a blinding pace as he settles in behind the Resolute Desk.

The first order of business is to get rid of the pandemic. President Biden has declared that he is establishing a “war footing” as he fights the virus; he will enact the Defense Production Act to mobilize all available federal resources to the fight against what his predecessor called an “unseen enemy.”

I await the results to bear real and tangible benefit. It will take time. We must not fool ourselves into believing a quick solution is just around the corner.

The Senate trial will be over and behind us likely soon after it begins. Do not expect a conviction of the former president who incited the insurrection on the Sixth of January. If it happens, you will find no one more excited than me; if it doesn’t, well, we will know the names of the Senate cowards who couldn’t put loyalty to the Constitution above their loyalty to an individual.

As we fend off the temptation to assess blame, though, let us give ample thanks to the system ingrained in our government by the wise men who built it in the late 18th century. It is far from perfect, but we knew that to be the case. Our system remains the best hope for the world to emulate.

The difficult era through which we have just passed likely won’t fade soon into our distant memory. How do I know that? Because I continue to write about it on this blog and I am not alone in spending emotional energy on the bygone era.

It will fade eventually. I long for the day when we can look exclusively forward without pondering the hell through which we all traveled.

national news

Trump wants to form new party? Perfect!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

This bit of news almost made me laugh out loud, as in guffaw uproariously.

Donald Trump, having disgraced the respectable elements of the Republican Party, might decide to form his own political organization if he wants to run for president in 2024.

A good bit of that remains in the hands of the U.S. Senate, which could bar him from running for office ever again if it finds the backbone it needs to convict him of incitement of insurrection. The House of Reps impeached Trump for the second time after he egged on the terrorists, encouraging them to storm Capitol Hill on the Sixth of January.

It is my fondest hope that Trump has deep-fried his political goose within the GOP no matter what the Senate decides. From my vantage in Trump Country, a Senate conviction remains a tall order. The U.S. Constitution requires a two-thirds majority in the Senate to convict a president; that means the Senate needs to contain 17 GOP members with courage and a deep and abiding love of the government they took an oath to protect.

Is there a self-respecting non-Trump cultist Republican who believes the ex-president is suited to lead a once-great political party? Hell no, man!

So, sure thing, Mr. Trump. Form your political party. All he has to do is put a name on what exists already. Call it the Trump Party. It’s in keeping with Trump’s love affair with his own name. He plasters it on casinos, airplanes, hotels, a university, steak sauce. His party exists in reality as it is, breaking away from traditional Republicanism to create what he calls a “movement” aimed at “making America great again.”

Hey, there’s another name for it. The MAGA Party! It could be linked forever with Donald Trump, the guy who brought us death and misery by failing to act against a killer virus and whose astonishing ineptitude resulted in a collapsed economy.

If I were a Democratic Party activist, I would be exhorting Trump to go ahead and make my day.

local news

This guy is now in Congress … wow!

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

(AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

It is difficult for me to process the election of a guy who represents the congressional district where I once lived, given this individual’s history and the idiotic nature of the campaign he ran to win the seat in the House of Representatives.

U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson is now representing the 13th Congressional District, succeeding longtime Rep. Mac Thornberry of Clarendon, who retired at the end of 2020.

Jackson came to the Texas Panhandle after serving in the Navy. He achieved the rank of rear admiral. He is a physician and served as the doc for three presidents: George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Donald Trump.

He was born in Levelland, but moved away to follow his military career. He must have excelled, given the high rank he achieved, so I do not begrudge him his accomplishments.

Then he became enamored with the Trump effort to “make America great again.” He became a MAGA-ite. Trump nominated him to become secretary of veterans affairs, which on the surface seemed like a good call.

But … wait! Then came allegations of some hanky panky by the doctor. Trump nominated Jackson to be his secretary of veterans affairs. Jackson eventually withdrew his nomination after allegations surfaced about drinking on the job and overprescribing of medication to patients.

All of that was well-known as he settled in the Panhandle to launch his first-ever political campaign.

Still, despite all that the voters of the region — which cast their ballots overwhelmingly for Trump in his losing race against President Biden — went with this fellow, Dr. Jackson.

I do not get it!

Whether he learns anything about the issues vital to those he represents remains to be seen. I hope for his constituents’ sake he does, that he bones up on farm policy, on water policy, on wind and solar energy issues, on national security … and on what’s on folks’ minds at the grange hall, the feed store and in church.

I don’t feel good yet about the quality of representation my friends and former neighbors are about to receive.

I want to be wrong. Time will have to tell me whether I am.

Uncategorized

The Big Lie lives on

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Congressional Republicans continue to cling to The Big Lie … and it’s infuriating as hell.

One of them, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, told ABC News that Congress has a responsibility to track down every known instance of voter fraud it can find relating to the 2020 presidential election. When he was told that there is no evidence of widespread fraud, Paul insisted on following that lie down the ol’ rabbit hole.

“There are two sides to every story,” he told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. Except there isn’t another “side” to the lie fomented by Donald Trump, his acolytes in Congress and out here in Voter Land.

Then came Paul’s effort to defend his integrity by claiming that Stephanopoulos was calling him a liar. He wasn’t. Stephanopoulos said only that Paul and other GOP Trump cultists in the Senate have swallowed The Big Lie.

Let’s revisit what we know, OK?

Courts have ruled that there is no evidence of widespread fraud. President Biden won the election freely, fairly and without fraud. Every single state in the Union certified the results. The former Attorney General William Barr said there was no evidence of fraud on a scale that would determine the outcome of the election.

I get that no election is utterly and completely fraud-free. Every election since the founding of our republic has produced isolated incidents – a voter or two here and/or there – of people casting ballots illegally. Is that satisfactory? Of course not! It did not approach the level of “widespread fraud” that Trump alleged for the entire post-election period leading up to President Biden’s inauguration.

The Big Lie resulted in the terrorist attack on Capitol Hill and the second presidential impeachment of Donald Trump. It put members of Congress – including Sen. Paul – in dire danger of physical harm … or worse!

So, for the Trumpsters who remain in public office to continue to base their search for voter fraud on a lie – which they surely must know to be a lie – is the height (or depth) of hypocrisy.

medical news

Call it a ‘false positive’

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It’s a form of “false positive” news about the pandemic.

What we hear this morning is that infection/hospitalization rates are leveling off, that they now are at pre-Thanksgiving levels. Is that good news? Sure it is. At least for today it is.

What’s more, we hear about vaccination rates accelerating. Twenty million Americans have received at least the first dose of vaccine. That, too, is encouraging.

Tomorrow is another day. Next week is another week. Which means that we intend to continue doing what we need to do to stay healthy.

It’s good to remind everyone that this kind of false positive news is no signal to let up, no time to back off.

I take only a small measure of relief to hear the news about infection and hospitalization rates. We are keeping our masks within arm’s reach at all times.

media news, national news

No angry tweets … sweet!

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I want to stand with David Plouffe, one of America’s most brilliant political strategists.

He wrote this message on Twitter: Will take a while to get used to waking up on a weekend and not be bombarded with a dozens of mean, crazy and destructive tweets from the world’s most powerful person. But I like the feeling so far.

I like the feeling, too. I like not having my Twitter feed flooded with posts from an angry president of the United States. I like reading about how senior presidential administration officials are learning they are being fired, or are learning about critical policy decisions, or are having to fend off criticism from the commander in chief.

The silence is golden.

national news

Sens. Cruz, Hawley earn their scorn

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

U.S. Sens. Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley try to defend their objection to certifying Joe Biden’s election as president by declaring they were doing the bidding of those who question the integrity of the election.

They did the bidding of the majority of Republicans who question it. Why did they disbelieve that President Biden won the election fairly? Because the guy Biden beat, Donald Trump, filled their numb skulls with the lie about the existence of “widespread voter fraud.”

Cruz and Hawley are two of the numbest skulls in the Senate. That is difficult for me to state because Cruz is a Harvard Law graduate, while Hawley got his law degree from Stanford. These men are not stupid. They are infected with the desire to become president someday. Cruz sought the highest office in 2016, but lost the Republican nomination to Donald Trump.

Hawley, from Missouri, got elected in 2018, but he’s already casting his gaze at the White House.

Will they resign, which some of their colleagues are demanding? Cruz is getting lots of media heat, with three major Texas newspapers calling for him to quit: the El Paso Times, the San Antonio Express-News and his hometown Houston Chronicle.

Sad to say, but I don’t expect either of them to pack it in. They will continue to rouse the rabbles in the Senate and will continue to obstruct President Biden’s agenda.

They both should quit. They have shamed themselves and the legislative body where they serve. Cruz and Hawley’s objection to Joe Biden’s election was based solely on a lie. They knew it was a lie when they yapped and yammered about voter fraud. That makes them unfit to represent their respective states and unfit to act on laws that affect all Americans.

media news

Time of My Life, Part 53: Returning to reminders

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Every time we come back to places we called home I am reminded of the joyful times I had going to work every day.

I also am reminded of why I am delighted to no longer facing the pressure that greets journalists who are reporting to work each day in these very trying times.

Don’t misunderstand me. I am way past the time I would have retired on my own terms. I just turned 71, which puts me fairly deeply into the “senior citizen” category of Americans. However, when I return to Amarillo, I confront memories that used to give me great joy.

I did visit downtown when we came back, but I avoided looking at a piece of property I usually visit I normally do when we come back to the Texas Panhandle. I usually drive by the now-vacant building where I toiled for 18 years as editorial page editor of a once-fine newspaper, the Amarillo Globe-News. It isn’t fine these days. In fact, it hardly covers the community, let alone the Panhandle, or eastern New Mexico, or the Oklahoma Panhandle.

However, when we come back to Amarillo, I cannot help but remember how the state of daily print journalism functioned when I reported for work at the Globe-News in January 1995.

The Globe-News published two newspapers each day. I had responsibility for the opinion pages of both editions. We sought to write fresh editorials daily for the morning and the afternoon newspapers. Our newsroom was teeming with staffers: reporters, copy editors, photographers, a librarian, a secretary, line editors.

These days? They’re almost all gone. They have vacated the building where we once reported for work. The Globe-News building is now scarred by graffiti. It sits vacant and is getting seedier every time I look at it. I couldn’t go there on my latest visit. It hurts too much to see it decaying before our eyes.

In the old days, we had tons of fun. I made many friends among the colleagues with whom I worked. I had some difficult relationships over that span of time, to be sure. But what the hey … you cannot expect perfection everywhere.

Returning to the Panhandle reminds me of how we used to serve the community. I recall fondly those grand times. I do not ever wish to return to the grind. I am enjoying a new way to celebrate the latest time of my life.

national news

Waiting for normal political climate

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

One of these days, maybe soon, Americans are going to get past the aftershocks of the political era that ended earlier this week.

Donald Trump has exited the White House. President Joe Biden has gotten right to work. But wait! We have another Senate trial awaiting us.

That, too, will become history. Senators can concentrate on other issues that affect the many millions of us who are weary of the pandemic, those who have been sickened by it, those who are mourning the loss of loved ones.

I am waiting with a certain degree of anxiousness for an end to the turmoil that continues to roil the waters.

It might take a long, long while for total normality to return. I am hoping we can experience that return even in increments. If we continue the journey back from the tempest that Donald Trump created almost daily, we will realize the progress we are making in real time.

I am acutely aware that there will be impediments to that recovery. It rests largely with the Trumpsters who continue to occupy public offices and those who bought into the Big Lie that Trump kept fomenting, the one about alleged voter thievery in the presidential election. We all witnessed the result of what that gullibility produced; the Capitol Hill insurrection was frightening in the extreme and to be candid, I haven’t gotten over it yet.

A new day will arrive. We will be cleansed eventually from the toxicity that Donald Trump brought us.

I am ready for a new day.

national news

Trial outcome runs into political reality

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(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I hate to deliver bad news, but I am going to deliver some right here.

It appears that the upcoming Senate trial of Donald J. Trump is not going to produce a richly deserved conviction of the former president. It has nothing to do with the evidence that he incited an insurrection. It has everything to do with what I expect to be a display of political cowardice among Senate Republicans who will face the mother of political revenge if they do the right thing.

The House impeached Trump on an allegation that he whipped the rioters into the frenzy that erupted when they stormed into the Capitol Building on the Sixth of January. I saw the president make those remarks. I saw the rioters’ response to it. Trump committed an act of incitement of insurrection.

The Constitution sets a high bar for the Senate to convict a president. It states that two-thirds of senators must agree. That means 17 GOP senators have to do the right thing.

Ten GOP House members joined their Democratic colleagues in impeaching Trump. The most notable of them is Rep. Liz Cheney, a member of the Republican leadership. She has been threatened with a primary challenge; some of her fellow GOP colleagues want her replaced as a congressional leader.

Therein is the problem facing Republican senators who might be inclined to convict Trump. Do they do what’s right and convict or do they seek to salvage their Senate careers by deciding to acquit?

The Senate will convene a trial on Feb. 9. The delay is of no particular consequence, given that Trump is now out of office. The only goal remaining is for Democrats and at least 17 Republicans vote to convict him, setting up a follow up vote: whether to ban Trump from ever seeking public office, which requires only a simple majority.

So … here we are. Fifty Senate Republicans face a reckoning. Do they punish a former GOP president who demonstrated for all the world that he is unfit for public office? Or do they scurry into the tall grass and avoid angering the cultists who continue to worship the ground on which Donald Trump treads?

I fear the latter … to their everlasting shame.