What can he do? Plenty!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Allow me one more shot at the Cruz Missile.

Ted Cruz went to Cancun to bask in the sun with his family while the state he represents in the U.S. Senate is suffering from a monstrous Arctic blast. He came home to face a torrent of well-deserved criticism.

But … he also has his pals on the far right. One of them is right-wing gasbag Ben Shapiro, who wondered what a senator could do. Should he fire up a blowtorch and start thawing frozen plumbing? Shapiro asked.

What a moronic notion.

Senators can do plenty. They have staffs who do something called “constituent service.” They can talk directly to FEMA officials, to their fellow senator, to members of Congress, to mayors, county judges, to utility bosses asking them what they need. He can show up at warming shelters to lend a good word of encouragement. He can demonstrate empathy, compassion and concern.

Cruz abandoned his post. Where I come from that is called “dereliction of duty.”

‘Distraction,’ Sen. Cruz?

 

(Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Ted Cruz is back home in Houston.

It seems that the Republican U.S. senator heard the hollering and got back quickly from his vacation in Cancun. His reaction to the media is disgraceful.

He called it “unfortunate” that the trip has become such a “distraction.” What a joke from a serious jerk.

Cruz jetted off to the Mexican resort while his constituents in Texas — and that includes my family and me — are suffering from the monstrous winter storm that paralyzed the state’s utility systems.

Instead of staying at his post, making sure the federal government could deliver relief for Texans, Cruz decided to fly away because he wanted to be a “good dad” for his daughters who wanted him to accompany them on a family vacation.

Good grief! He should have just told his children: Kids, I am sorry I cannot join you but I have a serious job to do and I need to stay home and make sure our state’s residents don’t suffer any longer from the storm. Go have a great time and I’ll see you and your Mom when you get home.

But, no-o-o-o-o! He didn’t say that. He chose instead to desert his post while the state is suffering.

This guy makes me sick.

2021 channels 2020?

“Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.”

— Roger Daltrey, singing, “We Won’t Get Fooled Again

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It seems like a lifetime ago. We said goodbye and good riddance to 2020. Remember that? I do!

Then we welcomed the new year with the hope that turning a calendar page meant we could turn the page on an era of tumult, turmoil, tempest … the works.

The pandemic had killed many thousands of Americans; we endured the nastiest presidential election campaign in memory; then we watched the outgoing president foment the Big Lie about the election outcome being the product of political thievery.

The pandemic muted many traditional celebrations. Times Square was not full of revelers on New Year’s Eve.

Then the new year arrived.

To be candid, 2021 seems to have just continued the misery we felt in 2020. The nation endured the insurrection at the Capitol Building; five people died. The House impeached the outgoing president for the second time; the Senate then “acquitted” him by failing to get enough votes to meet the high threshold required to convict him of inciting the riot.

That all happened within the first month of the new year.

Then came the Storm of 2021. We in Texas are suffering from this event.

I am merely venting. I mean, what else is there to do? I cannot make the weather change, other than wish it would as I desire. Perhaps a prayer or two will help.

That all said, I won’t dwell on the misery we are experiencing in this new year. I am going to look forward. For one thing, the weather is going to improve. Spring is on its way. The grass will turn green; flowers will bloom; the temperature will warm up; the ice will melt.

The pandemic infection rate is beginning to decline. I get that too many Americans are dying and my heart continues to break over it. More of us are getting vaccinated, protected against infection.

A new president will not lie incessantly. He is going to act the part of head of state and commander in chief. The POTUS will function the way the holder of that office is supposed to function. As we turn the corner from the pandemic, my sincere hope — and belief — is that our economy will rebound.

The new year looks a whole lot like the old year … so far. It is testing my patience, but my reservoir of hope is deep.

They earn their keep

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

My many years working as a daily print journalist put me in touch with a boatload of public service officials, many of whom I learned to respect and some of them actually earned my affection.

I have been thinking of them over the past few days as we Texas residents have grappled with the ravages of Mother Nature’s wrath.

City managers, fire and police chiefs, utility officials, EMTs, paramedics, mayors and city council members all have been facing immense pressure to answer their constituents’ questions and tend to their needs. Yes, we pay their salaries and they are responsible to us first and foremost. Most of the public service officials I have known over many years have done their level best to fulfill their public responsibilities.

I knew a fire chief in Beaumont, Texas — his name is Pete Shelton — who jumped into a culvert to rassle a gator out of someone’s yard; I cannot recall the size of the beast Chief Shelton pulled out, but I think it was, um, sizable. That, I submit, is going above and beyond the call of duty.

We don’t have alligators lurking in people’s yards in Collin County, but we have plenty of officials here who do their jobs with dedication.

This winter storm has provided plenty of sleepless nights not only for those of us who have suffered through extended periods of time without heat or water. The nature-induced insomnia also has affected those upon whom we depend to solve those problems. Make no mistake that those ranks also include the utility employees who answer calls to restore water flow or work on power lines.

I just feel the need to salute them all. They have earned their salary.

Get back to work, Ted

(Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

OK, I just have to get something off my chest.

Ted Cruz is a worm, a snake, a weasel. The U.S. senator from Texas now has come clean on a report that he flew off to Mexico while the state he represents is undergoing a historic natural weather trauma.

He said today he flew with his daughters to Cancun because he wanted to “be a good dad.” He said his family in Houston has suffered, too, losing power and water right along with the rest of the state.

His children wanted to go on vacation with friends, as their school is shut down.

Ted Cruz flew to CancĂșn as millions of Texans endure power outages | The Texas Tribune

Look, Sen. Cruz, you get paid a six-figure salary to be on the job when your state needs you. I believe we need our senators and our members of Congress on the job imploring the federal government for help. I understand Cruz and Sen. John Cornyn have communicated with the White House on what they need and Cruz — who said he would return today to Texas — vowed to work hard.

He damn well better get back to work.

The Cruz Missile hasn’t exactly distinguished himself lately, helping lead a Senate challenge of the 2020 presidential election results and then voting to acquit a disgraced — and twice-impeached — former president after watching him incite a riotous mob to storm the Capitol Building.

Stay on the job, Sen. Cruz, and earn that salary we’re paying you.

Take off the mask, Ted

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

What you see with this brief blog post is a picture of U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz waiting to board an airplane.

It’s reported the junior Republican senator has jetted off with his family to Cancun, Mexico. Why is this a big deal? Because the state he represents — that would be Texas — is enduring the effects of a historic winter storm.

Millions of Texans are affected adversely by the storm. Pipes have frozen; the power has gone out; local water supply has been compromised; politicians are sniping at each other over who’s to blame; Texans are angry, miserable, hurting.

Cruz now reportedly is basking in the sun down yonder in Mexico while his state is suffering grievously.

If I were Ted Cruz — and I thank God I am not — I would have issued a press release to deny that the picture is me and that I am not vacationing in Cancun … were that the case.

His silence regarding this matter speaks volumes. Ted Cruz is shirking his duty.

Playing politics with people’s misery?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Oh, my. Here it comes.

Texas government officials are taking their lumps over the disaster that arose from the Arctic blast that blew in over the state. It has paralyzed entire cities. Power has gone out. Water supplies have been compromised. It has been a nightmare around here.

However, I am saddened to see this misery being politicized. I do not want to assess any blame based on partisan concerns. Nor do I want to hear prominent politicians or other political activists seek to make hay over the misery that so many of us are enduring.

I’m talking about folks such as, say, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, a one-time presidential and U.S. Senate candidate from El Paso. O’Rourke says the failure of the power grid is attributable to “Republican policies.”

Really, Beto? You are going there already while a lot of folks — perhaps even some in your home town — are still sleeping in frigid conditions?

I am way more than ready to get through this emergency. I want it to end. I want solutions based on reality. I believe some individuals or groups of individuals have made plenty of mistakes while mismanaging the crisis.

The source of our misery is infinitely greater than any human being can control. Let us focus on dealing directly and exclusively with how we can find our way out of this mess. The politics of it can wait.

Texas earns lumps it is taking

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It is no fun listening to media talking heads ripping Texas a new one over the mishandling of its response to the Arctic blast that blew in over the state.

It also is hard for me to admit this, given that I have lived in this state for nearly 37 years and have become quite acclimated to the state’s unique culture … but the state has earned the bludgeoning it is taking.

Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been quick to level criticism at officials from across the political aisle, has been singled out by many over the mismanagement and the resulting suffering that many Texans have endured from the winter blast.

Texas has sold itself to the rest of the nation as an energy-producing titan, with ample supplies of fuel to, um, keep the power plants operating. It turns out that all that energy hasn’t kept enough of those plants open. What’s more, some folks in high places made some bone-headed decisions about monitoring the production capacity; they have shut down too many plants at the very time the temperature was plummeting across the state.

There needs to be some answers about what has happened in this state, how it continues to flounder while so many Texans are suffering with no power, scarce water and next to zero confidence that anything will improve.

Oh, and we also have that pandemic that continues to sicken and kill us.

I have no regrets moving to Texas in 1984 to pursue a journalism career from which I drew great joy and excitement. It still saddens me to see so many others casting proverbial “side glances” at our state while we continue to suffer from nature’s wrath.

I am hoping we can get through this crisis … soon!

Renewables aren’t the problem, governor

(Bob Daemmrich/Pool Photo via AP)

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had me … then he lost me.

The governor declared his displeasure with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas’s handling of the deep freeze that produce widespread power outages in the state. He called correctly for a deep probe into the decisions ERCOT made in cutting energy production capacity in the midst of the Arctic blast that sent temperatures plummeting.

Then what does Abbott do? He goes on Fox News and declares that the “Green New Deal” that advocates the use of wind and solar energy is the major culprit in the Texas energy crisis. What the … ?

Rolling Stone reported: On Tuesday, Governor Greg Abbott went on Fox News to point the finger at renewable energy. “This shows how the Green New Deal would be a deadly deal for the United States of America,” he said before claiming the “shutdown” of solar and wind energy “thrust Texas into a situation where it was lacking power.”

Texas Power Crisis: Gov. Greg Abbott Falsely Blames Green Energy – Rolling Stone

Good grief, man. Renewable energy accounts for a tiny fraction of the energy being produced in this state. It should be more, but it isn’t. Yet, Abbott decided to look for the straw man and beat it mercilessly in front of a friendly audience that has little tolerance or belief in renewable energy.

This is a ridiculous assumption coming from the state’s top elected official. He clearly is playing to a political base he will need if he runs for re-election in 2022. Indeed, Abbott is now being talked about as a possible presidential candidate in 2024.

Ugghh! He is taking aim at the wrong target if he is going to blame the Green New Deal, which I hasten to add hasn’t even been enacted by Congress. Donald Trump opposed the notion when he sat in the Oval Office and his successor as president, Joe Biden, is not a huge fan of the Green New Deal, either.

So why does Abbott beat the hell out of a policy that promotes clean energy, seeks to save the environment, endeavors to wean the nation of finite fossil fuels in favor of infinite sources of energy, such as sunshine and ever-present wind? He does so because the fossil fuel lobby includes big political donors who can influence politicians’ seeking to stay in office or perhaps seek a higher office. Do you get it?

Gov. Abbott continues, therefore, to disappoint me.

Texans are suffering because of inept energy management policies. As for the energy grid and the source of the power, it comes from petroleum, natural gas primarily. Renewable energy accounts for a tiny fraction. Abbott should have stuck with his initial anger at ERCOT for its mismanagement of energy during this crisis.

Instead he wandered onto a field that has next to nothing to do with the crisis at hand.

Shameful.

Here’s a harsh view for you to consider

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I posted an item just a little while ago about the late Rush Limbaugh — and yes, it feels strange to describe him as such.

I didn’t want to fire off an epithet-filled response to his death from cancer. Instead, I will share the following piece from Rolling Stone magazine. It says what I feel and I’ll just leave it for someone else to say. Then I’ll just get the heck out of the way.

Rush Limbaugh Did His Best to Ruin America – Rolling Stone

Take it away, Bob Moser.