Monthly Archives: March 2021

national news

Cruz misfires once more

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Leave it to the Cruz Missile to blast his way into raw demagoguery.

Sen. Ted Cruz was just so darn angry at Democrats because, in the wake of the Boulder, Colo., and Atlanta massacres, they seek to limit wackos’ ability to purchase firearms.

He said those attempts are just another effort to make it harder for “law-abiding citizens” to “keep and bear arms” as guaranteed by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Which begs the obvious question: If a citizen obeys and abides by all the laws, then what in the hell is the problem?

According to the Boston Globe:

“But what they propose, not only does it not reduce crime, it makes it worse. The jurisdictions in this country with the strictest gun control have among the highest rates of crime and murder,” Cruz said, reiterating a false talking point peddled by gun rights groups including the National Rifle Association.

In fact, research completed on the subject thus far points to the opposite conclusion. One study, led by Boston University School of Public Health researcher Michael Siegel, found that “states with higher rates of gun ownership had disproportionately large numbers of deaths from firearm-related homicides.”

Cruz accuses Democrats of playing ‘political theater’ for proposing gun safety measures ‘every time there’s a shooting’ (msn.com)

Cruz, a Texas Republican, is among the many congressional GOPers who cannot bring themselves to buck gun lobby that opposes efforts to legislate remedies to the gun violence that kills tens of thousands of Americans every year.

What we have on our hands is a uniquely American problem, given the way our Constitution has been perverted at times by those who believe that bearing arms means we should be able to own any weapon we desire.

local news

COVID unit shuts down!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

More signs of hope in this pandemic era are springing up in North Texas.

Dallas’s Parkland Hospital announced it is closing its COVID-19 unit because, get ready for it, of a decline in rates of positivity and hospitalization of North Texas residents.

That is unabashedly good news, yes? Of course it is! For now.

Let us hope the good news continues to emerge like wildflowers in the spring.

What’s more, Texas announced it plans to open its vaccination protocol to anyone older than 16 years of age beginning next Monday. More good news? Yep.

Keep it up, folks.

State news

You go, Mr. Former Speaker!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Joe Straus describes himself as a “stay-and-fight Republican,” but it’s unclear to me how much fight he has left in his struggle with the party to which he has belonged for decades.

Straus is the former speaker of the Texas House of Representatives. He bowed out of office before the start of the 2019 Legislature, only to watch his successor as speaker, Dennis Bonnen, implode over a treacherous act against his former GOP lawmakers; Bonnen got caught promising to sacrifice 10 legislators who had drawn the ire of a far-right-wing political action committee.

Indeed, not long after Straus announced his intention to retire from the Legislature, I implored him to reconsider. He didn’t listen to me.

Speaker Straus, would you reconsider quitting the House? | High Plains Blogger

Now, though, he is telling the Texas Tribune that he might run for public office in 2022. Straus told the Tribune’s Evan Smith that the state GOP no longer is in the same place he occupies. It’s become a cult, he said.

Texas Tribune podcast: Former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus on the GOP | The Texas Tribune

Straus has me wanting to give him a high five, an atta boy, a shout out. I want him back in the arena.

Why do I admire this fellow? Well, during the 2017 Legislature, he had the guts to stand up to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s desire to enact a bathroom bill that sought to discriminate against transgender individuals. Patrick wanted the Legislature to enact a law that required people to use public restrooms in accordance to the gender with which they were born. Transgender individuals? Forget about it. Women had to use the men’s room, and vice versa.

Straus called a halt to it and it died in the House of Representatives.

Joe Straus is a reasonable man who deserves to hold a position of power in this state.

Let me think, what’s available to him. Oh, I know: The lieutenant governor’s office is up in 2022. My hunch is that Patrick will seek re-election, or he might decide to challenge Gov. Greg Abbott in the GOP primary.

I loathe Dan Patrick. I admire Joe Straus. He told Evan Smith: “I don’t have a plan right now. I do think that in the future, people in this state are going to be looking for a different type of leadership than we’ve had right now.”

Boy, howdy!

crime news

He embodied the best of us

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The reality is stark, which is that Eric Talley’s life was no more valuable than any of the other nine individuals who died in the Boulder, Colo., massacre this week.

However, his was the first name that went public as police sought to unravel the horror of the event.

You see, Talley was an 11-year veteran of the Boulder Police Department, which I understand is a small department charged with protecting and serving the community that is home to the University of Colorado.

Talley was a husband and well as a father to seven children, the youngest of whom is 7 years of age.

He died answering the call to help. The Boulder PD received the 911 call from someone inside the supermarket and Talley was the first one there. He rushed in to protect the community. He died in the effort.

In a tragic sense, Eric Talley’s story isn’t unique. We know of men and women who have given their lives to protect others. They rush toward the signs of danger, not away from them. The first responders of 9/11 reminded us of the valor they display daily. You hear occasionally of Good Samaritans, civilians with no apparent training in these matters, rushing to the aid of their fellow travelers.

The men and women who suit up as police officers and firefighters are a special breed of humanity. Many of them are just like Eric Talley, a 51-year-old police officer who sought to save others from tragedy only to meet it head on himself.

My career as a journalist put me in touch with police officers, firefighters and EMTs frequently during many years covering and commenting on their activities. I have told many of them how proud I am of the work they do and how grateful I am that they are willing to answer the call when it arrives.

I am going to thank Eric Talley now for the sacrifice he made on behalf of his colleagues and for the people he took an oath to serve.

Our nation mourns the latest senseless loss of life.

crime news

Is this the moment for action?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Barack Obama wiped away tears while talking to the nation about the massacre of 20 first- and second-graders and six of their teachers in Newtown, Conn.; he implored Congress to toughen gun laws.

It didn’t act.

Donald Trump took office right after Obama and vowed to end “this American carnage.” It didn’t end during his term in office. He had opportunities to demand action from Congress, but he never took the bait.

Now it is Joe Biden who is facing the dilemma of what to do about the continuing senselessness of random gun violence. So it goes and so it will continue to go, more than likely.

In the span of a little more than a week, eight people died in Georgia at the hands of a gunman and then 10 more died from a shooter’s evil intent in Colorado. The first tragedy appears to be inspired by hate of Asians and of women. The motivation behind the second incident is still a bit murky.

What in  the name of righteous indignation happens now?

My hunch? Probably not a damn thing!

The National Rifle Association has sunk its claws deeply into the hides of many members of Congress, where laws could be created  that might be able to stem the “carnage” that Trump vowed to eradicate. The NRA stands firm on this preposterous notion that any law somehow would deprive “law-abiding citizens” of their constitutional right to “keep and bear arms.”

I will not let go of the notion that there is a legislative remedy out there that can be enacted. I want Congress to act. I am tired of the inattention to a solution that well might put an end — finally! — to the heartache that has spilled over yet again.

crime news

Time to act … again!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

President Biden said the following today while commenting on the Boulder. Colo., massacre that left 10 people dead, including a police officer who rushed to the scene when the shooting started.

“I don’t need to wait another minute, let alone an hour, to take common sense steps that will save lives in the future and to urge my colleagues in the House and Senate to act,” Biden said in remarks at the White House following Monday’s shooting. “We can ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines in this country once again. I got that done when I was a senator. … We should do it again.”

OK. Do you think it will happen? Do you believe that lawmakers who snuggle up to the gun lobby are going to do the right thing?

Neither do I.

Which makes this latest plea for sane gun-control laws yet another exercise in extreme futility in this most recent moment of misery.

As The Hill reported: Biden called on the Senate to “immediately pass” two House-passed bills that would expand background checks for firearm sales, noting that both passed the Democrat-controlled lower chamber with some Republican support. One of the bills would close the so-called Charleston loophole by extending the initial background check review period from three to 10 days. The bill is linked to the 2015 shooting in Charleston, S.C., in which a white supremacist killed nine Black Americans at the Mother Emanuel AME Church.

Biden urges Congress to pass assault weapon ban | TheHill

Republican senators are likely to filibuster any effort at meaningful reform. It takes 60 votes to break the filibuster; that means a 50-50 Senate requires 10 GOP senators to cross over. They won’t do it.

I am beyond weary listening to gun lobbyists declare that any effort to strength gun laws somehow masks some nefarious plot to disarm Americans. I long have maintained that there must be a legislative solution that remains faithful to the Second Amendment to the Constitution, which allows citizens to “keep and bear arms.”

I am not alone in this belief. Sadly and tragically, the gun lobby with its big money and its bullying strategy continues to keep these remedies off the books. The result is inevitable: More Americans are going to die the way those 10 victims perished in Boulder.

Shameful.

Sports news

Student-athletes don’t need more dough!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Let’s launch a pre-emptive strike against what I am certain will become a talking point as we travel farther down this road called March Madness.

That is this notion of paying student-athletes for doing what they do, which is to excel in athletics while obtaining a higher education.

We must not go down that road. Why? Because these student-athletes — men and women alike — already are getting paid in the form of acquiring essentially a free college education.

If they excel in any of the sports sanctioned by the NCAA, they receive scholarships to attend the school of their choice. They become enrolled in prestigious public and private colleges and universities. Oh, and they also engage in sports activities representing their chosen school.

Granted, a tiny fraction of these student-athletes go on to earn millions of dollars as paid professional athletes, be it basketball, football, baseball/softball. Which makes their education all the more vital to them.

But think of it: They aren’t paying for their tuition, their fees, their books, their lodging, their meal plans. They get it all free because of their athletic prowess!

I agree that there ought to be ways to loosen the rules prohibiting alumni from paying for an athlete’s lunch, things such as that. Most assuredly there needs to be much work done to achieve gender equality between men and women’s sports.

I haven’t heard much discussion about this matter during this March Madness mayhem. I guess everyone’s too caught up in watching their bracket matchups being blown to smithereens by all the Cinderella-story upsets. This issue pops up, though, which is why I wanted to weigh in here.

I was able to attend college without piling up a huge student loan debt. I had the GI Bill to pay for my college education. Perhaps my view of paying student-athletes is jaded, given that I wasn’t a good enough athlete to earn a full-ride college scholarship. I wasn’t a stellar enough high school student to earn an academic scholarship, either.

I just know what I see playing out these days. Which is student-athletes given a chance to perform their athletic skills while at the same time attending college and — hopefully! — being attentive enough in the classroom to work toward their degree.

Do they deserve a salary to play ball? No. They earn enough money as it is.

crime news

Death in Boulder … oh, my!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Multiple people are dead in Boulder, Colo.

A shooting suspect is in custody. The cops aren’t telling the community and the rest of us how many fatalities they have found inside a supermarket.

I am left to wonder — hours after the event — what in the world are they waiting on before they inform the world about the magnitude of this latest monstrous act of gun violence in America?

So far, I hate to suggest this, but the authorities in Boulder are not serving the people they are assigned to serve.

I know they need to notify next of kin before giving us the names of those who have died. But … why not the number of fatalities?

Meanwhile, the rest of us are in shock once again at what has transpired.

A man walked in public reportedly carrying a rifle. Colorado, as I understand it, is an “open carry” state, meaning that one can pack heat in the open.

My question: Why allow someone to walk into a business carrying a loaded weapon in the open without some assurance that he won’t use that weapon in the manner that occurred today in Boulder?

So here we are. The nation mourns yet again.

Donald Trump, national news

C’mon back, Donald!

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald John Trump’s expected return to Republican Party political involvement just might be a good tonic for the nation, if not the GOP.

Why? Because the ex-president will be able to expose himself even more to the kind of self-centered narcissism that became one of the hallmarks of his time as president.

Trump reportedly is planning to get more involved in GOP primary activities, siding with candidates who oppose incumbents who weren’t sufficiently loyal to him.

As The Hill reports, though, many mainstream Republicans are none too happy to see The Donald step back into the arena after being beaten soundly by President Biden. They blame Trump for Georgia’s two U.S. Senate seats flipping from Republican to Democrat in the January runoff election. They are angry that Trump keeps repeating The Big Lie about the 2020 election being stolen from him.

Trump ramps up activities, asserts power within GOP | TheHill

As an ardent critic of Donald Trump, I am going to stop worrying about whether he plans to launch a return to political life. I see many hideous storm clouds on the horizon awaiting Trump. Prosecutors in New York and Georgia are looking for potential criminal culpability involving Trump. His once-fabled business “empire” is looking shakier all the time. Trump is facing hundreds of millions of dollars in debt that are coming due. All of that will become fodder for whoever wants to challenge The Donald.

To be sure, my sincerest hope of all is for Trump to vanish. I want him gone. His 15 minutes of political fame are up. He had his time on center stage … and blew it all apart.

I will watch with somewhat muted interest in this individual’s attempt at trying to cling to the power he possesses over a political party he grabbed by the throat and turned it into a cult of personality.

local news, medical news, State news

Dimwits abound, but not here

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The news has been full today of video showing crowds of young’ns gathered in South Florida, reveling over spring break; they are without masks, inviting a surge in the COVID virus that keeps killing Americans.

That is happening over there.

I admit that I am not getting out too much these days during this pandemic era, but my wife and I have ventured out to run an errand or two. We came home today from running an errand in McKinney, about eight miles west of our Princeton, Texas home.

Here’s what I noticed at two locations we visited: We noticed everyone inside the Home Depot on U.S. 75 wearing masks. We noticed plenty of “social distancing” markers on the floor. We were taken by the care shown to observe the protocols recommended by the U.S. health authorities who are trying to rid the world of this virus.

Then we went to lunch at a BBQ joint nearby. We saw the same thing. Masks. Social distancing. Lots of precaution being taken.

I hear anecdotes from friends all over Texas about the dumba**es who aren’t being careful. Gov. Greg Abbott recently lifted his mask mandate and told businesses they could fill their establishments to full capacity. I am not seeing it just yet. I continue to see Texans showing remarkable restraint as they go about their business. I still believe Abbott acted too soon, but I hope my fears go unrealized.

I am going to suggest, therefore, that sanity has gripped most of us. I certainly believe what I have seen on TV news broadcasts about numbskulls gathering to party in places like South Florida, along the Texas coast and anywhere else deemed to be popular spring break locations.

I am too old to carry on like that, which in this time is quite good for my health.