Monthly Archives: July 2021

national news

‘Club’ door will slam shut on this guy

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

One of the more exclusive clubs on Earth currently comprises just five members. However, only four men are being allowed inside whatever passes for a clubhouse frequented by its occupants.

I refer to the Former U.S. Presidents Club. It once was a revered de facto institution. The men who once served as commander in chief occasionally would huddle together, talk among themselves, perhaps even offer some advice to the current president of the United States.

Four of these men seem all willing to engage in this kind of time-honored camaraderie. Then there’s the fifth former POTUS. No. 45 is wired so differently. It defies any form of logic to understand how the 45th POTUS — whose name I will continue to refuse to publish on this blog — ever can assimilate with his colleagues, all the men who once had the nuclear codes, who lent aid and comfort to the nation in grief, performed the myriad written and unwritten duties of the high office.

Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama represent different political parties. Three of them are Democrats; one is a Republican. Even among the Democrats didn’t always walk in lockstep with each other. They all had a serious common thread that binds them at several levels. They all were humbled by the office. They all are true-blue patriots. They all carried themselves with dignity. They all accepted political defeat when fate turned against them.

Then there’s the fifth former POTUS.

He embodies none of that. He won’t accept publicly that President Biden defeated him. He continues to lie. He denigrates fallen heroes of past wars.

The most immediate past POTUS likely never will be welcome inside the Former Presidents Clubhouse. Why should he be welcome? The former Numbskull in Chief has worn out his welcome to the political arena. He continues to hurl insults and invective at all of the men who preceded him.

I wouldn’t object one little bit if the other POTUSes simply kept the clubhouse door locked to prevent No. 45 from entering it.

medical news

Pandemic ‘not over’

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy today told us a horrifying truth. The COVID-19 pandemic is not over, he told Fox News Sunday.

“We’re seeing increases in cases, particularly in parts of the country where the vaccination rates are low,” Dr. Murthy explained.

I’ll embellish a mere sigh with an anguished “arrrgghh!”

We now hear Facebook firing back at President Biden who blames social media platforms for spreading lies about the pandemic vaccines. I am going to stand with the president on this one.

There needs to be greater accountability among social media outlets and the disinformation they distribute. Such as the phony claims of danger posed by the vaccines. There can be no denying the link between the surge in cases and the fact that they are occurring in parts of the country where vaccination rates are low.

It ain’t happening in regions where vaccination rates exceed state and national averages.

Hmm. Is there a message to be learned? Uhh, yeah. Get vaccinated!

national news

Protect DACA recipients

(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The young men and women who reside in the United States need not be kicked around in a political skirmish that involves a decision made by their elders.

I refer to those who live here under the Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals provision that was enacted through executive order by President Obama, but has been ruled unlawful by a federal judge in Texas.

DACA recipients comprise several hundred thousand U.S. residents who were brought here illegally by their parents. They grew up as Americans; they came of age as Americans; the U.S. is the only country they know; many of them have flourished.

President Obama sought to give them some sanctuary from deportation by enacting the DACA program. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen — nominated for the federal bench by President George W. Bush — declared the DACA program to be illegal.

President Biden vows to appeal the ruling. I will take the president at his word. He should appeal it.

DACA is a humane and effective policy that should be codified  under law. Congress has the power to do that. My hope would be that enough fair-minded Republicans could join their Democratic colleagues in ensuring that these men and women — who came here as children and who have grown into responsible U.S. residents — can receive a clearer path to citizenship or permanent residency status.

Oh, but wait! That might require comprehensive immigration reform, which Republicans in Congress are unable or unwilling to enact. Why? Well, beats the hell out of me!

DACA recipients have been kicked around for too long already. Two former Texas governors — George W. Bush and Rick Perry, both Republicans — have spoken in favor of allowing so-called “Dreamers” to attend Texas colleges and universities; moreover, they have supported allowing them to attend under in-state tuition rules, given that they have been Texas residents of long standing. I consider that to be a fair and decent public policy.

The federal judiciary has intervened, though, in the effort to help these folks assimilate more completely into the society they adopted as their own when they came of age.

For the life of me I cannot understand why some politicians prefer to punish these individuals because of something their parents did when they were too young to fend for themselves.

national news, national security

Bolton discounts POTUS 45 return

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It is no secret to anyone who reads this blog that John Bolton is far from my favorite public official.

He served for a time as national security adviser to the one-time Liar in Chief. Then he got fired, or he quit, or something in between happened.

He now says that the 45th POTUS won’t run make another run for the White House in 2024. He also said recently that the former Imbecile in Chief is “unfit for public office.”

Hmm. Really? Do ya think?

Of course Bolton is correct on that presumption. He found out the hard way, I suppose, when he took the job as national security adviser. He sought to give advice to the POTUS on threats to the nation, only to be rebuffed for reasons no one can quite grasp.

I am inclined under normal circumstances to wonder why Bolton didn’t declare his former boss’s unfitness for office in real time, while he was serving in the White House. Then it occurs to me: It wouldn’t matter to the base of Republicans who continue to hang onto POTUS 45’s every hare-brained pronouncement.

Whatever, Bolton’s view today of the ex-POTUS is worth more than a bucket of spittle.

local news

Puppy Tales, Part 91: Still learning about skills

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Toby the Puppy cannot speak English, at least as I understand the language. He does, however, “speak” in a unique way that I have learned to comprehend.

He answers “yes” to questions by doing something in the moment that he does not do any other time.

“Are you hungry?” I might ask. “Do you want to go for a walk?” “Do you want to ride in the truck?” “Do you want to go see Emma?”

If the answer is “yes” to any or all of those queries — which almost always is the case — he responds by grabbing one his many chew toys that he has thrown around every room in our house.

He then shakes the toy. He throws it in the air. He growls at whatever toy he grabs. He might even bark at it.

That is how Toby the Puppy communicates his agreement with whatever question my bride and I would pose to him.

Oh, how do I know when he says “no”? No sweat. He doesn’t do anything. He might offer us a hang-dog look. What question produces something akin to a negative response? “Do you want to take bath?” He doesn’t fight the bath, but clearly it isn’t among his favorite things to do.

He joined our family more than seven years ago. We learn more about him almost daily. I am quite certain Toby the Puppy has his Mommy and me figured out.

medical news

‘Pandemic of unvaccinated’

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

No one — and I mean not a single sane human being — wants to welcome this latest medical nightmare.

Which is that COVID-19 cases are on the increase, as are hospitalizations and, oh yeah, deaths from the worldwide pandemic.

Who’s responsible for this distressing turn of events? President Biden calls it the “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” That is a mantra repeated late this week by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Dr. Rachelle Wallensky.

Think of this for just a moment.

Those who dismiss the vaccines, who refuse to take them, who believe the foolishness being spread out there (that they turn bodies in magnets and plant the spores of Satan into our skulls) have contributed to this horrible new wave of infection and death.

CDC officials report the greatest spike in infection/hospitalization/death come from those parts of the country with the lowest vaccination rates. Those happen to be mostly in the southern part of the nation. Hmm. What does one make of that? Is there a political component to this horrible news? I happen to believe there is, but I’ll save that for another blog post.

Today I am concerned about my own family. Almost all of us are full vaccinated. The only one who hasn’t received the vaccine is our granddaughter, our 8-year-old. She will get hers soon.

But what does this mean for those of us who have been vaccinated? I keep hearing reports of fully vaccinated Americans being stricken by that delta variant COVID-19 strain that is knocking the stuffing out of us.

My wife and had not jettisoned our masks. We had them handy, partly for occasions such as what we are discussing today: a resurgence of the virus.

With that said, we’re donning our masks once again when we venture into public places with other human beings, many of whom do not bother with the masks. I don’t wish them ill, but I do wish they would follow our lead — my bride and me — and cover their faces while they mingle with the rest of us.

Oh, and the vaccines still are safe. They still are effective. They still are preventing needless headache, heartache and hysteria.

If only we all would heed the advice of highly trained medical professionals to get vaccinated.

national news

Right wingers pervert all they touch

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

This is far from a recent revelation, but I just want get it off my chest and express it with crystal clarity.

It is that the right wing of the political spectrum has become a den of perversion of all principles they claim to adore and honor.

They have perverted the term “patriot” by insisting on The Big Lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from the 45th POTUS and handed to President Biden. The Pervert in Chief, of course, is the 45th POTUS his own self. He has developed a cult following that is unmatched in U.S. political history … and that goes back a spell.

The righties have perverted Christian beliefs, suggesting that Jesus Christ himself would endorse the notion of separating children from their parents. They ignore practically every New Testament tenet I can think of that condemns such harsh treatment of human beings.

They have perverted, for crying out loud, the very concept of Republicanism and the party that formed around it. The GOP came to be after the Civil War. It was the party of inclusion, of equality, of freedom and liberty for all Americans. It fought to enfranchise African-Americans who before the Civil War were deemed as three-fifths human.

The right wing has perverted the notion that bipartisanship stops at the water’s edge. It was the great GOP Sen. Arthur Vandenberg of Michigan who coined the truism. Now it’s OK to blast a president of the opposing party even while he travels abroad.

Patriots do not seek to overturn free and fair elections. They do not storm the Capitol Building, bust through windows, defecate on the floor of the legislative branch of government, threaten to hang the vice president of the United States. Patriots believe in elections. They accept the results even if they disagree with certain outcomes.

The nation’s right wing is running amok with perverts who claim to love the country. They in fact hate our great nation and I in fact hate the principles for which they stand.

State news

Well, Ted … your take on Dems’ bolting the state?

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Texas Republican politicians are having a high time criticizing their Democratic legislative colleagues for leaving Texas intent on preventing a Republican-led effort to suppress Texas voters’ access to polling booths.

But … where is U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz? Is the Cruz Missile going to weigh in? Oh, wait! He has his own bail-on-Texas cross the bear.

This is the nitwit who sought to high-tail it to Cancun, Mexico in February while the rest of us were freezing — many of us to death — in that monster winter storm. He came back home when the fecal matter hit the fan, then tried to explain his way out of the jam into which he had inserted himself.

So, go ahead, Sen. Ted Cruz. Tell us all why you think Texas Democrats are shirking their duty.

State news

Texas AG faces tough electoral challenge

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has endured, shall we say, a rocky tenure as the state’s chief legal eagle.

The former Collin County state legislator has been indicted for securities fraud and is awaiting state court trial; he has been accused of wrong doing by seven top assistants in the Texas AG’s office of doing illegal business; he has sought to overturn free and fair results in the 2020 presidential election only to have the U.S. Supreme Court toss his lawsuits out with nary so much as a hearing.

Can it be any wonder that the Republican attorney general has been challenged in the 2022 GOP primary by two big hitters and also now might face a high-powered Democrat … if he survives the Republican primary challenge?

Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush announced his intention to run for AG. Bush’s legal credentials don’t stand up to his political standing. Indeed, the land commissioner is the grandson and nephew of two prominent Texans: the late former President George H.W. Bush and former POTUS George W. Bush, respectively; oh, and he’s the son of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

He has said, basically, “enough is enough, Ken” as he seeks to restore honesty and credibility to the Texas attorney general’s office.

Now we have former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman, whose legal credentials are stellar in the extreme. Guzman might lack George P. Bush’s political standing, but her knowledge of Texas law as well as her reputation are beyond reproach.

Guzman resigned from the state’s highest civil appellate court and then jumped right back into the fray.

Then there’s noted civil rights lawyer Lee Merritt, who just the other day announced his intention to run in the Democratic Party primary next year. Merritt has been involved in many high-profile cases involving police-related deaths of black residents. He presents a formidable challenge all by himself.

I’ll re-state my bias right here: Ken Paxton is a chump. I want him removed from office. My preference would be for him to be convicted of securities fraud by a jury, which would result in his immediate removal. My second choice would be for him to lose his primary bid either to Bush or Guzman, which — the more I think about it — looms as a distinct possibility.

Choice No. 3 — which appears to be the least likely — would be for Paxton to lose to a Democrat in the fall of 2022. My strongest hope is that the AG doesn’t get that far into this upcoming election cycle.

national news

No end to stupidity

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

There appears to be an endless supply of utter, abject and unqualified stupidity among American voters.

How else does one explain the so-called “audit” that continues in Arizona, where a group that calls itself “Cyber Ninjas” is examining the votes cast in Maricopa County for president of the United States in 2020.

The “audit” isn’t done yet. The nitwits are looking for “evidence” of vote fraud that resulted — they allege — in Arizona tilting in President Biden’s favor when the ballots were counted.

There will be no shifting of the state’s electoral votes from Biden to the idiot he defeated in the 2020 election. Nor will there be any “proof” delivered that showed any sort of vote fraud.

The stupidity, though, shows itself every time those dipsh**s suggest they are closing in on proving what they have alleged. Even more stupid are the gullible goofballs who believe what the Cyber Ninjas are suggesting.

They keep alive The Big Lie that their “hero,” the aforementioned disgraced, twice-impeached Republican ex-POTUS keeps muttering.

Meanwhile, the actual president of the U.S. of A., Joe Biden, continues to work with Democrats and Republicans in Congress on actual problems. You know, things like pandemic relief, infrastructure legislation, climate change, job growth, war and peace.

It’s time we pay attention exclusively to the real issues of the day, not the phony issues that occupy the vacuous skulls of seriously stupid Americans. If only the idiots would realize that their pursuit of vote fraud that does not exist only exposes their stupidity for the whole world to see.

It gives the rest of us plenty of reason to laugh out loud.