Monthly Archives: December 2021

local news, media news

Blog alive and well

It’s been a good while since I’ve waxed rhapsodic about my blog and the joy I receive writing it.

So, I’ll offer a few words to remind you of the only “full-time job” I have. It is High Plains Blogger.

First, a couple of acknowledgements are in order.

One is that my blog traffic has slipped a bit from the high-water mark I experienced in 2019. I don’t know why that’s the case. It might have something to do with the topics I choose for commentary. Maybe readers of this blog are getting bored with me. I regret that terribly if that is so. I will work diligently moving ahead to make the blog more interesting.

I named this blog to remind readers from where I wrote it. We were living on the High Plains of Texas when I started this blog back in 2009. And, yes, it’s a bit of a tribute to one of my favorite film artists, Clint Eastwood, who starred in those “spaghetti westerns,” one of which was called “High Plains Drifter.” I decided to keep the title after we moved from the High Plains to the Metroplex. Why? Because the blog had developed a “brand” that is recognizable. Why trifle with what folks know, right?

Another aspect I need to acknowledge is that I am not contributing the volume of work to the blog as I did before. I have been kinda busy, working as a freelance reporter for the Farmersville Times, a weekly in Collin County, and for KETR-FM, the public radio station associated with Texas A&M University-Commerce. My third gig just dropped out of the sky only recently; I am working a temporary job as an editorial writer for the Dallas Morning News. All of this takes time away from writing for the blog.

I have enjoyed my post-full-time journalism journey immensely. I no longer am fully retired. I cannot declare myself to be “retired.” I pretty much come and go as I please … most of the time. It surely beats working full time for a living.

I will continue with the blog for as long as I am able. To those who enjoy the blog and support its political leanings, I trust that is good news. To those who grind their teeth when they read my musings, well … too bad. Live with it.

Let’s enjoy the ride.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot, legal news

What will SCOTUS reveal?

Well now, my fellow Americans, it looks as though the U.S. Supreme Court might get to reveal to us whether it believes in the rule of law or whether most of its justices believe in covering the backside of a cult leader who masquerades as a former president of the United States.

Donald Trump has asked the court to block the release of White House documents related to the 1/6 riot/insurrection. It seems that the ex-POTUS believes he has an actual legal leg on which to stand by declaring some form of executive privilege.

Lower courts have ruled already he doesn’t have such standing. They point out that only current POTUSes can exert executive privilege, not those who longer are in office.

That won’t dissuade the former POTUS from trying a sort of legal mumbo-jumbo to persuade the high court that he actually can block Congress from doing its due diligence in seeking the truth behind the 1/6 insurrection. The House select committee is legally constituted and is acting within its jurisdiction and legal authority to seek White House records. It is charged with finding the whole truth behind the riot, learning who caused it and coming to some solutions on how to prevent such a dastardly thing from recurring.

Trump, though, bellows out of both sides of his pie hole. He says he did nothing wrong; yet he wants to block anyone from the records that — if we are to believe the former Liar in Chief — would prove what he alleges, that he is free and clear of wrongdoing. Am I missing something? I think not.

If the court, even with its solid conservative majority, has a shred of legal integrity, it will rule that Trump must turn the records over and must allow Congress to do the job it is entitled to do.

Many of us are waiting.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Jury rules correctly

Kim Potter messed up when she pulled her service revolver out of its holster and fired a shot into Daunte Wright, so a jury today ruled in a Minneapolis courtroom.

Potter is a former Minneapolis police officer who stood trial on two manslaughter counts in Wright’s death. The jury convicted her of first- and second-degree manslaughter. It was the correct verdict.

Understand that I was not at the scene when Potter killed Wright. I know what most of us know, which is that Potter said she thought she was reaching for her Taser but pulled out her pistol instead.

Police procedure tells me the Taser and the pistol are stored on opposite sides of the belt that officers wear. The Taser is a brightly colored device designed to stun a suspect … not kill him or her. The pistol is, well, a firearm on which cops are trained to use with proficiency.

I’m still scratching my head over how Potter could mistake one device for the other. Then again, I never have been involved in a life-and-death struggle, so I cannot judge whether Potter was thinking clearly when she shot Daunte Wright to death.

And of course, we have the racial element: Wright was African-American, Potter is white.

Accordingly, Minneapolis — which was torn asunder by the George Floyd murder while he was being arrested by local police — is likely to be spared the uprising one might expect had the jury gone the other way.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Giving thanks at Christmas

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Christmas gives millions of Americans an opportunity we shouldn’t save just for the holiday. Yet many of us merely grumble our way through the year until the holiday season arrives.

Then we put on our happy face while wishing each other tidings of joy and hope for the year that is about to dawn.

I won’t do that. I instead will offer my thanks for the year that is passing into history while counting the many blessings I have as an American, a husband, father, grandfather and brother.

My wife and I turned 50 years together this year. What a ride it has been and what a joyous journey awaits us. My sons continue to flourish and prosper. Our precious granddaughter continues to give us joy and love. My sisters, too, give me reason to smile and to rejoice in their lives. One of them battled through a serious illness caused by the coronavirus pandemic and I am especially grateful she is with us to enjoy the fruits of the holiday season.

I am proud of the nation of my birth. I will not be sucked into the naysayers’ realm of bitching, moaning and complaining about whatever ills others may perceive. Do we live in a perfect place? No! We do not!

Remember, though, that our founders didn’t promise us a “perfect Union.” They vowed to create a “more perfect” nation that should prompt us to improve it whenever and wherever possible.

My retirement journey continues to take more unexpected turns. It did so just recently as I accepted a temporary challenge to work as a part-time editorial writer for the Dallas Morning News. I continue to freelance for the Farmersville Times and for KETR-FM, the public radio station at Texas A&M University-Commerce.

Those gigs will continue until (a) my bosses no longer want or need my services or (b) I no longer can string sentences together. I hope the former happens before the latter.

And so … the holiday season has arrived. I am in good health. I have much for which I am thankful. I’ll continue to grind my teeth on occasion while commenting on the state of affairs out there.

I will do so with a smile on my face. Hey, it’s Christmas!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

Rapprochement? Really?

Say it’s so. Then again, it’s an impossibility, given what these two men have said to and about each other for, oh, the past two or three years.

There was President Biden offering a word of praise for his immediate predecessor, Donald J. Trump, for declaring he had taken the COVID booster shot and for the speed of the development of the vaccine.

Then came word from Trump that he was “surprised” and “pleased” that his successor would give him a shout out. Trump then said Biden’s kindness makes it difficult for Trump to speak critically of the president.

Hmm. Now, we all know that the two men aren’t likely to call a halt to the name-calling, the insults, the epithets, the nastiness that has brewed between them. I mean, Trump still preaches The Big Lie about the 2020 election being stolen by non-existent widespread voter fraud. All of that surely must sting Joe Biden, given the historic nature of his victory and the immense voter turnout that elected him the 46th president of the United States.

There is no rapprochement likely. Then again, stranger events have occurred.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

POTUS praises ex-POTUS

President Biden today did something worthy of a word of praise, as it shows a largeness of spirit that too often was missing from his immediate predecessor.

Biden today offered a word of praise to Donald J. Trump for getting a booster shot — and admitting to it — and for the development of the vaccines that are protecting 200 million or so Americans from the killer COVID-19 virus and its assorted variants.

Imagine the former POTUS doing such a thing. I know. It wouldn’t happen. It won’t happen.

Biden’s magnanimous spirit comes in the heat of a contentious political climate. His immediate predecessor keeps spewing The Big Lie about “rampant voter fraud” in the 2020 election and yet the man who defeated him in that election found a moment today to toss a bouquet at the former POTUS.

It might that President Biden has an ulterior motive. He well could be appealing to that base of Trump cultists who refuse to get vaccinated. It might be that he is seeking to soften their foolish resistance to the vaccine. Whatever it takes … you know?

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

Oh, Sarah … shut up!

REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Oh, my. Sarah “Barracuda” Palin had been MIA for a while. Then she shows up again to sputter absolute nonsense about the COVID-19 vaccine.

She said she would be vaccinated “over my dead body.” What the hell? I mean, she’s already come down with the virus. I don’t recall if she got sick from it. Frankly, I hope not. I hope she has made a full recovery. I also wish she would keep her trap shut when talking about the vaccine. Indeed, the “over my dead body” statement very well could become something of a self-fulfilling prophecy, given that the vast majority of people who are dying from the virus are, um, unvaccinated. Don’t misunderstand me: I do not want that to happen to her; I am just stating what I know to be the truth.

She doesn’t know what the hell she’s talking about. The 2008 Republican vice-presidential nominee and former half-term Alaska governor is an anti-vaxxer.

She said her kids won’t be vaccinated, either. Doesn’t this dimwit understand she is putting her kids in jeopardy? Well, several of the young Palins are adults now, so they can decide for themselves what to do. My guess is that they’re following Mom down the path of foolishness and recklessness.

I just kind of wish now that Sarah Palin would just slink back into the shadows.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

‘Lights’ make us smile

(File photo.)

We are engaged fully now in the holiday season where we seek joy and fulfillment at the end of the year … and this year — just like the previous one — has given us plenty of reason to search for reasons to smile.

I want to call attention to a celebration that is occurring about seven miles east of where my wife and I live. It’s in Farmersville, Texas. They call it “Farmersville Lights.” It was the creation that came from the heart and mind of the mayor, Bryon Wiebold.

The year 2020 was tough on everyone. Community events closed because of the coronavirus pandemic. Americans everywhere were down in the dumps. We were anxious. Some of us were afraid. Too many of us were sickened by the virus and too many of us clearly died from it.

Wiebold wanted to give visitors to his city a reason to smile. He came up with an idea to light up Farmersville Parkway, a thoroughfare that runs from Texas Highway 78 eastward into downtown Farmersville. The lights would decorate the parkway and the downtown square.

It proved to be a big hit. City officials estimated that 50,000 vehicles traveled along the Parkway to view the lights. This year they expect even more folks to take them in; they also expect an increase in out-of-town visitors, too. As Wiebold told me a year ago, “Hey, it’s Christmas! How can we not try this out?”

Farmersville Lights runs for the month of December. They light ’em up on the first day of the month and douse them on the final day.

One cannot help but smile when you see the splendor of the lights.

I want to take a moment with this brief blog post to offer a salute to the creativity that Mayor Wiebold exhibited by coming up with the idea for Farmersville Lights. He wants to make it an annual event. I suspect quite strongly he will have accomplished that mission.

May they continue to shine brightly even after we get past the pandemic and emerge from what feels like a permanent state of grumpiness.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Manchin makes me angry

Joe Manchin has emerged in the most dubious manner possible. He has become the most maddening politician in America.

Yes, the West Virginia Democratic U.S. senator is driving me batty. Nuts. Crazy.

The senator who represents one of the nation’s poorest states, where residents overwhelmingly support President Biden’s Build Back Better legislation, has decided to vote “no” on the package. His opposition seems curious, given that he offered a counter proposal that Biden reportedly accepted.

Now the senator has turned his back on it. He calls it too costly.

My goodness, the legislation aims to do a lot of good things for all Americans. Oh yeah. That means West Virginians, too. Which explains why the residents of that state favor it so dramatically.

What makes me nuts is that I happen to support the BBB package. It’s not that Manchin and I are on the same page. He has emerged as an outsized player in a drama that is building daily. Sen. Manchin does not deserve to play such a huge role in killing legislation that is going to help Americans from coast to coast.

Manchin has taken a “my-way-or-the-highway” approach to this matter. He knows he holds more power than he deserves given that he serves in a Senate made up of 50 Republicans and 50 Democrats (and a couple of independents who caucus with Democrats). Any “no” vote among Democrats can kill this package, as no GOP senators have signed on.

Joe Manchin’s arrogance defies description.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot

Go after the man in charge, too!

Let’s not pussyfoot around this matter for a moment longer: It is time for the House committee looking at the 1/6 riot/insurrection to determine whether to seek criminal charges against the man who incited all of it.

That would be Donald J. Trump, who at that moment was still occupying the office of president of the United States. For the record, I won’t use the term “serving as president,” because he never had “service” in mind from the moment he took the oath of office.

Lame-duck U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, one of two Republicans serving on the House select panel, has broached the notion of Trump facing criminal charges. He said over the weekend that the committee would do well to ponder that possibility as it plods along in search of witnesses, documents and testimony into what transpired on 1/6.

There have been stunning and shocking emails released in recent days that reveal what Trump knew as the riot was unfolding and what he failed to do to stop it. The president had the singular authority to call off the rioters. He heard from a variety of individuals — starting with his own son, Don Jr. — who implored him, begged him in fact, to order the riotous mob to cease and desist.

Trump did nothing. Not a damn thing! And so, what was the result of his refusal to end the siege? Five people died in the melee. Dozens more were hurt. Millions of dollars of damage was inflicted on the Capitol Building.

Who was responsible for it? The guy who stood on the Ellipse earlier in the day and exhorted the already-angry mobsters to “take back the government.” They did what they were told to do by their cult leader. They are heard on audio recordings telling the Capitol cops they were acting on Trump’s orders.

Is there criminal culpability from the man at the top of the chain of command? Looks like it to me.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com