Monthly Archives: July 2022

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Bannon bellows utter bullsh**

Steven Bannon strode before some microphones outside the courthouse where today he was convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress and then bellowed one of the more ridiculous pronouncements I ever have heard.

“I stand with Donald Trump,” Bannon yelled, “and with the Constitution.”

Roll that one around, OK?

Has there been a president of the U.S.A. who understands less of the Constitution than Donald J. Trump?

The testimony we have heard from the 1/6 House select committee tells me that Donald Trump shattered the oath he took to be loyal to the Constitution and to democracy.

Well, suffice to say only that Donald Trump and Steven Bannon deserve each other.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news

Verdict scores victory for Congress

Steve Bannon’s conviction today in a federal courtroom on two counts of contempt of Congress gives the lie to the notion that Congress lacks any way to enforce charges it brings against those who break the law.

The House select 1/6 committee had cited Bannon — a former key adviser to Donald Trump — for contempt of Congress when Bannon refused to answer a subpoena issued by the panel. Congress sent the matter to the Department of Justice, which then indicted Bannon.

The federal trial ended after just a few days and then delivered the goods to Bannon: Guilty on both counts!

Bannon the blowhard now faces two years — max! — in federal prison.

This is an important victory for the rule of law in this country. Steve Bannon sought to defy that rule by giving the House panel the finger in his refusal to testify about what he knew about the 1/6 insurrection.

The House panel, chaired by Democrat Bennie Thompson, instead turned to the DOJ, which is solely responsible for bringing criminal charges against those accused of federal crimes.

It had been fashionable to scoff at Congress’s efforts to make witnesses follow the rules. Important men and women have too often thumbed their noses at congressional committees, thinking that they don’t have to do what Congress orders them to do.

Today, the pendulum swung back in Congress’s favor.

I’m glad to see the verdict that delivered justice to someone who thought he was bigger than the law.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

GOP might rescue Democrats

There can be no greater political irony imaginable than to think that Democrats’ greatest ally in the midterm competition against Republicans might be … Republicans!

The GOP was poised to grab control of both congressional chambers once we count the ballots of the midterm election. Then something odd happened: the godfather of current GOP, Donald Trump, began endorsing certifiable nut jobs for high office.

A.B. Stoddard, writing for RealClearPolitics, reports: Republicans are now panicked that what was once a dream election year could end up a nightmare. A recent report in Axios described GOP anxiety this way: “Top Republicans, once confident about winning control of the Senate in the midterms, fear they’ll blow it after nominating several deeply flawed candidates in winnable states, according to conversations with GOP strategists, pollsters and other officials.” The Senate candidates they are most worried about are Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, Herschel Walker in Georgia, J.D. Vance in Ohio, Blake Masters in Arizona, and Eric Greitens in Missouri.

Oz, Vance, Greitens and Masters are seeking to keep Senate seats in Republican control. They all are trailing their Democratic foes. Walker is challenging a Democratic incumbent in Georgia and he, too, is trailing Sen. Raphael Warnock.

Trump’s recommendations haven’t exactly helped most of his endorsees. Many of the MAGA-friendly candidates are downright frightening. Herschel Walker comes to mind.

Will Trump and MAGA Candidates Slow the Red Wave? | RealClearPolitics

The so-called Red Wave well might swamp the House of Representatives. The Senate is looking like there might be an altogether different outcome than what many of us had expected.

If the GOP falls short, I believe they should look inward and ask: Can we do better than line up behind the lawlessness promoted by a twice-impeached POTUS?

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Who’s the ‘gutless’ one?

Steve Bannon, the newly convicted felon who once served as a policy adviser to Donald J. Trump, today offered a truly laughable epithet at a key congressional committee.

Bannon came out of the federal courthouse today after being convicted of two counts of contempt of Congress and bellowed that the House select committee examining the 1/6 insurrection is “gutless” because its members wouldn’t testify in the trial.

The committee is “gutless”? Really … Steve?

What in the world how should we view your refusal to answer a congressional summons demanding you testify before the 1/6 committee? Bannon kept insisting he had nothing to hide, yet he decided to stiff the 1/6 committee by refusing to obey a lawfully ordered subpoena.

Now, for the convicted felon to lash out at a legally constituted congressional committee with a damnation he should wear himself is laughable … except that I am not laughing.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Breath is bated for AG

Given a lot of factors that are patently obvious — the first of which is that I am not a lawyer, let alone a constitutional lawyer — I am trying to prepare myself for a possible disappointment if Attorney General Merrick Garland decides to indict the immediate past president of the United States.

The disappointment might lie in that Garland will not indict Donald J. Trump on the most serious crime on the table: seditious conspiracy.

Instead, Garland might try to bust up whatever criminal proceeding he would seek into a group of smaller offenses.

I am absolutely sure that Garland recognizes the staggering precedent he could set if he indicts Trump for inciting the insurrection of 1/6. No need to explain what that means.

Garland appears to be a meticulous, deliberate and thorough lawyer, one who has a stellar record as a prosecutor, I should add. He won a conviction of the madman who blew up the Oklahoma City courthouse in April 1995.

It well might be that Garland cannot win a conviction on the whole array of charges that loom in front of Donald Trump. That will be his call to make exclusively. He will not need, nor should he accept, any recommendations from the peanut gallery, where many others and I occupy prime seats.

This might be my way of preparing for a possible disappointment. I have declared my intention to accept whatever the AG decides. I just hope I don’t hurt my jaw when I am finished gnashing my teeth.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Run, Josh, run!

You know, it’s almost not worth any time to comment on one of the pieces of evidence revealed Thursday night during the televised House 1/6 select committee hearing.

Aww, but what the heck …

There was that hilarious snippet of video showing U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., scurrying to a safe place to get away from the traitors who were attacking the U.S. Capitol. Why mention it?

Because this was the same Josh Hawley who egged the mob on with that hideous clenched-fist salute earlier that day.

What do we surmise from the young man’s display of bravado.

Was it all for show? Did he realize what the mob intended to do? Was he ordered to the safe place by the Capitol cops on duty and who were fighting for their own lives while protecting senators and House members?

Whatever. It all makes for a curious juxtaposition of a young hothead senator being revealed — quite possibly — as a cowardly hypocrite.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Trump did not ‘do nothing’ on 1/6

If you’ll pardon the double negative in the headline, I want to make a brief statement on the major takeaway I gleaned from last night’s televised public hearing on the 1/6 insurrection.

It is that the narrative on what happened while the attack on the U.S. Capitol was underway has changed in a small, but significant, manner.

We had been told that Trump “did nothing” for more than three hours to stop the traitors from attacking the government. Now we have heard that Trump made a conscious decision to do nothing. Therein lies the change in narrative.

Now we have come to understand that Trump’s inaction was planned prior to the event, which means that the POTUS was engaged actively in ensuring that he wouldn’t call out the National Guard, that he wouldn’t tell the attackers to cease their assault on our government and that he wanted them to capture Vice President Mike Pence and, well, do serious bodily harm to him.

There’s even better news — from my standpoint, at least. House select committee chairman Bennie Thompson announced that the televised hearings will resume in September.

That is all right with me.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

business news

Is this Biden’s ‘Benghazi’?

Hunter Biden’s business activity and the controversy that’s being hyped up about it is beginning to remind me more than just a little bit of … Benghazi!

You remember Benghazi. Terrorists stormed the U.S. consulate in the Libyan city in late 2012. Four people — including the U.S. ambassador to Libya — died in the attack. Republicans blamed Hillary Clinton, who was secretary of state during the attack.

Clinton sat before a congressional committee for 11 hours. Republicans on the panel sought to find something — anything — with which to accuse her. They grilled her incessantly.

They found nothing.

So now we have the son of President Biden on the griddle. The GOP insists that Hunter Biden’s laptop contains material that could send the president’s son to prison. They keep yapping about an investigation “when we take back the House.” What, I want to know, do they plan to investigate?

What did he do? Biden accepted high-paying jobs that he got because he is the son of a former U.S. senator, former vice president and current president. He is making a lot of dough working for these companies, even though he has no practical experience in the energy business, which is relevant to at least one of the companies that hired him.

What Is Hunter Biden Being Investigated For? Details of Federal Probe (msn.com)

Is it a crime for the child of a famous person to accept a cushy, well-paying job? Hah! It’s been done many times before and will be done far into the future.

The GOP is trying to hang tax charges on Hunter Biden, contending he didn’t pay his share of taxes.

This business about Hunter Biden has been kicking around for a while. During the 2020 campaign, GOP operatives sought to make Biden’s business dealings a campaign issue to use against his dad. Hunter Biden had taken a job with a Ukrainian energy company, for example, prompting Republicans to wonder aloud about the propriety of the hire. However, a Ukrainian prosecutor declared out loud that neither Biden — not Joe nor Hunter — did anything illegal.

End of story? Hardly!

My sense is that this matter will produce as much credible criminal wrongdoing as the Benghazi tragedy did against Hillary Clinton.

We will have, to borrow a term, a nothing burger.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Contraception is alive, but struggling

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved a bill that allows Americans to take measures to avoid pregnancy when they engage in intimate activity.

Sounds, well, rather normal, right? Not if you’re a Texas Republican member of Congress. You see, all GOP House members from Texas voted against this modern, common-sense, rational bill. That means my congressman, Van Taylor of Plano, has something against allowing his constituents to use contraceptives during sex.

What the hell?

Someone has to explain to me the reasons behind the partisan resistance to this measure.

GOP Texans in Congress vote against bill to protect right to contraception | The Texas Tribune

It appears to be some additional blowback to the Supreme Court decision to overturn the law that made abortion legal. Justice Clarence Thomas — the right-wing king of the high court — let it be known that the SCOTUS might next take aim at same-sex marriage and, yes, allowing contraception.

Good grief!

The 50-50 U.S. Senate isn’t likely to follow the House’s lead, given that the GOP side of the divide is wedded to this idiocy that contraception is some sort of Satanic mischief.

Well, it’s as clear as deep blue sky that the Texas Republican congressional delegation has swallowed the swill that now governs GOP policy these days.

They sicken me.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

School boards now must boost security

The rampage of violence in schools and many other public places has changed the game plan for those who must prepare for new seasons.

Consider the issues facing educators in, say, Uvalde, Texas, which is still grieving over the massacre of 19 fourth-graders and two teachers.

Not only must they prepare for curriculum requirements and ensuring that teachers have plenty of stationery, books and online equipment to teach, they now must ensure their classrooms are secure against any possible burst of rage.

This is life in contemporary America, ladies and gentlemen. It saddens me to my core and sickens me terribly.

But .. we must stand guard these days against domestic terror just as we were shaken and angered by the events of 9/11. The international war on terror is still raging, even though it has been pushed off the front pages of newspapers and off the evening newscasts in cities and towns across the land.

9/11 taught us a terrible lesson, which is that the mightiest country on Earth is vulnerable to acts of insane violence.

We have stopped countless attempts since that terrible day. We need to commit to stopping future attempts similar to what we have seen occur in Uvalde, Buffalo, El Paso, Sutherland Springs, Newtown, Las Vegas, Parkland, Littleton, Aurora … and on it goes.

I speak to local educators in North Texas and they tell me the same thing, that they are getting ready for the next school year with both eyes and ears dialed in to the need for greater classroom security.

I do hate saying this, but they must never let their vigilance down. Not for one second.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com