Monthly Archives: August 2022

national news

Trump’s life is getting more miserable

Even from out here in the Peanut Gallery, the picture of Donald Trump’s life beyond the presidency is looking very grim.

The Justice Department today ordered the release of the heavily redacted affidavit that prompted the FBI to enter Trump’s home in Florida. We cannot see a lot of what’s in there, but this much appears to have surfaced from the murky, muddy and slimy sequence of events:

The feds had ample reason to look for classified documents that Trump took with him when he vacated the White House in January 2021. 

I am beginning to pick up the scent of indictments in Trump’s future. Obstruction of justice is coming to mind. So is violation of the Espionage Act. Same for violation of the Presidential Records Act.

The steamy, hot breath of the law is beginning to pant heavily down Trump’s neck.

The very last person anyone on this good Earth would want to be at this moment is Donald John Trump.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Joe Biden, national news

MAGA = serious threat

President Biden is correct to assert that the MAGA wing of the Republican Party poses an existential threat to our democracy.

These are the fruitcakes, the adherents of the Make America Great Again wing of the once-Grand Old Party, who continue to insist that The Big Lie is the Big Truth, that the 2020 election was stolen from the MAGA Liar in Chief and that there must be hell to pay for a transgression that did not exist.

The president has kicked into 2022 midterm election campaign mode. I welcome his return to the fight. Of course, the mainstream Republican Party — which ought to hail the president’s message as a comforting elixir — is condemning him for speaking the truth.

Donald Trump this week called for the immediate removal of Mitch McConnell as GOP Senate leader. Why? Because McConnell — belatedly, of course — is now speaking the truth about Trump, that the ex-POTUS poses a dangerous threat to the democratic process.

Milquetoast Mitch likely won’t fight back with the ferocity that such an insult deserves. He probably doesn’t want to pi** off the MAGA cultists who continue to consume the swill that Trump serves them about The Big Lie and how he’s being “persecuted” by those “far-left Democrats.”

Trump is becoming unhinged daily by defections from his ranks, by continuing negative developments into the investigation of his effort to steal the 2020 election.

There can be no doubt Joe Biden is right on this one, calling MAGA Republicans the nation’s greatest political threat.

They sicken me.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

State news

Waiting for fur to fly

It’s going to happen any day now. Beto O’Rourke and Greg Abbott are going to don the brass knuckles and will start throwing rhetorical haymakers at each other in the race for Texas governor.

Yes, I know … I have seen the polls that show the Republican incumbent, Abbott, holding onto a 7-point (give or take) lead over the Democrat O’Rourke. And, yes, I want Beto to win.

I am not looking forward to seeing these men sling rocks at each other via my TV screen. However, we know that in Texas, politics is what the late Sen. and treasury secretary Lloyd Bentsen used to call a “contact sport.”

The Abbott ads so far have been tame. They feature his wife Cecelia recalling their early years together and the courage he showed recovering from the accident that crippled him for life. That’s fine. I want to know what he’s going to do for me now … not that it matters much what he says. Gov. Abbott already has disappointed me to the point that he’s lost my vote forever.

As for Beto, he’s going to make abortion and gun violence the twin cornerstones of his campaign. One bit of advice: Don’t spend an inordinate amount of airtime telling us what we know, that Abbott has failed on both issues; tell us what you’re going to do to fix them both.

OK, are we good? Let the campaign commence in earnest.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Joe Biden, national news

Expectations have let me down

My expectation of a transfer to smooth governance from an administration that prided itself on chaos, confrontation and confusion perhaps might have placed too large a burden on the new guys who took over in January 2021.

President Biden’s term in office so far has been anything but smooth, seamless and serene. Indeed, the administration has found itself fighting with Republicans in much the same manner its immediate predecessor fought with Democrats.

Except for one little factor that I had hoped would come into play: President Biden brought decades of legislative and government administrative experience to a task to which Donald J. Trump brought none of the above.

Silly me. I didn’t count — as I should have — on Republican obstructionism born out of the GOP’s anger over the way Democrats responded to Trump getting in the way.

But … it has.

To be sure, the president has been able to claim bipartisan victories on gun legislation and on infrastructure renovation. The number of Republican lawmakers to join their Democratic colleagues has been nominal … and that’s the nice way of saying it.

The recent enactment of the Inflation Reduction Act more or less illustrates a point I intend to make, which is that it is dangerous to govern only with the endorsement of those within your own party. Biden received zero Republican support in the House for the IRA. It took a tie-breaking vote by Vice President Harris to put the bill over the top in the Senate.

I had placed a great deal of faith in my belief that Joe Biden’s many decades in government would buy him some political capital that he could spend on behalf of our needs. My faith was misplaced, I am sorry to acknowledge.

Indeed, the president found himself in hot water with Democratic Party progressives because — and this just kills me — he boasted about how he was able to work with narrow-minded Republicans in pushing through legislation.

I continue to stand with President Biden because I believe in the crux of where he wants to lead this nation. He told us he wants us to treat each other with fairness and compassion. He wants to steer us away from the bitterness we heard daily from the four years his predecessor occupied the White House.

That’s all worth endorsing, at least in principle.

Except that Republicans continue to adhere to the politics of meanness and retribution. I hoped that a better day would have dawned by now. Maybe it will … eventually.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

Why are we talking about … Trump?

A TV talking head vented a good bit of frustration this morning and since I was awake early, I tuned in to listen to it.

The venting had to do with Donald Trump. The talking head was Mike Barnicle, a regular on an MSNBC talk show. He wants to know:

Why are we still talking about Donald Trump? Why is it that whenever the subject of the “Republican Party” comes up, the conversation turns to Trump, a guy who has delivered more damage to our democratic process than any politician alive today?

You know what? I share Barnicle’s frustration!

To be sure, I continue to devote a good bit of my energy to talking about Trump on this blog. I don’t apologize for that. After all, the dude is still making news. He gets in the way of every damn thing there is to discuss.

The only justification I can attach to this is that the individual is, after all, a former president of the United States. As much as it pains me to acknowledge that fact, his status as a one–time commander in chief does more or less require those of us out here to take notice when he pops off.

I do share Barnicle’s frustration, though, with the media’s fixation with Trump. If only we could rid ourselves of this toxic presence among us.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news, education news, State news

Police chief had to go!

Pete Arredondo had become a household name in communities throughout the nation for reasons he likely never imagined when he first strapped on a firearm and pinned a badge on his chest.

Well, now the embattled top cop for the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District no longer works for the school district. Its board of trustees today voted unanimously to fire Arredondo because of the former chief’s shameful response to the massacre that erupted at Robb Elementary School in the South Texas community.

Nineteen precious children were slain that day, along with two heroic teachers who fought to save their lives. Arredondo led the UCISD police force that responded to the shooter who had walked into the school.

Then he did nothing! Arredondo said eventually in the aftermath that he didn’t know he would be in charge of the police response.

Imagine the full-on rage the community would have expressed had the school board decided to keep Arredondo on its payroll.

Yep, he had become far more than a “distraction.”

For my money, the man should find work far away from law enforcement.

I doubt that Arredondo’s discomfort will end just because the school board canned him. He will face countless lawsuits from the loved ones of those who died in the massacre. And he should!

Uvalde now can move on. It won’t ever forget what happened on that terrible day. At least, though, the community no longer will carry the burden of paying the salary of a law enforcement officer who failed to do his job.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Setting aside an evening of election returns

I am all but lead-pipe-cinch certain I know what I am going to be doing on one November evening.

I will be watching midterm election returns from my North Texas home. Election Day is Nov. 8. Some Texas school districts are taking that day off, telling students and teachers there won’t be class that day. Why? They want those who are eligible to vote to be sure to do so, which strikes me as being about as close to declaring Election Day an official holiday as anything I have seen so far.

Regular readers of this blog know of my partisan leaning. To anyone who is unaware, I will disclose that I want Democrats to fend off the Republican “red wave” that everyone was predicting would swamp Congress.

Spoiler alert: Republicans aren’t quite so smug these days. There has been some actual out-loud discussion that suggests Democrats could be in position to maintain — and possibly increase — their control of the Senate.

And get a load of this: At least one bellwether U.S. House race ended Tuesday with the Democrat edging a Republican opponent for a New York congressional seat that everyone this side of House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy thought was going to be swept up by the Republican.

What gives? Speculation is that the Supreme Court decision to overturn the landmark abortion ruling has energized pro-choice voters to, um, actually vote.

What’s driving this apparent change? Democrats have scored some legislative successes and are finally able to nationalize local races the way Republicans have been so successful at doing.

Plus, Republicans have fielded some certifiable dunderheads for public office, particularly in the Senate. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania (or is it New Jersey?), Herschel Walker in Georgia, J.D. Vance in Ohio and Lord knows who else is out there making an ass of himself or herself in front of voters.

What about the House lineup? Democrats hold a slim majority there, but the chatter is beginning to build that they well might be able to fend off that red wave … even in the House!

I cannot yet buy into the Democrats’ optimism about the House. The Senate does seem to look more promising for those of us who fear what could happen if the GOP takes command of both congressional chambers.

Vengeance appears to be at the top of Republican minds. Which tells me that governance would grind to a halt.

If Democrats can persuade enough voters over the course of the next few weeks what would ensue if the GOP grabs control of Capitol Hill, well … we might have a fun night of TV watching ahead of us.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

education news

Student debt decision? Eh …

1 Comment

You can count me as one American who has categorically mixed feelings about President Biden’s decision to forgive a portion of student debt across the nation.

Biden today said that anyone who earns $125,000 or less annually will see $20,000 taken off their student loan debt obligation. The president’s decision appears to be a compromise of sorts. Progressives want Biden to forgive a whole lot more; maybe even every penny that every American owes when they borrowed the money to pay for their college education. For my money, that was a non-starter.

As for what the president has decided, it doesn’t do much for me one way or another. Twenty grand is no small amount of change.

However, consider this aspect of the debt that these former students incurred: They did so willingly when they enrolled in college. Thus, aren’t they obligated to pay back what they borrowed?

Thousands of Texans could benefit from student loan forgiveness | The Texas Tribune

My sons didn’t incur huge debt when they obtained their college degrees. My wife and took out a parent loan for one of our sons. We paid it off many years ago.  We never one time considered asking for any sort of waiver or request a suspension of our payback obligation.

I get that the pandemic brought a lot of havoc to families. Thus, to the extent that the president can seek forgiveness of debt on that basis, I guess that’s an acceptable reason.

I just don’t understand fully the notion of forgiving the debts of those who incur them willingly and with a clear thought about the consequences of refusing to pay it back.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news

Resisting the pull of anticipation

Getting one’s heart to racing over the possibility that bad people will be made to account for the misdeeds can be dangerous to one’s emotional well-being.

I know that. Because I am suffering a bit from high expectations stemming from the myriad investigations into the conduct of a former president of the United States.

Yeah, that one … named Donald John Trump.

I keep hearing from commentators, legal eagles, constitutional scholars and assorted lawyerly minds that Trump is in deep doo-doo over many issues. He’s going to pay the price, they keep saying.

I’ll admit that I don’t listen to the Trump cultists/apologists who spend little time denying he did wrong but who question the motives of those who are doing the investigating.

I am resisting the temptation to get swept up in what I admit would be “joy” if indictments land on Trump’s thick but vacuous skull.

It’s tough, to be sure. I’ll remain strong.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Twice elected? He’s out!

This thought didn’t come from me, but I want to share it anyway … because it’s too damn funny to ignore.

Donald Trump won election to the presidency in 2016 by securing more Electoral College votes than Hillary Clinton. It was legal and constitutional.

Trump says he was re-elected in a landslide four years later. Of course, he wasn’t. He lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden, who pulled in 7 million more ballots than Trump and won with an Electoral College majority that virtually mirrored Trump’s win four years earlier.

But …

If Trump is right — which he isn’t! — that he won re-election in 2020, how can the former Dipsh** in Chief, with a straight face, purport to consider running for POTUS in 2024? The Constitution allows two terms. That’s it!

Hit the fu**ing road, Donald!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com