Monthly Archives: February 2024

business news, economic news, national news, political news

Loathe the man and his standing

My noggin cannot comprehend a lot of things in life, so to be clear I want to stipulate that at times I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

Among the more incomprehensible elements of life that puzzles me is the standing that the 45th POTUS continues to have among Americans who think he deserves another term in the White House.

I won’t regurgitate the many negative comments I have made about him since the moment he and his wife rode down the NYC office tower escalator in June 2015 as he announced his first run for the presidency.

I’ll make one exception, though. I want to remind every reader of this blog of this fact, which is beyond dispute: This bozo spent his entire adult professional life — every … waking … minute of it — with one goal in mind: self-enrichment and self-aggrandizement. He did not devote a single moment of his miserable life to public service.

Yet he stood there and proclaimed himself to be the champion of the “little guy,” the individual he personally loathed as a “loser” and a chump. He called himself a populist, even though he likely doesn’t know the definition of the type of pol he proclaimed himself to be.

His goal in life was to make lots of money for himself. It has been revealed now in court proceedings brought against him that he is as Mitt Romney described him: a “phony and a fraud.”

Anyone human being who feels the need to declare out loud the he is “really rich” and “really smart” never achieves such wealth, nor is he smart enough to know that undeniable fact.

Yet here this guy stands. He was impeached twice by the U.S. House. He has been indicted four times by federal and state grand juries on 91 criminal counts. He vows to be “your retribution” if he’s elected later this year.

And they still believe in this guy?

God help us if this all comes to pass.

local news

What about Article VI?

A weekly newsletter published by a gentleman in Amarillo makes an astonishing assertion about whom he believes to be the “most powerful figure” in Texas.

Steve Pair cites the work of Tim Dunn, a Permian Basin oilman who is working to elect only Christians to public office in Texas.

Pair writes: Tim Dunn, isn’t an elected official. But behind the scenes, the West Texas oilman is lavishly financing what he regards as a holy war against public education, renewable energy, and non-Christians.

Wow! I know a little bit about the work Dunn has done and the havoc he has brought to West Texas politicians and politics over the years. He runs Empower Texans, a far-right-wing political action committee that takes aim at GOP officeholders. Former state Sen. Kel Seliger of Amarillo was a favorite target of Dunn’s group, drawing the unvarnished wrath of Seliger.

The point I want to make, though, is that attacks on non-Christian candidates violates an article in the Constitution that was drafted and ratified by our nation’s founding fathers.

Article VI concludes with this: ” … but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.”

The founders could not possibly be clearer than what they declared in the late 18th century when they cobbled together our nation’s governing framework.

national news

The impossible is now — gulp! — possible

What once was deemed in my own mind to be an impossible occurrence has dramatically become possible … even remotely so.

I mention this only because what I once thought would never occur very well could happen in about 10 months, when we have our 2024 presidential election.

The idiot whom President Biden defeated in 2020 just might reverse that outcome when they count the ballots at the end of this year’s campaign.

All of this begs a question that has been tearing at my gut for the past little bit: How in the world is the president of the United States going to respond to the formalities associated with handing over the keys to the White House to the president-elect?

Joe Biden is steeped in tradition. He knows what he’s supposed to do, in that he knows to extend an invitation to the man that defeated him to meet in the White House. Again, though, how does the president do so when the invitee is an individual who:

  • Never acknowledged losing the 2020 election.
  • Savaged the current president during his entire term in office.
  • Has vowed to run the country like a dictatorship if only for a day.
  • Cozies up to the very dictator against whom this nation has been aiding Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression.
  • Has told Russia he would bless any effort for that rogue nation to do “whatever the hell they want” against any NATO nation that doesn’t pay its fair share of dues?

Joe Biden vowed to seek to save the “soul of this nation” when he declared his 2020 presidential candidacy. By my reckoning, he has largely succeeded in that mission. Now, though, he just might have to surrender to the nitwit who preceded him as our commander in chief and head of state.

So help me, it pains me to acknowledge what might occur when they count the ballots on Nov. 5. Just try for a moment to put yourself in Joe Biden’s shoes as he ponders what well could be stirring in his own mind.

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North Texas gripped by GOP ‘disease’

North Texas Republicans politicians appear to be suffering from the malady that has gripped the national Republican Party in the era of the 45th POTUS.

If they vote a certain way, or if they oppose certain high-profile pols, they become victims of the “primary disease” that spawns opponents within their own party.

I want to single out a couple of North Texas legislators who are fighting this intraparty squabble: Candy Noble and Jeff Leach.

Noble represents little ol’ me and my neighbors in Princeton. She has drawn fire from within her own party. Her “sin’? She voted to impeach Paxton. She has been accused — incredibly, I must add — for wanting to bring “Sharia law” into Texas public education classrooms. What … the … hell?

I put my mitts on a Noble campaign flier that declares she “fought for cutting property taxes, parental involvement in education, better health care options and securing our southern border.”

Wow! Radical stuff, eh? Her MAGA foes, though, say she favors Muslim interests over, um, Christian interests. They want to start a religious tussle within the party? Not a good look. Abraham George, a former Collin County GOP chair, is running against Noble in the primary.

Leach is a Republican legislator who this past year took part in the impeachment trial of GOP Attorney General Ken Paxton. He voted to impeach the AG and then served as a prosecutor in the Senate trial that ended up with Paxton’s acquittal.

Paxton then vowed to go after all the Republicans who stood against him … the jerk! A primary opponent emerged to run against Leach, who continues to tout his conservative bona fides. And they’re real.

Daren Meis is the MAGA candidate opposing Leach. He is a former Allen city councilman who didn’t bother to take part in the Dallas Morning News interview process with the candidates.

So many of these Republican challengers are campaigning on hatred for those who stand on principle. As the DMN said in its editorial endorsement of Leach’s primary bid:

“We don’t think most Republicans take them seriously. But we hope this sort of politicking does cause voters to reflect on just how bad things have gotten in their party.”

business news, crime news, national news, political news

He still can become POTUS?

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The numbskull who wants to become the next president of the United States has been determined unfit to run a business in New York.

A judge has fined him $355 million because he defrauded investors over his supposed vast wealth. This is on top of the $88 million he’s been ordered to pay a journalist for (a) raping her and (b) defaming her character.

And yet … the U.S. Constitution apparently continues to clear the way for this idiot to campaign for the Republican Party presidential nomination and then — if nominated — run for the U.S. presidency.

What in the world is wrong with this picture?

local news

Homebuilding ban? For now … yes!

Princeton Mayor Brianna Chacon has planted the seed of an idea that needs to germinate and grow into a verified municipal policy.

She wants the city she governs to enact a moratorium on new home construction. Details are scant. Indeed, they don’t seem to exist in any fashion.

But I think the mayor is onto something the city council should consider and should consult heavily with its legal counsel on how to make it happen.

Princeton’s growth has been spectacular over the course of the past decade. The 2010 Census pegged the city population at just shy of 7,000 residents; the 2020 Census lists the population at 17,027 people; the current estimated population stands at around 28,000, according to city officials.

The city has grown too rapidly, Chacon told the council at the end of its regular Monday evening meeting. It needs to stop building residential units at the breakneck pace under which it has been operating.

I am going to report more on this idea in a later blog post. For now I am going to stick with what has been reported.

The city clearly must honor the building permits it has issued. It cannot face any possible litigation from aggrieved builders and real estate agents. And as I drive around the areas near my home, I see many acres of land that have been platted and prepared for construction. The city has installed hundreds of utility outlets on the properties, which suggests to me the city has many building permits that need to be honored before it pulls the plug on future construction.

Chacon reminded council members that the city has limited resources and it must spend that money on developing infrastructure that hasn’t kept pace with the home construction. “We grew too fast,” Chacon told the council.

Streets need improvement, Chacon said, apparently acknowledging the complaints she likely has heard from residents about the condition of streets in some of our older neighborhoods.

I am one Princeton resident who is interested in the details of this proposal that must come soon. How soon will it be enacted? How long does the city expect it to last? Will the city continue its push to bring more commercial development to Princeton?

I am all ears, Mme. Mayor. So, I will bet, is the rest of this city.

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House GOP only worsens its standing

Kevin McCarthy might have gone down as the worst-ever speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives … were it not for the arrival of Mike Johnson as his successor.

There you have it. The MAGA crowd that once demanded that McCarthy refuse to work with Democrats now has installed one of its brethren in Johnson. The mob of malevolent MAGA misfits ousted McCarthy because he had the balls to work with Democrats on funding the government … temporarily.

The MAGA crowd installed Johnson, who has shown no such proclivity. And what has it gotten the GOP caucus? Only more scorn from the rest of the non-MAGA voters out here in the country. Why is that?

Because Johnson, for one thing, refused to back a bipartisan bill that would have strengthened our southern border, something the speaker and his allies insisted on doing. Why do you suppose Johnson scampered into the tall grass? Because the immediate past POTUS who’s running for the office he lost in 2020 demanded it of him. The ex-POTUS did not want President Biden to score any political points prior to this fall’s election.

So, there you go. The speaker of the House works for the former POTUS and not “the people” he purports to represent as speaker.

Johnson is trying to “lead” the House with the narrowest of “majorities” imaginable. He cannot get his GOP caucus to agree on much of anything and he damn sure has no support among Democrats who, these days, are feeling their oats as they gain strength in the House.

And, of course, he faces the same threats of removal that eventually undid McCarthy’s brief tenure as speaker. He dares not do a damn thing to rile the MAGA mob, which I should add comprises a small minority of the total GOP caucus. But, oh man, it is a vocal crowd and manages somehow to outshout the rest of the legislative body at virtually every turn.

Do I wish for a McCarthy return to the House? Not even …

I do wish for a display of guts from his successor, who so far has shown himself to be a gutless wonder.

local news

Thanks for the random act

Random acts of kindness are, by definition, meant to surprise those who receive them, correct?

I mean, they occur at random, meaning that you don’t expect them to be delivered to you.

Well, today in Princeton, I received a random act that I want to share with you because, well, I am in a sharing mood.

I took my truck to a motor vehicle washing business this morning. I drove to the vacuum pumps first to clean out the interior of the Ranger I drive. I pulled the driver’s side floor mat out and began vacuuming it. A young man next to me apparently noticed that I was having a bit of trouble bending over to operate the vacuum pump. Hey, I am 74 years of age and he is a good bit younger.

He grabbed the vacuum from my hand and cleaned the floor mat. I sought to tell him that I was all right, that he didn’t need to do it.

His answer? “God told me to help you.” 

Now, how in the world am I going to tell him to disobey a directive from the Almighty? He finished the job, handed the vacuum back to me and finished the work he was doing on his own vehicle.

I don’t bitch routinely about the state of the world. I realize there’s kindness to be found all the time. I received a bit of it this morning … and I am grateful to the young man for extending this random act.

national news

Where is the ‘high crime’?

Alejandro Mayorkas has made history in a fashion he likely never imagined.

He is the first Cabinet secretary to be impeached since 1876 by the U.S. House of Representatives, which made another run at it and got the job done by a single vote.

Here’s the rub … and it’s a beaut. The House GOP caucus, led by the MAGA mob of malevolent misfits, cannot find a “high crime” or a “misdemeanor” to allege against the Homeland Security secretary. It states only that he is derelict in his duty to secure the southern border.

What utter, compete and nonsensical bullsh**!

The House GOP caucus is not interested in the least in governing. It wants to stick it to the Democrats whenever possible. Mayorkas has done his job, but it isn’t nearly good enough to satisfy the MAGA goons in charge of the House’s lower congressional chamber.

Good news can be found. The Senate won’t convict Mayorkas of any so-called crime. Why? Because there isn’t any. More good news: Democrats can use this sh** show as a campaign argument in their effort to solidify their Senate majority and the taking back of control in the House.

We are witnessing a disgraceful hijacking of a once-great political party. It sickens me to my core.

national news

Speaker In Name Only?

Mike Johnson is likely to have earned a title he wishes he could shed, which would be Speaker In Name Only.

The speaker of the U.S. House is a SINO, given the result last night in the New York special congressional election that saw voters flip that district from Republican to Democrat, as Tom Suozzi, a former three-term congressman won his old seat back.

Suozzi replaces the former congressman — and infamous lying sack of pig dookie — Republican George Santos, who had been expelled from the House in a landmark action.

That puts the Republican “majority” in the House at 218-213. Four seats are vacant. The scant majority status puts almost every piece of legislation pitched by the GOP in peril.

Oh, wait! The GOP-led House is more interested in impeaching Democratic members of President Biden’s Cabinet on made-up phony charges than in doing anything constructive for the nation … such as enacting stronger border enforcement.

This is the body over which the SINO, Mike Johnson, presides.

Nice …