local news

Trip over; journey continues

Pop quiz time: What can 2,783 miles on the road through part of the eastern United States of America accomplish for you?

Well, for me it helped clear my head and — most astonishingly — it mended my broken heart. Let me be clear: Saying my heart is “mended” does not mean it is reassembled. It still is broken, but I have managed on this most recent sojourn away from my North Texas home to pick up some of the pieces.

The brutal fight that cost me my dear bride, Kathy Anne on Feb. 3, inflicted deep wounds on me, my sons, my granddaughter, daughter-in-law, my brothers-in-law and their families and on my sisters.

I reached out to friends and family on a month-long trip out west shortly after Kathy Anne passed away. I reached out again on a two-week sprint back east to a family member and more friends.

They all said essentially the same thing: I did the right thing by taking time away and that I should take it all “one day at a time.” I am buoyed by the affirmation and am happy to report that I am following the one-day-at-a-time advice.

Joe Biden has told the nation while seeking to console us after national tragedies that “eventually you’ll smile rather than cry when you think of loved ones lost.” The president is right. I am beginning to smile a bit these days when I think of Kathy Anne. Fifty-two years of togetherness with this lovely woman gave me plenty of reason to smile today even as I continue to mourn her absence.

Yes, there will be some difficult days ahead. I’ll have to get through, say, the first wedding anniversary without her, along with her birthday, and all the requisite holidays that come at the end of the year. Kathy Anne was a whirling dervish at Christmas as she sought to decorate our home in all its holiday cheer.

I just want to report today that I my brief excursion away from my home has helped me in ways I did not expect when Toby the Puppy and I embarked two weeks ago.

But … my journey continues.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Declaring ‘victory’ … of a sort

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — I should not declare victory prematurely, as there are more hurdles to overcome, more significant dates that lie ahead.

That said, I want to issue a cautious note of confidence as my latest mind-clearing, heart-mending sojourn is about to conclude.

I ventured back east to get away from the house I shared with my late bride, Kathy Anne. I had my share of spells visiting family and friends. I have written about them already. Fifty-two years of togetherness with my dream girl aren’t going to be diminished any time soon.

However, I appear to have cleared my head sufficiently to go through a few whole days without welling up. That is a positive development … don’t you think?

My heart? That’s another matter. It remains seriously damaged from the event that occurred on Feb. 3, when I lost my bride to a savage form of brain cancer. I accept that my heart will remain permanently damaged. I hear from friends and acquaintances who have lost the loves of their lives that they, too, sob without warning. I won’t bore you with reports on when that happens to me.

Just know — if you have been following this journey through the dark fog — that I am seeing the light.

I will return to my North Texas house sometime tomorrow. I’ll walk into the living room and will see evidence of Kathy Anne where I left it two weeks ago.

I don’t expect to cry, which — if I am able to finish this journey with dry eyes — might enable me to declare a form of victory.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Ohio: just out of reach

CAIRO, Ill. — I had hoped to knock one more state off my “never been there” list on my current trek east from North Texas.

Alas, I fell short by about 50 miles.

I have set foot in 48 of our 50 states. The only two states left to visit are New Jersey and Ohio. Let me state that I have been to Newark/Liberty International Airport twice, but that doesn’t count. I do not count airport stops as “visiting” a nation or a state. Indeed, I have been to Zurich, Switzerland’s airport a few times and to Hong Kong’s airport once. I do not count those places among my list of nations I have seen.

A quick aside … My wife and I went to Copenhagen, Denmark in 2006. Our flight itinerary brought us home via London Heathrow airport; we would catch a flight to Texas from Gatwick airport. My wife, using her creativity, booked a cab ride from Heathrow to Gatwick and then built in a tour of Windsor Castle en route. Thus, we were able to say we “visited Great Britain.”

I was coming out of Charleston, W. Va., two days ago. My GPS guided me along Interstate 64 west out of Charleston. I had thought it would take me to Ohio. Nope. I exited West Virginia and entered Kentucky.

So … there you have it. Ohio remains on my list of states to visit.

I have the time now to get into my truck and head there. Hmm. I suspect another quick trip just might be in order.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news

Is a deal possible?

What you are about to read from this blogger isn’t an original thought; it comes from a former Republican governor and one-time GOP presidential candidate.

That said, I want to reveal what he expressed.

Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich has tossed out a possibility that — upon some reflection — isn’t nearly as goofy as some observers might suggest it is. Kasich was careful to stipulate that he isn’t “predicting” this would happen, but believes it remains a distinct possibility.

It is that Trump’s lawyers, who must defend him against multiple indictments on multiple fronts, might want to cut a deal with federal special counsel Jack Smith. Kasich suggests that Trump’s lawyers well might determine that Trump cannot win the classified documents case or the 1/6 insurrection matter.

What does he do? Well, Kasich said it might be that Trump’s legal team could suggest he cuts a deal with prosecutors that would include a guilty plea and his dropping out of the 2024 race for president.

He’s already pleaded not guilty to all the federal indictments, and to the New York indictment over the hush money payment he made to the adult film star. He’s likely to plead not guilty to an indictment that everyone on Earth believes is coming from the Fulton County, Ga., district attorney on another case involving election tampering.

However, criminal defendants have changed their pleas before. The alternative might be serious prison time if he’s convicted, say, of obstruction in the case involving the 1/6 assault on our government.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a one-time U.S. attorney, said recently that prosecutors would rather refuse to bring a case than bring one they cannot win. Jack Smith, therefore, well might have the goods on Trump to all but guarantee a conviction.

It makes me go “hmmm.” Is there an alternative, therefore, to prison for the former president? Looks like it to me.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Daddy Dittohead is still dead

Gallery

CAIRO, Ill. – I am staying in the neighborhood of one of this country’s most despicable political commentators. Fortunately, he no longer is poisoning our airwaves with his venomous rhetoric.

The reference is to the late Rush Limbaugh, who I presume is buried in Cape Girardeau, Mo. He died some years back of cancer. The disease silenced his foul mouth but sadly his notions remain in the hearts and minds of the Limbaugh Dittoheads who used to hang on this individual’s words.

I had heard that Limbaugh could be a marvelous dinner companion. The critique of the archconservative talker’s social graces came from some of his liberal friends in the media. They liked the guy … even as they were able to criticize his rants regularly.

My latest post-Kathy Anne’s passing journey now has me en route home to North Texas. It has been a marvelous two weeks on the road. Toby the Puppy and I were able to see a beloved family member near Fort Bragg, N.C., and dear friends in Roanoke, Va., and Charleston, W. Va. We visited some fabulous exhibits and cast our gaze on magnificent countryside.

I found a hotel in Cairo, thinking it offered me a good break from the road. And it did.

Then I spotted its location on a map and learned that it is right next to Cape Girardeau. I shall stipulate that I don’t hold the nice folks in this region accountable for the trash that came from Daddy Dittohead.

However, full disclosure requires me to admit that I considered finding Limbaugh’s grave and then desecrating it in some fashion. I did not and I will do no such thing.

I am content just to trash his memory on this blog.

Johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Another first-time event …

It’s always been clear to me that if you live long enough you are likely to see damn near everything and anything.

When I entered this world more than 73 years ago, I never imagined I would see: a presidential assassination, the eruption of a volcano, the resignation of a president. But … I have witnessed all of that.

Now comes a former U.S. president indicted by the federal government — the same government he vowed to “defend and protect” — who stands charged with committing crimes while still serving as president.

I am merely left to shake my head in disbelief.

The ex-POTUS is going to stand trial eventually on four indictment counts. I want to join those who hope the federal trial will be televised so that Americans can see with their own eyes what is transpiring in the courtroom. I don’t want conspiracy crackpots to allege the ex-POTUS is being railroaded.

Indeed, a televised federal trial would be yet another event I thought I’d never see. Here’s hoping for some courage by those empowered to make that call.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com 

legal news

Smith ‘fan club’ forms

First things first: I must stipulate that I am not a member of any Jack Smith Fan Club, nor do I intend to join one or form one in my North Texas neighborhood.

That all said, I now shall declare that Jack Smith’s standing among those of us looking for accountability and justice in the conduct of a former POTUS has shot into the stratosphere.

The meme that showed up on my social media feed suggests that there might have been a chance that special counsel Jack Smith might “fear” Donald Trump. Not … a … chance!

The good news about Smith, though, is that he isn’t going to seek affirmation for doing his job. Attorney General Merrick Garland selected Smith to lead this investigation because the AG didn’t want to become entangled in a case involving the current POTUS, Joe Biden, and the man he defeated in the 2020 election.

Smith has done his duty with zero leaks, with little fanfare and with a maximum degree of professionalism. Yet those aspects of the job he has done has elevated the special counsel to hero status. Go figure.

The former president has managed to get Republicans in Congress to knuckle under to his threats. Not so with Jack Smith, who in reality has no more cause to stand firm against Trump than the sycophants who kowtow to Trump within the GOP House caucus.

Yes, I get that House GOP members face the prospect of losing their seats in primary elections. But they take oaths to defend the Constitution, not to march in lockstep behind a cult leader.

Jack Smith took a similar oath when he took on the role of special counsel. His loyalty to his oath, therefore, has given him an exalted status only because he is doing the job he signed on to do.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Sports news

Up close with The Greatest

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Anyone who knows me well — family members and my closest friends — understands that Muhammad Ali is my all-time favorite professional athlete.

Well, gang, today I walked into the Muhammad Ali Museum and Center to pay my respects to The Greatest.

It is, to say the very least, a stunning display on Main Street in downtown Louisville that honors the three-time heavyweight boxing champion. Moreover, it speaks in great detail to the social consciousness he exhibited by refusing induction into the Army in 1967 and for the sacrifice he endured when the pro boxing authorities deprived him of his ability — at the peak of his physical prowess — to make a living by beating up other men.

The Champ was The Greatest. I need no convincing of that. The chatter we hear from time to time about whether Ali would defeat, say, Mike Tyson or Lennox Lewis — two of The Champ’s boxing descendants — is just mindless chatter.

In my humble view, and I am no expert, a prime-time Muhammad Ali would make mincemeat of those two fine athletes. But that’s just me.

The exhibit does explain that Ali was a flawed man. He was a womanizer who treated his wives terribly. It speaks as well to the rhetoric he spouted by declaring that all white people were “devils.” I long have found that “devil” nonsense to be just that. The Champ’s boxing team comprised the likes of Angelo Dundee, Ferdie Pacheco and other white dudes who guided him to the pinnacle of his sport.

As for the Parkinson’s disease that turned this monumental chatter box into a silent statue of a man, one exhibit speaks to whether the brutal sport that Ali practiced contributed to his illness. It says “no!” A physician who examined Ali says the disease would have taken The Champ down without the punishment he endured while fighting. Yes, I know that’s a debatable point. I just won’t engage in that discussion.

The museum is a marvelous tribute to this city’s most notable son, a man who went on to become what many have argued “the most famous person on this Earth.” 

I am so glad I took time to visit this fantastic exhibit to The Greatest of All Time.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Smith: strategic thinker

Jack Smith is about as strategic a thinker as I can imagine, given the nature of the indictment handed down this week by the federal grand jury involving Donald Trump’s role in the 1/6 assault on our nation’s government.

Consider this: The grand jury indicted Trump on four counts of conspiracy to defraud the government, to obstruct justice, to overturn the results of an election and to deny the people’s right to have their votes counted. A conspiracy necessarily means others are involved, but no one else is indicted.

Instead, they are “unindicted co-conspirators.” Most of the names have been made public and they include some big hitters.

Yet, Trump stands as the sole indicted criminal defendant. Smith’s goal? It is to grant Trump a “speedy trial,” which an individual who proclaims his innocence as vehemently as Trump does should welcome … correct? But he’s not welcoming it.

Trump’s foot-dragging tells me he has plenty to hide from the special counsel, who in turn has compiled several mountains of evidence that I believe well could produce a conviction.

My hope is that the results of this pending trial come far sooner than later to enable voters to decide whether this country is on the way toward the abyss or is set to climb to new heights of greatness.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news, legal news

Strike three … Trump!

Now we know what we have suspected all along, which is that special counsel Jack Smith has indicted Donald Trump on four counts of conspiracy to mount a coup to overturn the 2020 presidential election.

To think that Trump has bellowed since losing to President Biden that the election was “rigged,” that it is illegitimate.

Smith made monumental political history today. Is this reason to cheer? To high-five each other? To applaud the legal team that has assembled these incredibly detailed charges against a former president?

No. It is a time for serious reflection and for hoping the criminal justice system works its will.

I am not cheering tonight. I am trying to digest what has come forth.

Smith’s indictment reportedly is detailed. It is meticulous. It is historic in a way that many of us are having difficulty measuring. Trump is the first former POTUS ever indicted by the Justice Department. The indictment handed down today by a grand jury alleges that the former POTUS sought to overturn a free and fair election.

What in the name of democracy is up with that?

Jack Smith made it clear once again today that Trump is entitled to the presumption of innocence, but said he intends to press for a “speedy trial.”

Trump continues to tell us he did nothing wrong on Jan. 6, 2021. If so, then let this individual mount his defense and seek to persuade a jury that he should be acquitted. Does an innocent man seek to delay the proceeding? No, yet Trump is almost certain to obstruct the progress of this prosecution.

What now? The nation is about to enter a historic chapter in its long and glorious story. Donald Trump stands indicted on allegations that he sought to overturn an election he lost. It was a fair and legal determination by American voters … and one of the counts of the latest indictment alleges that Trump sought to deny voters that sacred right.

This is no time to cheer and slap the backs of our friends and political allies. It is a time to take seriously what a duly constituted grand jury has determined, that a one-time president of the United States committed a criminal act against the very government he took an oath to “defend and protect.”

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Commentary on politics, current events and life experience