Tag Archives: 2024 election

local news

Can’t wait for Cruz to declare

Ted Cruz well might declare his intention to run for president of the United States for the second time.

Good. I look forward to his declaration that he intends to be elected commander in chief and head of state. Someone surely will be waiting in the weeds to reveal to the rest of the nation what the Texas Republican U.S. senator did in February 2021 when thousands of Texans were freezing in the Winter Storm of the Century.

You’ll recall he jetted off to Cancun, Mexico while hundreds of Texans were freezing to death. The media uncovered Cruz’s getaway, ratted him out and then he returned … only to blame his daughter for talking him into going to the warm Mexico beaches.

The man is numbskull of the first order.

He ran against the GOP field in 2016 and was the last contender standing in Donald Trump’s way before bowing out. He called Trump all but the spawn of Satan. Then he became part of Trump’s Senate suck-up squad in the Senate after Trump got elected in 2016.

The guy is a gutless wonder. Go ahead and declare your candidacy, Ted … and then be prepared to answer for your cowardice.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Joe Biden

Biden remains my first choice

I declared more than once prior to the start of the 2020 presidential campaign that Joe Biden was not my first pick to be nominated by the Democratic Party to run against Donald Trump.

My preference then was that Democrats should go with a new voice, a fresh face, some new approaches to good government. It didn’t work out that way.

The former vice president ended up as the man for Democrats around whom they would rally. I joined that crowd when it became clear that Biden would win the nomination.

That all stipulated, the president remains my first choice for the next presidential election. He should be re-elected and my hope is that he would win a second term by an even more handsome margin than he won the first time.

I have long admired the man’s tenacity. Yes, he is ambitious. He ran for president the first time in 1988, only to pull out after he got caught plagiarizing speeches delivered by a British Labor Party pol. He went after the Democratic nomination 20 years later, only to get steamrolled by a young senator from Illinois, Barack Obama, who then selected Biden to serve as VPOTUS; they won the 2008 election.

Biden has scored enough legislative victories to signal a successful term as president. Gun legislation, infrastructure rebuilding, climate change investments, tax cuts, deficit reduction, alliances are strengthened … and lastly, his steadfast support of the Ukrainians in their struggle against the Russian invaders.

Indeed, President Biden’s stance against the Russian goons who attacked Ukraine has helped strengthen the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO has held together more tightly than ever before.

Joe Biden appears to be getting ready for an announcement that is coming not long into the new year that looms just ahead.

The man is hitting his stride as president. Joe Biden needs to stay on the job.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

Vaccines aren’t evil, Ron

Ron DeSantis is showing us what kind of presidential candidate he likely will become; he will trade on voters’ unjustified fears about proven medical treatments designed to rid the nation of a killer virus.

The Florida governor, likely to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, vows to launch a probe into the evil nature of the various vaccines approved by the federal food and drug agencies to fight the COVID-19 virus.

DeSantis, certainly no medical doctor, is getting some shi**y advice from his staff on what to say about the vaccines. Every infectious disease I have heard has said they are safe, they are effective and they shouldn’t be cause for worry among those who need to take them to fight off the virus … that is still killing Americans.

What the hell is DeSantis talking about?

I believe he is blowing it out his backside. It sounds like a precursor to a GOP nominating campaign that is going to trade on more lies and deceit.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, national news

Not all Rs are evil … honest!

Contrary to what some readers of this blog might presume, your blogger doesn’t hate all Republican politicians. Far from it.

The detestable Republicans out there are the subscribers to the MAGA cult doctrine espoused by believers in The Big Lie.

These are the pols among the cabal of cultists who refused to impeach or convict a president who incited the assault on our government, who sought to overturn the results of a free, fair and legal presidential election. Beyond that, there exists to this very minute Republicans who are willing to put country ahead of party.

These also are Republicans whose future concerns me as we move past the midterm election and look ahead to the 2024 election. About one-third of the Senate will be on the ballot and among those up for re-election are the likes of Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah, the lone Republican who voted to convict Donald Trump in his first impeachment trial.

We witnessed already the damage that election deniers and MAGA worshipers can do to Republican officeholders. I am concerned, thus, for the future of the likes of Sen. Romney, who values his oath to the nation more than loyalty to an individual.

My congressional district in North Texas is going to be represented by a MAGA follower. I look for Republican Rep.-elect Keith Self to be front and center on the calls to look high and low for dirt on Hunter Biden, Anthony Fauci and would vote to impeach President Biden for make-believe transgressions.

We need more thoughtful pols — Democrats and Republicans — who understand that compromise is the most critical ingredient in creating good government.

I know they’re out there.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Joe Biden

Run, Joe, run!

As a general rule, I am not inclined to presume what incumbent officeholders should do, whether to run for re-election or call it quits.

I’ll make an exception right now: President Joe Biden should run for re-election in 2024. 

OK, so why the change? It’s because I believe he is doing a good job as president and that he is prepared to take on another four years as our head of state and commander in chief.

I do not buy into the rumors about alleged cognitive decline. I know about the verbal gaffes. He’s been making rhetorical mistakes for decades. It’s nothing new; it’s likely an after-effect from the stuttering condition he suffered as a child.

I have no earthly idea who the Republicans will nominate in 2024. Given the GOP’s obstructionist nature since they lost the presidency in 2020, it likely won’t matter who carries the party banner into the political battle against the Democrats.

To that end, I hope it’s the president who carries his party’s flag onto the field.

Joe Biden has managed to get Congress to approve gun violence legislation, to back his infrastructure revamping plan, to help reduce the cost of prescription drugs. On his watch, more jobs have been created in a single presidential term than any time in history. The jobless rate is now at pre-COVID pandemic levels. President Biden has persuaded our allies to back the U.S. economic sanction effort to fight the Russians’ illegal invasion of Ukraine. NATO is more united than ever.

Yes, Joe Biden has worked to do to combat the illegal immigration problem. My belief is that he is working daily to fix it. Yes, despite the threats of impeachment and further obstruction, I am going to retain my faith in Joe Biden’s ability to work the complexities of government in search of a solution.

He’s been at it for decades. Joe Biden isn’t ready to stop.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news, political news

Going to ignore Trump

I am going to make a solemn pledge and I expect y’all to hold me to it.

I hereby intend to ignore Donald J. Trump’s “candidacy” for president of the United States. His proclamations on the campaign trail will mean not a damn thing to me. I do not believe a single word that flies out of his mouth.

Now, I will keep both eyes on his legal trouble. I will have plenty to say on those issues as they unfold. His alleged candidacy? Not a chance.

There might be an occasion where Trump says something I consider defamatory. I’ll weigh my options then, take them on a case-by-case basis.

He won’t have an original idea to offer. He won’t offer a view for the future. He will continue to litigate The Big Lie involving alleged “widespread voter fraud” and the 2020 election.

There is no point in commenting on any of that.

So there. You may take that to the bank.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Lame-duck Congress needs to soar

One usually doesn’t expect much from lame ducks, whether they are politicians or the governing bodies in which they serve.

That is decidedly not the case involving the current Congress, which is now officially entering its lame-duck status. Those of us who are concerned about the status of good government and of congressional investigations into the effort to overturn a free and fair election are expecting a great deal out of this lame duck Congress.

I shall specify.

Republicans who are taking over leadership of the next Congress say they intend to investigate — get ready for it! — Hunter Biden’s business dealings. Yes, President Biden’s son is being targeted for investigation. What about inflation? What about the Ukraine War? What about climate change? Or gun violence? Hey, that’ll have to wait until the GOP finishes its probe into Hunter Biden’s business activity! What utter crap!

Then we have the 1/6 committee’s report. The House select panel is finishing up its own probe into Donald J. Trump’s effort to overturn the election that tossed him out of office. The committee led by Chairman Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., needs to get its findings on the record. House Republican leaders are all but certain to toss it aside once they assume power.

The House GOP’s slim majority apparently gives the nut job wing of the Republican caucus even more power. The MAGA/Big Liar cabal is going to lean hard on the presumptive speaker, Kevin McCarthy, to do its bidding. It will be fascinating in the extreme to see whether McCarthy resists their demands and gives the more establishment members of his caucus — not to mention the Democrats — more of his attention.

McCarthy has shown a cowardly tendency, sad to say, toward kowtowing to the nut jobs — starting with the Nut Job in Chief, one Donald John Trump. McCarthy stood on the floor immediately after the assault on the Capitol on 1/6 and declared that Trump was singularly responsible for inciting the assault on our government. Then he ventured to Mar-a-Lago, shook Trump’s hand and mugged for the cameras as if to tell the Insurrectionist in Chief, “Hey, it’s OK now. I was just kidding when I said those things. I’m with ya.”

Thus, the lame-duck Congress becomes important. Highly important, in fact.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald Trump

Trump jumps in again

Donald J. Trump today announced his intention to run for president a third time.

You’ll have to excuse me for refusing to push any panic buttons. He will not be elected POTUS in November 2024. He might not even be nominated by the Republican Party. Indeed, he might pull out of the race once the criminal indictments pour in.

He garnered fewer votes than Hillary Clinton in 2016 but was elected on the basis of the Electoral College victory he scored. I accept that he won. Trump collected 7 million fewer votes than Joe Biden in 2020 and lost his re-election. I embraced that outcome.

What happens now? Beats me.

I do know this: The ex-POTUS is going to make an ass of himself.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald Trump

Trump’s ‘big announcement’

Donald John Trump has declared that in one week he is going to make a “big announcement.”

He’ll do it in Florida. The chatterers out there are suggesting out loud that he’s going to announce a third run for the presidency in 2024.

Not … so … fast.

I remain skeptical of The Donald’s launching another bid for the White House. It well might be — but do not hold me to this, please — that his “big announcement” might be something quite different.

I’ll offer this as a totally uneducated guess: Trump well might decide that the Republican Party won’t nominate him, believing he cannot win an election against whoever the Democrats nominate.

Then we have the myriad legal issues standing in the way. The New York attorney general has sued him for a quarter-billion bucks; Fulton County, Ga., prosecutors might indict him for coercing election officials in the 2020 election; and then we have the U.S. Justice Department pondering whether to indict him for inciting the insurrection on 1/6.

Trump’s “big announcement” might include a vow to fight all those so-called “witch hunters” in an effort to clear his name … if that is at all possible.

I ain’t predictin’ any of this is going to happen. I merely remain skeptical that he wants to be deemed a “loser” yet again.

I will await his announcement, though, with bated breath.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news, national news

Trump the crook to run again? Hah!

Donald J. Trump keeps dropping hints along the trail, kinda like breadcrumbs, that he is “strongly considering” a third campaign for the presidency.

I don’t think so.

He might announce his intention to run. He might go through the motions. He might act as if he’s in the hunt for the White House.

I just continue to believe that another U.S. citizen is going to have plenty to say about whether The Donald runs again.

That would be Attorney General Merrick Garland, who I continue to believe is preparing to indict the former one-term, twice-impeached POTUS of multiple felonies.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com