Tag Archives: 2024 election

Donald Trump, national news, political news

How do these candidates do it?

There can be nothing normal about today’s political climate, given what I understand is the amazingly strong showing among Republican candidates for high public office.

Bear in mind that these Republicans have been endorsed/anointed by Donald John Trump as heirs to the political idiocy to which he gave birth when he rode down the Trump Tower escalator in 2015 to announce his presidential candidacy.

For example, I just heard that dumb bell Herschel Walker is actually leading Sen. Raphael Warnock in the race in Georgia for Warnock’s seat in the Senate. The spread is just 3 percentage points, but the very idea that a dumbass like Walker can be taken seriously as a senatorial candidate simply blows my mind.

It’s neck and neck up yonder in Pennsylvania, where Trumpkin Mehmet Oz is running against Lt. Gov. John Fetterman for the GOP-held Senate seat that Pat Toomey is vacating. Oz doesn’t even live in Pennsylvania and has managed to make a hash out of damn near every issue there is to discuss. He’s still in the hunt.

Over in Ohio, another Trump cultist, J.D. Vance, is actually ahead of U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan in the race for the seat vacated by Sen. Bob Portman, one of the good-guy Republicans still in office.

These and other examples suggest to me that whatever political future Trump carves out for himself might be moot. He’s already won by leaving a large footprint on a once-Grand Old Party.

If he declines to run for POTUS in 2024, his candidates will carry the ball for him. If he decides to run and loses, he’ll still have that field of Trumpkins.

If he runs and wins … oh, jeez, I can’t finish that thought.

The 45th POTUS has endorsed a slate of losers, nut jobs and dumbasses. That much we know. What boggles my noggin is that some of them actually might win.

Go … figure.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news, political news

Cheney should rethink this notion

Lame-duck Liz Cheney is considering a run for the presidency in 2024. On one hand, I endorse the notion of the Wyoming Republican congresswoman running for the GOP presidential nomination.

On the other hand, the prospect of Cheney running for POTUS as an independent candidate — a notion she hasn’t yet ruled out — could prove disastrous.

Why? Well, Cheney said she is going to commit her remaining time in public life to ensuring that Donald Trump gets nowhere near the Oval Office ever again. I applaud her noble goal. And it is a noble calling, given the damage that Trump could deliver to the presidency were he sent back to the White House. Oh, jeez, the thought makes my gut tighten.

If Cheney were to run as an independent, from whom does she draw her votes? Those who would vote for President Biden only because they, too, cannot stomach the thought of Trump returning to power would be inclined to vote for Cheney. So, if Cheney runs as an independent candidate for POTUS, her presence on the fall 2024 ballot could serve as a major spoiler.

A part of me wants to see Cheney stand on a GOP debate stage with Trump and other Republicans seeking the White House. She would eviscerate The Donald. However, that doesn’t preclude Trump from winning the GOP nomination … presuming he runs, of course.

And therein lies the danger of Cheney staying in the hunt for the White House if she doesn’t win the GOP nomination. Does she run as an indy and, therefore, likely siphon votes from President Biden?

She wouldn’t like this comparison, but a Cheney presence as an independent reminds me of what Ralph Nader did to help elect George W. Bush president in 2000. The consumer advocate, Nader, drew votes that would have gone to Al Gore in that election, serving as legitimate spoiler in many states where his total exceeded the difference between Bush and Gore.

Play it carefully, Rep. Cheney. I am proud of the stand she has taken in this effort to investigate Trump’s role in the 1/6 insurrection. My pride would disappear, though, if she manages through her own hubris to help Trump blunder his way back into power.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Another run for Donald?

The political world cannot seem to stop talking about Donald Trump and whether the two-time candidate for president wants to make a third run at an office in which he garnered fewer votes twice than his opponent.

Given that I cannot predict what this nimrod will do, I am left just to speculate out loud and wonder: Does this guy actually believe he can win after being impeached twice and has since been revealed to be an individual who is incapable of fulfilling the duties of his office?

It’s a stretch even for The Donald.

At least that’s my belief.

He has prided himself on his unpredictability. He said as much when he garnered more electoral votes in 2016 than Hillary Rodham Clinton. He was right. I couldn’t predict a single move this guy would make during his single term in office.

So, if he’s still an unpredictable moron, does that mean all this fancy footwork, this teasing his followers that he is going to run — again! — mean he doesn’t really intend to do it?

Let’s suppose for instance that Attorney General Merrick Garland indicts Trump for violating the Espionage Act by squirreling confidential documents away from the White House and hiding them in the basement of his Florida mansion.

How in the name of political idiocy can a man run for POTUS while fending off what could be a lifetime sentence in prison?

Or, what happens if the Fulton County (Ga.) district attorney indicts him for voter interference? Or if the New York AG indicts him for falsifying his net wealth to obtain loans?

I just am having trouble grasping how anyone — even someone as slimy and slippery as The Donald — can possibly run for president under those circumstances.

Well, I ain’t predictin’ nothin’, man. I am just going to remain skeptical that The Donald is going to take this plunge yet again. There well could be a crowded Republican Party primary field awaiting with opponents ready to skewer him over what we now know to be the truth about him.

OK. Maybe it’s just wishful thinking on my part. Accuse me all you want of bias. Or of hating Trump. I won’t deny any of it.

Nor will I deny loathing the sight of him clenching that tiny fist of his in that show of defiance intended to portray this coward as a tough guy.

If you do, don’t forget to accuse me as well of loving my country enough to prevent it from enduring any more misery that this individual can bring.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

How does this clown do it?

For the ever-lovin’ life of me I cannot understand a key element of the contemporary political landscape.

It is this: How in the world does Donald J. Trump remain a “player,” someone the media are obsessed with in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election campaign season?

There appears to be a growing probability that Justice Department sleuths are going to find enough to indict the former president on charges that could include conspiracy to commit sedition.

Indeed, it well might be that the 76-year-old huckster who masqueraded as our commander in chief is going to spend the rest of his sorry, crooked, corruption-filled life as a criminal defendant.

Let us remember something about the damning testimony we have heard in recent weeks implicating Trump as a conspirator in the 1/6 insurrection: Every witness, almost all of whom are Republicans, delivered their evidence under oath; they took an oath that states that if they were not truthful, they faced criminal prosecution on charges of perjury.

Trump is now reportedly considering a third run for the presidency. He failed to get more actual votes than either Hillary Clinton in 2016 or Joe Biden in 2020. He sneaked into the White House by a fluke victory in the Electoral College.

Then he got impeached twice. Once on a charge of soliciting a political favor from a foreign government and once on inciting the all-out attack on our government. No need to remind me that he avoided conviction on either count.

Attorney General Merrick Garland said he will pursue “anyone” who is criminally complicit in the effort to interfere with the “peaceful transition of power from one administration to the next.” Donald John Trump sought to interfere in that process. What in the name of democracy is going to prevent a felony indictment against this clown?

And yet … he remains a player in the 2024 presidential campaign. I hear serious political observers say with a straight face that this twice-impeached narcissist is the GOP favorite to be nominated in two years.

I am baffled to the point of madness.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Joe Biden, national news

Storm clouds brewing over Biden

“I’m working on my own election. And that’s all I’m focused on right now.
 
We have got a little under four months here in Ohio, and we’re running a great campaign. We’re up in the polls and working really hard. So, I’m just going to focus on that, and then we can chat about that after I win and get in the United States Senate. I will be happy to comment.”

The above comment came from a candidate for the U.S. Senate, a Democrat and a longtime friend and political ally of President Biden.

And yet … Rep. Tim Ryan just couldn’t bring himself to say he supports the president’s re-election effort, which Biden has insisted is going to ramp up and that he is going ahead full throttle at seeking a second term.

Hmm. I don’t know about you, but the question from a Fox News anchor seemed straightforward enough. “Do you intend to support the president’s bid for a second term?”

There was nothing in the question, as I understood it, that required Ryan to go into detail about the level of support he would give to the president. Nor did it require him to offer specific strategies and tactics he intends to employ on the president’s behalf.

Will he support Joe Biden? Yes or no, congressman.

This tells me something I hate acknowledging, which is that Joe Biden’s support even among his closest allies may be evaporating. I won’t suggest for a moment that the president needs to surrender or declare he won’t seek a second term.

I am willing to acknowledge, though, that the road to another four years in the Oval Office is fraught with peril.

It is time to get busy, Mr. President.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

political news

Cheney as a Democratic VP candidate? Seriously?

I want to stipulate that I have tremendous admiration for retired U.S. Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, a former combat officer who also commanded hundreds of thousands of American military personnel.

There. Having said that, I now want to say that he is wrong to suggest that Rep. Liz Cheney should run as a Democratic vice-presidential nominee in 2024.

Gen. McCaffrey wrote this today via Twitter: Cong Cheney is a principled public servant of great courage. An example of devotion to the Constitution. A great VP nomination for the Democratic ticket in 2024. A bipartisan ticket. Will give many disgusted Republicans a banner to rally behind.

I, too, admire Liz Cheney’s role in the 1/6 insurrection probe. She is a staunch, stellar and strong conservative member of Congress. Putting Rep. Cheney on a Democratic ticket would likely demand that she forgo all for which she has been a champion.

She is a strong right-to-life politician; she is a strong pro-gun rights pol; Cheney is fervently against tax increases; Cheney is no fan of the Affordable Care Act.

How in the world does this politician comport with a Democratic Party platform that would seek to yank her far away from the positions for which she has stood strong?

It won’t happen. Therefore, Gen. McCaffrey — as much as I admire this man’s service to the nation — is reaching way beyond his grasp.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Prediction record remains in the tank

Well … it looks as though my miserable record of political prognostication remains in the dumper, given what’s being reported about what Donald J. Trump appears likely to do — maybe soon.

Major media organizations are reporting that Trump has made his decision. That he will seek the presidency again in 2024. Oh, my … be still my outright rage!

The twice-impeached crook who held the office for a term between 2017 and 2021 reportedly wants the office back in his grimy grip.

Against my better judgment and my horrible record, I went out on the ol’ limb and said Trump wouldn’t run in 2024.

But you know what? I am not going to wave the surrender flag just yet. All we know at this moment is that Trump is planning to make “an announcement.” Hmm. What will that “announcement” reveal? Any thoughts?

I just cannot get past the notion that Trump actually knows deep in what passes for a heart that he actually lost the 2020 election. Or that he understands that he is grievously damaged political goods, no matter the blathering of the shrinking mob of zealots who continue to stand by their cult leader.

Oh, and then we have what looks as though is a seriously legitimate possibility that the Department of Justice is going to indict the former Insurrectionist in Chief of serious crimes against the government. How does, oh, “conspiracy to commit sedition” strike you?

Thus, I find it strange in the extreme to believe that a former president who well could face a many-decades-long prison term actually will seek to sell himself to voters.

Then again … this is The Donald.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Graham flip-flops … again!

Someone will have to explain to me why it’s such a big deal that U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham is now on record saying that Joe Biden was the “best man” to lead the country after the 1/6 insurrection.

Or that the South Carolina Republican had harsh things to say about Donald Trump in the wake of that hideous event.

Why am I questioning all of this? Because Graham once said Trump was “unfit” to become president, that he is a “nut case,” and that Trump is a pathological liar. Graham was correct in his initial assessment of Donald Trump. He said all of that before becoming one of Trump’s biggest suck-up sycophants in the Senate.

Audio: Graham said after Jan. 6 that Biden was ‘best person to have’ (msn.com)

Yes, he did say he was done with Trump, that he had “enough” of him after the insurrection. He has gone on to blather incessantly about how Trump is a shoo-in to be nominated by Republicans in 2024 and that he would support him if he ran — once again! — for president.

The latest revelations come from the new book by Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns, who’ve already revealed lots of quotes — with recordings to back them up — from The Donald himself. They make my hair stand straight up.

Sen. Graham, though, has been among the greatest disappointments for me as I have watched the Donald Trump era in D.C. unfold since the 2016 presidential election.

To be candid, I believe about as much that comes from Lindsey Graham as I believe what flies out of Trump’s pie hole … which is not a damn thing!

Thus, I am confused as to why anyone should take anything this clown seriously. To borrow a phrase from Graham, who said this about Trump after the insurrection: I’m out.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Can there be a more frightening outcome?

Believe me, please, when I say that I do not scare easily. It takes a lot to rattle this old man, a guy who’s been shelled by enemy troops, flown over an erupting volcano and been catapulted off the deck of a nuclear-powered U.S. Navy aircraft carrier.

Thus, when I say something gives me the willies, know that it’s for real. I can think of nothing more frightening to our cherished American system of representative democracy than to see Donald J. Trump return to within spitting distance of the White House.

I want to add an important caveat to this notion, which is that I remain highly dubious that the former POTUS is going to run for the office in 2024. I will not swallow the swill being offered by pundits who contend that at this moment he is frontrunner for the Republican Party presidential nomination.

I also want to point out that Trump’s fundamental message is the same as it was when Joe Biden thumped his ass in the 2020 election: the election was stolen. Dammit to hell! It wasn’t! President Biden was elected fairly, squarely and legally. The boring message that Trump keeps delivering is beginning to fall on an increasing number of GOP deaf ears.

For the United States to return to the days of pathological lying, of incompetence at every level of the executive branch of government, of a president who is scorned and ridiculed by our nation’s allies and seeks to cozy up to a bully who has been committing crimes against humanity in his illegal Ukraine War signals a collective depravity I didn’t think could exist in this great nation.

We’re going to have our midterm election soon. Then we’ll start digesting news about the GOP field that will take shape for the next presidential contest. As the Almighty is my witness, I cannot fathom how our great nation could allow itself to be sucked into the abyss that awaits were it to bring back the Trump Era.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Pence starts GOP chatter

Former Vice President Mike Pence has the Republican Party faithful chattering about whether he plans to run for president in 2024.

Oh, my. Let ’em talk among themselves.

Pence visited New Hampshire recently to shake a few hands and talk to the locals about, oh, possibly a Pence candidacy for POTUS. He says he is focused only on helping GOP candidates running for Congress in 2022. Sure thing, Mr. VPOTUS. I believe that … not!

As The Hill notes, though, a Pence presidential candidacy is going to pi** off the GOP cultists who are angry over the way he conducted himself on 1/6. What did he do to anger the Donald Trump cult cabal? Oh, all he did was follow the law, the Constitution and the oath he took to obey both by refusing to block the certification of the 2020 election result that gave us President Biden and got rid of Donald Trump.

Pence fuels speculation of 2024 presidential bid | TheHill

Thousands of rioters stormed the Capitol on 1/6, some of them yelling “Hang Mike Pence!” I guess the thought is that many of still want the former VP to hang from the gallows.

Absolutely disgusting.

A Pence candidacy surely will lend plenty of drama to a GOP primary campaign that might also include the 45th POTUS.

Sheesh!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com