Tag Archives: COVID

Donald Trump

No. 45 is popping off

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

There he goes.

Donald Trump is trying to hog the glory of the success that has occurred since he left the office he once occupied.

Here’s what I “remember” about Trump’s time as president.

I remember him downplaying the severity of the pandemic. I recall how he said we could inject cleaning solution into our bodies and that the virus would “disappear.” I can remember how he called it a “Democrat hoax.” Oh, I also recall how he blew off the mounting deaths by declaring “It is what it is.”

The former Imbecile in Chief needs to go back on the golf course and keep his trap shut. He should stand by, though, and wait for the possible arrest warrants to be delivered.

national news

Waiting for end to COVID carnage

(Photo by Pablo Monsalve / VIEWpress via Getty Images)

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The death rate from the COVID-19 virus is showing signs of abating.

It provides only a glimmer of hope, though, for those of us who want to stay the course in seeking to mitigate the damage done by the killer virus.

I keep reading about the progress we’re seeing with the increase in the daily rate of vaccination. It has exceeded 2 million doses daily. It is closing in on 3 million. President Biden promised to have 100 million Americans vaccinated during his first 100 days in office; it looks as though he will smash that projection.

I am thinking tonight of the “war on terror,” and wondering how we ever will be able to declare victory in that conflict. I don’t see it happening. Nor do I see it occurring any time soon in this war against the coronavirus. The pandemic has killed more than 525,000 Americans; more of us will succumb to the virus. Of that I am certain.

The war against international terror has now been handed off to the fourth commander in chief. It started under George W. Bush, continued under Barack H. Obama and then Donald J. Trump. Joe Biden likely won’t be able to declare victory against terrorists.

Nor will he likely be able to declare victory against the coronavirus pandemic. “Normal” will look like the new normal for a long time to come.

The death rate and the hospitalization rate, though, we all hope will continue to decline. I suppose I am left to place my faith that the continuing decline will give us reason to keep on fighting.

local news

Day One of ‘mask freedom’ has commenced

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The first day of some ill-conceived declaration of independence from mask-wearing has commenced and to be honest, it is just like all the other days we have lived with since, oh, for about the past year.

My wife and I went to our neighborhood grocery store in Princeton, Texas. We donned our masks. I scanned the store and noticed just about everyone else wearing masks, too. It gives me some measure of hope that most Texans are going to keep on keeping on with the masks and social distancing … regardless of the proclamation from Gov. Greg Abbott that he is lifting the mask order.

You can count me as one of the majority of Texas residents who still have concern that the mask-lifting order is premature. Abbott said Texans know what to do. Sure they do. I am hoping they continue to demonstrate their willingness to actually do what they know to be correct. This first day gives me reason to hope.

However, I also remain concerned that Abbott’s effort to gin up business activity had to include this lifting of the mask order.

In a related matter, I also am going to shy away from using the word “anniversary” to mark the year that has passed since the COVID virus was declared a pandemic. You celebrate joyous events with the word “anniversary.” This doesn’t qualify.

For now, I will go about my day the way I have been living every day since the pandemic gripped the nation by the throat. I don’t know when I’ll resume what we used to know as “normal” living.

medical news

CDC offers ‘good news’

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

This is “good news” coming from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?

I’ll be candid: The news makes me a bit nervous.

The CDC says it’s OK for those of us who are “fully vaccinated” to meet with others who also are fully vaccinated against the COVID virus without any restrictions. You know what I mean: no masks, no imperative to practice social distancing, those kinds of things.

Maybe I should just accept CDC director Dr. Rachelle Walensky’s word for it, that it’s safe to hug on others who’ve been totally vaccinated. Then again, I remain worried about just how do we know with any certainty that others have received all the shots they need to declare themselves inoculated against the killer virus.

The media are heralding this news as further evidence that we are turning the corner against the pandemic. I hope we are and, yes, I believe we are in the midst of turning that corner.

I just can’t shake the heebie-jeebies I feel when I hear this kind of reporting out of the CDC.

For now I believe I am going to continue to keep my distance from a good bit of American society.

national news

Democrats stake out defensible COVID relief position

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

You’re a political consultant aligned with Democratic congressional candidates, maybe even incumbent members of the U.S. Senate or the U.S. House of Representatives.

Your candidate has just voted to send his or her constituents a payment to help them cope with the economic impact of the COVID 19 pandemic and voted to extend unemployment benefits until September and voted for money to pay for millions more vaccines aimed at protecting Americans against the killer virus.

Is that a defensible position? Is it more defensible than, say, a Republican politician vote against all those things?

I think so. Yeah, I know it is a more defensible position.

The Senate has just cast a partisan vote that has approved a $1.9 trillion COVID relief package pushed hard by President Biden and his fellow Democrats. All GOP senators voted “no.” The measure has gone to the House, where the same thing will happen, with all Democrats probably voting “yes” and all Republicans likely turning thumbs down.

The 2022 midterm election looms just a bit down the road.

So, who’s in the better position? The Democrats who want the government to lend a hand? Or the Republicans who oppose that notion, citing its expense?

Were I an American who has suffered grievous economic misery from the pandemic, I would be far less concerned about the expense of the measure than whether my government — which I finance with my money — is ready to step up and deliver for me when I need the help.

Thus, the Democrats in Congress appear to be listening more intently to American public that favors the COVID relief package. Indeed, polling data suggest it isn’t even close, with more than 60 percent of Americans wanting Congress to come to the people’s aid.

So, President Biden is now poised to achieve his first major legislative victory. More to the point, though, is that congressional Democrats will have more on which to run as they prepare to run for their next election.

It’s coming up. Quickly.

State news

Why not ‘open up’ but keep masks on?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott isn’t likely to take this bit of advice, but I am going to offer it nonetheless.

Abbott has declared that Texas businesses will open “100 percent” even though Texans are still getting infected by the COVID virus. Hey, no problem, said the governor.

He also has rescinded the statewide mask mandate he ordered in early 2020, the one that asks Texans to wear masks when they venture into public places, such as grocery stores, sporting events, churches, libraries … you know, anywhere.

Here’s my advice: Why not go ahead with the business reopening but maintain the mask-wearing order?

I know it’s too late now for the governor to rethink this nutty notion. He’s going to plow ahead with it, even though he made the call without consulting with his medical team of advisers on the best wa to proceed — allegedly.

Abbott has said over the weekend that “Texans know what they need to do” to protect themselves from the virus and they don’t need the state to tell them. Oh, really? Then how does he explain earlier efforts to pull back from these restrictions resulting in infection rate, hospitalization and death rate spikes?

I’ll explain it here. It happened because too many Texans ignored the best advice of medical professionals that masks and social distancing are the best ways to prevent infection and potential death from the COVID virus.

Yeah, Texans know what to do. The question of the day is: Will we follow that advice and do what we must to prevent infection from this disease?

I am not at all confident that we can … or will.

State news

Beto in the hunt … again?

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Texas Democrats’ hearts are fluttering again, thanks to reports of Beto O’Rourke’s latest barnstorming tour of the state.

You see, O’Rourke — a former congressman from El Paso who came within whisker stubble of beating Ted Cruz in 2018 — might be running for Texas governor in 2022.

Except that he says he isn’t “thinking about it.” Sure, Beto … whatever you say.

Actually, my gut and my trick knee tell me he is thinking about it.

Is the state’s current governor, Republican Greg Abbott, vulnerable to a challenge from a credible Democrat? I think so. I hope so. I am not sure I expect a serious challenge to emerge from the tall grass, even if it happens to be Beto O’Rourke.

O’Rourke ran for president in 2020, but didn’t make the grade — quite obviously. His 2018 near miss against Sen. Cruz, though, still has whetted the appetites of Texas Democrats who believe that O’Rourke can mount a serious challenge against Abbott.

Beto O’Rourke is criss-crossing Texas again, igniting Democratic hopes he’ll run for governor – CNNPolitics

Abbott’s recent decision to rescind his mask-wearing order has angered me. I am quite certain it has angered other Texans, too.

Does that act alone make him vulnerable? Not really. Unless, we see a serious spike in COVID cases arising from Abbott’s foolhardy (in my view) decision to lift the order.

Beto O’Rourke might not have played well on the national stage, but here in Texas it might be another matter altogether.

Or … he might flame out once he starts “thinking about” running for governor.

State news

Saddened by Abbott’s posture

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Something has happened to the individual who was most recently elected as Texas governor. I refer to Greg Abbott, a Republican who is set to run for re-election in 2022 to his third term.

His behavior has disappointed me greatly. I now will explain why.

I have met Greg Abbott on numerous occasions. I was a journalist working at the Amarillo Globe-News in the Texas Panhandle. Abbott would visit the newspaper while he was running for election or re-election as a Texas Supreme Court justice and then as Texas attorney general.

I resigned from the newspaper in August 2012, so I did not know him while he ran for governor the first time in 2014.

The Greg Abbott that I got to know over the years did not display the kind of petulance I have been seeing in the man who became our state’s governor. He was gracious, a gentleman, a consummate professional. I knew him to be a man of good humor who delivered direct answers to direct questions, which is a trait I valued then as a journalist. He didn’t flimflam me with double-talk.

So I am now left to ask: What the hell has become of this guy?

His recent decision to rescind a mask-wearing order he issued as the state began battling the COVID virus brought a fairly harsh reaction from President Biden, who called it a form of “Neanderthal thinking.” Abbott’s response was to go on Fox News and say that Biden’s immigration policies have contributed to any surge in COVID virus cases along our southern border.

It took Abbott next to forever to even acknowledge that Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Perhaps I should have noticed this mean streak when Abbott served as Texas AG, as he was continually suing the Barack Obama administration over immigration matters and over implementation of the Affordable Care Act.

It has gotten worse, from my perspective, since he became governor.

To be candid, Gov. Abbott is sounding more like some right-wing crackpot than the reasonable, circumspect man I thought I knew when he held less-visible political offices.

 

local news

Not moving? Me neither!

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

A social media friend — who’s an actual friend from the Texas Panhandle — posted a fascinating rebuke of those who are challenging his opposition to Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to rescind the state’s mask mandate.

He writes: I’m sorry that the mask wearing issue has been re-politicized and has become personal. It has been suggested that those of us who disagree with Gov. Abbott on this issue should move to a blue state. I do disagree. I agree to disagree. But I ain’t movin’.

Well, I ain’t movin’, either. Although I haven’t been criticized in a personal nature for the thoughts I have expressed on this blog about Abbott’s premature lifting of the mask-wearing order. I maintain that Abbott’s decision apparently wasn’t based on medical advice. Abbott must be listening to someone or something whispering sweet nothings into his ear, that the COVID virus isn’t that big of a deal. Well, we all know the truth about that.

I, too, simply hate the politicization of this entire issue. Wearing a mask should not become a Democrat vs. Republican matter, but it has, to the shame of those who attach politics to this issue.

I will disagree with the governor’s decision and will demonstrate my disagreement by continuing to wear a mask when I venture into public places with total strangers. How long will I do so? I haven’t a clue, other than to predict that I will not shuck the mask anytime in the near, or medium future.

local news, medical news, State news

Safety trumps personal liberty

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is getting plenty of push back from critics of his decision to rescind the mask-wearing order he issued when the COVID pandemic broke out.

Others, though, are backing the governor’s decision. I hear it on the news, that they are relishing the notion of exercising “personal liberty” in choosing to go without a mask when they enter public places.

OK. I want to make a critical point.

I am all in favor of personal liberty. As an American citizen, I cherish it as much as the next red-blooded patriot. However, personal liberty should not trump community health and well-being. That is my way of saying that the mask mandate — along with social distancing and other activities — protect us all from the spread of a virus that is killing Americans to this day.

I want to be free of being told to wear a mask. I want a return to being able to stand next to strangers in the grocery line, or sitting next to someone at the movie theater, or going to an entertainment event and being able to yell at the top of my lungs without fogging up my glasses because of the mask.

But … first things first. We have to grab the virus with a stronger grip than we have at this time. More of us are getting vaccinated daily. We are getting closer each day to that thing they call “herd immunity.” But we ain’t there yet.

So, spare me the “personal liberty” canard. I don’t buy it when your liberty puts my family and me in potentially mortal danger.