Tag Archives: Van Taylor

local news, political news

Van Taylor a RINO? Wow!

Believe it or not, I am going to come to the defense of U.S. Rep. Van Taylor, a Plano Republican who is running for a third term as my congressman from the Third Congressional District of North Texas.

You see, a far-right wing outfit based in Dublin, Ohio, has targeted Taylor, calling him a RINO, the acronym that stands for Republican In Name Only. This nut job outfit, which calls itself RINOreckoning,org, says Taylor voted with Democrats too many times in his second term.

So, this group of wackos wants Taylor tossed out. RINOreckoning doesn’t recommend a successor; it just calls Taylor a bunch of names and suggests that his bipartisan outreach betrays “real Republicanism.” What utter bullsh**!

I’ll be straight with you: I am not a big Van Taylor fan. I likely will vote for the Democratic challenger this fall. However, one of the few bright spots in Taylor’s still-brief congressional career has been his willingness to reach for Democrats in Congress to work on bipartisan solutions. It has earned him a bit of a positive reputation among many of his colleagues.

There’s one half-truth I want to mention specifically in this anti-RINO screed I saw online. It chastises Taylor for voting in favor of an independent commission proposed by Democratic U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to look into the 1/6 insurrection. The measure never got out of the Senate; it died a quiet death in the other chamber.

What these right-wing fruitcakes don’t dare mention is that Taylor voted against creation of the select committee that Pelosi formed as an alternative to the independent commission. The RINO hunters don’t say a word about that, which of course is understandable as it argues the liars’ half-baked narrative.

Oh, and then there’s this one: It says that Taylor sided with “Liberal Liz Cheney.” Rep. Cheney a liberal? Are they fu**ing serious?

Take a look at the website:

Rino Reckoning

This outfit clearly is aligned with the QAnon wing of the GOP. Its message is as dangerous as, say, the kind of crap that flows from Donald Trump’s pie hole about the “rigged 2020 election” and the “widespread voter fraud” that elected Joe Biden. Spoiler alert: There was no widespread voter fraud, and the 2020 election was the most secure in U.S. political history.

The Dallas Morning News noted this about Taylor in its summary of editorial board recommendations for the upcoming midterm election: Taylor, 49, a businessman and Marine veteran in his second term in Congress, has demonstrated deeply conservative values dating back to his years as a member of the Texas House and Senate. He has a reputation as one of Congress’ most engaged and responsive members to his constituents.

There really is much to admire about Rep. Taylor. He served as a Marine officer in Afghanistan, fighting to protect the free-speech rights of fruitcakes who populate RINOreckoning.org. I likely won’t cast my vote for Congressman Taylor. However, he deserves better than to be mischaracterized in this manner by a dangerous group of right-wing outliers.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot, local news

Rep. Taylor is ‘primaried’ for this?

Van Taylor is my congressman. I have spoken with him once or twice. He seems like an earnest young man. He also is a conservative Republican who favors policies that I happen to oppose.

The Plano lawmaker also has resisted the cabal of POTUS 45 cultists who refuse to let go of the notion that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from the GOP president.

That has opened the door for some nut-job GOP candidates who are running against Taylor in the 2022 primary campaign. They want to defeat Taylor because he voted in favor of an independent commission to examine the 1/6 riot that sought to block the certification of the Electoral College result of the 2020 election.

I need to parse this carefully. Taylor wanted an independent examination of the riot. He voted against the committee that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi eventually formed in the House to examine the riot. It’s that endorsement of the independent commission that has riled some on the far-right fringe of the GOP. Taylor also voted against the article of impeachment brought against Donald Trump after the riot.

The Texas Tribune reports: Taylor’s vote for the commission “is a huge issue,” said one of the challengers, former Collin County Judge Keith Self. “It is the red line for many people in their vote against Van Taylor.”

If I read that correctly, Self wants no investigation into the riot. He seems to suggest that nothing wrong occurred on 1/6. Huh? Is that right? Nothing to see?

Good grief! The Tribune reports: Taylor’s opponents have also largely sought to downplay the Jan. 6 attack, arguing it was not as dangerous as Democrats and the media have portrayed it to be.

Uh, yes. It was every bit the dangerous event that we are learning through dribs and drabs came shockingly close to succeeding.

U.S. Rep. Van Taylor faces heat over Jan. 6 investigation vote | The Texas Tribune

In addition to Self, Taylor’s primary foes include Suzanne Harp, a Dallas businesswoman whose son is chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C. Two lesser-known Republicans, Rickey Williams and Jeremy Ivanovskis, are also running against Taylor.

These all seem to be right-wing yahoos who would yank the party too far to the fringe to suit many North Texas residents.

Rep. Taylor likes to be called “Mr. Bipartisan” because he works well with Democrats. I appreciate the outreach he employs with his House colleagues, which is just about the only reason I want him to fend off this intraparty challenge.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

What about other issues, doc?

1 Comment

Maybe I’m a bit slow on the uptake, or am not paying close enough attention.

Still, I am wondering why the man who represents the congressional district I once called home spends so much of his Twitter energy blasting the daylights out of President Biden with ad hominem attacks.

Rep. Ronny Jackson, the Republican former Navy admiral and medical doctor, doesn’t seem too interested in tweeting policy matters related to the Texas Panhandle, where he moved more than a year ago to run for the office he now occupies.

The only tweets I see from this clown concern Biden’s mental snap. Jackson doesn’t think the president is up to the job and he keeps saying so — incessantly — through the social medium.

What the hell?

This goofball ought to direct some of his waking hours to legislating on behalf of the victims, ‘er voters, who sent him to office.

Just for grins and giggles, I took a look at the Twitter feed of my current congressman, Republican Van Taylor of Plano.

Taylor also is critical of the president, but he bases his criticism on issues and doesn’t lambaste Biden with baseless assertions that seek to sow doubt about his ability to do the job to which he was elected.

Hey, I get that presidents deserve to be criticized when issues present themselves. I just get a serious sense that Rep. Taylor is more dialed in to the needs and concerns of his constituents than Rep. Jackson, who’s dedicated to making as much useless noise as he can while he sits in Congress.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

‘Diverse opinions’? Huh?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Van Taylor strikes me as an earnest young man who seeks to answer questions from his constituents, which he has done with a question from me to the second-term member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Plano Republican, who is my congressman, provided a written response to a question I posed to one of his staffers, which was: Why did Rep. Taylor vote against sanctioning QAnon supporter Marjorie Taylor Greene? You’ve heard of Rep. Greene, yes? She is a fire-breathing fruitcake who has adhered to insane notions that notorious school massacres were “staged,” that they didn’t occur.

I wondered why Taylor voted against removing the Georgia Republican from key committee assignments, such as her seat on the House Education Committee.

He stood behind his decision, declaring that we must not succumb to the “tyranny” of those who oppose individuals who offer opinions that differ from their own. He said Congress shouldn’t “excommunicate members for diverse opinions.”

Whoa! That takes my breath away.

Arguing over whether human beings are responsible for climate change provides an avenue for “diverse opinions.” The same can be said over whether we should balance our federal budget or whether the Second Amendment means we shouldn’t try to create laws that make it more difficult for criminals to acquire firearms.

However, what Marjorie Taylor Greene has said over the years has nothing to do with policy. She and other QAnon adherents foment fear, lies and bigotry with their hate-filled rhetoric.

I do not want any part of that to occur in my House of Representatives. As Rep. Taylor notes in his letter to me, “The United States Marine Corps taught me the importance of servant leadership, and as your Representative in Congress, I work for you.”

Yes, he does. I wanted my congressman to kick that conspiracy kook off those committees.

local news, State news

Sighing in relief … sort of

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

A half-hearted sigh of relief is in order.

While most of the nation reels from the publicity surrounding the far right wing nut jobs who are dominating some of our news cycles, I am relieved to realize that my member of Congress — the young man who represents my family and me in Collin County, Texas — is not among the wackos.

Rep. Van Taylor is a Republican from Plano who is serving his second term. He succeeded a legend in these parts, the late GOP U.S. Rep. Sam Johnson, a former Vietnam War prisoner and a longtime Republican stalwart.

Taylor, too, is a veteran. He served as a Marine Corps officer in Iraq. He is a patriot who never, ever — in my humble view — subscribe to the disgraceful ideology ascribed to QAnon adherents who represent other congressional districts.

And for that I am grateful.

Now, having lauded my congressman, I want to offer just a few brief words of condemnation to our state’s junior U.S. senator, Ted Cruz.

The Cruz Missile dishonored the state and the office he occupies by insisting on an audit of the 2020 presidential election. He still to this very day hasn’t even had the decency to refer to President Biden by name and title, which he acquired in a free, fair and totally secure election.

Cruz has swallowed the Big Lie served up by the former president of the United States, and he makes me ashamed that he represents my interests in the Senate.

So, we have the good and the not so good. I will cling to the belief that Rep. Van Taylor will continue to adhere to honest and well-considered principle. I might disagree with him most of the time. I honor the fealty he pays to the U.S. Constitution and to the oath he took to defend and protect it.

local news

Congressman answers question … sort of

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

My congressman stood on the correct side in a dispute between the Texas attorney general and the president-elect of the United States.

How do I know that? I asked his office directly and someone in his Plano office told me that Rep. Van Taylor was one of the Republican lawmakers who did not join a lawsuit filed by Ken Paxton, who sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

I applauded Taylor for keeping his distance from the litigious idiocy launched by our state’s attorney general.

Then I got a letter with Taylor’s signature at the end of it.

I’ll be candid. I read the letter and it sounded like a boiler-plate response that he sends out to anyone who asks his staff a question. He thanked me for “taking the time to contact me and share your thoughts regarding the 2020 Presidential Election. Our representative democracy works best with active participation from the people and I appreciate you sharing your thoughts with me.”

There you go. The rest of it reads like a statement that congressmen and women provide to deal with issues of the day.

Taylor again offered his congratulations to President-elect Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. Taylor said he and his wife, Anne, are extending their “prayers and well wishes to both the Biden and Harris families as they prepare for this momentous undertaking.”

I want to thank the congressman — who was just re-elected to his second term from the Third Congressional District — for the letter. If only he had spoken to me a bit more directly.

Rep. Taylor noted the letter that former President George H.W. Bush left for the man who defeated him in 1992, President Bill Clinton. Bush told the new president: “Your success now is our country’s success. I am rooting hard for you.” Taylor added, “We must follow this example of putting political differences aside and upholding the integrity of the Constitution instead of the typical Washington dysfunction that has so many Texans frustrated.”

A final point: There is not a damn thing “typical” about the way Donald John Trump has conducted himself in the weeks since losing the election.

local news

There you go, Rep. Taylor; that wasn’t so hard … was it?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

“Our Constitution defines the process for electing the president. Today, the Electoral College voted and on January 20th, President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th President of the United States. Anne and I extend our prayers and well wishes to the Biden and Harris families as they prepare for this momentous undertaking.”

— U.S. Rep. Van Taylor of Plano

There you have it. A freshman Republican congressman from the Metroplex has signed on to the notion that, by golly, Joseph R. Biden is going to take office as the next president of the United States.

Van Taylor happens to represent me in the U.S. House of Representatives. What astounds me at this moment in our nation’s history is that the media and other observers even have to ask members of Congress such an elementary question.

Taylor responded to a question from the Texas Tribune to our state’s entire congressional delegation: Do you accept Joe Biden as the president-elect?

Not all of the GOP-dominated delegation answered the question, which is their way of saying “no.” Taylor said “yes.” For that I am grateful and pleased.

As for the non-responders, which include Sen. Ted Cruz and the loony bin rep from East Texas, Louie Gohmert, I have nothing more to say other than this: Shame on you and shame on those who believe the bullsh** being fomented by Donald J. Trump about the legitimacy of Joe Biden’s election as president!

They have disgraced the beloved state and the nation they took an oath to serve.

national news

Congressmen stay away from Paxton lunacy

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I want to declare that the young man who represents me in the U.S. House of Representatives and the fellow who was my congressman until my wife and I moved to Collin County have reneged on joining the Ken Paxton loony bin parade.

U.S. Reps. Van Taylor of Plano and Mac Thornberry of Clarendon have declined to add their names to the seditious letter signed by 105 House Republicans in support of the lawsuit filed in the U.S. Supreme Court by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

I am heartened to report that sanity has taken hold in at least two House GOP members’ noggins.

Paxton has sued four states, seeking to overturn their voters’ results after they supported President-elect Joe Biden’s successful presidential campaign. Paxton’s lawsuit has zero chance of being approved by the SCOTUS. Indeed, some GOP senators — such as John Cornyn of Texas — have expressed serious doubt about the merits of the argument Paxton is presenting.

Taylor was just re-elected to the House from the Third Congressional District. Thornberry is stepping down after serving since 1995 in the 13th District. Indeed, Thornberry has accepted publicly and openly that Joe Biden is the next president, unlike too damn many of his GOP colleagues in Congress.

The Dallas Morning News has reported on Thornberry’s statements:

Asked what signal it sends to foreign governments that so many of his GOP colleagues refuse to accept Biden as the winner, he said that “other countries, as well as most Americans, understand and probably support President Trump making full use of all of the legal avenues … to contest mistakes or whatever he can find — flaws in the voting process. But I also am mindful that, whether it’s the attorney general or a host of others, nobody’s said they have seen any evidence of enough flaws to change the result.”

“Nearly everybody says that transition needs to move on. And we’re down to just a few days now before the Electoral College votes. We’re proceeding step by step through the normal constitutional process. And certainly, Dec. 14 when the electors vote — that’s how a president is chosen. So, things need to move ahead,” he said.

I take that to mean that Paxton’s moronic lawsuit will go nowhere. Count me as a Texas resident who is glad to know the two men who have most recently represented my interests in Congress have demonstrated that they have retained their sanity.

local news

Where’s outrage, Rep. Taylor?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Van Taylor is likely to be re-elected to a second term as congressman from North Texas. He is a Republican running in a solidly GOP congressional district, which includes my neighborhood in Princeton in eastern Collin County.

However, the young man has pi**ed me off royally.

Let me stipulate off the top that I honor his service as a combat Marine in Afghanistan. He parlayed that service into a winning campaign in 2018 to succeed the retiring GOP Rep. Sam Johnson, a former Vietnam War prisoner who served the district with honor for many years.

It’s Taylor’s military service that brings me to the point.

We have learned that Russian dictator Vladimir Putin offered bounties to Taliban terrorists if they killed U.S. servicemen and women on the battlefield in Afghanistan. Donald Trump has been silent about it. He has declined to confront Putin directly about the bounties; good grief, he actually admitted to glossing over the issue in conversations with his pal, Vlad.

What about Rep. Taylor? Why in the name of sacrifice hasn’t the former combat Marine spoken out?

Surely it cannot be because he gives Putin a pass on this hideous action against our service personnel, as Trump has done. Or perhaps he fears some retribution from a president who I doubt seriously at this moment even knows of Rep. Taylor’s existence in the U.S. House of Representatives.

I, too, am a veteran of a foreign war. I didn’t serve in combat in Vietnam, but I am quite certain I would be horrified knowing that a foreign power had put bounties on the heads of my brothers in arms.

Why, then, has Rep. Taylor remained eerily silent on this matter as he campaigns for re-election? And, yes, I have seen the TV ads touting his service in Afghanistan. Go figure.

military news

Why the silence, indeed?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I found this letter to the editor of the Dallas Morning News today that I want to share on this blog.

Five times I have written my congressman, Van Taylor, about his silence on reports of Russian bounties, the president’s alleged comments about prisoners of war, those killed in actions and wounded veterans. He has not responded directly. A staffer called after my letter on bounties but all he did was list the bills Taylor supported.

Taylor touts his service as a Marine. Why is he silent on the statements from Trump, actual and alleged, that denigrate military people? Has he forgotten why he served and those with whom he served?

Michael Bulkeley, Richardson

***

Rep. Taylor is my congressman, too. He is a first-term Republican whom I have met and discussed some local issues. He seems like an earnest young man.

However … I want to echo Mr. Bulkeley’s letter to the DMN. Taylor, though, is far from alone in the GOP silence on reports that Russian goons have paid Taliban terrorists bounties for Americans they have killed on Afghanistan battlefields.

We are witnessing a shameful and shocking fealty to a president who has demonstrated a horrifying disrespect for those who make the kinds of sacrifice that he infamously sought to avoid during the Vietnam War. Van Taylor, given his combat experience as a Marine in Afghanistan, ought to be yelling the most loudly in challenging Trump’s silence on the Russian campaign against our fighting forces.

He isn’t. Nor are his GOP colleagues in both chambers of Congress.

Think about this for a moment. Traditional Republican politicians would be aghast to hear such things about this longstanding hostile foreign power. Donald Trump has acknowledged already that he has declined to bring it up with Vladimir Putin during several phone calls he has had with the Russian president. What the hell?

The GOP congressional caucus also has sat in stone-cold silence over The Atlantic story in which Trump reportedly called service personnel “suckers” and “losers” if they are injured or killed in combat. Indeed, has Rep. Taylor called Donald Trump out for the remarks attributed to him in The Atlantic? I am waiting patiently.

What we have here, I daresay, is a Republican political caucus that is too beholden to an individual. It is a disgraceful example of blind and muted loyalty to a president who demands it of others but who refuses to return that loyalty to those who defend our nation.