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News gets tiresome

My name is John and I am a news-a-holic. With that introduction, I am declaring a certain addiction I have to the consumption of information about my world. I cannot help myself. It is who I am.

Now that I have gotten that out of the way, I want to declare my news fatigue over the reporting of the COVID-19 pandemic, the coronavirus crisis and all the assorted variants of the disease that have sprung up around the world.

They have exploded in India, South Africa and have traveled around the world in — snap! — just like that. The disease and its variants have consumed broadcast, cable and streaming networks, not to mention the printed pages of newspapers, magazines and assorted journals.

I cannot quite put my arms around this story. I haven’t yet grown tired of the congressional hearings examining the 1/6 insurrection, which I consider to be an existential threat to the very government I and others cherish.

The pandemic coverage is becoming tiresome.

I say that knowing that members of my family have contracted the disease. One family member was in serious condition in a hospital for a month; we could have lost her. Several friends of mine have died from the disease. I have skin in this game.

However, I am weary of hearing so much about the disease. Yes, some of the news of the past few days has been heartening to some extent, with reports of cases diminishing and projections from health experts that we might be able to live with the disease the way we live with, say, the flu or the common cold.

I will continue to be an ardent consumer of news. I won’t apologize for that addiction. Nor will I say I’m sorry about growing weary of the bombardment about the pandemic.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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Legal team gets the summons

The subpoenas are rolling out with increasing frequency from the House of Representatives select committee charged with getting at the cause of the 1/6 insurrection.

The panel has issued summons for Rudy Giuliani and three other lawyers who are close to Donald Trump. The truth about them — in my view, at least — is that they are lousy lawyers, but they do have some information, apparently, that is germane to the investigation that is under way.

I don’t expect them to comply. They are likely to face contempt of Congress charges along with other Trumpkins who’ve been subpoenaed.

Here, though, is my fundamental question: If they have nothing to hide, why in the name of juris prudence would they resist talking to the panel?

The Hill reports: The subpoena to Giuliani, a former New York City mayor and close Trump adviser throughout his presidency, focuses both on his ability to offer insight into the former president state of mind in the days surrounding Jan. 6 as well as his work pushing claims of election fraud in appearances on television and in court rooms across the country.

https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/590275-jan-6-panel-subpoenas-rudy-giuliani-sidney-powell

The House committee, chaired by Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., is facing what could be called a “target-rich environment.” Giuliani has been at the forefront of efforts to promote The Big Lie alleging voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election — and which was the root cause of the insurrection that stormed Capitol Hill in an effort to block the certification of the election’s result.

For his part, Trump continues to insist that The Big Lie is true. It isn’t. It is a lie that comes from the Liar in Chief. Trump cannot — or will not — tell the truth on anything at any level. His legal team led by the former New York City mayor, Giuliani, does his bidding, which by itself is the way that lawyer-client relationships are supposed to function.

However, by doing what his client orders him to do, Giuliani becomes a critical witness in an investigation that aims to find the truth behind a full, frontal assault on our democratic form of government.

That cannot be allowed to stand.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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SCOTUS infected by animus, too?

What a revoltin’ development this is turning out to be. The U.S. Supreme Court’s two wings — the liberals and the conservatives — are at each other’s throats in the same way libs and cons are fighting in Congress and with the White House.

What’s more, we hear now that one of the court’s conservative justices, Neil Gorsuch, refuses to don a mask during court members’ meetings, despite the request issued by Chief Justice John Roberts, who wants to show respect for Justice Sonia Sotomayor, who refuses to attend the hearings because of her diabetes.

You see, Sotomayor’s medical condition makes her susceptible to the COVID-19 virus. That doesn’t seem to bother Gorsuch.

Oh, then there’s this: Gorsuch is among the court’s conservative members; Sotomayor is one of the court liberals.

This is astonishing. What kind of pompous ass would behave in the manner that Gorsuch is behaving by refusing to mask up to help keep the virus away from one of his colleagues? Furthermore, why cannot the chief justice issue an order to all the justices to mask up in order for them to attend the weekly court conferences?

Neil Gorsuch defied a request from Chief Justice John Roberts to wear a mask out of respect for Sonia Sotomayor, a report says (msn.com)

We’re still in the middle of a killer pandemic, man! It is not an unreasonable thing for Chief Justice Roberts to insist that his fellow justices observe the protocols established by medical professionals to reduce the infection risk.

As for the animosity, media reports indicate that the court’s two wings are getting increasingly testy with each other as they grapple over how to decide critical court cases. With the landmark Roe v. Wade abortion decision hanging in the balance, for example, the court’s liberal wing is becoming alarmed — reportedly — over the prospect of the conservative court majority overturning or severely limiting a woman’s right to end a pregnancy.

I am alarmed at what is happening to our government.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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Laura shows her crassness

Laura Ingraham long has been considered part of the right-wing, nut-job cabal of talking heads who rose to infamy during the Donald Trump administration. Still, I didn’t actually realize she was capable of the kind of crassness she exhibited the other day when revealing that the nation’s top military leader had contracted the COVID-19 virus.

But she did.

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley has tested positive for the virus. The highly decorated, battle-tested Army general is exhibiting mild symptoms. He’ll be OK. Ingraham, though, applauded while telling her Fox News viewers of Gen. Milley’s condition.

Can you comprehend why someone such as Ingraham would do such a thing? When in the name of non-partisan defense policy did the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff become a political punching bag?

Oh, I guess it’s because Milley expressed regret for taking part in that hideous photo op with Donald Trump the day Trump traipsed in front of the church to hold up a Bible. Or perhaps it was when Milley questioned Trump’s response to the 1/6 riot.

There was Ingraham, a COVID-19 denier and blowhard right-winger, cheering the notion that the Joint Chiefs chair is now afflicted with a disease that has the potential of inflicting some serious harm to the man’s heath.

Disgraceful. Then again, this is what I have learned to expect from the right-wing media corps of Trumpkins.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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Debate is impossible

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There can be no doubt at all that one cannot debate intelligently the elements of The Big Lie when one side of this dispute comprises individuals who have sworn an oath of idiocy.

The Big Lie is being supported by the cultists who follow the garbage that flows from Donald Trump’s mouth about the phony theft of the 2020 presidential election.

They continue to say:

  • That Trump won the 2020 election.
  • That legislatures should decertify the Electoral College results showing that Joe Biden actually won that election.
  • That Trump will be returned to the presidency.
  • That the “insurrection” occurred in November 2020 when Americans cast their ballots for president.

These Americans are certifiably insane. You cannot engage in intelligent debate with morons … who are led by the Moron in Chief.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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Fire the GM, Mr. GM

OK. I have shared this view privately with friends and family members, but I am going public now with this bit of, er, wisdom from the Peanut Gallery.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who doubles as the team general manager, needs to fire the GM. He needs to find a competent, experienced and knowledgeable individual to serve as general manager. Then the owner needs to step back into the shadows — as much as his ego will allow it — and let the football brainiac assemble a championship team that can take the team back to the very tippy-top of the professional football ranks.

The Cowboys’ loss on Sunday to the San Francisco 49ers was an exercise in bumbling and bumbling followed by grumbling from fans, coaches, players and, yes, the owner himself about how the Cowboys couldn’t deliver the goods when it mattered the most. They fell out of the first round of the NFL playoffs … again!

Back to Jones.

He bought the team in 1989 and pledged to become involved in every aspect of its operation. I can’t recall the precise quote, but he said something about being involved with “washing jocks and making executive decisions.” He decided he would become the team’s general manager.

I do not know all there is to know about professional football, but I know enough to assess Jones’s performance as GM. Jerry Jones ain’t cuttin’ it.

The man made his fortune in business. He parlayed his millions into purchasing a professional football team. Jones transformed the team into his own image. He immediately fired the only coach the Cowboys ever had, the late gridiron legend from South Texas Tom Landry. The Cowboys struggled early in the Jones era.

Yes, they have won some Super Bowls since Jones bought the team. They won them in 1993, 1994 and 1996 with great coaching and great players. Who hired the coaches? Jones did. Then he would fire them.

Jerry Jones does not possess a brilliant football mind. He is brilliant businessman. A story in this past Sunday’s Dallas Morning News examined how much of his fortune he has given back to the community. I appreciate his generosity and his philanthropy.

But the man wants to build a championship football team. I do not believe he will get there if he continues to pretend to be a general manager who knows how to make sound football decisions.

Building a championship team is complicated in a way that Jones doesn’t understand. I certainly don’t. There are plenty of great minds out there who have what it takes.

Hire them, Jerry. Then get the hell out of the way!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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‘Trump is done’? Really?

Oh, how I am hoping that a conservative wiseacre is correct, that Donald J. Trump’s moment as a Republican political leader is over, that media outlets need to stop “obsessing” over him.

So says Ann Coulter, a one-time Trump loyalist turned harsh critic.

Don’t misunderstand me here. I am not an Ann Coulter fan. I dislike her politics and the harsh language she has used at times to pillory political figures I admire.

Moreover, I do not place much stock in what Coulter might know about the base of Trumpkins who continue to hang on the former POTUS’s every word. For all I know, Coulter is just popping off because, well … she can.

Coulter tweeted something out regarding Trump’s relationship with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis: “EXCLUSIVE: Trump is demanding to know Ron DeSantis’s booster status, and I can now reveal it,” Coulter wrote. “He was a loyal booster when Trump ran in 2016, but then he learned our president was a liar and con man whose grift was permanent. I hope that clears things up.”

Actually, it doesn’t clear anything up.

Conservative pundit Ann Coulter says Trump ‘is done’ (msn.com)

Coulter is going to enrage the Trump-cult base of nut jobs.

But you know what? She does have a point about whether the media should stop obsessing over Trump. The media are playing into Trump’s hands by continually observing on this and that statement that flies out of Trump’s pie hole.

Were they to remain silent, then perhaps he will fade away, or slither back under the rock from where he emerged in 2016 to run for POTUS.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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Get the vaccine, Novak!

Novak Djokovic has to suck it up and get the shot that will prevent him from the embarrassment he has just suffered at the hands of the Australian government.

The Aussies kicked the world’s No. 1 tennis player out of the country because he refused to follow the nation’s strict protocols it has employed to defend itself against the killer coronavirus.

Djokovic is seeking to win his 21st major tennis title. He has won the Australian Open nine times and thought — I am going to presume — that he should win his 10th and then proclaim himself to be the greatest of all time.

Except that Australia invoked a no-vaccine no-entry policy for anyone. That means, well … anyone! That includes you, Novak! He won’t compete this year or perhaps for the next three years under the Australians’ deportation policy.

I don’t wish him ill. I want him to get vaccinated. I am assuming he has some reason for refusing to be inoculated against the disease. Whatever it is, he perhaps ought to set those reasons aside if he wants to continue his Grand Slam quest.

France has a similar policy to Australia; so does the United Kingdom; and the United States restricts entry of all foreign nationals who aren’t vaccinated. All those countries host the other three major championships.

Get on board, Novak. Or else your wait for making history might fall victim to Father Time.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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End conspiracy talk … OK?

I watched a four-part documentary tonight titled “Bobby Kennedy for President.”

It was touching, deeply moving and it brought back memories for me about the 1968 presidential campaign during which Sen. Robert Kennedy’s life was cut short by Sirhan B. Sirhan in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles.

The fourth part of the film talks about the “conspiracy” theories being kicked around to this very day about whether Sirhan acted alone in killing RFK.

I’ll clear the air right now. I hate conspiracy theories. I do not believe in them … generally.

Investigators have looked time and again at the events leading up to moment that RFK was gunned down. They have determined there is no evidence of a second gunman. No evidence! None! Zero!

Sirhan Sirhan acted alone. He killed RFK.

Why do I disbelieve these theories? Because secrets such as what has been alleged are impossible to keep. It’s been 53 years since Sirhan shot Sen. Kennedy. How in the world does anyone keep any information about that terrible event from the rest of the world for that period of time?

The Netflix series probes into the questions that just won’t wither away. I wish they would, but I also know they won’t. They will persist for as long as human beings draw breath, just as those conspiracy theories about President Kennedy’s murder five years earlier will live forever.

Count me out!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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Watching media struggle

The longer I watch daily newspapers struggle with the changing media landscape, the more I am filled with relief that I am viewing this from a seat on the sidelines.

To be sure, I continue to have my hand in newspapers. I am a freelance reporter for a weekly newspaper in Collin County, Texas. That’s as far as my direct newspaper involvement goes. I like it that way.

However, I am filled with a growing sense of gratitude — yes, gratitude — that I was spared the agony that’s occurring within the craft I pursued with great joy for more than three decades.

I have told you already on this blog about the pain of being told in August 2012 that I would no longer be doing what I had done for the Amarillo, Texas, newspaper for nearly 18 years. I have gotten over that pain and, to be truthful, over my anger at the individual who gave me the bad news. I now am filled with relief and the aforementioned gratitude that he spared me the heartache that has enveloped the newspaper since my departure.

The Globe-News changed ownership. The publisher who in effect gave me my walking papers “stepped down” shortly after the new owners purchased the paper. My thought when I heard he had left was, well, “karma’s a bitch, man.”

The paper’s owners have gutted it. The Globe-News has moved to a suite of offices in a downtown Amarillo bank building. I hear from my friends in the Panhandle that it doesn’t “cover” the community these days, that the paper is full of press releases.

I am on the sidelines these days. My retirement journey is going along swimmingly. I’ll keep writing for the weekly newspaper near my home for as long as they want me; I also will continue writing feature stories for the public radio station, too, for as long as they want me.

Life is good, man.

What’s happening in Amarillo is being felt in communities all across the land. I am delighted to be away from the madness and the misery.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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