Tag Archives: GOP

DC riot

Pipe down, Newtie!

Newt Gingrich, the one-time Republican congressional bomb-thrower and former speaker of the House, needs to settle down and take a quick look back at a little Capitol Hill history.

“I think it’s clear that these are people who are literally just running over the law, pursuing innocent people, causing them to spend thousands and thousands of dollars in legal fees for no justification and it’s basically a lynch mob and unfortunately the attorney general of the United States has joined the lynch mob and is totally misusing the FBI,” Gingrich said over the weekend.

He is projecting that if the GOP takes control of Congress after the midterm election that Democrats on the 1/6 select committee could face criminal prosecution over the way they have conducted the committee’s probe into the insurrection that occurred on Capitol Hill.

What balderdash!

If we flash back to around 2016, when the GOP last controlled Congress, we can find evidence of the Republican-led House Oversight Committee badgering, tormenting and hectoring witnesses as it sought to find something for which it could blame for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton in the Benghazi, Libya crisis. Remember that one? Terrorists attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and four Americans — including our ambassador to Libya — died in the melee. What did the House panel do? It launched a years-long probe into, subjecting Clinton, for example, to 11 hours of testimony before the committee.

That panel ran far more amok than the 1/6 committee that is trying to get the truth behind Donald Trump’s effort to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election result.

So, with that I’ll just demand that the ex-speaker shut his trap.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Uncategorized

‘Missing the boat’ on terror?

At first, I wasn’t sure I heard correctly what a North Texas congresswoman said about President Biden’s responsibility for the terrorist attack on a Colleyville synagogue.

She said Biden is paying “too much attention” on “far-right domestic terrorists” and ignoring the threat from foreign terrorists. Biden is “missing the boat” on the terror threats, she said.

So said Beth Van Duyne, a Republican whose congressional district includes the Colleyville community that is home to the synagogue where a British citizen took four people hostage.

In a House floor speech, Van Duyne proposed a resolution citing the heroism of the rabbi who tossed a chair at the hostage-taker, giving himself and his three congregants a chance to escape. FBI agents then stormed the Congregation Beth Israel and shot the hostage-taker to death; Van Duyne wants to honor their heroism as well.

Yes, indeed, there is plenty of heroism to honor and I am glad Van Duyne wants to bestow that recognition.

However, I will not accept that President Biden is to blame for allegedly ignoring the threat of terrorists who come to this country to do us harm. My goodness, Biden responded quickly with a statement that declared the man’s threats in Colleyville to be a “terrorist act.”

I guess my question of the moment is: How in the world does one stop someone from doing what the lunatic did? He wasn’t on terrorist watch lists of which I am aware. He walked into the synagogue, shook hands with the rabbi, Charlie Cytron-Walker, and then surprised everyone with demands that the Justice Department release a woman held in a federal prison on terror-related crimes.

Van Duyne said that the loon didn’t take hostages “at an Applebee’s,” that he targeted a synagogue because he intended to commit a hate crime.

I will point out, too, that FBI Director Christophe Wray — appointed to his post by Donald J. Trump — said in 2019 that domestic terror presented the gravest threat to our national security.

There’s a saying we hear in Washington from time to time about how officials are able to “walk and chew gum at the same time.” I believe President Biden is devoting ample attention to threats from all corners … be they foreign or domestic.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Uncategorized

I hear ya, Joe

Mr. President, allow me to say that I happen to agree with you about one aspect of the presidency that has dragged your approval rating down among Americans across the land.

I also agree that I — along with others of us — didn’t anticipate the stubborn refusal of Republican members of Congress to work with you for the common good of all of us. I mean, so help me, I actually thought that your experience as a senator and your eight years as vice president would have bought you some good will once you took over the presidency from the fraudulent imposter who occupied the office for the four previous years.

I have seen the video of Republicans and Democrats singing your praises in the Senate near the end of your term as VP. For God’s sake, even Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell said it was a pleasure to work with you. What’s he doing now? He is standing in the way of damn near everything you are trying to do.

The moron you succeeded keeps hurling epithets at McConnell, but the senator won’t accept the notion that POTUS No. 45 is unfit for office and must be derailed in his attempt to influence the political discussion going forward.

Then again, Mitch isn’t the worst of ’em. The idiot brigade among the GOP congressional caucus is being led by the likes of Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Matt Gaetz of Florida. I could go on, Mr. President, but you get my drift, right?

I am going to stand with you, sir. I voted for you, and I am proud of my support for the agenda you are pitching. Be strong, Mr. President.

It well might be that the obstructionists in Congress will realize they are harming their own base. As you know, these tactics have this way of exacting revenge on those who enact them.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Keep eyes on Empower Texans

I want to issue a stern warning to Texas residents. It is to keep all eyes on a group of political radicals that is likely feeling its Wheaties right about now.

Empower Texans is going to get involved in legislative races again this year just as it has done in several election cycles. This group presents a clear and present danger to our way of life.

I have been able to watch these clowns seek to unseat solid Republican legislators in Texas. Republicans are their targets in the primary season. Why? Because some GOP legislators aren’t conservative enough to suit these nut jobs.

So, Empower Texans recruits candidates to challenge solid GOP lawmakers, hoping to knock enough of them off to be able to steer the legislative agenda in the next Legislature.

They have been active in conservative corners of the state, such as the Panhandle. Empower Texans has drawn a bead for many years on state Sen. Kel Seliger of Amarillo, a man I know well. In 2018, Empower Texans recruited two far-right wingers to challenge Seliger; the senator fended them off in the primary and won that race without having to go to a runoff.

Empower Texans also went after state Rep. Four Price, another Amarillo lawmaker, a young man who has become a rising star in Texas politics. ET found a guy from Fritch to challenge Price, but he got smoked in a head-to-head primary matchup.

Seliger isn’t running this year. He’s done. Seliger has engaged in one too many disputes with arch conservatives in the Senate, starting with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, with whom he has had a testy relationship ever since Patrick got elected to preside over the Senate in 2014.

Empower Texans will seek to unseat reasonable Republicans in the ensuing primary season and replace them with American First knock-off GOP pretenders.

These clowns give me great concern, as Texas already is tilting too far to the right to suit my political taste. We need to stave off this push to move one of our two major parties onto the far-right fringes of political thought.

Women’s reproductive rights appear to be a lost cause. However, we need to protect public education, the quest for renewable energy sources and a judicial system capable of showing some compassion.

Empower Texans presents a clear and present danger to what is left of reasonable political thought in this state.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Still hoping for results

(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

You can count me as one ardent supporter of President Biden who is still waiting for him to deliver on his multi-pronged pledge to repair the national soul, unify the United States of America and enact legislation that will deal with the existential threats to our great country.

We’re almost a year into Joe Biden’s term as president. I want him to succeed.

Do I blame him singularly for the problems that seem woven into our national fabric? No. I want to lay most of the blame on the obstructionists in Congress who won’t work with the president, who continue to block every initiative that comes from the White House simply because they can.

Too many Republicans appear wedded to the notion that the 2020 election was stolen from their guy. It wasn’t. Yet they won’t let it go. They refuse to accept the truth of the result: 81 million Americans voted for Joe Biden, granting him 306 Electoral College votes. It wasn’t a smashing triumph, but it was decisive enough for there to be no doubt as to the outcome.

The pandemic has flared yet again. It has hampered Biden’s agenda. It has cast a pall over damn near everything. I cannot possibly blame the president for that, either.

The next year is as unpredictable as the first year has been. I don’t know what the future holds. We have a midterm election coming up. Republicans say they are poised to take control of Congress. What happens if that occurs? Will there be more revenge in store? I sincerely hope not.

Then again, we’re dealing with a party controlled by an individual who cannot concede defeat.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Profiles in cowardice

(Photo by Michael Kovac/WireImage)

Watching the congressional Republican leadership tie itself into knots over how to handle its relationship with the immediate past POTUS makes me wonder how on this good Earth these individuals can live with themselves.

I want to single out two of them: one from the Senate and one from the House.

Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina once declared that he was done with Donald Trump. “Enough is enough,” he said immediately after the 1/6 riot. “Count me out,” he added. He couldn’t stand the thought — allegedly — of associating himself with a president who had incited the riot that stormed onto Capitol Hill.

House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy of California once stood on the House floor and declared that Trump was singularly responsible for the attack on our democracy and demanded he be held accountable. He pleaded with Donald Trump during the riot to get the mob to stop inflicting damage on the Capitol, receiving the hideous response from the POTUS that “I guess, Kevin, they care more about the election than you do.”

Both men have turned tail from those remarks.

Graham has all but threatened other GOP senators with retribution if they don’t climb aboard the Trump clown car and back the former Liar in Chief. McCarthy has declared that he won’t submit to questions from the 1/6 House committee seeking answers to the riot and has said he intends to boot Democrats off key committees if he becomes speaker after this year’s midterm election.

Gutlessness, anyone? There it is in full view.

They aren’t the only exhibits of profiles in cowardice. They’re just two of the more notable examples of how members of Congress who swear to protect the Constitution now are pledging craven fealty to a twice-impeached individual.

Cowards. Every damn one of them!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

Don’t apologize, doc

The ol’ “hot mic” caught another public official speaking the truth about a political adversary.

The “victim” this time was Dr. Anthony Fauci, who muttered “what a moron” after being berated by U.S. Sen. Roger Franklin, a Kansas Republican, about Fauci’s personal financial disclosure. The exchange took place Tuesday during a Senate committee hearing.

My request to the doc is this: Don’t apologize!

Franklin was berating Dr. Fauci over financial disclosures that Fauci said are a matter of public record. All anyone has to do is look them up on the Internet. Franklin wasn’t buying it. He didn’t know what he was talking about, Fauci said.

So, then he muttered the “moron” crack.

Hey, he was speaking the proverbial truth to power in that instance.

To my way of thinking, Fauci should say out loud and on the record that other GOP critics of his are “morons” for spreading lies and exposing the doctor’s family to threats of physical harm.

Are you listening, Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky?

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Uncategorized

Can Paxton get beat?

If I had to choose one contest in this primary season coming up in Texas that interests me the most it would have to be the Republican contest for attorney general.

And for the life of me I cannot understand the notion being kicked around that the incumbent — Ken Paxton — might be in position to fend off the challenge that is coming from within his own Republican Party.

Good ever-lovin’ grief!

Paxton has been under felony indictment since the first year of his time as AG. A Collin County grand jury indicted him on a charge of securities fraud. The AG hasn’t yet stood trial.

He is facing three GOP challengers: Land Commissioner George P. Bush, former state Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman and U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert. They’re all well-known within GOP circles.

Then there’s Paxton. The man is an embarrassment. In addition to the securities fraud indictment and pending trial, seven former top legal assistants quit the AG’s office and filed a whistleblower complaint alleging that Paxton has committed illegal acts while serving as attorney general; the FBI is looking at those complaints, too.

I want Paxton to get drummed out in the primary. If he manages to hold on and win the GOP primary, then he’s a seeming cinch to win re-election — again! — this coming fall.

The whole notion of Paxton winning a third term as attorney general makes me want to pull my hair out.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Cruz: pitiful apologist

Ted Cruz once again has demonstrated a remarkably clumsy aspect of his public persona, how he can say something, get pounded for it and then try to walk it back … all the while tripping and stumbling over his own words.

The Texas Republican senator told a Senate committee this week that “terrorists” attacked the Capitol on 1/6. He then heaped high praise on law enforcement officers on duty that day for the job they did to protect members of Congress (including himself, naturally).

What happened next brought us a demonstration from the junior senator on how not to take something back.

The right wing of his party was outraged that Cruz would speak the truth about the mob that stormed Capitol Hill. So was their cult leader, the 45th president, who incited the mob to “fight like hell.”

Cruz then went on Tucker Carlson’s TV show to take it back. Carlson wasn’t buying it, saying he has known Cruz “a long time” and believes Cruz meant what he said about the terrorists attacking the Capitol.

I watched Cruz try to take back the truth-telling statement. It was a pitiful exhibition of rhetorical clumsiness. I also watched Cruz make his initial statement. It rang true!

Cruz then tried to suggest that critics of the 45th POTUS’s cult suggest they all are terrorists. No, senator! We are not saying that! For crying out loud, stop putting words in people’s mouths while you try to wash out your own pie hole.

The mob that smashed through windows, beat up police officers, shouted “Hang Mike Pence!”, sh** on the floor of the Senate, threatened the life of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and sought to block the certification of the 2020 presidential election presented a clear and present danger to our democracy.

By any definition, the insurrectionists in that mob were “terrorists.” Cruz had it right the first time. He had it wrong when he tried to walk back what he said in that hideous interview with Tucker Carlson.

I mean, yumpin’ yiminy, dude. It reminded of the time Cruz sought to blame his daughter for talking him into flying off to Cancun nearly a year ago while Texans were freezing to death in that killer ice storm.

What makes this so damn hard for me to watch is realizing that this dipsh** represents the state of my residence in the U.S. Senate. I will never, ever cast a vote for this clown. Still, he holds a powerful office and represents my interests in a branch of government designed to write laws that affect my family and me.

He embarrasses me and the state he represents.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot

Cheney seeks redemption?

Richard Bruce Cheney has done the virtually impossible; he has ingratiated himself to Democrats across the nation simply by doing something that damn few Republicans are able to do in this terrible, divided political climate.

The former vice president stood with his daughter, Rep. Liz Cheney, on the floor of the U.S. House this week and participated in a moment of silence to honor the brave men and women who fought with the 1/6 rioters.

Think for a moment about this. Dick Cheney once was considered the most loathsome politician in the nation, according to Democratic partisans. The VP in the George W. Bush administration was seen as the shadow architect of our foolish Iraq War. Indeed, he was thought by many critics to be a “shadow president” who called the shots in secret.

However, Dick Cheney today stands on the right side of history. He has condemned the disgraceful conduct of the current Republican congressional leadership and its handling of the 1/6 riot and its aftermath. He told reporters this week that Congress doesn’t “resemble the place” he knew during his service in the House before becoming defense secretary and then vice president.

I won’t forgive Cheney for what I consider to be some horrible decisions he made. However, I want to applaud the former vice president for participating with Democrats in a solemn ceremony to honor the police officers who fought to defend members of Congress and the Constitution of the United States.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com