Tag Archives: GOP

legal news, State news

Justice Guzman to seek AG’s office? Hmm

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It might be time for a mea culpa from your friendly blogger.

I might have spoken a bit too soon in lamenting the lack of legal standing among politicians seeking to become Texas attorney general.

Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman is about to become a former justice … with an eye toward running for Texas AG in the 2022 Republican Party primary. Her last day on the state’s highest civil appellate court is Friday. Then what?

Eva Guzman – Wikipedia

Justice Guzman represents a tremendous boost in the legal credentials of a political candidate seeking to become the state’s top law enforcement officer.

The incumbent Ken Paxton wants a third term. Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush has declared he wants to defeat Paxton in the 2022 GOP primary. Both men have, shall we say, sparse legal cred. Paxton has been indicted for securities fraud and is awaiting trial; he also is the subject of a FBI probe into allegations of criminal wrongdoing in his office. Bush has a limited legal career under his belt, but has served as land commissioner for the past six years.

Now we have Guzman. She is the daughter of immigrants from Mexico. She grew up in Houston. She attended the University of Houston and got her law degree from Duke University. She has served on the state court of appeals and has been named appellate judge of the year.

Guzman has built a stellar legal career.

To be clear, she hasn’t declared her attorney general candidacy.

At least not yet. Stay tuned.

State news

GOP no longer ‘pro-business’ party?

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

If you thought that the Republican Party is the “pro-business” political organization, you might want to rethink that now-quaint notion.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican (of course), has signed a bill into law that punishes business for demanding that customers prove they have been vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus, the one that has killed nearly 600,000 Americans.

It seems that Abbott believes people have no need to prove to anyone they have been vaccinated against a highly communicable, infectious and still potentially fatal disease.

Sure thing, guv.

He can count me as one Texas resident has no problem providing proof to anyone that I have been vaccinated. Indeed, my wife and I got our shots relatively early and have been adhering to the mandates sought by federal medical authorities: masks, social distancing, frequent hand-washing, and so on.

The Texas Tribune reports: “Texas is open 100%, and we want to make sure you have the freedom to go where you want without limits,” Abbott said before signing the law, in a video he posted Monday on Twitter. “Vaccine passports are now prohibited in the Lone Star State.”

Sigh …

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signs bill to restrict “vaccine passports” | The Texas Tribune

I am puzzled by the notion that a political party that used to tout its love for private business and sought to grant business owners relative autonomy from government interference is now endorsing this heavy-handed approach to preventing them from protecting their employees and those they serve.

local news

Where are legislative proposals?

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I have spent a good bit of time on this blog bitching about a congressman from up yonder in the Texas Panhandle, where I lived for 23 years before moving to the Metroplex.

Republican Ronny Jackson seems to spend an inordinate amount of time tweeting this and that invective-filled message castigating Democrats. He isn’t alone among GOP lawmakers who just love to blast their former pals on the other side of the great political divide.

I am left to wonder: When are these yahoos going to produce some constructive legislation?

I am not seeing or hearing anything from Rep. Jackson, the former White House physician and Navy admiral. All I see are Twitter messages calling President Biden everything but the son of Satan. Hell, maybe he has slipped that on through but I just didn’t see it!

Is this going to be the GOP caucus strategy moving well into the Biden administration? Obstruct, delay, yap and yammer? Will they be able to produce fundamentally sound legislation to at least have some valid talking points on the table to compare to what Democrats are seeking?

So it appears that Rep. Jackson is marching to the cadence being called by House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy and his pal in the Senate, GOP leader Mitch McConnell. He’s a freshman legislator and might believe he lacks pull to strike out on his own.

The do-nothing caucus appears to be full of others just like Rep. Jackson. What a flippin’ shame.

Uncategorized

GOP has gone bonkers

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Just how wacky has the Republican Party become in the Age of Trump?

Well, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, one of Trump’s strongest allies, got booed when he stood to speak before the George Republican convention. Why were the goober Republicans angry with Kemp? Because the governor wouldn’t force the secretary of state to break the law and “find” enough votes to turn the state from a Joe Biden win to a Donald Trump win.

So, for that the nut jobs have taken their vengeance out on a governor who happens be a Trump ally … but who just couldn’t bring himself to break the law or violate the U.S. Constitution.

This is the kind of goofiness that Republicans are facing as they do battle among themselves, not to mention when they face Democrats in the upcoming midterm election.

Trump loyalists boo Kemp at Georgia’s GOP convention (msn.com)

Of course, Trump is playing the GOP loyalists like the fools they are for following the dictates of the former Dipsh** in Chief. I mean, the ex-POTUS is even a real Republican, but he has fooled ’em into thinking he is one of them.

They are left now to boo and jeer actual Republican politicians — such as Gov. Kemp — only because they won’t follow Trump’s demands out the window.

Weird, man.

Joe Biden

‘Normal’ looks so special

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

A brief conversation with a member of my family brought to mind something I have thought since the Donald Trump Era came to a halt and we welcomed in a new era of “presidential normality.”

My family member couldn’t speak angrily enough about the way Trump conducted himself in office. I responded that my own view is that a “non-traditional presidency” wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing if the president exhibited any form of competence. That is one of the many shortcomings that Trump brought to the office; he didn’t know anything about government and his actions reflected a knee-jerk, chaos-driven philosophy. The man is incompetent. Not to mention crooked, amoral/immoral and narcissistic. Oops, I just did.

Which brings me to this point.

President Biden’s normal approach to governing now looks special in its own right. It’s not that Joe Biden has scored dozens of key legislative victories. He has just one so far: the COVID 19 relief package that passed with zero Republican help. He well could roll up some more wins with only aid from fellow Democrats. That’s fine.

The Trump method just didn’t work. The Biden method — which features attempts at compromise and jaw-boning with the loyal opposition — holds considerable promise … if only the GOP members of Congress would cut the POTUS just a bit of slack. The problem, though, is that the GOP caucus is being dominated by the Loony Bin Wing, the Trump adherents who keep fomenting the Big Lie about 2020 presidential election vote fraud that did not exist.

I am going to stick with the guy who ran for office vowing to “restore our nation’s soul.” He’s got a ways to go before he can declare full restoration. The normal approach to governing, though, looks pretty good to me.

national news

Go it alone, Mr. President

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

If you put a gun to my noggin and forced me to make a prediction, I am likely to say that President Biden and his Democratic allies in Congress are on their own if they want to enact an infrastructure improvement package.

Biden is trying like the dickens to get Republicans to sign on. He is coming up empty.

The president has pitched a $2.25 trillion package. Republicans want to spend a lot less. Biden wants it to include job creation, climate change remedies and assistance to families. The GOP wants more emphasis on roads, bridges, airports, seaports.

They remain far apart.

Biden has been meeting with GOP Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia. They remain deadlocked.

Oh, what to do. I guess it well might fall on President Biden and Democrats in both congressional chambers to go it alone. Hey, they did it already with the COVID stimulus/relief package that Republicans resisted, only to then take credit for some of the programs it helped salvage.

Ayeee. It’s frustrating for those of us who want to see government work. We watch the president and congressional Democrats seeking to put government to work for us instead of against us. Then we watch Republicans dig in, resisting this and that, claiming that Democrats are playing “politics” with things such as, oh, the Jan. 6 commission that would find answers and solutions to the horrifying insurrection.

It occurs to me that Biden well might have offered a high-end proposal infrastructure knowing that Republicans would low-ball a counter-offer. Could it be that President Biden is aiming toward something in the middle, which is where he intended for this discussion to go?

That’s how you negotiate. If not, then I hope he and Democrats are ready to take off without their GOP friends.

DC riot

We need a probe into Jan. 6!

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

If only the congressional obstructionist caucus — comprising Republicans, of course — would appreciate the gravity of the attack that occurred on Jan. 6.

They can’t or won’t accede to demands from Democrats that there needs to be a thorough accounting of the insurrection that occurred on that horrible day.

As many in Congress have noted: The nation’s Capitol has been attacked twice in its history and this attack, unlike the first one during the War of 1812, was done by Americans. It was an attack on our governmental process and it sought to overturn the results of a certifiably free, fair and legal presidential election.

Democrats are now left to weigh how they could proceed without Republican cooperation, which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer have insisted on.

As The Hill reported: In a call this week with House Democrats, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) floated four different routes Congress could take: have the Senate vote again on the House-passed bill to create an outside commission; form a select House committee, consisting of lawmakers hand-picked by leaders in both parties; allow several sitting committees to continue their probes into Jan. 6; or empower a single House committee, like Homeland Security or Oversight, to take the lead on the investigation.

Democrats debate shape of new Jan. 6 probe (msn.com)

Yes, we know the outlines of the event. Donald Trump held a rally on the Ellipse that morning. He revved up the riotous mob. The terrorists then marched on the Capitol Building. They stormed into the place. They injured many of the cops trying to protect members of Congress and the vice president from the mob. One of the DC cops died in the melee. Donald Trump did nothing to stop it.

A thorough investigation into the event can determine ways to prevent it from happening again. That solution lies at the heart of the need for this probe.

If only congressional Republicans would buy into the need to prevent a repeat of the attack that threatened them, too.

State news

You go, ‘P’!

(AP Photo/LM Otero)

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Texas needs an attorney general who:

  • Isn’t under indictment and is awaiting trail in state court for securities fraud.
  • Isn’t being investigated by the FBI on complaints leveled by former highly placed legal staffers that he is breaking federal law.
  • Doesn’t file lawsuits alleging that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from a crooked president who promotes the Big Lie about election fraud.

Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush has declared he is going to run in the Republican Party primary next year against incumbent Texas AG Ken Paxton. Is Bush going to get my vote? That remains an open question, as I am unsure whether I will vote in the GOP primary next year.

However, I welcome P’s challenge of Paxton, who I consider to be an embarrassment as the state’s top law enforcement officer.

The Texas Tribune reports: “Enough is enough, Ken,” Bush said during a campaign kickoff at a downtown Austin bar. “You’ve brought way too much scandal and too little integrity to this office. And as a career politician for 20 years, it’s time for you to go.”

Good grief. Paxton was a mediocre lawyer and a back-bench legislator when he was elected attorney general in 2014. Then came the indictment from a Collin County grand jury alleging that he failed to inform investors of his financial connection to certain investments.

Arguably the most troubling episode occurred a year ago when high-powered AG office legal staffers blew the whistle on Paxton’s alleged misconduct, including a complaint that involved bribery.

Is this the kind of individual we want representing the state?

Hell no! I want the clown removed from office one way or another … whether by conviction in state court or a sanctioned complaint by the FBI — or by voters who have had enough of this clown’s monkey business.

George P. Bush isn’t exactly a legal heavyweight. He is a political player by virtue of his last name. He is the nephew and grandson of two former presidents and the son of a former Florida governor.

What’s more, he is able to campaign on his relatively clean background and the fact that he isn’t accused of criminal activity … which is far more than the incumbent can say as he seeks to win a third term as Texas attorney general.

national news

End the filibuster?

(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The debate over whether to end the filibuster rule in the U.S. Senate gives me heartburn.

It’s a “reform” that is fraught with peril.

You know how it goes. Senators in the minority use the filibuster to block legislation. It was created with the notion of allowing senators to talk bills to death by blathering on and on about this and that. It has become more of a procedural maneuver these days.

The peril lies in the political future of the Senate and which party maintains the majority.

At this moment, Democrats control a 50-50 Senate split only because they have a Democratic vice president, Kamala Harris, available to break tie votes. Democrats are angry with Republicans because they filibuster legislation that Democrats want enacted; creation of the Jan. 6 bipartisan commission is the latest significant example.

What happens, though, if Republicans take control of the Senate after the 2022 midterm election? Democrats who today are screeching for an end to the filibuster are likely to sing a different tune if they are caught in the minority among senators. Meanwhile, are Republicans going to be as quick to stand with the filibuster if their Democratic colleagues begin filibustering in an effort to kill GOP-friendly legislation?

Control of the legislative branch is a fluid thing. It sways back and forth.

This is a rule written by the Senate. It is not a constitutional provision. Thus, I am a bit concerned that Democrats’ insistence on ending the filibuster might bite ’em all in the backside if control of the Senate — as tenuous as it is — slips away.

DC riot

Biden faces Jan. 6 challenge

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

President Biden is facing a quandary.

He wants Congress to create a bipartisan commission to examine the cause and impact of the Jan. 6 insurrection. Congressional Republicans have dug in deeply against it, wanting to protect themselves perhaps as well as Donald John Trump, the imbecile who instigated the riot that sought to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election.

So, what does the president do? He could create a commission on his own. He could allow House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to appoint a select committee.

The U.S. Senate backed away from furthering a House-passed bill creating the commission. Newsweek reported:

On Saturday, Virginia Democratic Representative Gerry Connolly called on Biden to bypass Republicans and instead create a presidential commission.

“In light of the GOP’s cowardly filibuster of a bipartisan Jan 6th commission I urge President Biden to form and appoint a Presidential Commission to fully investigate the insurrection of January 6th at the US Capitol,” Connolly tweeted.

Calls Mount for Biden to Form Presidential 1/6 Commission After GOP’s ‘Cowardly Filibuster’ (msn.com)

Even though such an idea is fraught with concern over how impartial such a presidential commission can be — given that the current president’s victory in the 2020 election is the reason for the insurrection in the first place — I am willing to endorse its creation.

I have a caveat to offer: President Biden must ensure the bipartisan nature of a presidential panel and then he should simply back away and let the group do its job without any hint of interference from the Oval Office.

Joe Biden has been around the halls of power long enough to understand what is proper. My sincere hope would be that the president would ensure a thorough probe into the events leading up to the Jan. 6 riot by the mob of terrorists. If only he could persuade the Trumpkins out there of its honesty.

They are likely to hang instead on the Big Lie that their idiotic hero keeps telling.