Tag Archives: Donald Trump

legal news

Elections do have consequences

Well, folks. We are going to find out in due course — possibly soon — just how consequential presidential elections always have been.

The issue at hand is abortion and whether the Texas strict anti-abortion law will withstand judicial review. I happen to believe the law is unconstitutional, that it runs counter to what we long have thought was “settled law.” That the Roe v. Wade decision handed down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 had been settled, that women had a constitutional right to terminate a pregnancy.

Oh, but wait. The issue is likely to end up in front of the SCOTUS again. Here is where the election issue comes in.

The 45th POTUS nominated three justices on the court. He was able to cement the conservative majority. The court is now lined up with six conservatives and three liberals. The conservatives, with — with Justices Amy Coney Barrett, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch on board — well might decide that the Texas law is OK after all.

A federal judge in Texas, Robert Pittman — appointed by President Barack Obama — has declared the Texas law to be unconstitutional. It’s headed already to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which well could reverse Judge Pittman’s 100-page ruling. You can count on the Justice Department to take this matter up on the judicial ladder.

Hmm. Do you think Pittman’s ruling will hold up? Neither do I.

We need to ponder this when the time comes to ponder the next presidential election.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

What will we say when it happens?

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My mind does have this way of wandering into strange places on occasion, which I think is a consequence of being retired; too much time on my hands and too much time for my noggin to venture where it doesn’t usually go.

For example, I have been thinking about the day Donald J. Trump departs this good Earth. Hey, it’s gonna happen!

Tradition and custom usually mean that when political figures check out, politicians of all stripes gather to say generous things about the newly departed. When President Nixon died, the current president, Bill Clinton — obviously no fan of the deceased POTUS — gave a stirring eulogy at his funeral in California. President Obama did the same when he spoke at the late Sen. John McCain’s funeral in 2018.

Then again, how does one muster up the good will to speak charitably about a president who has spent his entire political career trashing, denigrating, defaming others? Most of his victims have been fellow pols.

I am not really wishing it to happen any sooner than it inevitably will. I simply am thinking out loud about the prospects when the opportunity presents itself.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald Trump

Yep, he said it!

Yikes! Aack! What the … ?

I don’t know quite what to say other than to post a quote attributed to the 45th president of the U.S. of A.

He said the following: “Nobody has done more for Christianity or for evangelicals or for religion itself than I have.”

I guess I could add a “wow!”

Donald J. Trump’s hold on the evangelical Christian movement continues to baffle me. It also enrages me. He is the least moral man ever occupy the office of POTUS.

He is a liar, an admitted philanderer, an admitted sexual assailant. He has done “more for Christianity” than any other human being? Did he say that to a religious broadcaster? I presume so.

Well, there is this notion, that he would order businesses to wish their customers “Merry Christmas.” Do you remember that?

Sickening in the extreme.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Grisham owns it … good!

I want to give Stephanie Grisham some points for coming clean on a key matter involving her time serving in the Trump administration.

She owns the mistake she made in refusing to speak out in real time what she was witnessing while serving as White House press secretary and as chief of staff to the first lady.

Grisham, who’s written a reportedly stunning tell-all book about her time in the White House, also said today that her boss — the 45th POTUS — is “unfit for office” and she hopes fervently he never darkens the White House door ever again.

She spoke of the Secret Service code name for Melania Trump; the agents referred to her as “Rapunzel,” named after the fictitious character who was afraid to leave the castle. Melania Trump reportedly spent most of her time in the White House residence because, according to Grisham, she dared not venture out to be seen by the public or the dreaded media.

Listening to her discuss her book, though, filled me with a bit of admiration for a public figure who is willing to own her mistakes. She said she was wrong to keep quiet about the Trump chaos as it was occurring. I accept that acknowledgment as an apology.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Say it ain’t gonna happen

My ol’ trick knee has let me down too many times for me to count.

I used to rely on it to tell me about political trends. It throbbed most recently just prior to my suggesting that Donald J. Trump wouldn’t dare run for POTUS in 2024.

Part of me wishes my trick knee would restore its magic. Another part of me suggests it has let me down one more time.

I’m going to stay the course, though, at least until the former Nitwit in Chief sends us all a clear message that he’s in … again!

If so, then God help us.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

No support for Trump acolytes

I said the other day I had no intention of buying Stephanie Grisham’s book on the Donald Trump administration.

Here is why. I do not want to spend any of my money to fatten the wallets of the 45th president’s administrative aides. Grisham, sad to say, fits into that category.

She served as communication director and press secretary for the White House; she also served as first lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff. She has written a book with some pretty stunning accounts of what she saw at the White House. She writes about the president’s explosive temper, discloses the Secret Service code name for the first lady and tells of how first daughter Ivanka Trump talked Daddy into delivering a COVID-19 speech on national TV that went quite badly.

That’s all I need to hear from her or from any of the other goofballs who worked for the ex-POTUS.

There you have it. I’m out.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Both sides need to talk … to each other

Fairness dictates that I make this complaint of Democratic politicians just as I did of Republican politicians during the previous presidential administration.

I want Democrats to talk to Republicans and I am terribly distressed that they aren’t reaching to the other side of the great divide.

Think back to the term of Donald J. Trump. The Republican president chose to speak only to fellow Rs on Capitol Hill. He allowed the GOP caucus to craft that tax cut bill that favored rich folks. Democrats wanted no part of the deal. The then-POTUS didn’t reach out to them. He stiffed ’em!

That guy is gone. The new president, Joe Biden, has resorted to talking mainly to Democrats on his Build Back Better agenda. Indeed, GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell has made his point clear: Ain’t no way the Republicans are going to support anything that comes from a Democratic president. President Biden figures: What the hell is the point in talking to them?

Well, I believe he should. Just as I believe that his predecessor should have talked to Democrats in search of common ground.

I have spoken of late about “good government.” This is how government ought to work. Compromise is not a four-letter word.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Will No. 45 be nominated?

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Some pundits/commentators/thinkers I respect a great deal are throwing a major scare into this old man’s body.

They are suggesting that at this moment Donald J. Trump is the “favorite” to be nominated by the Republican Party to run for president in 2024.

Let’s ponder that for just a brief moment.

The House of Representatives impeached him twice. The first time was for soliciting political favors from a foreign government; a clear violation of the law, not to mention the Constitution. The second time was for inciting an insurrection against the government as Congress sought to ratify the Electoral College returns from the 2020 presidential election; another clearly defined “high crime and misdemeanor.”

He skated twice because not enough Senate Republicans had enough courage to stand by their oaths of office and convict him.

The former POTUS has hijacked the GOP. He is holding it hostage to his whims and machinations. He is the man, the myth, the legend in his own mind.

He is making noises about wanting to run again.

If he does and if the GOP is flat-out stupid enough to nominate this clown once again — after all the damage he has inflicted on the government he once vowed to protect — then, ladies and gents, we are in far more trouble than I ever imagined.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

State news

Ex-POTUS brings Big Lie to Texas

Donald Trump said what?

That he wants Texas Gov. Greg Abbott to add a “forensic audit” of the 2020 presidential election in Texas to the Legislature’s special session agenda? Good ever-lovin’ grief!

The Texas Tribune reported:

In a letter published Thursday, Trump said, “Texans have big questions about the November 2020 Elections,” and time is running out to conduct an audit of the “2020 Presidential Election Scam” because paper ballots are kept for only 22 months after an election.

“Governor Abbott, we need a ‘Forensic Audit of the 2020 Election’ added to the call,” Trump wrote. “We’re quickly running out of time and it must be done this week.”

Despite his victory in Texas and no credible evidence of widespread fraud, Donald Trump calls for election audit legislation | The Texas Tribune

The only Texans who “have big questions about the … election” are the loons who have swilled The Big Lie being served up by the 45th POTUS. And it is a lie. The 2020 presidential election was secure in Texas. It was done legally. It resulted in POTUS 45 earning the state’s electoral votes.

What in the world is the former Numbskull in Chief seeking to do here? Don’t answer that. I know.

He is seeking to sow more doubt about an election that President Biden won fairly and squarely. He has alleged the election was “rigged” to defeat him. In truth, the only “rigging” being sought is by the ex-POTUS and his cult followers. It reminds me of how the then-Liar in Chief kept accusing the media and his foes of fomenting “fake news” while he was promoting phony stories about, oh, Barack Obama’s citizenship.

Now he wants Gov. Abbott — one of his minions — to order an audit of an election where there was no fraud?

Give me a break!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

McConnell said … what?

(Photo by Salwan Georges/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Mitch McConnell said it, but I still cannot believe I heard it with my own ears. The U.S. Senate Republican leader spoke about the need to raise the national debt limit, that it is essential for the nation to maintain its standing with creditors.

Then he said that it’s a “Democrat problem,” and that he wouldn’t support to raise the debt limit.

I heard it. I shook my noggin. I cannot believe that the Kentucky Republican would actually such a thing. But … he damn sure did.

McConnell is leading the Senate Republican caucus in its effort to obstruct anything and everything his Democratic colleagues want to do legislatively. He also has become something of a sworn enemy of President Biden, his one-time Senate friend and occasional ally.

Now he is playing craven politics with what should be a bipartisan effort. Democrats want to enact an infrastructure rebuilding plan. It costs trillions of dollars. Republicans are having none of it. They contend that it’s too costly, that it would pile on more debt.

Strange, yes? Yes, given that Biden’s immediate predecessor — a Republican — rang up the biggest annual budget deficits in history and piled on more debt than any president who came before him. The GOP caucus had no problem with that. Now, it does.

Except that the Senate GOP leader recognizes that the debt ceiling is an essential part of governing. However, he will not — or cannot — commit to doing what he knows he should do.

Mitch McConnell has become, without question (in my mind), the master of hypocrisy, duplicity and covering his own backside … to the detriment of the greater good.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com