MAGA cabal goes nuts over this?

Let’s see … I must be slow on the uptake this morning, because I am trying to wonder what in the world has the MAGA cabal cult so wadded up over the Biden administration’s latest action.

The Pentagon discovered that a reported Chinese spy balloon was floating over North America, from Alaska, through Canada and across the rest of the United States of America. The military brass decided to analyze what they found. They waited until the balloon had left our airspace over land and then shot the sucker down over open water.

The intent in waiting to shoot the balloon down was to eliminate civilian damage or — God forbid — human casualties.

The Chinese said it was a civilian device doing “scientific research.” You don’t believe that, right? Neither do I.

But the Republican MAGA propagandists now say that President Biden dismantled Donald Trump’s anti-China deterrence program to enable the People’s Republic to spy on us at will. That’s BS!

The Pentagon now reports that during the Trump term, the Chinese sent several such balloons over U.S. airspace, but the then-commander in chief took no action against the PRC.

Good grief, man! I am one American patriot who believes the president did the right thing in waiting for the spy craft to be over the Atlantic Ocean before shooting it down with jet-fired missiles.

I am pretty certain that once our debris recovery teams pick up what’s left of the balloon that we’ll learn that the Chinese were up to no good. As for the timing of the shoot-down, it’s another nothing burger being cooked up by the MAGA gang.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Can’t wait for Cruz to declare

Ted Cruz well might declare his intention to run for president of the United States for the second time.

Good. I look forward to his declaration that he intends to be elected commander in chief and head of state. Someone surely will be waiting in the weeds to reveal to the rest of the nation what the Texas Republican U.S. senator did in February 2021 when thousands of Texans were freezing in the Winter Storm of the Century.

You’ll recall he jetted off to Cancun, Mexico while hundreds of Texans were freezing to death. The media uncovered Cruz’s getaway, ratted him out and then he returned … only to blame his daughter for talking him into going to the warm Mexico beaches.

The man is numbskull of the first order.

He ran against the GOP field in 2016 and was the last contender standing in Donald Trump’s way before bowing out. He called Trump all but the spawn of Satan. Then he became part of Trump’s Senate suck-up squad in the Senate after Trump got elected in 2016.

The guy is a gutless wonder. Go ahead and declare your candidacy, Ted … and then be prepared to answer for your cowardice.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Love keeps pouring in

It is impossible to convey the feeling one gets at a time of intense emotional grief when those with whom he is related, or those who he calls friends, or even those he knows only casually reach out to express their support.

The love that comes to my sons and me at this time in the wake of my dear bride’s passing has been overpowering.

I awoke this morning dreading the day that awaited, as it marked the first full day I would be without my beloved Kathy Anne nearby. It got better once the sun rose and once my son and I completed some tasks that needed to be done.

Still, I find myself tearing up at the mention of things that made my bride smile. Or when I am asked the date of our marriage. Or when I learn of my granddaughter’s intention to give something for Grandma to take with her when we say goodbye in a few days.

I know those spells will pass. I cannot — and I dare not — predict when that will occur. I just know that they will and I will know when that moment has arrived.

This blog post is intended for those who have expressed their love and support. It is meant as one more thank you from me and from those who are sharing this grief.

I do not intend to bore you with further expressions of thanks and gratitude. Indeed, I am running out of ways to say it.

So, I’ll just feel it in my heart.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The sun rose this morning

The picture you see with this post occurred just a little while ago and it was what greeted me this morning as I began my first full day without the love of my life nearby.

My day began with a glorious North Texas sunrise, the kind that would fill Kathy Anne and me with joy as we took the next step on our journey together. Indeed, it almost rivals the grandeur of the sunrises we witnessed during our 23 years living on the Texas Panhandle’s Caprock.

Once again, I want to thank all those who have expressed their love for Kathy Anne and their support for our family as we march ahead.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

This sadness eclipses all others

This is not the outcome I wanted to deliver to those who have been following my lovely bride’s struggle against cancer.

Kathy Anne passed away Friday after a valiant but futile fight against glioblastoma.

I am strengthened by the love and support of my immediate family members who have been with me throughout this fight. We waged this battle together and we will grieve together as well. I also draw strength from the many friends who have reached out and who have extended their love, prayers, good karma and whatever other positive vibes they could send.

We thought she had turned an important corner in the struggle that commenced the day after Christmas. We took her to the emergency room that day at Medical City/McKinney in North Texas. The ER doctor found a mass. The neurosurgeon took some of it out the next night. Kathy went to the intensive care unit, then to rehab for two weeks. She did well in rehab.

We took her home on Jan. 16. She and I made a trip to Amarillo to help our son celebrate a birthday. We returned home on Jan. 24. Then, suddenly on Jan. 26, while waiting for a physical therapist to assist her with home health care, she suffered a grand mal seizure. She returned to the ICU. She did not recover from the seizure or from what was left of the malignancy that had grown.

It is difficult to ascertain much of what transpired. I am struggling to wrap my arms around the profound grief I am feeling while seeking to come to grips with what lies ahead.

We had high hopes for a positive outcome. We thought we could treat this disease, arrest it, control and move on with the rest of our life together.

I have learned a lot in these past few weeks and months about myself and about the power of love. Yes, I cherish the memories we built over more than 50 years of married life. We traveled the globe. We made many dear friends. We brought two boys into this world and they have grown into two of the finest men imaginable.

And yet … we never discovered the manual that tells us how to cope with the crisis that befell my bride. We determined it is something that one learns in real time. You just experience it and hope you make the right decisions when opportunities present themselves.

My love and devotion to my bride were real. It never wavered. It never will. I will miss her forever and beyond.

To those who have followed my effort to chronicle this journey and extended their love, I thank you once more. It has sustained all of us as we have fought this battle alongside the bravest individual God ever created.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Taking time away from the ‘news’

Even news junkies need a break from the news, I have learned. So, with that I am prepared to announce that I am weaning myself from the daily barrage of news and commentary that used to fill my days to nearly overflowing.

Granted, it has taken an intense personal struggle to make this happen. My wife’s medical challenge has lured me away from the TV set and (more or less) from the Internet, where I have spent many of my wide-awake hours these days.

Not lately, though. My days have been filled with worry and concern about my bride and with the everlasting hope for a miracle that could free her of the cancer that we discovered in her the day after Christmas 2022.

That challenge has been enough to fill my days possibly forever.

Now … it is true that I have weighed in on political and policy matters on occasion. Many of my recent blog posts have concerned local matters. We have a school district here in Princeton, Texas, that is (a) going to ask voters to approve a significant bond issue in May and (b) is wrestling with whether to ban outside groups from using public property for events because of some school trustees’ dislike of those who want to declare their “pride” in their sexual orientation.

Critics of this blog no doubt will challenge my assertion that I have sought to stay mostly away from national affairs. They lie in wait for me to comment on those matters, then pounce on me when I do.

That’s fine. I can take it. After all, I have much greater matters of concern to me right now than what anyone thinks of what I have to say about politics.

All in all, I have been free of the hustle and bustle, the humdrum, the toil and tempest of the political world. Believe this or not, it’s frankly been about the only bright spot I have I have seen as we wage this struggle to help my bride defeat the challenge she is facing.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Not a bad start for POTUS

Ron Klain has stepped down as White House chief of staff, turning the keys to the West Wing over to Jeff Zeist.

I watched Klain’s goodbye speech to the staff — and to President Biden — this week and was stunned at what Klain said the administration has been able to accomplish in just two years of the president’s (hopefully) first term in office.

He cited the infrastructure bill, climate change legislation, inflation reduction legislation, managing our involvement in Europe’s largest ground war since World War II, reducing the national budget deficit … and on and on.

Well, here’s the video of Klain’s speech. Let him tell the story.

Watch Ron Klain’s full speech as he steps down as White House chief of staff – YouTube

It’s no tall tale, though. I stand with President Biden as he continues to govern with a sense of compassion and idealism that too often gets trampled by the rough and tumble of D.C. politics.

Thanks for your service, Ron Klain. Don’t go too deeply into hiding, in case the president needs to call you for some advice.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Who’s playing politics?

How in this good ol’ world can Republicans say with a straight face that Democrats are guilty of “playing politics” when the GOP has turned the politics-playing game into an art form.

Consider the upcoming fight over the debt ceiling.

A Republican president ran up 20% of the total national debt during his single term in office. Congressional Republicans were silent when Donald Trump managed that feat. The debt happens to be on the books already as money is already spent. Meanwhile, the U.S. Constitution calls for the “full faith and credit” to be free of the political games now being played.

Now that we have a Democrat in the White House, congressional Republicans want to hold the national debt as a weapon to use against Democrats. What the hell?

President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy met today to discuss this debt ceiling matter. McCarthy came out of that meeting and suggested the two men made progress in settling their disagreements.

I get that we need to control government spending. I’m fine with that as a matter of principle. However, the debt ceiling must be lifted to allow this nation to maintain its full faith and credit. Bringing the debt ceiling crashing down would bring financial ruin. That is the truth. How about raising the debt ceiling, which is always done, and then talk about looking for greater fiscal responsibility?

Refusing to raise the debt ceiling arguably is the most brazen act of political gamesmanship imaginable. Thus, when the GOP accuses Democrats of playing politics, they are projecting their own sin on their opponents.

It is beyond shameful.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Public works teams excel

I have made this point before — many times, I think — but it always is worth repeating as we struggle against Mother Nature’s wrath.

The point is that public works teams answer a potentially dangerous call when frigid weather arrives. And boy, howdy … Mother Nature brought it again to North Texas this week.

I hear reports of power outages. Of streets that remain slick on which to drive safely. Of busted pipes. Who’s there to turn the lights on, to restore water service, to treat our streets? The public works crews, be they public or private employees.

They do jobs I could only imagine doing. Even at that, my imagination has its limits.

I commented on the public works crews and the private utility company teams that fought through the bitter cold of the February 2021 deep freeze in North Texas. We lost our power in Princeton during that crisis and, for a time, we were without water in our house.

I am knocking on my noggin while saying that so far, our power and water have stayed on. Let’s hope for the best, shall we?

Back to my point, which is that it takes a special breed of human being to do the things we demand and expect from our public works staff. Who among us could sit high above the ground in a “cherry picker” basket working on power lines while the frigid wind blows and the sky drops freezing rain and sleet? Not me!

These men and women are brave souls who toil under stressful and potentially dangerous conditions. I salute them all and thank them for risking their own health and well-being on my behalf.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Pollsters deserve a break

Political polling organizations have been taking their lumps over the past several years from those who mistakenly — I believe — contend they are wrong far more than they are right.

Pollsters need some respect and I am about to give them some.

The major incident polling critics cite is the result of the 2016 presidential election. I truly beg to differ.

Let’s remember that polling outfits tracked the contest between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton hourly right to the end. Most of them placed Hillary Clinton marginally ahead of Trump in the final results released just before Election Day.

Clinton won the popular vote in 2016. Her margin of “victory”? 2.09% That matches just about what all the pollsters said would occur. They were right!

Except that the popular vote doesn’t elect presidents. That is done through the Electoral College and Trump managed to peel off at least three states that everyone thought would fall into Clinton’s vote ledger: Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Did those states’ results negate what the national polling said would occur? No. It meant only that Clinton’s team misjudged the level of support she and Trump had; they overplayed their own hand and low-balled Trump’s support.

The 2020 election also produced a result that pollsters said would occur. Joe Biden carried the day with a 4.46% popular vote margin over Trump. He also took back the three states I mentioned earlier to seal the victory.

Polling at times can be an inexact exercise. Respondents have been known to tell pollsters untruths when they are asked, “For whom will you vote for president?”

However, in the past two presidential election cycles, pollsters have gotten a bum rap. I want to stand with them.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com