Tag Archives: DC riot

DC riot

Doing one’s job cause for cheer?

All I can do these days is sigh over the knowledge that two Republican members of Congress who are doing the job to which they swore an oath have become heroes among those of us watching from a distance.

Yes, that would be Reps. Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois. They are serving on the House committee examining the 1/6 riot that sought to block the certification of the 2020 Electoral College count.

Let’s ponder this for a moment.

I have saluted Cheney and Kinzinger for standing up to the threats, bullying and coercion coming from the Trump Cult wing of their party. They are seeking the truth behind the insurrection and have been highly critical of the ex-POTUS.

Is that reason to cheer them? In a better world it wouldn’t matter. They are just doing their job, which is to protect the Constitution. They took an oath to do that. So did all members of Congress. So do presidents of the United States.

It’s a sad time when we can find reasons to applaud and cheer members who are doing what they are charged to do.

Kinzinger is a lame duck; he isn’t seeking re-election this year. Cheney is facing a GOP primary challenge in Wyoming. I want her to win, not because I like her politics, but because she is one of so damn few Republicans who favors the oath she took to do her duty over any blind fealty to a cult leader.

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

DC riot

Ex-Trump aide takes ‘both sides’ argument too far

Sarah Isgur is a devoted former aide to Donald J. Trump; she also makes occasional appearances on TV news/talk shows to offer her sharp perspective on political issues of the day.

I enjoy listening to her. She makes me think about my own bias.

However, Isgur recently took a “both sides” argument many steps too far. She took it over the proverbial cliff.

“Both sides,” she said, are going to contest the result of the next presidential election in 2024. Both sides? She suggests that if a Democrat wins the White House — presuming it’s President Biden — that the GOP won’t accept the result any more than it did in 2020. She also suggested that if Republicans win the White House, Democrats are going to challenge the results, suggesting that whoever wins isn’t “legitimate.”

Isgur’s proof? She said that in 2017, defeated Democratic Party nominee Hillary Clinton didn’t accept Donald Trump’s election. I get it. Clinton refused to accept the legitimacy of Trump’s election, given the interference that occurred during the campaign.

Sarah Isgur: “People On Both Sides Are Not Ready To Accept The Results Of The Next Election” | Video | RealClearPolitics

However … Democrats did not storm any buildings. They didn’t invade Capitol Hill. They didn’t seek to stop the certification of the result with a violent riot. Hillary Clinton did not make a fiery speech exhorting her supporters to “fight like hell” to “take back the government.”

Do you see where the “both sides” argument breaks down? I hope so, because it’s quite obvious to me.

While both sides might think the other side’s victory doesn’t pass the smell test, only one side has demonstrated a willingness to launch a frontal assault on our democracy.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot

I’m proud of you, too, Rep. Kinzinger

I saw an item on NBCNews.com that I want to share on this blog. It’s a brief item.

Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., said Thursday he has no regrets about how he has approached the aftermath of Jan. 6.

“How does it feel to be a pariah within your own party?” Fox News host Neil Cavuto asked Kinzinger.

“You know, I don’t like the feeling,” Kinzinger responded. “But I would not change a thing that I’ve done particularly in the last year.”

“Because I know — I’ve got a son being born imminently, that’s why I’m in Illinois — I know that he’ll be proud of me someday, and I know he’ll be able to look and say I stood up in a tough time. And if it’s just me and Liz doing it, it’s just me and Liz. That’s fine. I wish it was more people, though,” he said, referring to Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo.

Kinzinger and Cheney are the only Republicans serving on the House committee investigating the Capitol riot. Both have been critical of former President Donald Trump’s role in the riot and of Republicans who have downplayed the events that unfolded on Jan. 6. Trump celebrated news earlier this year that Kinzinger will retire from his House seat at the end of his term.

Well, for the record, Kinzinger’s baby boy isn’t the only person who would be proud of him for standing up to the lies, deceit and dangerous treachery being exhibited by the former POTUS.

I am proud of him, too.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot

Who’s the coward, Ted?

(AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Hey, Sen. Ted Cruz, I want to give you a bit of advice. It is that you told the truth this week when you described the 1/6 mob that stormed the Capitol Building a group of “terrorists.”

Then you had to take back the truth you told and resume lying to us about what transpired on that horrible day.

What the hell is the matter with you … Ted?

I know you have to protect your backside against those supporters of yours who believe the insurrection against our government was just a bunch of “tourists” getting out of hand. Their “peaceful protest” turned into something, well, quite violent. I know you saw it. I mean, you were inside the Capitol that day, ostensibly doing your job, which was to certify the results of the 2020 presidential election.

Oh, wait! I almost forgot. You were among Republican senators who resisted the certification of the results pending some phony “audit” of returns. You said something at the time about alleged concerns over The Big Lie (my words, not yours) that alleged “widespread voter fraud.”

Good grief, man! There wasn’t any fraud and anyone with half a brain would know the election was as secure as it could get.

As for the terrorists you described, well, you had it right when you called ’em out on Thursday. You got it wrong when you backed away the next day from the truth-telling spell and sought to soft-shoe around it on Tucker Carlson’s TV talk show.

Hey, maybe I shouldn’t be surprised at the cowardice you exhibited. I remember in 2016 when you got angry with Donald Trump over your then-GOP opponent’s tweeting that unflattering picture of your wife. You snarled at Trump, calling him a “sniveling coward” and an “amoral” individual who couldn’t tell the truth if you held a gun to his head.

Then you lost the party nomination fight and promptly began sucking up to the nominee who would become POTUS.

You know what? I believe you, senator, are the “sniveling coward.”

If only telling the truth could free you of the fear of being pilloried by the cultists who have hijacked your once-great political party.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot

The ‘law and order’ party? My a**!

Can it truly be that the “party of law and order” — aka the Republican Party — has become the party of violence and chaos?

How else does one explain the absence of all but two prominent GOP members at the House of Representatives ceremony honoring the officers who sacrificed so much during the 1/6 riot?

Only U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney and her dad, former Vice President Dick Cheney, thought enough of the officers to attend the House’s moment of silence honoring the valiant law enforcement officers who fought like hell to hold off the violent mob that stormed the Capitol a year ago.

The rest of ’em? They hid out. They were somewhere other than in the House chamber that came under direct attack by the domestic terrorists who sought to block Congress’s certification of the 2020 presidential election, the one that chose Joe Biden over the 45th POTUS.

This is the party that used to proclaim itself to be the “party of law and order.” It would fight like the dickens to protect the honor of our police officers. It would shame others who favor squishy social reform policies.

These days it’s a different sort of political party, or so one would presume. Every single member of Congress should have been present at the moment of silence event to honor the men and women who followed their oath to protect and serve the members of Congress. They were true to their pledge to protect them.

The Republicans who stayed away shamed themselves — yet again — with their denial that the world witnessed a direct assault on our Constitution.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

DC riot, local news

Rep. Taylor is ‘primaried’ for this?

Van Taylor is my congressman. I have spoken with him once or twice. He seems like an earnest young man. He also is a conservative Republican who favors policies that I happen to oppose.

The Plano lawmaker also has resisted the cabal of POTUS 45 cultists who refuse to let go of the notion that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from the GOP president.

That has opened the door for some nut-job GOP candidates who are running against Taylor in the 2022 primary campaign. They want to defeat Taylor because he voted in favor of an independent commission to examine the 1/6 riot that sought to block the certification of the Electoral College result of the 2020 election.

I need to parse this carefully. Taylor wanted an independent examination of the riot. He voted against the committee that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi eventually formed in the House to examine the riot. It’s that endorsement of the independent commission that has riled some on the far-right fringe of the GOP. Taylor also voted against the article of impeachment brought against Donald Trump after the riot.

The Texas Tribune reports: Taylor’s vote for the commission “is a huge issue,” said one of the challengers, former Collin County Judge Keith Self. “It is the red line for many people in their vote against Van Taylor.”

If I read that correctly, Self wants no investigation into the riot. He seems to suggest that nothing wrong occurred on 1/6. Huh? Is that right? Nothing to see?

Good grief! The Tribune reports: Taylor’s opponents have also largely sought to downplay the Jan. 6 attack, arguing it was not as dangerous as Democrats and the media have portrayed it to be.

Uh, yes. It was every bit the dangerous event that we are learning through dribs and drabs came shockingly close to succeeding.

U.S. Rep. Van Taylor faces heat over Jan. 6 investigation vote | The Texas Tribune

In addition to Self, Taylor’s primary foes include Suzanne Harp, a Dallas businesswoman whose son is chief of staff to U.S. Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C. Two lesser-known Republicans, Rickey Williams and Jeremy Ivanovskis, are also running against Taylor.

These all seem to be right-wing yahoos who would yank the party too far to the fringe to suit many North Texas residents.

Rep. Taylor likes to be called “Mr. Bipartisan” because he works well with Democrats. I appreciate the outreach he employs with his House colleagues, which is just about the only reason I want him to fend off this intraparty challenge.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

How does POTUS reach the other side?

President Biden today — and I shall borrow a phrase — was “preaching to the choir” when my wife and I tuned in to listen to his speech commemorating the year since 1/6.

We believe what he said about the cause of the riot on Capitol Hill; we endorse the notion that his presidential predecessor is more interested in “power than in principle”; we shudder at the belief that we witnessed a year ago the first direct assault on our democracy by those loyal to the individual who lost a free and fair election.

My question as I watched the president and Vice President Harris speak to us this morning was this: How in name of all that is sacred in our democracy do these officials reach those who need to understand the truth of what they are saying?

Those would be the cultists who continue to believe The Big Lie that the former POTUS keeps alive, that the 2020 election was stolen.

I simply want to highlight briefly something to which Biden alluded during his remarks given in Statuary Hall … that Republicans actually performed well down the ballot in November 2020 and that no one has challenged the results of those returns. Oh, no. Biden reminded us that the only challenge has come from the former president and his cultists regarding the race at the very top of the ballot. How come?

Oh, it’s because the former president lost that one and that his “bruised ego” won’t let him accept that he lost the most secure, most examined election in our nation’s history.

President Biden need not convince those of us who live in this North Texas home. He needs somehow to reach those who continue to believe The Big Lie.

I wish the president all the very best as he embarks on that effort.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

How much can we take?

How many more lies, more deception, more hypocrisy must we endure before we — as a nation — declare that enough is enough?

The 1/6 House select committee is set to go public with its testimony on the events that led to the riot that sought to overturn our democracy. The panel that comprises seven Democrats and two Republicans has heard from scores of witnesses in private; it has received thousands of pages of documents in private. It is now going to take it all into the open for the entire world to see and hear.

The nation is going to mark the first year of that horrendous event on Thursday. Capitol Police have been alerted to the possibility of violence. Oh, and who might erupt? That would be the followers of Donald Trump, the cultists who stormed the Capitol a year ago.

Where is the former Insurrectionist in Chief? Will he call for calm? Will he beseech his cultists to stand down? Hell no! He’ll be doing whatever he does all day in south Florida.

The lying continues to flow from the mouths of those who insist that Trump won the 2020 election. He didn’t. They say it was stolen from him. It wasn’t. They say that Joe Biden isn’t the duly elected president. He is. They insist they acted on 1/6 out of “love of country.” No, they didn’t; they acted out of hatred for the U.S. Constitution.

How much more of this trash must we endure? I am one American patriot who has heard all I can stomach from these traitors.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com