Tag Archives: Ken Paxton

State news

Heartlessness = GOP

Heartless attitudes about people’s emotional distress seems to have become part of the formula for success in today’s Republican Party.

Consider the policies enacted by Texas Republicans regarding the young people struggling with what we call “gender identity.” Gov. Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken “Under Felony Indictment” Paxton believe parents who seek treatment for their children’s gender ID issues are committing “child abuse.”

It baffles me that grown men and women, who do not have such issues with which to contend, can make judgments on others who do have them, or who have children they are seeking to help guide along on their life’s journey.

Abbott and Paxton — the latter of whom is awaiting trial on an allegation of securities fraud — believe that parents who seek “gender-affirming care” are guilty of abusing their children. My goodness! How in the name of humane treatment can these people pursue their constituents in this manner?

I am one American who cannot possibly relate intimately with the struggles of others who have these issues. Thus, I cannot in good conscience pretend to understand this complicated emotional behavior. How, then, do politicians who are supposed to represent me justify imposing their will on others?

It is a heartlessness I find terribly unbecoming.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

State news

‘Walking hate crime’

Michigan’s attorney general, Dana Nessel, is a Democrat; Texas’s AG, Ken Paxton, is a Republican.

Nessel, though, also believes Paxton is something quite weird. She calls Texas’s top legal eagle a “walking hate crime” because Paxton decided to refer to Rachel Levine as a “man.” And why did the indicted Texas AG make that scurrilous reference? Because Levine is a transgender individual who now is a woman; Levine also happens to serve as an assistant secretary of Health and Human Services in the Biden administration and was named one of USA Today’s women of the year.

Therein lies what I believe is an essential problem with too many Republican politicians of Paxton’s ilk. He hurls insults at individuals gratuitously.

“When people ask me why I don’t attend National Association of Attorneys General events anymore, it’s this. Paxton is a walking hate crime,” Nessel said.

Michigan AG: ‘Paxton is a walking hate crime’ | TheHill

Yes, Mme. Attorney General. Ken Paxton most certainly is a walking hate crime.

He and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott have decided, for instance, that parents who seek to pursue “gender-affirming care” for their transgender children are committing “child abuse,” which is utter nonsense on its face. It’s also cruel and inhumane.

For what it’s worth, I consider Ken Paxton to be an embarrassment to this state, even though he has been elected twice as AG — for reasons that escape me.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, political news, State news

Hey, Ken … answer these questions

Ken Paxton, by all rights, should attend a four-person candidate debate Thursday, answering questions from the three Republicans who are challenging him in the March 1 GOP primary for Texas attorney general.

Except for this little item: The AG is under felony indictment in Collin County for securities fraud. There’s that and the FBI investigation into allegations of corruption in his office. There’s also the dipsh** lawsuit he filed in 2021 seeking to get four states that voted for Joe Biden for POTUS to overturn their results and give their electoral votes to Donald Trump; the U.S. Supreme Court tossed that lawsuit out.

So, you see, Paxton won’t attend the debate. He’ll cede the floor to challengers George P. Bush, Eva Guzman and Louie Gohmert, all of whom are making Paxton’s ethical (mis)conduct a major part of their efforts to defeat the AG.

Because the Texas Republican Party electorate comprises voters who don’t give a rat’s rear end about ethics and moral standing, Paxton somehow enjoys standing as the front runner in the primary campaign. One of the three challengers wants to face off against him in a runoff if no one gets 50% of the vote in the primary. I have no favorite among the three people running against Paxton. I merely want the attorney general to lose the primary contest, whether it’s March 1 or in the runoff.

As for his absence from the debate, a candidate with a semblance of courage and a stern belief that his conduct is defensible would show up and take on the challengers. The incumbent, however, is showing a cowardly streak that should not be tolerated.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, political news, State news

Paxton still favorite for AG? Ugghh!

(Photo by Erich Schlegel/Getty Images)

Recent public opinion polling in Texas sends a chill up my spine about the state of the race for attorney general.

The indicted incumbent who is under FBI investigation for alleged corruption in his office is the leading candidate among the four Republicans running for his seat. Yep, there you have it: Texas GOP voters appear to favor an incumbent who is facing potential prison time if a state trial jury convicts him of securities fraud.

AG Ken Paxton needs to be removed from office. Somehow. Some way. The state’s Republican voters have three fascinating choices to make when they vote March 1 in their primary. Land Commissioner George P. Bush, retired judge Eva Guzman and East Texas Congressman Louie Gohmert all want to succeed Paxton.

Of the three challengers, Gohmert is my least favorite, given his Donald Trumpian stance on all issues. Bush and Guzman are running as tough enforcers of the law who will throw criminals in jail, which is strange, given the AG is primarily a civil litigator. Whatever.

Paxton is a joke and a jerk.

I should add that the indictment for securities fraud came from a grand jury in Collin County, which Paxton represented during his unremarkable tenure as a state representative prior to his being elected AG in 2014. I mean, it’s not as though some far-left liberals in Travis County handed down the indictment; it came from the home folks, man!

The latest Dallas Morning News/UT-Tyler poll had Paxton leading with 33% percent, followed by Bush, Gohmert and Guzman. There well could be a runoff if none of them gets 50% or greater in the primary.

But the idea that Paxton remains in the lead tells me the state’s GOP voters just don’t give a crap about the cloud of suspicion that hangs over the incumbent who simply — in my view — is an embarrassment to our great state.

Sheesh!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

State news

Paxton targets Gohmert?

Ken Paxton must be feeling the heat from the Looney Tunes wing of the Texas Republican Party, aka Paxton’s “base” of support. Why? Because he reportedly is taking out ads attacking Rep. Louie Gohmert, one of three GOP challengers to the AG in this year’s primary.

The attorney general and the East Texas congressman figure to carve up the radical right-wing voters of the GOP while they battle for Paxton’s office. Paxton reportedly has taken out some ads that are going after Gohmert.

To be brutally candid, I don’t give a damn about either of these guys, other than I want Paxton removed from the AG’s office. He is an embarrassment to the state I call home and I want him gone from public life. He has been under indictment for felony security fraud almost since the time he took office in 2015; he has yet to go to trial. He’s also angered some of his top legal assistants, who have quit and blown the whistle on what they allege is illegal activity within the AG’s office; the FBI is investigating the allegations.

He has two other serious challengers: former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman and Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush.

Polling shows Paxton continuing to run fairly strong among the four candidates, a thought that makes my blood boil. Gohmert, though, figures to peel away enough of the goofball vote to possibly force a runoff between the top two finishers in the primary.

My idea of a political perfection includes a scenario in which the top two do not include Paxton. That ain’t likely to happen. If only …

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

legal news, local news, State news

Paxton should pay a big price

What do you know about this? It appears that the Texas Republican Party primary race for attorney general is shaping as a fight over the incumbent’s self-inflicted legal difficulties … not to mention the shame he has brought to the high office he occupies.

AG Ken Paxton has it coming to him.

Paxton was elected attorney general in 2014. The very next year he got indicted by a grand jury right here in Collin County on allegations of securities fraud. He continues to await trial in state court. He also has been chastised by the Securities and Exchange Commission; the FBI has launched a probe into complaints from former senior legal assistants at the AG’s office that Paxton has been behaving illegally; then he got that idiotic lawsuit tossed by the Supreme Court in which he sought to overturn the presidential election returns in several other states that voted for Joe Biden.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton facing challenges from all fronts | The Texas Tribune

Three Republicans have filed to run against Paxton: Land Commissioner George P. Bush, former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman and U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert. They’re all singing off the same song sheet, which is that Paxton’s legal troubles are enough to get him booted out of office.

I am glad to hear it. Yes, even from Rep. Gohmert, a fellow for whom I have zero respect.

Whatever does the job. Paxton is a joke, an embarrassment, a disgrace.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, State news

Fruitcake fringe loses an AG candidate

Well, now. It looks as though Louie Gohmert is going to have the fruitcake fringe of the Republican Party electorate to himself as he challenges Ken Paxton in next year’s GOP primary for Texas attorney general.

Why is that? Another GOP fruitcake, Freedom Caucus member state Rep. Matt Krause of Fort Worth is going to run instead for Tarrant County district attorney. He had sought to run in the 2022 primary for Texas AG, but switched races.

Gohmert is still in. He joins Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush and former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman as challengers to the felony indicted Paxton, who is awaiting trial in state court on a charge of securities fraud.

Bush and Guzman are campaigning specifically against the corruption that Paxton brought with him to the AG’s office in 2015. I don’t know what U.S. Rep. Gohmert’s platform will be; he might want to push Paxton even farther to the right than he already stands.

There might be more entries, given the trouble that keeps swirling around Paxton. The FBI is conducting an independent investigation into allegations of corruption with his office; several top legal assistants quit earlier this year while citing allegations of improper behavior by the attorney general. Imagine that, will ya?

The waters are still roiling.

It’s gonna be fun to watch this race play out.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

State news

AG Paxton in dire peril

Maybe it’s just me, but I feel this rumbling in my gut that Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is in some deep doo-doo … politically speaking.

Think about something for a brief moment.

When has any Texas Republican statewide officeholder faced the kind of intraparty challenge that Paxton is facing as the next primary campaign approaches. He has three Republican challengers already and a fourth one might be ready to jump into the race.

Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush has announced his intention to run; so has former Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman, along with state Rep. Matt Krause. Waiting in the wings might be U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert.

Here’s the fascinating dynamic shaping up. Bush and Guzman appear to be running as “establishment Republicans” who are fed up with Paxton’s legal troubles, starting with his pending state court trial on an allegation of investment securities fraud. Then we have Krause, a member of the ultraconservative Texas Freedom Caucus, who would tack farther to the right. Oh, and then we might get Gohmert, the unofficial leader of the Texas GOP Nut Job Caucus in Congress.

What does this mean for Paxton? It means — to my way of thinking — that he’s managed to pi** off disparate elements within his own party. One side considers him an embarrassment, the other side is pulling him in the opposite direction.

Ken Paxton is now one of four GOP candidates running for AG. I hope the number jumps to five … or even more.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news, State news

Texas AG under the gun

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is a disgrace to the office he occupies.

Thus, it is no surprise that he would lash out at the Texas State Bar’s decision to investigate his specious lawsuit that sought to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in four states that Joe Biden won over Donald J. Trump.

Paxton makes me sick. There. I got that off my chest.

Two of the AG’s pals, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, came to his defense in their criticism of the Bar’s probe.

As the Texas Tribune reported:

“Texans know exactly what’s going on here,” Paxton said in a statement. “It is no surprise that a cabal of President Biden donors and voters are finding a way to retaliate against the work of my office for the State of Texas’s challenge to the constitutionality of the 2020 elections. Nearly half the nation joined Texas’s cause and two Supreme Court Justices voted to take up the case. I stand by our lawsuit. This is a total misuse of the Bar’s power and responsibility,” he said.

Amy Starnes, a spokesperson for the Texas State Bar, said her office could not discuss or confirm the existence of a pending investigation because of confidentiality rules.

Greg Abbott, Dan Patrick defend Ken Paxton over Texas bar investigation | The Texas Tribune

This Texan, meaning me, knows as well that Paxton is awaiting trial for securities fraud after being indicted by a Collin County grand jury. I also know that several of his top legal eagles quit the AG’s office and filed a whistleblower complaint that Paxton has engaged in criminal activity while serving as attorney general; the FBI is looking into that complaint.

Now the Bar has come forward with a complaint of its own, contesting the legitimacy of the lawsuit that Paxton filed with the U.S. Supreme Court over the results in other states. The court tossed the lawsuit out, saying that Paxton didn’t have standing.

The man is a disgrace. He needs to go. I do hope the Republican primary challenge he faces next spring can bring about the much-needed result … which would be his ouster.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com