Tag Archives: Ted Cruz

State news

Trump soon to be gone; others, such as Sen. Cruz, will remain

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The tragedy of the riot that overwhelmed Capitol Hill this week will remain seared into our national soul for a long time.

What’s more is that even though the Perpetrator in Chief, Donald Trump, will be gone in (no more than) 12 days, many of his minions — those in power — will be on the job, manning their posts and perhaps trying to become the next spokesman for whatever cause Trump supposedly sought to move forward.

Truth be told at this juncture, I hope Trump is gone before President Biden’s inaugural on Jan. 20. He is a menace to the nation as he demonstrated by inciting the riot that stormed the seat of our government.

He’ll be gone. Soon!

Who will remain? The likes of Sen. Ted Cruz, the Texan who was among the ringleaders to challenge the Electoral College result that elected Joe Biden as president and Kamala Harris as vice president.

To hear Cruz say that “Democrats are playing politics” makes me want to scream at the top of my lungs. What in the name of bald-faced hypocrisy is he suggesting? That Republicans are pure and clean and filled only with righteousness? If there ever was a more political animal prowling through the halls of Congress, he or she would have to go a great distance to outdo the Cruz Missile.

I am ashamed to be represented in Congress by this individual. He has sickened me since the day he emerged out of nowhere to defeat Texas Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in the 2012 Republican primary and then went on to be elected U.S. senator from Texas. It didn’t take much clairvoyance to determine immediately that Cruz had the White House on his mind when he entered the Senate. Sure enough, he sought the Big Prize in 2016, only to lose to Trump.

What slays me is how Cruz once referred to his GOP primary foe Trump as a “sniveling coward,” only to become that very thing as he lined up behind a president he once called a “pathological liar.”

Ted Cruz will be there after Trump exits. He will be joined by other sycophants. Make no mistake that I will think only of that riot and Cruz’s attempt to subvert the will of an electorate every single time I see his puss on TV or hear his voice.

national news

Loony bin adds 11 GOP senators

(Photo by Bryan Thomas/Getty Images)

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The Republican congressional cabal of kooks today grew by 11 members.

I cannot believe these once-serious-minded individuals have done this, but they have declared their intention to object to President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory when the Senate and the House of Representatives meet Wednesday to, um, certify the results.

They have joined their moronic Missouri colleague, Josh Hawley, in filing some sort of empty-headed protest over Biden’s victory, citing “widespread voter fraud” for which no one on Earth has presented a shred of evidence even existed.

Here’s the best part: One of the Gang of 11 dipshi** is none other than Sen. Ted Cruz, the Houston Republican whom I long ago dubbed the Cruz Missile.

To his credit, John Cornyn, Texas’s senior U.S. Republican senator, didn’t sign on to this idiotic ploy.

What these clowns/morons/know-nothings/idiots are seeking to do is commit what I consider an act of sedition. They are staging an open rebellion against our democratic process. They have joined 140 of their House GOP colleagues in contesting an election that Joe Biden won — and Donald J. Trump — lost in what election officials have declared to be the most secure election in U.S. history.

The 11 GOP Senate nimrods want to delay the outcome for 10 days while they conduct an audit of the process. Good ever-lovin’ grief, dudes! The courts have tossed out every one of Trump’s own challenges to the veracity of the election. The Electoral College has met as prescribed by the Constitution and declared that Biden and Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will take office on Jan. 20.

11 Senate Republicans say they will oppose Electoral College results Wednesday | TheHill

We have a bizarre drama playing out on the world stage. Republican members of Congress want to make some kind of show about their resistance to a Democrat winning election over one of their guys. What they are revealing to the world is an absolute disregard for the democratic process, which until this election cycle was thought to be an impenetrable barrier against the kind of dangerous insurrection that appears to be taking shape.

Finally, think also of this reality: The individual for whom they are embarking on this moronic mission, Donald J. Trump, is encouraging them to commit what I consider to be a subversion of the electoral process we all should honor.

This is as reprehensible as it can get.

national news

Mask-wearing: not a political statement

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, whom I have dubbed the Cruz Missile, is demonstrating once again why I dislike him so intensely.

He decided to describe his fellow senator, Democrat Sherrod Brown of Ohio, as acting “like a complete ass” because Brown insisted that the senator presiding over the body wear a mask.

Republican Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska was without a mask when he presided. Brown wanted him to put one one, believing that he posed a potential threat of infecting other senators, given that they were meeting in an enclosed room, aka the Senate chamber.

As The Hill reported: “This is idiotic,” Cruz tweeted Monday night, adding that Brown “is being a complete ass. He wears a mask to speak – when nobody is remotely near him – as an ostentatious sign of fake virtue.”

No, Ted. Your colleague is acting out what some have referred to as an “abundance of caution” in light of the pandemic that continues to kill Americans at an alarming rate each day. Perhaps he has read about it; this pandemic’s been in all the papers, man.

Cruz is now being discussed as a possible 2024 GOP presidential candidate. Hmm. His theme well might be: Wear a mask and be an ass.

national news

POTUS makes strange SCOTUS ploy

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I have been intrigued by Donald Trump’s decision to roll out the names of possible U.S. Supreme Court appointments should he win a second term as president of the United States.

I guess I come down to this notion: Trump is playing with fire by throwing out names while he is in the midst of a campaign that might rile the dickens out groups of voters who detest the philosophies of the prospective nominees.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas has gotten the most buzz out of the list of 20 names tossed out there by Trump. You know this guy, whom I have labeled the Cruz Missile owing to his rather mercurial political trajectory.

He actually wants to be elected president one day, which to my way of thinking suggests he wouldn’t want to end up on the high court.

But back to the point. Trump’s tactic here puts his re-election effort in some jeopardy.

All of the names he has floated are, for example, likely to be avidly anti-reproductive rights advocates. They all would oppose a woman’s right to end a pregnancy. How do you suppose that’s going to play with suburban women, who already are tilting strongly away from Trump and toward the candidacy of Joseph Biden?

Yes, I know Trump has his support base that thinks the tactic is working out just fine. I just consider it a huge gamble at this juncture of a campaign that by all objective measure isn’t going well.

I suppose, therefore, I shouldn’t spend too much time worrying about any of this.

So … I won’t.

legal news, local news, medical news, State news

She’s no hero; she is a lawbreaker

Shelley Luther is being hailed as a heroic figure, someone who is standing up to what many contend is a form of governmental tyranny.

I consider her to be a lawbreaker, someone who flouted a legally mandated directive to keep her business closed to save lives against a killer virus that has swept across the world in the coronavirus pandemic.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ordered salons closed. Luther’s business, Salon La Mode in Dallas, remained opened. She was doing customers’ nails and performing other cosmetic procedures even though she was putting herself and, more importantly, her customers at risk of catching COVID-19.

As the Texas Tribune reported: Luther knew she was operating in blatant defiance of emergency orders from the state and county. She had already torn up a cease-and-desist letter from local authorities, winning loud cheers onstage at an Open Texas rally in Frisco.

Ridiculous.

Here’s my favorite part. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Houston decided to get his hair cut at Luther’s salon … in Dallas. The Cruz Missile, who backs Donald Trump’s rush to return reopen the economy that has collapsed in the wake of the pandemic, thought he’d score some cheap political points by standing with Shelley Luther.

Cruz should be ashamed of himself, except that he isn’t.

As for Luther, she had been sent to jail for violating the stay-closed order. Top Texas Republicans sought to work for her release. So she got sprung from the hoosegow. She came out to a hero’s welcome.

Now this business owner is being hailed as a sort of cultural icon because she’s standing her ground against what she believes is government overreach.

She is standing instead for the fruitcakes who have stormed the Michigan state capitol building brandishing assault rifles and waving swastikas and Confederate battle flags; she is standing for other protesters around the nation who flock to beaches and ignore social distancing recommendations.

It’s people like Shelley Luther who make enforcing mandates aimed at protecting our health — and even our lives — more difficult than they need be.

national news

Cruz joins McConnell in pre-judging POTUS’s Senate trial

The Cruz Missile has launched a podcast on which he intends to vent his belief that Donald John Trump, the nation’s current president, is innocent of the charges brought forward by the House of Representatives impeachment of him.

Impartial justice, anyone? Anyone?

Sen. Ted Cruz has begun a podcast titled “Verdict.” He is one of 100 U.S. senators who swore an oath to judge the president with impartiality. Nope. Not gonna happen.

He has aligned himself with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in pre-judging this case. The House impeached Trump on abuse of power and obstruction of Congress charges. We haven’t heard any witnesses … yet! However, Cruz is ready to declare that Trump hasn’t committed any crimes.

That remains to be seen.

Many Senate leaders have warned their colleagues against pre-judging this case. They want to remain faithful to the oath that Chief Justice John Roberts issued to them.

Has the Cruz Missile followed that oath? In the first episode he labels the impeachment as a partisan political attack.

McConnell has demonstrated that he is not going to adhere to the oath he took. Now he has Ted Cruz joining him in revealing how intends to vote when the time arrives.

medical news, national news

By all means, increase smoking age to 21

Sen. Ted Cruz is unhappy with Donald Trump’s decision to sign an increase in the minimum age for smoking to 21 years of age.

Sigh … Cruz needs to pipe down, get over it and let this policy move forward.

The Texas Republican has posted a Twitter message in which he criticizes the decision, citing the fact that people younger than 21 can go to war, they can fight for the nation and tragically, die in defense of the United States. “But they can’t have a smoke,” Cruz said.

Please. He is equating that argument with the move to reduce the voting age from 21 to 18 in the early 1970s. Proponents of that constitutional amendment cited the same argument Cruz is making about the smoking matter, that young Americans could go to war but couldn’t vote on the geezers in Washington who would send them into battle.

Apples and oranges, senator. You got that?

Trump backed the idea that smokers need to be 21 before they can purchase a pack of smokes. Retailers need to enforce that requirement the way they do the purchase of alcoholic beverages.

The rates of lung disease and assorted ailments related to smoking are climbing among young people, many of whom have been taken in by the vaping craze that is sweeping the nation.

By all means, raise the minimum smoking age to 21.

A word, though, to the president: Stop spelling “smoking” as “smocking” in your tweets. Many of us are with Donald Trump and Congress on this one, but the misspelling detracts from the seriousness of the message being conveyed.

State news

Texas Democrats optimistic; but let’s keep it (more or less) in check

Texas Democrats reportedly are optimistic heading into the 2020 election season. They think a Democratic presidential nominee can carry the state, handing Texas’ 38 electoral votes to the party’s nominee.

Were that to happen, the GOP president, one Donald Trump, can kiss his re-election goodbye. Indeed, I figure that if Texas is going to flip from Republican to Democrat, then the 2020 election will be a dark, foreboding time for the GOP throughout the ballot in Texas.

However, Democrats would be wise to curb their optimism in Texas.

It’s not that I don’t want Texas to help elect someone other than Donald Trump, or that I don’t want the Texas Legislature to turn from GOP to Democrat. I want to see at minimum a contested political playing field, one that features two strong political parties arguing vehemently to persuade voters to buy into whatever ideology they are trying to sell.

However, Texas’ turn from Democratic to Republican control was dramatic and total over the course of about 20 years.

I get that Democrats got all fluttery when Beto O’Rourke nearly defeated GOP U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018. O’Rourke then tried to parlay that near-miss into a presidential candidacy. He failed.

Texas Democrats have been floundering in the wilderness since the late 1990s, when they won their last statewide political campaign. Is the upcoming year going to mark the turnaround for the Texas Democratic Party. My bias tells me to hope it does.

My more realistic side tells me to wait for the ballots to be counted.

national news, State news

Beto wipes out on wave he hoped would win the White House

Beto O’Rourke rode a huge wave to a near win in a 2018 campaign for the U.S. Senate in Texas.

Then the former El Paso congressman decided he would ride that wave in search of a bigger prize: the White House.

Today, though, he called it quits. He is no longer running for president of the United States. Indeed, O’Rourke never quite caught the same wave that excited so many Democrats in Texas and for a time got ’em pumped up in many other parts of the country.

I’ll admit to being disappointed. I had hoped to cast my ballot for O’Rourke once the Democratic Party primary parade marched its way toward Texas. However, O’Rourke never quite ignited the same level of interest in his presidential campaign that he did while he challenged Sen. Ted Cruz a year ago.

Oh, I wanted him to win the Senate seat in the worst way. He campaigned in all of Texas’s 254 counties. He took his message to progressive bastions such as Travis, Dallas and Bexar counties as well as conservative strongholds in the Panhandle, the Permian Basin and Deep East Texas.

O’Rourke finished Election Night 2018 less than 3 percent short of victory. In Texas, that constituted some sort of “moral victory” for Democrats who have lusted for a statewide election victory for more than two decades.

Alas, it wasn’t meant to be as O’Rourke sought his party’s presidential nomination.

There might be another elected office in O’Rourke’s future. Just not this next year.

Nice try, Beto. Many of us still want to see you stay in the game, even if you’re no longer a candidate for public office.

national news

Sen. Cruz is breaking his silence on Trump and election interference

What do you know about this?

Ted Cruz, who I dislike intensely in his role as the junior U.S. senator from Texas, is speaking out — finally! — on this matter of election interference from foreign governments.

Cruz, the Republican firebrand who nearly lost his seat in 2018, now says that foreign governments have no place in our nation’s electoral system. None, man! He has been critical of Donald Trump’s asking for electoral help from China and Ukraine.

According to the Texas Tribune: During an appearance on CBS’ Face the Nation, Cruz said no foreign government should be involved in American elections.

“That’s true for all of them,” he told moderator Margaret Brennan. “It should be the American people deciding elections.”

OK, so he hasn’t yet declared that Donald Trump needs to get booted out of office because of his solicitation of help from foreign governments. However, his statement — in my view — marks an important turning point in GOP reticence regarding the president’s current difficulties.

Trump is facing increasingly probable impeachment by the House of Representatives over issues relating to foreign interference in our elections. Cruz isn’t likely to join his Democratic colleagues in calling for Trump’s impeachment, conviction and ouster. However, at least The Cruz Missile is standing on an important principle that has been lost on the president.

What’s more, Cruz told Face the Nation that Trump’s lawyer, Rudolph Giuliani, needs to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee in connection with reports that the former New York City mayor met with Ukrainian officials about Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, regarding Hunter Biden’s business dealings in Ukraine.

Is the senator signaling a turn against a president — who he once called a “sniveling coward” and an “amoral” narcissist who is unfit for the presidency?

I won’t bet the mortgage on it. Then again … stranger events have occurred.