Tag Archives: Joe Biden

Joe Biden, national security

Senate steepens Biden’s hill to climb

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

As if President Biden doesn’t already have a steep hill to climb when he takes office in 10 days …

The U.S. Senate will not have confirmed a single one of his Cabinet nominees by the time he assumes the presidency. Why? Well, senators have been consumed by matters involving the hideous antics of Biden’s immediate predecessor, Donald Trump.

The president-elect has been rolling out his nominees systematically since winning the election. He has completed that task, along with naming top staff-level appointees who do not require Senate confirmation.

It would be in the nation’s best interest for senators — who return to work no later than Jan. 19 — to focus immediately on confirming the president’s national security team. That would include the secretaries of defense, state and homeland security along with the director of national intelligence and the CIA director. We also might want to toss in the treasury secretary for good measure, given that our economic strength remains a key component of our national security.

Too many Republican senators, I am saddened to point out, have swallowed the “widespread voter fraud” lie that Donald Trump fed them as he fought to cling to power. hey have taken their eye off the task at hand, which is to help ensure a smooth transition of power. One of those senators happens to be the majority leader, Mitch McConnell, who now surrenders that title to Democrat Chuck Schumer when the next Congress returns to work.

I don’t have any doubt that President Biden, with his vast government experience, will be able to navigate through the initial stages of the presidency without a full complement of Cabinet officials on hand.

The onus belongs to the Senate, though, to ensure that the new president is staffed fully as soon as is humanly possible.

Because, unlike Donald Trump, the new president will actually listen to and heed the advice he receives. The national security team is foremost among the advisers on whom he will rely.

national news

Biden finishes selecting a Cabinet … but wait!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

President-elect Joe Biden has finished his first key test of governing.

He has selected the men and women who will serve with him in the executive branch of the federal government he will lead beginning Jan. 20. I believe he has selected an impressive array of talented individuals to help him implement public policy on behalf of the people who have elected him.

But wait! There’s a name missing from the roster of Cabinet-level nominees I was sure I would see: Jim Clyburn.

You remember Rep. Clyburn, correct? Clyburn’s endorsement of then-Democratic candidate Biden prior to the South Carolina primary this past spring propelled Biden to an easy victory in that contest. Biden’s primary campaign had faltered in Iowa, in New Hampshire and in Nevada. Biden was given up as political road kill.

South Carolina — with its enormous African-American voting bloc — loomed just ahead. Biden told us he would win that primary. He needed help. U.S. Rep. Clyburn delivered it with his endorsement.

Biden won the Palmetto State and never looked back.

I was certain Jim Clyburn could have virtually any job in a Biden administration he would want. It might be that the president-elect asked him and Clyburn declined. It might be that Clyburn, one of the House of Representatives’ senior members, wanted to stay put and help guide President Biden’s legislative agenda through the House’s legislative labyrinth.

Surely, the president-elect with vast knowledge of the importance of political alliances would not simply pass over someone who in this political climate and in the context of the campaign that Joe Biden won personifies the definition of “kingmaker.”

I am pretty sure if nothing else that Joe and Jill Biden will put Rep. Clyburn on their Christmas card mailing list.

Donald Trump, Joe Biden, national news

These wounds won’t heal quickly

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Let’s start with the obvious.

The wounds on our nation inflicted by the rioters who stormed the Capitol Building this week won’t heal any time soon. They will fester at least for as long as the nation remains transfixed on the doings of the man who instigated the riot: Donald John Trump.

I want the wounds to heal a soon as possible. However, I believe we need to remain vigilant and alert to what brought the havoc to the doorstep of our democracy.

Donald Trump will be gone from the White House in 11 days. The House of Representatives appears set to impeach for a second time early next week. The Senate isn’t likely to convene a trial in time to decide whether to convict him. Still, President Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris will be in office on Jan. 20 and they can get right to work dealing with the issues that matter the most.

Like, oh, that pandemic.

Trump wants to remain a political factor. My strong hope is that if the House impeaches him and the Senate convenes a trial after he leaves office that senators can muster up some sort of nerve and approve a provision that bans Trump from seeking public office ever again. He has proved demonstrably that he is unfit for public office. I want the Senate to codify that unfitness with an outright ban.

None of that will silence the mobsters who stormed into the Capitol Building. They could surface again. Indeed, there appear to be threats that Trumpsters could demonstrate on the day that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris take office. Our fondest hope should be that the D.C. police force is better prepared to respond to violence if it presents itself a second time.

Even as we allow time to lapse from the events of this past Wednesday we should be as alert to the rumblings from within our nation as we have continued to be to those we hear from terrorists abroad.

The rioters who stormed into the seat of our representative democracy are domestic terrorists who inflicted grievous damage on our system of government.

Donald Trump’s exit from the political stage cannot occur quickly enough. He’ll be gone, but the damage he and his followers have done will take time to heal.

national news

GOP needs serious soul-searching

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Lisa Murkowski’s days as a Republican might be dwindling.

The U.S. senator from Alaska said so herself this week while she and the rest of us watched Donald Trump fire up the rioters who stormed Capitol Hill while seeking to stop Congress from ratifying Joe Biden’s election as the next president of the United States.

I don’t particularly care what Sen. Murkowski does, or how she plans to chart her political future. She said the GOP must not remain “the party of Trump.” If it does, then she well might turn away from the party that used to welcome her.

What does concern me about the Republican Party is that it has been hijacked by Trump, whose believers have taken to calling non-Trump-supporting Republicans “RINO,” or Republicans In Name Only. Let’s ponder that for just a moment.

Donald Trump had zero party involvement prior to declaring his presidential candidacy in the summer of 2015. He chose to run as an “R” because it presented the easiest path for him; goodness, he even said as much himself.

He has not governed as a Republican. He has no philosophical mooring. Trump’s guiding principle is welded to his personal brand and so the party leadership in Congress has hitched itself to Trump’s world view — whatever that is — while seeking to preserve leaders’ own political standing.

Sen. Murkowski’s decision to leave the GOP well might spur the party leadership to finally — finally! — do the kind of soul-searching it vowed to do after Mitt Romney lost to President Obama in 2012. It should commence that search even if Murkowski remains a member of the GOP.

A gentleman who has frequent disagreements with this blog’s view of Trump suggested to me recently that the two-party system we once knew is dead. “They both have moved so far right and left they are unrecognizable,” he wrote to me.

I believe we still have a two-party system. I disagree, though, on its configuration. There remains a mainstream Democratic Party comprising moderates and center-left thinkers. From my vantage point — and I acknowledge my own bias — the Republican Party’s heart and soul has been co-opted by the radical Trumpkin Corps that professes fealty to an individual … and has tossed party principles into the crapper.

I want a healthy debate on issues that matter. Thus, I want a return to a two-party system that we used to have in this country. That system cannot function as long as one of those two parties remains loyal to a con man/phony baloney carnival barker/seditionist who has disguised himself as a Republican.

national news

No, ‘both sides’ aren’t responsible for this tragedy

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By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Here comes the Trumpkin Corps’s defense of what Donald Trump did Wednesday morning to incite the rioters to attack the seat of our democratic system of government.

They are now pointing to “both sides” being complicit in this hideous demonstration of sedition that borders on treason. They suggest that the heated rhetoric coming from the left in defense of the Black Lives Matter protests is as responsible for the outbreak as the lunatics who stormed the Capitol Building after getting the virtual “go ahead” from their guy, Donald J. Trump, to do what they did.

No! The seditious act we witnessed, the storming of the Capitol with the intent of stopping Congress from ratifying President-elect Biden’s victory over Trump, will stand alone in the annals of infamy in this country.

Just as President Roosevelt declared the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 to be a “date which will live in infamy,” so will Jan. 6, 2021 stand as an infamous chapter in this nation’s glorious saga.

What’s more, it belongs to Donald John Trump and the morons who have swallowed his lie about the 2020 presidential election thievery.

We must not tolerate the attempts by the extremists who insist that both sides share the blame for what erupted in our nation’s capital this week. The act of treachery staged by the mob that ransacked the halls of Congress must stand alone as an act of betrayal of all that we cherish as a free nation.

That treachery rests with Donald Trump.

national news

Trump won’t attend? Good deal … bye!

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Now that Donald J. Trump has issued a Twitter statement, that means it’s official.

He won’t attend President Biden’s inaugural.

This hits me at two distinct levels.

The first level is that it is no surprise that Donald Trump won’t be present to watch his successor take the oath of office and assume the presidency of the United States. How in the world could he attend, given the events of this week and prior? He would subject himself to immense demonstrations of scorn from those of us who are appalled at what transpired on Capitol Hill this week. Make no mistake, Trump was a major instigator of the mayhem that erupted.

The second level is that Trump’s absence will toss aside yet another custom associated with the “peaceful transfer of power” from one president to the next one. Trump said Thursday he will work toward that end now that Congress has ratified the Electoral College vote. It was a hollow pledge, given what has transpired.

Moreover, you can bet your last buck that Biden isn’t about to say a single word of thanks/praise/conciliation toward the individual who has fomented the Big Lie about “massive vote fraud” during the election. To that end, the transition has been anything but peaceful, given the riot that erupted on Capitol Hill.

So, what would be the point of Trump attending the inaugural of Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris? There is none.

So, see ya, Donald Trump. I want you to live the rest of your days in ignominious oblivion. He has earned all the disgrace that is sure to fall at his feet.

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

Trump makes hollow plea

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I just watched a 2 minute 41 second video of Donald J. Trump declaring  that his fight to undermine democracy is over.

Yes, he acknowledged that President-elect Joe Biden will be inaugurated along with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris. The time for “healing” has come, he said.

How astonishing that he would expect viewers such as me to believe he actually means the words he read from a prepared text, that the man who incited a riot this week on Capitol Hill now wants us to believe that his “only goal” in clinging to power was to protect the integrity of our electoral system.

Unbelievable.

I do not accept this individual’s statement — which doesn’t contain a single word of contrition for the role he played in igniting the mayhem that erupted inside the halls of our nation’s Capitol Building. We all watched as Trump egged on the mob, urging the rioters to walk to Capitol Hill to take back the government. 

Donald Trump will, in the words of conservative columnist George Will, carry a “scarlet S” — standing for “seditionist” — for the rest of his life. That is his legacy … forever.

national news

Yes, there’s good news from Capitol Hill riot!

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The drama we saw unfold this week on Capitol Hill as Congress sought to ratify the election of Joe Biden as president of the United States is a long way from its conclusion.

There will be more chapters to add to the tragedy we witnessed as Donald Trump incited a riot that threatened the men and women who sought to do their constitutional duty.

I am happy to provide what I hope is a glimmer of good news from the travesty. It is that any thought Donald Trump might have about running for the presidency in 2024 has vanished. Donald Trump’s political future is gone. Finished. He is toast. Stick a fork in him; he’s done.

Oh, I am sure there remains a radical fringe of Trumpkins who want Trump to seek the presidency in four years. They are beyond redemption, beyond hope, beyond any sort of revival.

There well might be a second impeachment in Trump’s immediate future. Or, he could be removed from office before his term ends in just 13 days if a majority of the Cabinet, along with Vice President Pence,  goes along with invoking the Constitution’s 25th Amendment. If either event occurs, that would end Trump’s political life.

However, if Trump manages to serve out the remainder of his term — which I venture to say is likely — he can kiss goodbye any thought he might harbor of trying to reclaim the office that President-elect Biden tore from his tiny hands on Nov. 3, 2020.

To be honest, I have sought to find signs of hope from the melee that erupted Wednesday. That is the best I can find at this moment. The rest of that drama has depressed me beyond all measure.

Donald Trump will continue to bloviate and bluster long after he leaves office. That’s fine. Let him bellow. He won’t matter to me or to anyone who takes seriously the future that awaits him.

He is finished.

national news

A new day dawns after a grim, tragic episode

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Good morning, everyone. Did you sleep well last night?

I did, to my surprise. What’s more, I awoke to the news  that Congress completed the task that was interrupted Wednesday by the rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol Building, vandalized our property, ransacked the offices of high government officials and generally brought heaps of shame onto the country they purport to love.

Congress had gathered to ratify the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris as president and vice president of the United States. Then he sh** hit the fan as Donald Trump incited the rioters to march to the Capitol Building and take back the government … from whom is a mystery to me.

Congress finished its task in the wee hours. After the cops cleared the Capitol, the Senate and House reconvened to receive the Electoral College tally of votes. Then Vice President Mike Pence announced to the world what we knew: that Biden and Harris will take office on Jan. 20.

We witnessed a shameful display of petulance gone utterly mad. Donald Trump lost an election but his refusal to concede fanned the fires of anger among his cult followers.

Oh, today Trump tweeted something about pledging an orderly transfer of power, which is his sorry way of admitting that President-elect Biden defeated him. We’ll have to wait with bated breath to see how this transition takes place. To be candid, I do not have faith in anything that flows from Trump’s Twitter account.

I remain fearful of what this evil individual can do over the course of the next 13 days. I am of the belief he needs to be reined in tightly. We have that constitutional amendment that allows for his removal. Yes, it’s a stretch to think that a majority of the Cabinet and Pence will go along with it. The House could impeach Trump again in the next couple of days if it had the guts to do so.

Donald Trump’s demonstration of his utter unfitness for public office was on full and ghastly display.

What must we do? We must hold the seditionists who sought to contest an election result on phony assertions of fraud accountable for their horrendous conduct. Texas, I am ashamed to say, stands at the front of that line of shame, with the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz and several members of the House joining in that charade.

Let’s all have a good day … shall we?