Tag Archives: Big Lie

national news

GOP pols wising up?

Can it be that the Republican congressional caucus is wising up to the “Big Lie” and the party’s refusal to acknowledge the truth?

Two key GOP House members today announced their intention to step down when their current terms expire at the end of 2024: Ken Buck of Colorado and Kay Granger from over yonder in Fort Worth.

Buck’s announcement contained a criticism of GOP officeholders who continue to adhere to the Big Lie, that the 2020 election was stolen and that Joe Biden is an illegitimate president. He said the GOP’s refusal to concede that President Biden is the real deal has inhibited its ability to advance its legislative agenda.

He’s had enough, Buck said.

Granger said it is time for new leaders to emerge. She is 80 years old and has been a force among GOP House members.

The party needs to be revived, to return to its former self as a serious political organization, not a cult wedded to the dictatorial fantasies of a lying, cheating, philandering business mogul.

Buck and Granger might not signal that the tide is turning against the cult leader. Then again … they might perhaps will trigger more statements of indignation against those who foment the Big Lie.

crime news, national news, political news

Irony runs through indictments

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The ironic aspect of the indictments handed down against Donald J. Trump is so rich one almost can choke on it.

Let’s consider what is happening in real time.

Two grand juries — one in D.C. and one in Fulton County, Ga. — have concluded that Donald Trump conspired to “rig” or “steal” an election he lost to Joe Biden in November 2020. The grand juries, I must point out, comprised just plain folks summoned to do their civic duty under federal law and laws of the state of Georgia.

The grand juries have accused Trump of doing precisely the kind of thing he has said occurred on Election Day 2020. He says Democrats conspired to rig elections in several states that Biden won. Yes, he made that assertion, but without offering any evidence of it occurring.

Indeed, “forensic audits” of election returns in several key states have determined there was no voter fraud. Trump ignores those findings.

Instead, he launched his own election-rigging effort, complete with rounding up individuals posing as Electoral College members who would cast their votes for Trump instead of for Biden, which is required under the Constitution.

Trump has accused the system of being “rigged” against him. But now two duly constituted grand juries — both legally assembled and following the rule of law — say the former POTUS did precisely what he accuses others of doing to him!

Remind you of anything? How about the “fake news” mantra that has become so popular in Trump world. How in the name of truth-telling can this clown say any of this “fake news” crap with a straight face, given that he birthed the “fake news” baby with his lies about Barack Obama’s place of birth?

More irony, indeed!

This individual is a liar … and a bad one to boot!

national news

Missing the GOP

You may choose to believe or disbelieve this; it doesn’t matter to me. However, I am going to speak the truth about something that has troubled me since the arrival of the MAGA/QAnon/Big Lie crowd.

It is that I miss the Republican Party I used to know and that I grew up studying and seeking to understand.

The Republican Party has been consumed, swallowed whole and re-cast into a political organization I don’t recognize.

It’s not that I am a closet Republican. Indeed, I consider myself to be an independent who tilts more toward Democratic policies than to Republicans’ world view.

I do favor a strong national defense; I generally support nuclear energy; I am a strong family values American patriot.

I also believe rich Americans should pay more in taxes; that government can be an instrument to help those who need assistance; and that American Civil Liberties Union’s mission to embrace our Bill of Rights should be a model for all pols to emulate.

The Republican Party is now run by a cabal of kooks who insist that our 2020 presidential election was stolen from the most recent GOP president; that a tyrant in Moscow is somehow justified in invading a sovereign nation; that we should overturn a standing law that legalized abortion in this country; that conservative judges indeed can legislate from the bench; that climate change is a hoax; and that globalism — in a world that is shrinking — means we are surrendering our sovereignty.

How in the world does one debate with that crowd?

Thus, it is that Republican Party that once stood for principles worth defending no longer exists. The Grand Old Party is being run by wackos, fruitcakes and extremists. What’s more, the GOP insists that everyone else in this great country join them! Those of us who disagree with ’em are the “enemy,” and must be destroyed.

I want a return to some semblance of what we used to have in this land: two major political parties that could debate their differences and then honor the decision of the voters who then decide which side has won the argument.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Tarrant County may hire an election denier? Seriously?

Our neighbors over yonder in Tarrant County are facing a serious dilemma. County Judge Tim O’Hare has to hire a new elections director in the wake of the resignation of a guy hailed and lauded by his peers as being one of the best in the state.

Heider Garcia is leaving his post soon as county elections director. O’Hare, though, says he might hire someone to replace Garcia who questions the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election.

So … there you have it. The county judge might hire an election denier — a promoter of The Big Lie — to run the elections department of the state’s largest swing county.

Good grief!

Garcia resigned precisely because of pressure he was getting from O’Hare, who he said is following a policy that differs from the non-political course the office has followed.

O’Hare said that finding a successor to Garcia could include hiring an election denier, saying it is “not an automatic disqualifier.” Well, you know what? It damn sure should be!

Tarrant County likely will struggle to find new elections administrator | The Texas Tribune

The 2020 election wasn’t stolen from anyone. No one in the U.S. of A. has produced a shred of proof of any electoral theft in 2020. For the chief executive of Tarrant County to suggest that there might have been such an event is a disgrace to his office and a slap in the face to the fine men and women who work diligently to protect the integrity of our election system.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

Will Fox change its tune?

What does the settlement between the Fox Propaganda Channel and Dominion Voting Systems mean for the network that once called itself “fair and balanced”?

Only this, as far as I can see: The network will cease pushing the Big Lie about alleged voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election; the rest of its agenda appears to be intact and it will continue to appeal to the right-wingers who adhere to the narrative the network pushes out there.

Dominion sued Fox for $1.6 billion, contending the network defamed the company over unproved allegations that it manipulated ballots to deliver the 2020 election to President Biden. Fox knew the allegations were phony, yet its on-air talking heads kept spewing the lie. Dominion said “enough is enough” and sued Fox. The settlement means Fox will pay Dominion $787.5 million. It hasn’t issued an apology.

Frankly, though, I don’t care about the apology. I do care about Fox being held accountable for the lie it fomented. The judgment issued by the court holds the network accountable in the clearest terms possible.

Fox’s agenda remains fully assembled. The network does lay claim to a loyal base of viewers who listen only to their on-air personalities for the “news” they consume. Fox will continue to spew its propaganda, which I suppose is their right.

Lying to the point of defaming others, though, is off limits … to which I offer a hearty “amen.”

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

Fox settles; now … tell the truth

The Fox Propaganda Network is going to pay a lot of money to Dominion Voting Systems, thanks to a settlement announced today just as Dominion’s defamation trial was set to begin.

Dominion sued Fox for $1.6 billion. The network agreed to pony up $787.5 million, roughly half the amount Dominion had sought.

Then we’ll have a statement from Fox. Maybe soon. Fox will have to make some sort of apology to Dominion, acknowledging that it lied when it continued to broadcast phony allegations that Dominion rigged the 2020 presidential election results to elect Joe Biden.

Dominion did nothing of the sort. Fox’s on-air talking heads knew they were spreading The Big Lie. Yet they did it anyway. Therein rests the primary reason I will forever refuse to put the word “news” in Fox’s title; it does nothing but spread propaganda designed to promote a certain point of view and denigrate others who adhere to different views.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

 

local news

Big Lie claims a new victim

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The adherents to the Big Lie notion of non-existent widespread election fraud have claimed another victim, and it is a shattering blow to election officials who take their jobs seriously and do them with integrity.

Tarrant County elections director Heider Garcia is quitting his job effective June 23 because of a dispute he is having with County Judge Tim O’Hare, who campaigned for the office in 2022 pledging to rid the county of fraud he said tilted the 2020 presidential race in the county to President Biden.

Garcia was on duty at the time as the county’s chief elections official. He has been praised for his work to conduct safe, secure and legal elections.

Heider Garcia, Tarrant County elections chief, resigns | The Texas Tribune

Garcia wrote a letter to county officials, saying, ā€œWhen leadership respects the teamā€™s values and shows trust, members of the team become the best version of themselves. ā€¦ Judge Oā€™Hare, my formula to ā€˜administer a quality transparent electionā€™ stands on respect and zero politics; compromising on these values is not an option for me. You made it clear in our last meeting that your formula is different, thus, my decision is to leave.ā€

O’Hare pledged during his campaign for county judge to clean up the election process. Except that the process in Tarrant County has been well run under Garcia’s tenure as election administrator.

ā€œI want to say all things are on the table,ā€ Oā€™Hare said, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. ā€œI know there are a lot of people that want to get rid of the machines. Iā€™m not telling you Iā€™m a fan of the machines, want to keep the machines. Iā€™m telling you you can cheat in paper ballots. You can in machines. You can cheat in all sorts of things.ā€

Sure, you can cheat … but has it occurred to the level that O’Hare says it has? No. It hasn’t.

Now the county is looking for someone to take on a responsibility that is fraught with unnecessary tension, as the county judge is looking for a cause to a made-up problem.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news

‘Protests’ … again? Good grief!

Let’s see how this will play out, given what happened the last time POTUS 45 called on his followers to “protest” an election result in which he lost.

The ex-POTUS appears to be headed for an indictment by a Manhattan, N.Y., grand jury on allegations that he misspent money to pay a porn star to be quiet about a tryst he said didn’t occur. Weird, eh?

Well, if an indictment is in this individual’s immediate future, we now can expect some “protests” from his MAGA followers. How might it end? Well, the 1/6 insurrection offers a glaring example of how “protests” such as what the ex-president is now calling for might end up. It will end badly.

The criminal justice system is doing its job. Pure and simple. There is no “rigging” of the system that is going to result in a former POTUS being indicted for criminal activity. The evidence is there. He directed his lawyer at the time to write a check to the porn star; the question is whether he violated the law in doing so.

I believe he did. But that’s just me.

As for the “protests,” the traitors who adhere to The Big Lie and who believe their hero did nothing wrong need to be very careful.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

Take Fox off the air?

I am beginning to lean in the direction of those who believe that the Fox network needs to be yanked off the air over its egregious sin of promoting propaganda and forsaking its license to report the news.

The Fox Propaganda Network is facing the harshest condemnation imaginable over its refusal to acknowledge what its on-air personalities expressed in private: which is that the Big Lie promoted by the 45th president of the United States was false and that Joe Biden was elected legally and fairly in 2020 as the nation’s 46th president.

Dominion Voting Systems has filed a billion-dollar lawsuit against Fox claiming the network defamed it over the Big Lie, alleging vote fraud where none existed.

A bigger issue is at stake. Should the network be allowed to remain on the air pushing its falsehoods amid mountains of evidence that its leadership knew it was doing so but were more concerned about losing viewers than in telling the truth?

The Federal Communications Commission would seem to have a monster on its hands. Will the FCC do the right thing? Is the “right thing” to pull Fox off the air?

I am beginning to think that’s the only option.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

No thanks on propaganda

There once was a time when I would watch the Fox channel. Yes, it’s true. Even this so-called progressive American patriot would watch certain programs on the admittedly conservative media outlet.

I am going to declare here that I no longer watch Fox. It’s been a good while since I have dialed the network up on my TV. Why? Because I have known for a good while what has become clear now in the defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Machines against the network.

The network once billed itself as a “news” outlet. It is nothing of the sort. It is now a propaganda organization. Thus, I have declared my intention to refer to Fox as the Fox Propaganda Network.

I would no more collect my information from the Fox network than I would listen to, say, Josef Goebbels, tell me about what the Nazis were doing to “preserve racial integrity” in Europe during World War II. Or the Kremlin seeking to “explain” how it is “winning the war” against Ukraine, which it says began at the Ukrainians’ provocation.

The Fox Propaganda Channel lied to its viewers about who won the 2020 presidential election, despite its TV personalities admitting privately that Joe Biden won the election and that the guy who lost it is nuttier than a Snickers bar.

They didn’t bother to tell their viewers the truth. They were more worried about Fox’s TV ratings than they were committed to doing the right thing … which was to tell the truth.

Sickening.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com