Tag Archives: Donald Trump

legal news

Class-action lawsuit possible?

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

If ever there could be a case for a class-action lawsuit against a high-profile public figure, I am beginning to think that elections officials throughout this great nation might have one.

The former Slanderer in Chief has defamed the reputations of county, state and local elections officials everywhere by insisting that the 2020 presidential election was “rigged,” that it was fraught with “widespread voter fraud” and that it was “stolen” from him.

Class-action suits usually are filed by large numbers of people or groups who contend they have been damaged by allegations made in public that defamed their character.

POTUS 45 has done all of that, and more, by suggesting the 2020 election didn’t really deliver the presidency to Joe Biden, that the former POTUS actually won in a “landslide.” Has he produced a scintilla, a shred, a sliver, a smidgen of proof for any of this? No! He just says these things and others believe him.

I do not believe anything that flies out of the liar’s pie hole.  Nor should anyone else … but they do, to their shame.

I have known too many dedicated elections officials in counties where I have worked over nearly 40 years in daily journalism. They all take their jobs seriously. They all take an oath to defend the Constitution and have followed that oath to the letter.

I realize I am not King of the World. For that matter, neither is the former POTUS who once declared that “I, alone, can fix” what is wrong with the nation. The stark truth is that he hasn’t fixed a damn thing. Just maybe there might be enough justice left in this world for local elections officials whose reputations have been damaged to take legal action against an individual who embodies political corruption in its lowest form.

business news, national news

Who could have seen this coming?

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Well now. A lawyer for the former Cheater in Chief says he will fight the order to release his client’s tax returns to Congress.

Who could have seen this coming? Oh, I don’t know. Just about … everyone!

According to The Hill: “There is no evidence of any wrongdoing here and I object to the release of the returns not only on behalf of my client but on behalf of all future holders of the office of the president of the United States,” Ronald Fischetti, a lawyer for (Donald) Trump, told The Wall Street Journal.

Think about the irony of that statement for just a moment.

“No evidence of any wrongdoing here.” That’s what the legal eagle says. My question is straightforward: If there’s “no evidence of wrongdoing,” then what in the world is the reason for withholding those returns, for keeping them from public view?

Trump attorney says he will fight release of tax returns | TheHill

The custom of releasing those returns arose from the Watergate scandal of 1973-74. Suspicion was rampant throughout the land about politicians’ wealth. Beginning with the 1976 presidential election, candidates of both parties agreed to release their income taxes to show the public they had nothing to hide.

To be sure, plenty of mega-rich individuals have sought the presidency in the more than 40 years since that time. For instance, Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, released his tax returns without a whimper.

The custom has held up over time. Then along came the 45th POTUS, who ran for the office in 2016. When he initially balked at releasing his returns, alarm bells began sounding all over the place. What’s he hiding? Is he as rich as he says he is? Are there business dealings he doesn’t want us to see? How much has he donated to charity? Is he paying his fair share of taxes?

The last question perhaps is the most pertinent, given that a president — along with Congress — helps set tax policy that forces all Americans to pay their share of taxes. I don’t know about you, but I want to know whether the president is doing his part, too, in paying for the government.

Of course, the 45th POTUS’s business dealings have become the subject of civil and criminal investigations. The former Liar in Chief said the feds are auditing his tax returns, so he can’t release them. The IRS says that’s malarkey.

Now his lawyer pledges to fight. Good luck with that. The former POTUS no longer can use the power of his office to stonewall what look to me to be legitimate requests to see his tax returns.

Give ’em up, Mr. ex-POTUS.

national news

‘RINOs are ruining America’? Yep, says No. 1 RINO

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The 45th POTUS issued a statement today that says, in part: “Now he’s giving Democrats everything they want and getting nothing in return,” he continued. “No deal is better than a bad deal. Fight for America, not for special interests and Radical Democrats. RINOs are ruining America, right alongside Communist Democrats.”

What drew the wrath of the former Numbskull in Chief? He doesn’t like the infrastructure deal brokered by Senate Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell and President Biden.

Let’s focus briefly on the idea that “RINOs are ruining America … ”

Trump blows fuse over GOP moving forward on infrastructure deal | TheHill

You know what? He’s right. RINOs have co-opted a once-great political party, shaped it into a cult of personality, allowing the one-time commander in chief to say things such as what spewed forth today about the infrastructure deal.

The 45th POTUS isn’t a Republican. He’s a fraudulent con man who masqueraded as a GOP politician when he ran for president in 2016. He is a traitor to the nation he took an oath to protect. How is that? Because he incited the Jan. 6 riot, fomenting The Big Lie about the 2020 election being “stolen” from him.

An actual good-government Republican never — not in a zillion years — would have done the things that this moron did and continues to do.

So, yeah. He’s correct to blame the Republicans In Name Only for “ruining” the country. Indeed, he is one of them.

national news

No huggin’ and kissin’

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The U.S. House of Representatives select committee assigned to get to the truth behind the Sixth of January insurrection against our democratic process convened its hearing today.

The nation saw a good bit of video from the treasonous riot by terrorists who stormed Capitol Hill that day.

What the did not see was anything resembling what the 45th POTUS said occurred. We didn’t see “huggin’ and kissin'” by D.C. and Metropolitan Police officers with the crowd that stormed Capitol Hill.

Oh, no. We saw violence in the flesh! We saw men and women beating officers within an inch of their lives. We heard them scream “traitor!” at police officers seeking to defend the Capitol against the riotous mob.

Hugging and kissing? It, um, wasn’t there.

And yet … we are going to hear an interpretation of those hideous events by Republican defenders of the former Insurrectionist in Chief. They will seek to turn the tables on Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who appointed the select panel. They will wonder out loud about security concerns that Pelosi reportedly knew prior to the riot.

The former POTUS hasn’t yet taken an ounce of responsibility for inciting the riot. He hasn’t yet accepted that he lost the 2020 presidential election. The ex-Moron in Chief hasn’t yet done a single thing to demonstrate loyalty to the Constitution, to the government, to the sacred democratic process.

The select panel, which comprises seven Democrats and two Republicans, will seek to get to the truth behind what happened that day.

If I could ask one thing of the panel, I want them to look at this: I want them to probe deeply what the then-POTUS was doing inside the White House while the mob threatened to hang Vice President Mike Pence. 

What’s more, let us not be shy or coy about what we’re talking about here. The riot was an insurrection in its purest form. It was a day — to borrow a phrase — that will live in infamy.

national news

Ex-POTUS builds legacy of turmoil

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(AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The 45th president of the United States took office more than four years ago vowing to be an “unconventional” POTUS.

He didn’t deliver on many of his campaign promises, but he surely did on that one.

The man I refuse these days to ID by name on this blog has morphed into without question the most “unconventional” former president in U.S. history. He is building a legacy of mistrust, disbelief, deceit, self-enrichment and self-aggrandizement and, oh yes, all those lies — including the Big Lie about the outcome of the 2020 election.

Just as I refused to attach the term “President” directly to the former POTUS’s name while he occupied the nation’s highest office, I have taken to refusing even to type his name in any form. I cannot do it. The sight of his name — not to mention the sound of his voice — simply sickens me to the max.

I vowed not to dwell too much on POTUS 45 now that he has left office. I intend to look forward. I am doing so even as I bang out these few words about the former Insurrectionist in Chief.

This individual’s legacy is important to ponder as well. President Biden is seeking to craft a legacy of his own even this early in his term in office. He must do so against the backdrop of the legacy that his immediate predecessor left and which he is building now even as a private citizen.

I had harbored a hope that there might be a reckoning coming from POTUS 45, that he might decide to give up his idiotic pursuit of being “reinstated” as president. That he might call President Biden and say, “You know, Joe, I thought I had a shot at all this. It’s clear that I do not. Therefore, I am going to summon reporters tomorrow to my resort in Florida and tell them — and the world — that you are the legitimately elected president of the United States. I wish you success.” 

That won’t happen. His legacy will be built on the lies he’ll keep telling and on the idiocy that will continue to spew forth.

He still has a chance to turn the corner on an election he lost. Sadly, I fear he won’t take it.

national news, political news

‘Fraudit’ proves nothing

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Let’s call the Arizona “audit” of the 2020 presidential election what it is: a fraud.

Katie Hobbs, Arizona’s secretary of state, has declared her intense desire for the 45th POTUS to “accept the results” of the election — which he lost — and “move on.”

Well, good luck with that, Mme. Secretary. He won’t “move on,” at least not in the immediate or even long-term future.

What this whole exercise has demonstrated to those of us peering in from the outside is that the ex-Insurrectionist in Chief will stop at utterly nothing to hold onto the reins of power.

Reports are surfacing now that the “fraudit” that is concluding has found no demonstrable vote irregularity in Maricopa County, which helped deliver Arizona’s electoral votes to President Biden. The organization, which has zero experience with auditing elections, calls itself Cyber Ninjas. These goofballs have done nothing to advance the cause of voter integrity … because there is nothing to advance. The Arizona election was conducted fairly, cleanly, legally and was corruption-free.

So, the fraudulent exercise goes on. It appears to be nearing an end.

As The Hill reported: “The bottom line is that Arizonians are tired of being led by conspiracy theorists. They don’t support this fake audit, and they’re ready for leaders who are going to put those partisan games aside and deal with real issues,” Hobbs continued.

Arizona secretary of state to Trump before rally: ‘Take your loss and accept it and move on’ (msn.com)

President Biden has plenty of work to do. He need not be distracted for a single moment as he seeks to repair the wreckage left by his predecessor — who continues to deliver more wreckage by his idiotic quest for vote fraud that does not exist.

medical news

POTUS 45’s silence: reprehensible

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It is beyond my capacity to understand the silence of one prominent American politician, but it requires me to lament it nonetheless.

The 45th president of the United States has received his vaccination against the COVID-19 virus, along with his wife and children.

It boggles my mind why the ex-POTUS doesn’t speak out now to encourage those among his millions of adherents to get vaccinated … just as he did!

He has remained silent. He says not a damn thing to encourage those who are most susceptible to the delta variant to get the vaccine that would protect them.

I mean, think of it in terms of political payback.

If this former Moron in Chief wants to run for the presidency again in 2024, it would serve his political interest to keep them around. Right?

Do not misunderstand me. I do not want this reprehensible individual to reap any political benefit. Were he to possess an ounce of empathy or compassion POTUS 45 would step up and seek to dispel the hideous misinformation that has seeped into the minds of those who have refused to receive the vaccine that could save their lives. Doing so well could prevent governments at all levels from reinstating restrictions that no one wants them to do.

The evidence of the delta variant’s impact is clear. It is sickening and killing un-vaccinated Americans at a far greater rat than it is harming those who are vaccinated.

Didn’t the ex-POTUS run for the nation’s highest office proclaiming to be a “populist”? My definition of the term tells me he is supposed to favor policies and make pronouncements that benefit the non-rich among us. Except that he isn’t a populist. He is a serial liar and con man.

That reality likely makes my humble plea an exercise in futility.

Instead of spreading The Big Lie about phony voter fraud and suggesting he will be “reinstated” as POTUS by the end of the summer, the former Imbecile in Chief can perform — finally! — an act of public service.

How? Just tell his fanatics to get vaccinated!

Joe Biden

What might ex-POTUS do if he loses again?

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

God Almighty might strike me dead for giving this a moment of thought, but here goes anyway.

What in the world might happen if the former A**hole in Chief loses a second time to President Biden in 2024? Will he declare that election, too, is “rigged,” that it is “fraudulent,” that it was “stolen” from him through widespread voter fraud?

Would he dare suggest such nonsense even if he were to lose in a monumental landslide, which I believe would be the result if we got a rematch from 2020.

You know already that I don’t foresee that scenario playing out. I don’t think the ex-POTUS is going to run. Nor do I think he would be nominated even if he were to seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.

But dang it, man! The question is worth asking only because when you ponder the weird machinations of the ex-Liar in Chief, well … damn near anything is possible.

national news

GOP abandons Cheney?

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(Photo by Marc Piscotty/Getty Images)

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Even though I know in my gut this won’t happen, I feel the need to suggest it as a possible political explosion that could upend the whole damn clown show unfolding on Capitol Hill.

U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming is facing a potentially serious Republican primary challenge next year. Why? Because she voted to impeach a Republican president for inciting the insurrection that damaged Capitol Hill and killed five people.

The GOP fanatics who are faithful to POTUS 45 are livid with Cheney. House GOP leadership stripped her of her standing as chair of the GOP caucus.

Cheney remains a conservative lawmaker. I cannot help but wonder whether there is a limit to the insult and denigration she is willing to take from members of her own political party.

Might there be a partisan switch in Cheney’s future, on the basis that the party she joined has become a cult that adheres to the mindless rants of one man and has forsaken its responsibility to the U.S. Constitution and the rule of law?

I get that it is as likely to happen as the sun rising in the west tomorrow morning. Still, the political tides have turned many politicians into members of the opposing party.

I remember when former state Rep. Warren Chisum of Pampa, Texas, switched from Democrat to Republican. He said plainly that he is the same man he was when he joined the Legislature, but that the Democratic Party had changed its identity.

As for Cheney, she could continue to serve as a conservative in Congress … even as a Democrat. Congress over its long history has welcomed many conservatives to the Democratic caucus in both legislative chambers.

It’s just that the Republican Party now seemingly belongs to the twice-impeached former POTUS who incited a bloody riot on Jan. 6 that sought to overturn the results of the November 2020 presidential election.

How in the world does someone of Cheney’s strong Republican ties remain loyal to a party that no longer is loyal to her or to her belief in the rule of law?

OK. I know I am spitting into the proverbial wind on this one.

It’s worth pondering.

national news

‘Club’ door will slam shut on this guy

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

One of the more exclusive clubs on Earth currently comprises just five members. However, only four men are being allowed inside whatever passes for a clubhouse frequented by its occupants.

I refer to the Former U.S. Presidents Club. It once was a revered de facto institution. The men who once served as commander in chief occasionally would huddle together, talk among themselves, perhaps even offer some advice to the current president of the United States.

Four of these men seem all willing to engage in this kind of time-honored camaraderie. Then there’s the fifth former POTUS. No. 45 is wired so differently. It defies any form of logic to understand how the 45th POTUS — whose name I will continue to refuse to publish on this blog — ever can assimilate with his colleagues, all the men who once had the nuclear codes, who lent aid and comfort to the nation in grief, performed the myriad written and unwritten duties of the high office.

Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama represent different political parties. Three of them are Democrats; one is a Republican. Even among the Democrats didn’t always walk in lockstep with each other. They all had a serious common thread that binds them at several levels. They all were humbled by the office. They all are true-blue patriots. They all carried themselves with dignity. They all accepted political defeat when fate turned against them.

Then there’s the fifth former POTUS.

He embodies none of that. He won’t accept publicly that President Biden defeated him. He continues to lie. He denigrates fallen heroes of past wars.

The most immediate past POTUS likely never will be welcome inside the Former Presidents Clubhouse. Why should he be welcome? The former Numbskull in Chief has worn out his welcome to the political arena. He continues to hurl insults and invective at all of the men who preceded him.

I wouldn’t object one little bit if the other POTUSes simply kept the clubhouse door locked to prevent No. 45 from entering it.