Tag Archives: Keith Self

local news, political news

Making a personal plea

I did something today I don’t normally do, which isn’t a big deal per se, but it’s big enough of a deal for me to post a brief item on my blog.

U.S. Rep. Keith Self, a Collin County Republican, is going to get a letter from me. It’s not a long tome. I am asking him to rethink his rock-solid support for Donald J. Trump. Self is my congressman. He is a Republican. He also is a good guy who I happen to like personally. He and I are acquainted. We have shared some things we have in common, such as the fact that we both lived in Amarillo. Self grew up there; I got there in January 1995 to advance my career in journalism.

Self, though, stands behind a man who I believe is trampling on the founding fathers’ graves by seeking to seize more power for the presidency than the founders envisioned. The Justice Department indictment of James Comey, the former FBI director, was the final straw for me.

I want Self to rethink his loyalty to Trump. The president is a menace. He poses a dire threat to our very form of government.

Keith Self fought for this country. He is an Army infantry officer, a Ranger and a man with high honor. He is a devoted patriot. Trump has never served his country. Even now he occupies an office that he aims to serve his needs. I am baffled beyond belief that Keith Self, with his background and history of serving the United States of America, would stand so firmly behind a politiician who spits on the memory of those who have served with valor.

I harbor no illusion about whether a single letter from a single constituent is going to do the trick. I’m hoping that others out there will take a moment to let Keith Self know this indisputable fact: He works for you and me … and not for the president of the United States.

local news

Town hall set … Rep. Self?

A good bit of the smart money, if any such thing exists these days in D.C., suggests that Republican members of the U.S. House will avoid anything resembling a town hall meeting with constituents.

They have taken the rest of August off presumably to collect their thoughts and prepare for what could be a miserable onslaught of anger when they return to duty in early September. House Speaker Mike Johnson sent them home reportedly to avoid forcing House members to stand for a vote on whether to require Donald Trump to release those Jeffrey Epstein files that might contain a smoking arsenal detailing who was involved in sex trafficking along with the late Epstein.

My congressman is a Republican, Keith Self of McKinney. He’s a good man. I happen to like him personally. He once served as Collin County judge after serving for 20-plus as an Army combat infantry officer. I hope he calls for a town hall meeting while he’s home. I also hope he doesn’t choose to partake of that other congressional tradition, taking off on one of those overseas “junkets” designed ostensibly to allow congressmen and women to collect facts about this and that issue.

Democratic members have been venturing into heavily Republican districts to feel the pulse of what’s driving GOP voters. They are learning that Republicans aren’t happy with the big ugly bill and the slashing and burning of aid to Americans who need it. Nor are they happy with the Trump team’s dodging of demands to release those Epstein files.

Indeed, I learned that a member of my extended family, who supported Trump with his vote, is now turning against the numbskull in chief. I suspect that Rep. Self might find many more like my family member out here in Trump Country were he to call for a town hall session.

Is Keith Self brave enough to face angry constituents or did he save his courage by facing down enemy fighters intent on killing him on the field of battle? If he’s not so brave, he wouldn’t be the first elected member of Congress to shy away from such a fight.

local news, political news

Party is battling itself

What in the name of political gamesmanship is happening to the North Texas version of the Republican Party?

U.S. Rep. Keith Self of McKinney is running for re-election to a second term representing the 3rd Congressional District. Should be a walk in the ol’ park, right? Self, a West Point graduate, is a retired Army colonel, a former Collin County judge, he’s a conservative’s conservative, opposing almost every idea put forth by his Democratic colleagues.

He has endorsed the former POTUS’s bid to get his office back. Rep. Self voted enthusiastically for the impeachment inquiry launched against President Biden.

What more can today’s GOP ask?

I guess it’s not enough to be as right-wing as Keith Self has been since taking office in January 2023.

Suzanne Harp is challenging Self in the GOP primary set for March. She is running as an “America First Conservative.” Her campaign signs are sprouting all over Collin County like weeds in the spring.

I had a chance this week to ask a Keith Self staffer whether the congressman considers himself to be an America First Conservative. The staffer answered, “I believe so.”

This challenge to a staunchly conservative member of Congress exemplifies, in my view, the internecine battle that’s occurring within the Republican Party. As near as I can tell, Self is all in on supporting The Former Guy’s effort to regain power. So does Harp. Where, then, is the fundamental difference between them?

Keith Self campaigned in 2022 as a conservative. He has voted as one. He extols the (alleged) virtues of the former POTUS’s record and stands firmly behind him.

How does a modern Republican — in this MAGA era — campaign against someone cut from the mold that presented Keith Self to the voters of the Third Congressional District?

I have no particular interest in this contest, given my own views opposing the MAGA agenda. It just makes my head spin.

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Constituent service comes through

You have heard it said that “there’s a first time for everything.” Well, I experienced something for the first time and I want to offer a good word to my congressman and his staff for helping me resolve an issue important to me.

I recently changed the financial institution that receives my monthly Social Security payment. It was supposed to have arrived early this week; it didn’t. I called the office of U.S. Rep. Keith Self, R-McKinney and asked the young man who took the call if he had “someone there who works exclusively” on Social Security matters. “Yes we do,” he said and then hooked me with up a colleague.

I told the Social Security guru about my issue. I asked for some help. He referred me to a website link to Self’s online info page. I filled it out.

The staffers could not have been more receptive to my concern. They pledged to get right on it. I believe they did,

Oh, but wait. My Social Security benefit arrived overnight at the bank. Problem solved. I just was a bit premature, I suppose, in seeking help from my congressman.

Then I got an email with an attachment that contained a note from Rep. Self. “Dear John,” the noted stated, adding that he was working to resolve the issue. Another staffer called me later in the day and I informed her that my issue is resolved.

I had never called my congressman for help on a matter such as this one. I discovered that at least one member of Congress is serious about tending to constituents’ needs when they arise … and I want to thank him for his staff’s response.

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Put ’em on the record!

The vote on whether to approve a debt-ceiling agreement hammered out by President Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy is going to be an eye-opener, indeed.

We’ll all get to see who among our House members wants to maintain our nation’s “full faith and credit” and which of them is willing to risk sending our nation into default … the result of which would be catastrophic.

I do not use the “c-word” lightly, or cavalierly. Retirement accounts would vanish, interest rates would skyrocket, millions of Americans would lose their jobs.

In other words, the sky would collapse … figuratively, of course.

The fellow who represents my interests is a Republican named Keith Self. He’s a former Collin County judge. He also is a MAGA-leaning, election-denying conspiracist who — I predict — is likely to say “no” to the deal that Biden and McCarthy hammered out.

Why? Because it doesn’t cut enough discretionary spending. Never mind that the president’s proposal cuts the deficit, reduces the national debt, maintains our military strength, keeps faith with climate change actions, raises taxes on the super-rich and seeks to maintain job growth.

There will be a lot of House members on both fringes of the big divide who will vote “no” on this deal.

I look forward to taking names and, to borrow a phrase, kicking some serious booty.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com