Tag Archives: MAGA

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This election cycle? It’s the real deal!

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Every election cycle possibly dating back to the beginning of our great republic has produced a comment from a candidate or a pundit that “this election is the most important in our nation’s history.”

Well, gang, I have news for you. The one coming up in November is the real thing. This one likely will determine the future of our republic. It will center on a candidate who won’t be on any ballot in any state. It will focus on the current occupant of the White House, Donald J. Trump.

He’s not up for a vote. In fact, he’ll never face the voters again. And for that we all should cheer loudly.

This election matters … a lot! The House of Representatives is likely to flip from Republican to Democratic control. The GOP is clinging to a majority that is virtually meaningless. It’s down to a seat or two or maybe three. Hell, I cannot keep track of it. GOP operatives are saying out loud what many others have said for about the past year: The Republican Party is going to get creamed! Every House seat is up for election. I don’t know what the latest forecasts are projecting, but I keep hearing a 30- to 50-seat swing from GOP to Democratic control.

Then there’s the U.S. Senate. Until just recently, it had been thought that flipping the Senate from GOP to Democrat was too steep a hill to climb. Suddenly, there is real belief that the Senate could be in play. North Carolina could flip. So could Maine. And get ready for this little nugget: Texas, the GOP bastion, could be in play as well.

Indeed, I have heard from some key Texas Republican strategists who suggest that Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico has a serious chance of seizing the Senate seat now held by Republican John Cornyn, who is in a runoff against the deeply flawed MAGA darling, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

The economy is in the crapper. We’re at war with Iran. The POTUS keeps seizing power. Chaos pervades every executive branch agency.

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a prescription building for a first-class electoral blowout. It won’t please every American. However, I would be thrilled beyond measure to see my government return to the art of governing.

national news

How did we ever make this mistake?

This much is certain, which is that every one of us is headed to the same place … some version of the Great Beyond. None of us gets out of here alive.

What is far from certain, I am afraid to conjecture, is trying to determine before they throw dirt on my face how in the world Americans managed to elect a certifiable dimwit to the highest office in the land. Not once, but twice!

The imbecile took office in January 2017 and immediately declared a ban on Muslims entering the Land of Opportunity. He never accepted that he lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden and then launched a violent insurrection to stop the peaceful transition of power.

Then he got elected again and on the first day of his second term, in January 2025, the moron pardoned every one of the violent traitors who took part in the assault on the federal government. He has surrounded himself with nincompoops, imbeciles, unfit individuals and called them the “best people” he could find to run the executive branch of government.

All the while, the self-described “king of debt” has piled trillions of dollars onto the mountain of red ink that towers over the federal budget. He gives tax cuts to the mega rich, takes money away that pays for health insurance for millions of others, he threatens the very alliances that keep us safe from the bad guys of the world.

And then? He gets caught in a scandal involving the pedophile and sex trafficker who hanged himself in a jail cell.

We once sought to elect the very best among us to the nation’s highest office. We have elected the most corrupt, immoral and despicable among us.

I realize I am walking across well-traveled ground. Retirement gives me time to allow my mind to wander a bit. I have granted my mind some idle time today. So, I thought I would share once this goofy notion that we all are responsible at some level for the hideous government we have produced.

Donald Trump, State news

Cornyn’s time as senator is up?

If I were a betting man — and I damn sure am not — I might be inclined to think that Sen. John Cornyn is facing a serious challenge to his once-storied congressional career.

He’s going to face Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on May 26 in a runoff election for the Senate seat Cornyn has occupied seemingly since The Flood. Why the gloomy outlook?

Cornyn finished first in a three-way Republican Party primary, winning 42% of the vote. Paxton finished second with 41%. Third place went to U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, who collected 13%.

Paxton and Hunt both paint Cornyn as a RINO, a ridiculous assertion on its face. If there is a more dedicated Republican in the Senate than Cornyn, I do not know who that would be. Indeed, Paxton and Donald Trump, his bestie in the White House, are the real Republicans in name only.

So, with the field narrowed to the top two GOP finishers, it falls on Paxton to seek Hunt voters to close the narrow gap between him and Cornyn. If the Hunt crowd is as MAGA gullible as I suspect they are, Paxton should have little trouble rounding up the support he needs to send Cornyn packing.

And what about Paxton? The guy is ethically challenged, to state the obvious. He was indicted early during his time as AG by a Collin County grand jury of securities trading allegations. He was supposed to go to trial long ago, but skated free of that episode. Several key legal aides quit the AG’s office and accused Paxton of corruption. The Republican-dominated House of Reps impeached Paxton, who then avoided conviction in the Texas Senate when Republican senators declined to follow their House colleagues’ lead.

If Paxton should manage to win the runoff, he will face a seriously rising star in the Texas Democratic Party, state Rep. James Talarico, who I will guess is dying to run against the ethically challenged AG.

We have just witnessed the opening act of a yearlong political drama. It’s going to get a whole lot rougher as we move on through the year. And if I were running the Democrat’s campaign, I just might be drooling at the chance to take on Ken Paxton.

First things first. Paxton has to win the GOP runoff. Here’s hoping for a donnybrookl

political news

What is a ‘Trump conservative’?

I am laughing — kinda/sorta — at the least funny joke in the history of political chatter. It is a term called “Trump conservative.”

I want to understand what it means. How do you define such a person? Here is what I can determine.

A Donald Trump conservative favors active government. He favors siccing the government on political opponents. He favors the government blocking news organizations that report on dissent from Trump policies from entering government buildings.

A Trump conservative wants to establish a state religion … Christianity, of course. That is despite the Constitution’s strict prohibition against making laws that establish a state religion.

A Trump conservative wants to toss the notion of small government into the shitter. He or she doesn’t care about enormous budget deficits or adding to the monstrous national debt.

This individual also favors getting involved in wars that have no bearing on protecting Americans. He or she wants us to become the “policeman for the world.”

Are we clear now on what constitutes a Donald Trump conservative? It sounds for all the world like a new-fangled conservative has become a liberal proponent of massive government interference in Americans’ lives.

Actually, I am not laughing at any of this. It’s not funny!

national news, political news

Independent voter? Less so now!

My list of acquaintances in North Texas is a lengthy one, as I have become acquainted with lots of folks as I move from place to place in my daily routine.

When they learn of what I did when I was a working man — as a journalist who spent 37 joyful practicing my craft — the question often comes: Oh, say, how do you lean politically? Are you a Democrat or a Republican?

For starters, my politics had nothing to do with my job as a journalist. I generally was able to check my partisan label at the door. It’s different these days. Yes, I still cover local communities in Collin County, but the issues never tread onto partisan ground. However, I keep my head in the big game of national politics.

Now comes an admission. For longer than I dare seek to remember, I have declined to hang a party label on my politics. I long considered myself to be an independent voter. I have split my ballot generously between Democrats and Republicans. My presidential votes, though, have been Democratic since 1972, when I cast my first vote president.

Today’s national mood, I am sad to acknowledge, is driving me more solidly into the Democratic camp. I haven’t changed my basic world view. I remain a deficit hawk and I am not going to embrace some of the far-left progressive policies — such as Medicare for all and forgiving all student loans — that have become all the rage. However, I do believe government has a significant role to play in supporting Americans who need help.

When I hear the MAGA morons extol the virtues of the MAGA chieftain disguised as the POTUS, I am reminded each day how little I think of them and the nitwit they follow. I want secure borders as much as the next American, but I also want my government to treat everyone who comes here — legally or otherwise — with a degree of compassion and humanity.

Therefore, it is becoming safer to say that anyone who cares to ask me whether I “belong” to a politial party, I can still say “no,” given that Texas doesn’t require us to register with any partisan organization … but I can say the Democrats appeal to more than ever.

And it has much to do with the blind, gullible and feckless fealty that too damn many Republicans keep expressing for Donald J. Trump.

local news, political news, State news

MAGA field launches suicide mission

Watching the enormous Texas Republican primary field trying to out-MAGA itself is sorta like watching a circular firing squad eliminate a traitor … in that there will be plenty of stray bullets to take out bystanders.

Actual conservatives are now being called “Republicans in name only” by Donald Trump loyalists who seek to keep the MAGA meister relevant to the current policy debate. They seem to ignore polling data that suggest Trump’s approval rating among all voters is cratering more rapidly than a Mar-a-Lago minute.

The MAGA crusade is good for the base of the party that still remains wedded to what passes for Trump’s philosophy — as if he actually had one, which he doesn’t.

Real conservatives like U.S. Sen. John Cornyn have been hung with the RINO tag. Same with state Rep. Candy Noble of McKinney, who’s been called a “liberal” by her primary foes. Congressman Chip Roy has been called “disloyal” to Trump by MAGA adherents; Roy answers that he is stands with Trump on virtually every policy one can mention; he is running for Texas attorney general!

The good news for the rest of us is that the MAGA cultists are likely to win many of these primary races, setting up the possibility of a massive congressional rout in favor of real patriots in the fall election. I can’t speak for what might occur in some of these Texas-centric races, as the state’s political makeup remains a bit of a mystery to me.

I will cast my vote in the other party’s primary, which seems to be progressing on my realistic, reasonable grounds. I still intend to wait for Election Day, March 3. I am praying my candidates don’t mess up between now and then.

political news

End the political messages … now!

A friend and former colleague beat me to the punch, but I now intend to join him in his call to political strategists, candidates and other policy hacks in this desperate message.

End the incessant demands for money that are flooding my message and email inboxes! Now is a good time to start … or shall I say stop?

The culprits are Democrats seeking to flip Congress. I am hearing from candidates seeking seats on faraway locales at either end of the country. I delete them as soon as I discover them. I usually follow the deletion with a message to discontinue the deluge. It’s no good. You see, for as often as I delete the message and get acknowledgment that they won’t send me any more messages, other pop up like weeds in the Texas spring.

I am growing increasingly tempted to pull the hair off my skull by the roots.

I might hear from the occasional MAGA-inspired correspondent seeking to boost Donald Trump’s agenda. But it’s almost always Democrats who I reckon know the nature of High Plains Blogger or I have communicated with in some back-handed fashion. They’re going for the jugular. Only in this case it’s my jugular.

Well, I have made my pitch. If you see me around town with splotches of hair missing from my noggin, you’ll know how they got there.

State news

Going to wait until the end

Truth be told, I actually pondered casting my vote early for the Texas primary election set for May 3 … then I thought differently about it.

That said, I am going to return to my usual manner of voting on Election Day.

All the fire and volleys have been lobbed in the Republican Party primary. The race for Texas attorney general has me confused. The MAGA gang is pounding Congressman Chip Roy for backing Liz Cheney and for voting to impeach Donald Trump. If I were voting in that primary, I would consider that a plus for Roy.

Roy is answering by saying he’s actually a Trump loyalist. Whatever … he’s trying to eat the whole cake.

My eyes are set on the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate. It’s down to two fine candidates. Texas state Rep. James Talirico and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett. Talirico hails from San Antonio; Crocket calls Dallas home.

I’m leaning toward supporting Talirico. I like his deep religious faith that he doesn’t shove aside. He proclaims he’s a fighter, but distances himself from the Christian nationalists who comprise much of the MAGA base.

I long have resisted voting early over a fear of casting my vote and then being disappointed if my candidate messes up before Election Day. I am going to follow that path again this election cycle … and then hope for the best from the individuals I hope to support.

national news

The saga continues …

There is not a single thing about the Donald Trump story I find to be “heroic,” but it surely has been a lengthy tale of tumult, a bit of woe and certainly drama.

I, along with many millions of American patriots, am anxious for the end to arrive. No one can predict how this matter will conclude. We’ll have an election in November, the result of which could turn Trump into a real-life lame duck who can wait it out until the end of his term in the White House.

Or the election, if it goes according to what the experts are predicting, will produce a ton of tempest … if Democrats win back control of the U.S. House and possibly even the U.S. Senate.

What happens then? I am quite certain an impeachment lies directly in Trump’s future. It’ll be the third such effort to remove Trump from the office he has pretended to serve for five of the past nine years.

Trump’s time in the White House has been all that many of us feared it would be and what Trump actually predicted would occur. He told us he would be the “retribution” his MAGA supporters sought. By golly, he’s delivered the goods, man.

I listen occasionally to the back-and-forth between congressional Democrats and Trump administration officials testifying before committees and I am left to wonder: How in the name of collegiality can the two sides bridge the chasm that divides them? I know the answer. They cannot.

We’ll have to weather more of what we have seen for as long as Donald Trump remains in office.

The question that will linger is this: Will the POTUS be standing for the remainder of his term?

national news, political news

Will I survive these days of tumult?

Every now and then, the thought of survival crosses my noggin … particularly after Donald Trump has inflicted more than his usual share of havoc on our beloved democratic republic.

Before I venture too deeply into the weeds, I want to declare that my “survival” does not involve my presence in this world of ours. I have zero intention of ending my life. I do, though, worry about my state of mental capacity at times when I see the man elected POTUS ranting on incessantly and incoherently about this or that matter of the moment. Then I wonder: How in the name of the founding fathers did this clown ever get elected?

That’s water over the ol’ dam, if you will. He did get elected and there’s nothing we can do about what’s happened. We can, though, control the future. Which gives me reason to cling to my sanity.

My hope for a brighter future is beginning to glow a little more brightly. Republicans in Congress are starting to grow spines by opposing Trump. They’re voting against his initiatives. They’re pissing the RINO in chief off royally (no pun intended) and he is responding with social media tirades that sound as if they’re coming from a junior high school hot head.

Some are suggesting that Trump’s mental acuity (if that’s what we should call it) is slipping away. I have declared my intention to stay away from that guessing game and I won’t engage in it here … other than to report what others might be saying.

All of this is allowing me to hold onto my sanity.

I realized a long time ago that I should never take myself too seriously. Today I am searching for a way to transfer that self-awareness into the issues that keep nipping at our heels.

I once took politics too seriously. That was in the late 1960s when it became a matter of life or death to young men of my age. I got through all of that and have settled into a quiet life of semi-retirement. The issues today are just as serious as they were in the old days. I am just seeking to cling to the marbles rattling around in my skull.