Tag Archives: Texas winter freeze

national news, State news

Definition of ‘derelict’?

Rafael Edward Cruz believes Alejandro Mayorkas is guilty of “dereliction of duty,” and should be impeached because he has allegedly mishandled the illegal migrant crisis on our southern border.

Hold on a second.

Cruz is the Republican U.S. senator from Texas; Mayorkas is secretary of homeland security.

Now I want to get down to brass tacks. First, though, is a full disclosure alert: The example of utter hypocrisy I am about to cite comes to me from a reader of this blog; I merely am appropriating it.

Those of us who live in Texas remember full well the Freeze of February 2021, when the state’s power grid failed. Millions of Texans lost power. Hundreds of them froze to death in sub-zero temperatures.

Many of us also remember what Sen. Cruz did in response to that crisis. He decided to take his family to Cancun, Mexico, where it was, um, decidedly warmer. Someone saw him boarding an airplane and ratted him out.

Cruz came back and then decided to blame one of his daughters for talking him and his wife into taking a vacation while his constituents were freezing to death.

Ladies and gentlemen, that right there is the definition of dereliction of duty. Sen. Cruz, therefore, has zero moral standing to lecture anyone on this good Earth about how you should stand your public service post in times of emergency.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

State news

What does he favor?

We elect our legislators to, um, legislate. Isn’t that the rule of thumb? Sure it is.

However, when I see U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz’s name, the junior Republican from Texas usually is telling us what he opposes. The guy cannot affix his name to any constructive legislation, which is why he pulls down that six-figure salary.

Cruz said today that he opposes legislation codifying same-sex marriage. He said it violates Americans’ religious freedom. I’m not sure I get it, but that’s what Cruz said.

Back to my point. Cruz won election to the Senate in 2012. He hasn’t distinguished himself as an author of legislation that benefits American lives. He continues to rail as a gadfly, raising hell and calling Democrats and sons and daughters of Satan.

That’s when he isn’t seeking to get away from doing his job, which is what happened when he sought a vacation in Cancun in February 2021 while Texas were freezing to death in the killer winter freeze.

Ted Cruz just pisses me off.

There. Now I feel better.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, State news

Playing politics with people’s misery?

By JOHN KANELIS / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Oh, my. Here it comes.

Texas government officials are taking their lumps over the disaster that arose from the Arctic blast that blew in over the state. It has paralyzed entire cities. Power has gone out. Water supplies have been compromised. It has been a nightmare around here.

However, I am saddened to see this misery being politicized. I do not want to assess any blame based on partisan concerns. Nor do I want to hear prominent politicians or other political activists seek to make hay over the misery that so many of us are enduring.

I’m talking about folks such as, say, former Democratic U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, a one-time presidential and U.S. Senate candidate from El Paso. O’Rourke says the failure of the power grid is attributable to “Republican policies.”

Really, Beto? You are going there already while a lot of folks — perhaps even some in your home town — are still sleeping in frigid conditions?

I am way more than ready to get through this emergency. I want it to end. I want solutions based on reality. I believe some individuals or groups of individuals have made plenty of mistakes while mismanaging the crisis.

The source of our misery is infinitely greater than any human being can control. Let us focus on dealing directly and exclusively with how we can find our way out of this mess. The politics of it can wait.