crime news

Gun hysteria is frightening

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

The hysteria coming from the right wing of the political spectrum over gun safety, gun rights and gun related violence is scaring the bejabbers out of me.

I keep hearing the same mantra. Those who want to regulate gun purchases are intending to “take away your guns.” They want to disarm law-abiding Americans. They want to “toss out the Constitution’s Second Amendment” and they want us to create a passive population that does whatever the hell the government tells us to do.

How about that? Do you believe any of it? I don’t. Neither should you or anyone else.

The Second Amendment, which I contend was written poorly by the founders, does not mean that government must not regulate the purchase of firearms. The “well-regulated Militia” part of the amendment, of course, causes me some confusion as well.

Still, no serious politician that I have heard has said a word about taking guns away from those who keep them for legitimate purposes. You know, hunters, target shooters, those who want to protect their homes and their loved ones from robbers or others who want to harm them.

Good grief, man. There’s not a damn thing wrong with any of that.

Just so you know, we have two rifles in our home. I keep them hidden away. No one is going to take them from me. Nor do I ever expect government goons to bust down my door to seize them.

The gun debate has devolved into the worst form of demagoguery possible.

Gun violence remains a crisis in this country. We elect members of Congress to represent our interests. I believe they should heed their “bosses” demand that they do more to protect us against those who want to harm us.

local news

How do you measure success?

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I wrote an item nearly four years ago that projected good, even great, things for the city where I used to live.

My wife and I plan to return there soon on a brief stopover on our way to the Pacific Ocean. We will be hauling our RV behind our big ol’ pickup. I intend to take a quick look around Amarillo, Texas, just to see if my projection holds up.

I think it will. I certainly hope that is the case.

The blog I posted referred specifically to what was called the “MPEV,” which became an acronym for “multipurpose event venue.” The MPEV, when completed, took on the name of Hodgetown, which is in honor of former Mayor Jerry Hodge, who possesses one of the city’s deepest pockets, not to mention an abiding love of Amarillo and the Texas Panhandle.

When it’s built, MPEV will benefit entire city | High Plains Blogger

Hodge and many others worked hard to lure a AA baseball team to Amarillo. The community honored him by putting his name on the site known formerly as the MPEV.

The city continues to undergo a major facelift in its downtown district, or so I have been told. They’re going to open the Barfield Building — presumably soon — as a boutique hotel. Those of us who used to see the rotting hulk of a structure regularly are amazed at its transformation.

Interstates 40 and 27 are in the midst of major expansion and improvement. They’re installing a new and improved version of Loop 335 along the city’s western boundary.

So, yes, the city is trekking toward a future that remains a bit unclear. I do believe it will emerge from all this makeover a better place. It will be a more livable community … not that it was unlivable when my wife and I called it home.

That baseball team, the Sod Poodles, will open its 2021 season very soon after sitting out 2020 because of that damn COVID pandemic.

I intend to report back to you what I see upon our return to the Caprock.

national news

Why defend myself?

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

We live in strange times these days.

The strangeness was brought to us in full bluster by none other than Donald J. Trump, who had the good luck (for him) of winning the presidency in 2016. He’s out of office now (which is so very good for the rest of us).

However, I find myself having to defend my support of President Biden, especially when I compare him to Trump. To be sure, there really is no way to compare a seasoned, lifetime politician — and I mean that in a positive way — to someone with zero political skill, which I believe is an essential quality one needs in a president.

I also want to make this point once again. Joe Biden was not my first choice to succeed Donald Trump. However, when he emerged from the huge field of Democratic primary contenders, then I was all in. We needed to get rid of Trump. Which we did in November 2020.

President Biden is far from the perfect pol but he’s a damn sight better than the imbecile he defeated. He has served in public life for half a century. Trump has served in public life for four years; the rest of his adulthood he spent enriching himself and trashing other human beings.

To that end, I am comfortable expressing my pro-Biden bias. I know it’s out there for all to see. I make no apologies for it.

As for Trump, the less I can say about him, the better it is for me. Not to mention for the rest of us, given that he will be off our radar.

medical news

Biden masks up … good!

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

President Biden appears to have made a decision that has some folks wondering … what’s the point?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has loosened its recommendations for mask wearing while the COVID pandemic continues to infect, sicken and kill Americans.

What has been Biden’s response? He and first lady Jill Biden continue to mask up. As The Hill newspaper reported, the first couple was spotted walking toward Marine One with no one else nearby; both of them wore masks.

I believe President Biden is intent on sending a message, which is to employ extreme caution even as infection, hospitalization and death rates continue to decline.

According to The Hill: “I actually think it would do so much good for the president to be modeling at this point the really critical times when people should be wearing a mask, and letting people know here is the benefit of the vaccine: You don’t need to be wearing a mask during these other times,” said Leana Wen, an emergency physician and former health commissioner for the city of Baltimore.

Biden keeps masking despite updated guidance | TheHill

Yes, it is important for the president of the United States to serve as a role model on these matters which, I hasten to point out, can determine whether we live or die.

Compare the current president’s commitment to this role-playing to his immediate predecessor’s flouting of the CDC guidelines — while the pandemic was accelerating at an alarming rate.

Donald Trump refused for months even to acknowledge publicly the severity of the pandemic. He wouldn’t be seen with a mask, offering some ridiculous assertion that it didn’t dignify the office he occupied. The Trumpkin Corps followed their guy’s lead on that specious notion.

We have a new man in the nation’s most exalted office. President Biden has chosen to set a different kind of example. Frankly, it is an example I do not mind watching our president and the first lady setting an example worth emulating.

The stakes remain too high and the consequences are too grim to fall back on phony and false denials.

DC riot, national news

Pence shows his wussiness

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

I just have to say it out loud and as directly as I can.

Former Vice President Mike Pence is a wuss.

Whatever in the world keeps him from defending himself against scurrilous attacks from the imbecile with whom he was elected to lead this nation is utterly beyond me.

Pence is beginning to return to public life. He and Donald Trump lost their bid for re-election in November 2020. It is widely believed Pence wants to run for president in 2024. It also is thought that Trump might harbor the same ambition. These two men, therefore, could become Republican Party primary opponents.

As he reemerges onto the public stage, Pence sticks to the same strategy he used by Trump’s side: Total fealty (msn.com)

Will that bring any sort of criticism from Pence toward Trump. Not based on what he said this week. What is astounding to me is that Trump trashed Pence on Jan. 6 — the day of the insurrection — for failing to show “courage” because Pence wouldn’t seek to overturn the election results.

The Trumpkin Corps of fanatics followed Trump’s assertions. Many of them stormed the Capitol Building chanting “Hang Mike Pence!” while some of them defecated on the floor of the nation’s government. 

Someone will have to explain to me how a Pence-Trump rivalry — should it develop in the GOP primary for the White House in ’24 — is going to play out if the former VP continues to slobber all over the shoes of the former idiot in chief.

I don’t understand a lot of things, but I don’t think I’m a dunderhead. I simply am baffled beyond belief at the slavish fealty that Mike Pence shows toward the guy who doesn’t return a shred of loyalty to his most loyal suck-up.

national news

Biden activates ‘The Club’

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

President Biden has done something during his first 100 days in office that pleases me greatly, even though I admit it is merely a matter of symbolic outreach.

Biden has reactivated The Presidents Club, the group of men who understand the trials and turmoil associated with the nation’s highest office. He has called on them prior to making key decisions. He has sought their counsel.

Oh, I should mention that one of the members — Donald Trump — is still left out. He will remain an outcast likely for as long as he lives.

You see, Trump tossed aside the symbolism associated with The Presidents Club. He ended up insulting every one of his living predecessors before he left office in January.

President Biden isn’t wired that way. He called President Bush when he announced his decision to end our troop involvement in Afghanistan. He notified President Obama of the same decision. Biden this week paid a visit to President and Mrs. Carter in Atlanta when he visited Georgia to make a pitch for his latest economic stimulus package.

The Presidents’ Club returns with Biden restoring consultations that Trump dismissed – CNNPolitics

Given that Donald Trump is still trying to overturn the 2020 election results and continues to undermine his successor, do not look for Biden to reach out to Trump at any time on any issue that confronts him.

Yes, none of this matters in terms of policy. It does illustrate the value of the wisdom that former presidents bring to the current occupant of the White House.

It also illustrates how President Biden is wired and how he intends to demonstrate his understanding that he might not possess all the answers to all the problems he will face.

national news

Biden sends wall money back to Pentagon

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By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Donald J. Trump got his biggest applause while campaigning for election and re-election that he would make Mexico pay for The Wall he would build along our southern border.

Mexico hasn’t paid a nickel for it, nor will it pay. What did Trump do then? He redirected money meant for the Pentagon toward construction of The Wall.

Trump didn’t win re-election. So now the man who replaced him, President Biden, has sent $14 billion in Wall money back to the agency from where it came.

Biden administration to return Trump’s border wall money to Pentagon accounts (msn.com)

Good call, Mr. President/Mr. Commander in Chief.

The money should have stayed at the Pentagon, where Congress appropriated it in the first place. Trump’s decision to divert Pentagon money to construction of The Wall was an act of political desperation, given that there would be no on Earth that Mexico would — or should — pay for a structure that is being erected by our government.

As Roll Call reported: “To build a wall along the southern border, the previous Administration redirected billions of dollars Congress provided for supporting American troops and their families, and for purchasing military vehicles, aircraft, and ships,” the official said in a statement. “The Biden Administration is committed to upholding the rule of law, and properly equipping American troops and caring for their families.”

Congress’s authority to appropriate money must remain intact. It does now that Joe Biden has taken charge of the executive branch of government.

local news, Sports news

Getting set to play ball

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

We have many friends in Amarillo, Texas, where we lived for two decades before relocating southeast to the Dallas ‘burbs.

Thus, it is with great pleasure that I join my friends — and baseball fans — as they prepare to start cheering for their beloved Amarillo Sod Poodles baseball team.

The Sod Poodles open their 2021 season next Tuesday in Tulsa, which if you think about it for a second is a most appropriate place to commence your second season in existence.

You see, the Sod Poodles came into being in time for the 2019 season and then they won the Texas League title. Where did they do that? In Tulsa, where they defeated the defending champs on their own field. The COVID pandemic wiped out the 2020 season, leaving the Sod Poodles to wait an extra season to defend their league title.

To be fair, the Texas League is now called the Central League. So the Sod Poodles won’t be defending precisely their pennant.

I am happy for my friends up yonder that they’ll now be able to return to the ballpark — aka Hodgetown — to cheer for their Double AA team.

The Sod Poodles’ home season opens May 18 when Midland rolls into town to play six games in a row at Hodgetown.

I have been cheering for the Sod Poodles from some distance. I realize that I no longer am able to attend games at Hodgetown.  Indeed, the park didn’t open until after we had departed the Caprock. That hasn’t dulled my interest in all the good things that have occurred in Amarillo since our departure.

The Sod Poodles’ initial-season success is just one of the things we’ve been cheering from afar.

With that, I will enjoy looking at the standings each day to see how the team from my former city of residence performs. I wish them well. I wish the fans — and our many friends — well, too, as cheer on the home team.

national news

Trump just won’t vanish

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(AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

It’s time for me to make an admission.

Try as I have done since Jan. 20 — when Joe Biden took the presidential oath — to rid this blog of anything relating to Donald J. Trump … I just cannot cross that threshold.

I mean, good grief, the ex-president keeps inserting himself into the news. He continues to endorse political candidates; he keeps fomenting the Big Lie about the 2020 presidential election; he continues to rile up his base with statements that hint at a possible presidential run in 2024.

Meanwhile, the guy who beat him like a drum in 2020 — President Biden — continues to make policy pronouncements, keeps seeking to work with congressional Republicans despite their claims to the contrary and keeps acting the way presidents are supposed to act.

I am happy to report that these blog posts have dealt with far more than Donald Trump. I just am hoping to eliminate the need to comment on him altogether. When might that occur?

Hmm. Let’s see. Maybe if he gets sentenced to prison for, oh, campaign finance violations or for coercing/bullying state officials to overturn election results. He might disappear if he goes to prison for income tax violations. Or he could vanish if we learn that he isn’t nearly as rich as he kept saying he was when he ran for president in 2016.

I will take a tiny measure of comfort in realizing that the media keep commenting on him, too. He does make “news,” even if the news he makes lacks the impact it had during the four years he defiled the White House as POTUS. The comfort I take in that realization really doesn’t make me feel any better, other than I realize I have company among those of us who comprise what they call the “pundit class.”

One more point: We have Rudy Giuliani — the ex-POTUS’s personal lawyer — who also might face a world of legal hurt. What might happen if prosecutors indict the former NYC mayor and one-time 9/11 hero? He could turn on his client in order to save his own hide.

Yep, that’ll keep Donald Trump in the news, too. It likely will provide this blog with more ammo.

Dang it! I want him to go away. Really. I do!

International news

Bin Laden mission needed time

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Americans are going to be marking a date over the weekend that should fill them with justifiable pride in the capabilities of our military special forces.

It was on May 1, 2011 that Navy SEALs and CIA commandos raided a compound in Pakistan and killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda and the mastermind of the 9/11 terror attack that had occurred a decade earlier.

Ten years have passed since that raid.

I want to talk briefly here about something that flew out of Donald Trump’s mouth not long after Army Special Forces killed the Islamic State leader on Trump’s watch.

The then-president suggested out loud that the bin Laden raid should have occurred far earlier than it did. Trump was crowing about the success his team had in finding Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and dispatching him. Why couldn’t the Special Forces Command do the same with bin Laden, Trump said.

The military commander of that mission was Admiral William McRaven, himself a SEAL and head of the Special Ops Command. It took McRaven’s team time to assemble and analyze all the intelligence it had collected on bin Laden’s location. Indeed, as President Obama said at the time, he wasn’t absolutely sure that bin Laden would be in the compound once the SEALs and the CIA spooks arrived. It was a gamble … but it paid off!

Thus, for Trump to denigrate the great work that anti-terrorism experts from the Bush and Obama administrations did to locate and to ascertain with some degree of certainty that their findings were correct simply went beyond the pale.

I am going to celebrate the victory our forces scored when they eliminated Osama bin Laden. No amount of cheap second-guessing ever would denigrate the courage of the commander in chief to issue the order and the extraordinary skill of the men who executed it.

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