State news

Where’s the migrant surge?

Hey … what happened to that surge of migrants everyone thought would pour into the country when a Trump-era restriction lifted?

It didn’t occur! That’s according to the Biden administration and local police and government officials who expected far greater numbers of immigrants than arrived.

Well, I won’t seek to examine why that occurred. I merely will welcome the initial response and hope it stays relatively quiet on our southern border.

Federal official: no “major influx” of migrants at border as Title 42 ended | The Texas Tribune

Title 42 lifted this week. It was imposed during the Trump administration while the nation was fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. The government sought to keep infected migrants from entering the country and, of course, infecting others once they crossed the border.

The pandemic has been declared effectively over. The Biden administration is seeking to comport with today’s reality.

I agree that it is not a good situation along the border. We still have too many people seeking illegal entry. I shall stipulate once more, however, that the border is “not open.” We’re still rounding up illegal entrants daily and seeking to process them as humanely as possible.

But … that surge? It didn’t occur. I’ll take that as a victory of sorts.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

Once-solid newspaper on its way out

Another newspaper that once boasted of winning journalism’s top prize is heading for the crapper.

How do I know that? Because the Amarillo Globe-News has informed its subscribers they no longer will have what is left of the newspaper tossed on their yards the day it is published — in Lubbock! Ohhh, no! It’s going to be mailed to subscribers via the Postal Service. The paper is terminating its carrier service.

Stick with me for a moment as I explain why this sounds like the death knell peeling across the Texas Panhandle.

A few years ago, the Globe-News shut down its presses and farmed the job of printing the paper to the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal, about 120 miles south of Amarillo on Interstate 27. That meant the deadlines for getting “late-breaking news” into the G-N would be pushed back. The paper needed time to get the pages assembled and then shipped to Lubbock, where it would end up on printing plates.

Bottom line? There would be no late-breaking news in the Globe-News.

Now they have added the mailing element to a newspaper that has been stripped of its viability because it cannot report news that happens at midnight.

I once worked for a newspaper in Oregon City, Ore., that around 1983 decided to start mailing its copies to subscribers. I left the paper in early 1984 headed for the Golden Triangle region of Texas. The experiment failed miserably. The paper folded in 1988 and vanished into the void.

A similar experiment is about to commence in Amarillo around the third week of July, as I understand it.

All I can do these days is sigh and bemoan what has happened to a news organization that once displayed a Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service it won in 1961 for exposing government corruption in the region. That, folks, is the highest honor a newspaper can earn. The Pulitzer Board is still making that award, but in Amarillo and in the Panhandle, it is a distant memory now.

The days of great daily community journalism are long gone.

What does mailing the paper mean to those who still read the Amarillo Globe-News? It means they now will get a sheet of newsprint that is worth even less than it was before.

I detest bringing bad news to my friends in the Panhandle, but the end is approaching … rapidly.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

media news

We are entitled to tune ‘that man’ out?

Anderson Cooper said the following, in part, the other day after the immediate past POTUS appeared on his network to spread more lies and defame more people:

“You have every right to be outraged today and angry and never watch this network again,” Cooper said. “But do you think staying in your silo and only listening to people you agree with is going to make that person go away? If we all only listen to those we agree with, it may actually do the opposite. If lies are allowed to go unchecked as imperfect as our ability to check them is on a stage in real time, those lies continue, and those lies spread. If you’re angry or upset, I understand, but you have the power to do something about it. You can actually get involved. You can make a difference, whatever side of the aisle you’re on. After last night, none of us can say I didn’t know what’s out there. I didn’t know what’s coming. We asked Republican Senators for their thoughts about last night. Some preferred not to say anything. Others did.”

You can read Cooper’s full monologue here:

CNN’s Anderson Cooper: You Have Every Right Never To Watch This Network Again After Trump Town Hall | Video | RealClearPolitics

Full disclosure: I didn’t watch him speak. I made a conscious decision to tune him out, to ignore the falsehood-filled rants he reportedly offered on CNN’s supposed “town hall” event.

My fellow Americans, we should prepare ourselves for much more of the same if this moron’s 2024 presidential candidacy gets that far.

I will cling to my hope that the state and federal indictments to come will pile up, burying this one-time reality TV celebrity/real estate mogul/serial philanderer/all-round evil presence under a mound of legal crises.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Joe Biden

Why support POTUS?

As the right-wingers out there — assisted by their pals in the right-wing media — look for reasons to impugn President Biden, I want to offer a few words of encouragement for the 46th POTUS.

He is being pounded because the “economy is in sorry shape.” What the … ? Joblessness is at a historic low, at 3.4%. Job growth keeps beating economists’ expectations. The March figure, for example, was forecast at 175,000 jobs added; we ended up with 254,000.

The debt ceiling debate centers on whether the federal government is cutting spending. MAGA cult members in Congress want to shred even more spending from the budget before agreeing to increase the debt ceiling. President Biden is proposing a budget that already slashes the annual budget deficit and cuts into the national debt. Joe Biden is trying to fend off economic catastrophe if we fail to honor our debts!

Tax policy looms as a major issue. What has the president — with help from Democrats in Congress — done about that? He has forced billionaires to pay their “fair share” of taxes. Are they losing their fortunes as a result? Hell no! They’re still worth billions, still richer than God. So damn what if they have to pay more in taxes? Many of them have gotten away with paying nothing!

The president stands foursquare in favor of democracy here at home and around the world. Joe Biden has led the international coalition that has enabled Ukraine to turn back the Russian invaders. That international strength well might produce a Ukraine victory on the battlefield; many of us, including me, didn’t believe that was possible when Russia launched its illegal, immoral and unjustified invasion in February 2022.

The nation has invested in improving our infrastructure, it has sought to produce clean energy while continuing to drill for fossil fuels, it has invested in battling the climate change crisis that threatens life on Planet Earth.

And, no, the nation’s borders are not “open” to anyone who wants to enter. The MAGA crowd is lying when it says otherwise.

I simply am not going to accept this nut-job notion that the nation is going to hell under President Biden’s leadership.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

education news

Yes, every vote counts!

Does every single vote count? Yeah! That’s surely the case involving a bond issue in Bonham, Texas.

The Bonham public school district asked voters there to approve a $64 million bond issue to spend money to refurbish and renovate a junior high school campus.

The vote total? 879 votes for, 877 votes against.

How does one describe “razor thin”? I guess the Bonham Independent School District tally would fall into that category.

The successful measure comes after Bonham ISD voters rejected similar bond issues twice before. They went down in 2022. So the district came back to find that its margin, while still not significant, is enough for Bonham ISD to declare victory.

As KETR-FM radio reported: The plan calls for new classrooms, renovations to existing classrooms, safety and security improvements, a new cafeteria, a new band hall, and a new multipurpose facility.

So … if you believe that your vote doesn’t matter, look no further than these results.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Here come the ‘firsts’

We knew these days would arrive, yet I am unprepared emotionally to cope with them.

These are the “firsts” that accompany the passing of a loved one.

My bride, Kathy Anne, is gone. This weekend will be the first Mothers Day without her in, oh, 51 years.

She became a mother herself at a tender age when we welcomed the first of our two sons into this world. Our second son would arrive 18 months later and together the three of us celebrated their mother and my bride, usually with a nice dinner and, of course, lots of love and expressions of appreciation for her role as the pillar of our family.

This year will be different for my sons, my daughter-in-law and my granddaughter. I feel the need to speak out to readers of this blog, many of whom have followed my journey with understanding and compassion, which I appreciate more than I can express.

I am heartened by the knowledge that we will all take this journey together and that I am blessed with family members I love beyond all measure. We will be strong.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Slaton: GOP poster boy

Bryan Slaton is the newest poster boy for Republican Party hypocrisy, the type that allows pols to preach about family values while living a life that steers far, far away from such righteousness.

Slaton is the newly expelled member of the Texas House of Representatives. He hails from Royse City, just down the road from me in North Texas.

He campaigned for the office in 2020 claiming to be a champion against those who “groom” underage girls for sexual conduct.

Oops! What happened to Slaton? He got caught having sex with a 19-year-old intern at his Austin apartment; he also filled her with booze. All the while, this moron sought to preach about the family values he said he held dear to his heart.

The Texas Tribune reported: Slaton resigned Monday and was expelled from the House by a unanimous vote Tuesday, but his hypocrisy has cast a harsher light on Republican-led efforts to crack down on supposedly grooming-related activities, including drag performances, gender-affirming care for transgender minors and classroom discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Bryan Slaton’s downfall could complicate GOP fight against “groomers” | The Texas Tribune

The Texas GOP surely needs to re-examine its message and the people it uses to convey that message to voters.

Politicians such as Slaton, those who get caught doing something far from the message they are preaching, deserve to be excoriated and condemned in the harshest terms possible. Slaton’s expulsion vote, which was unanimous in the House, serves as a graphic reminder of the penalty that awaits those who fail to live as they demand of others.

Whether the message that Republicans want to convey remains viable in the wake of Slaton’s lying and marital infidelity is to be determined.

My own advice for the GOP would be to lose the anti-grooming mantra. Every Republican who invokes the message will bring Bryan Slaton to the minds of those hear it.

That is not a good fit.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Allred’s calm vs. Cruz’s fire

Colin Allred knows he has a steep hill to climb if he hopes to knock Ted Cruz off his U.S. Senate perch. If he continues to acknowledge that Texas remains a solidly Republican state, he will have to go after the Republicans who cannot stomach Cruz’s bellicosity and his self-serving aggrandizement.

Allred is a Dallas-area congressman who recently announced his intention to battle Cruz in 2024. Cruz, meanwhile, has said he intends to seek re-election, although he hasn’t yet made it official.

If Allred is the Democratic nominee for the Senate, I am going to do all I can from my North Texas venue to assist him. I might even donate some money. Hey, I can do that now I am no longer employed by a media organization.

The Texas Tribune has published a story comparing Allred’s measured, calm, across-the-aisle approach to governing to Cruz’s fire-breathing partisan rants. Allred doesn’t yell at witnesses during committee hearings, unlike Cruz, who seems to delight in seeking to shame and embarrass those who testify before the committees on which he sits.

The Tribune reported: “Knowing how to work with everyone, knowing how to listen to people, how to engage, how to come up with solutions, and really, how to bring people together — that’s what leadership is,” said U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher, a Houston Democrat whose friendship with Allred grew after both flipped Republican-held seats in 2018. “And frankly, that’s the leadership we need in our state right now.”

Can you imagine anyone saying something like about the Cruz Missile? Well … I cannot.

Democrat Colin Allred brings contrasting style to race against Ted Cruz | The Texas Tribune

I can’t even begin to predict that Texans will endorse Rep. Fletcher’s view of the leadership that Allred would bring to the Senate. I am left only to hope that Texans have grown weary of Cruz’s bombast … and his utter lack of accomplishment of anything constructive during his time in the Senate.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

economic news

Constitution lays it out there

Section 4 of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, speaks with crystal clarity about how our government must treat the debt it owes.

Here is what it says: “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.”

Wow, man. “Shall not be questioned,” the amendment states.

You know what this means? It means that the Republican dodge in demanding spending cuts before approving an increase in the debt ceiling is, um, an unconstitutional tactic.

President Biden is in the middle of talks with congressional leaders of both parties. He met with them in the Oval Office the other day. They’re planning another meeting on Friday. He said he is “considering” invoking the 14th Amendment if he and the GOP cannot reach an agreement on the debt ceiling.

I am not a constitutional scholar, but I certainly know a declarative statement when I see one.

Section 4 of the 14the Amendment is as declarative statement as anything I can find in the Constitution.

Joe Biden is as fluent in constitutional language as any man who’s ever held the office of president. Mr. President, you need to remind your congressional colleagues of what the nation’s governing document tells them.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Trump: accountable

I have been trying to process the guilty verdict handed down in that trial involving E. Jeanne Carroll and Donald J. Trump.

Carroll had sued Trump alleging he raped her in the 1990s. She didn’t get the rape conviction she sought, but she got damn near everything else.

So, with a jury deciding in less than four hours after an eight-day trial, we now can call Trump a sexual abuser and a slanderer. He sexually abused Carroll and defamed her character.

The jury decided Carroll should get $5 million in damages.

Trump said he plans to appeal. Here’s the best part: Trump is accusing the presiding judge of being a “Trump hater.”

Hmm. Well, consider this: The judge gave Trump every opportunity to change his mind and testify in his own defense. He didn’t.

The judge went far beyond what is normal by giving Trump ample avenues to defend himself. That isn’t the action of a “Trump hater.”

I am glad for Carroll. She didn’t deserve to be treated in a defamatory manner by Donald Trump. And Trump doesn’t deserve to be considered the frontrunner for the Republican Party’s 2024 presidential nomination.

But if the GOP is going to nominate a twice-impeached, once-indicted (for now) and convicted sexual abuser for president, then the party is in far worse condition than any of us ever imagined.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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