local news

Partisanship rules in Texas Senate

My old buddy Kel Seliger’s departure from the Texas Senate is now becoming even more clear than it was when he announced his intention to forgo another term in the legislative body.

Seliger, an Amarillo Republican, had crossed swords with Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick many times since 2015 when Patrick took over as the Senate’s presiding officer.

Now we see that Patrick has tossed aside a longstanding Texas Senate tradition by appointing just one Democrat to a committee chairmanship. That would be John Whitmire, a moderate from Houston who now serves as the Senate’s most senior member; Whitmire will chair the Senate Criminal Justice Committee.

Seliger has returned to private life in the Texas Panhandle, no longer having to tolerate Patrick’s petulance and his hyper-partisan approach to governance, neither of which is Seliger’s style.

Compare the Patrick method to that being practiced down hall the Texas Capitol hall in the House, where Speaker Dade Phelan — yes, another Republican — has resisted far-right-wing pressure to appoint only GOP House members to committee chairs. One of those right-wingers, state Rep. Bryan Slaton of Royse City, told me that Phelan is rewarding House Democrats unjustly because they do not hold a majority in the Texas House.

Phelan’s response. That’s just too damn bad … just live with it.

Patrick has tossed aside bipartisanship in running the Senate. As the Dallas Morning News stated in an editorial: Texas has serious business to get done to keep us moving forward as a state. Chances are the Senate will be hog-tied with business it shouldn’t be worrying about. That’s bad for Texans.

So it goes in the Texas Senate, which will be run by a lieutenant governor more interested in sticking it to Democrats than in welcoming them to cooperate in legislating matters that will benefit the whole state.

What a shame.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

political news

Get lost, Kari Lake!

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When in the name of sore-loserhood is Kari Lake going to disappear from the public stage, never to be seen or heard from again?

The election-denying Republican candidate for Arizona governor hasn’t conceded that she lost to Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and now wants the Republican National Committee to pay for part of the legal fees she is accruing by fighting the results of the 2022 election.

Memo to Kari Lake: You lost the election! There was no widespread corruption. No widespread fraud. They counted the ballots and you got fewer votes than your Democratic opponent.

Go home, Ms. Lake. Take a breather. Decide what you want to do for the rest of your life. Just stay the hell out of my sight!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

Love is overpowering

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I feel a compelling need at this moment to extend a heartfelt thank you to those who have reached out to my bride and me in this most challenging time in our life.

My goodness, the outreach has come from many quarters, some of them I didn’t expect. Just today, a neighbor approached my son and me as we were walking toward our home in Princeton. She asked, “Where is your wife? I have missed seeing her.” I told her what you already know, that she is in the hospital recovering from a setback she suffered the other morning when she was stricken by a seizure.

My neighbor started crying while offering her prayers.

We continue to look forward to her beginning her treatment for cancer, which will come when the top-notch medical staff at Medical City/McKinney gets her seizures “under control.”

The love my family and I are feeling has been overpowering and, of course, so very welcome. It is coming from former colleagues of mine and of my wife, people I know only through some vague social media connection, from actual friends of both my bride and me and from total strangers.

This outreach helps buttress my belief in the general goodness of humanity.

As for those who have reached out and who have extended their hope for a positive outcome — which my family and I embrace — I hope they see this brief blog post and know my thanks to them comes from my overflowing heart.

My gratitude extends far beyond any measure.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

education news

Growth brings more demands

Princeton’s public school system has made it official. It is going to ask voters to approve a bond issue to build more schools throughout a district that is growing … rapidly.

The price tag is a mind-blower: $797 million.

Don’t spit out your coffee on that number. It is a realistic assessment of where the district foresees its short- and medium-term growth. The Princeton Independent School District seeks to stay ahead of the crowd that is moving into the Collin County community each day.

I happen to witness the growth that’s occurring in Princeton because I am part of the growth. Granted, my wife and I — who moved to Princeton four years ago — don’t have school-age children; our sons are now middle-aged men.

But we do pay taxes to fund the school system. Having made that declaration, I intend to vote in favor of the bond issue when it shows up on our May 6 ballot.

I had a ringside seat when a long-range planning committee met over the course of several weeks to assess how the district should cope with the growth that is occurring here. I attended meetings and reported on them for the Princeton Herald newspaper. I have stepped away from my reporting duties, so I feel empowered to express an opinion on the proposal the citizens panel presented.

It is a reasonable request that Princeton ISD constituents ought to endorse at the ballot box. The money will pay for construction of new elementary, middle and a high school over the course of several years. The school district might have to delay construction of some of the campuses because of limited bond capacity.

However, the district has promised to accommodate the growth through this bond package … and it intends to remain faithful to the promise it has made.

If the school district cannot progress with building these campuses, its constituents will feel the pain of watching the school system struggle to keep pace with the inexorable tide of residents demanding space to enroll their children.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Anger permeates our politics

Make no mistake that I will go to my grave never accepting the devolution of our nation’s political climate that has occurred in the past half-dozen or so years.

We have gone from a nation where political foes could break bread together, set aside their differences and act as friends to a nation where pols are afraid of those on the other side of the aisle.

Yes, that fear runs mostly among Democrats who are demonized by their Republican colleagues. The GOP side has taken to inciting physical threats to politicians’ health, to their well-being and to their family members.

What’s the source of this intense animus? Hmm. Let me think. Oh, gosh, it must be Donald John Trump, the former POTUS who stated publicly that it would be OK for rally attendees to “beat the crap” out of protesters. Or that he would be willing to “pay your legal bills” if the authorities brought them up on charges.

This stated expression of outright hostility by a leading politician has bled into the fabric of our system of government. Members of Congress — yes, chiefly Republicans — have echoed that mantra on occasion, suggesting that their opponents are to be reviled and scorned. They are the “enemy.”

To be fair, Democrats have responded with equally harsh rhetoric. Let me clear about something: Democrats have “responded” to their foes’ expressions of hatred. The response comes after the other side delivers the opening salvo.

The late Republican Vice President George H.W. Bush sought the presidency in 1988 by declaring his intention to seek a “kinder, gentler” political climate in Washington. I’m not sure he achieved that noble goal, but his intention was honest and forthright.

Let’s not misunderstand anything here. I don’t mind vigorous debate one bit. I welcome hearing both sides argue their points. I find it exhilarating. What I do mind is when one side accuses the other of hating America merely because they hold a contrary view on a policy matter. I long ago lost count of the number of times I have heard MAGA-leaning pols accuse others of hating this great land because they dispute the right-wingers’ world view.

This level of hatred, simply stated, is unacceptable.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Outrage doesn’t change

Five police officers beat a Black man, Tyre Nichols, to death in early January and now are facing multiple felony charges, including second-degree murder, aggravated assault and kidnapping.

The Memphis (Tenn.) Police Department fired the officers immediately. The district attorney calls the video of the incident one of the most horrific things he’s ever witnessed.

Now, what makes this case so different from previous officer-involved reports of brutality? All five of the former cops are Black!

Memphis police are planning to release the video to the public later today. Big-city PDs are gearing up for potential violent reactions from the communities they protect. We have two big cities near us in North Texas, Dallas and Fort Worth, and those cities’ police departments are preparing for the worst, which no one wants to occur.

The mother of the man who died in Memphis has asked that any protests occur peacefully.

Police brutality is the same heinous act no matter the race of the officers or of their victims. Thus, police departments throughout the land are wise to be on guard to react to violent protests should they occur.

May their preparation deter any response that crosses the line separating peaceful protest from all-out mayhem.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

medical news

Recovery isn’t always smooth

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Well, today my wife and I received a stunning lesson about life and the journey one must take to full recovery.

It is that the journey is full of unpleasant surprises. One of them arrived this morning with full force. We were told it was possible that it could happen and today it did: my wife suffered a seizure that rendered her incapacitated.

She is back in the hospital. Back in the intensive care unit among those who cared for her in late December after she underwent surgery to remove a tumor from her brain. She is being treated by the best medical team I have ever witnessed.

We see this is as a bump in the road. Radiation and chemotherapy await. First, though, she must regain the strength she already had gotten back after her surgery. Knowing this woman as well as I do, I am convinced that her constitution will compel her to regain that strength.

Our journey will continue.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Have we become numb to these tragedies?

Eleven people died in a mass shooting in Monterey Park, Calif. Seven more people were gunned down two days later up the coast in Half Moon Bay, Calif.

Seventeen people are dead in the span of hours in two mass shootings. Yet … the media aren’t covering this latest spate of violence the way it usually covers such events.

What in the world does one make of the national media’s seeming lack of intense interest in this tragic series?

Have we become numb to it all? Is there no longer a compelling interest in the nation?

I have no answers to any of this. I merely am wondering out loud about why these two compelling news stories have been pushed aside and away from the top of our collective minds.

Weird, man. Very weird.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

MAGA cult makes me yearn for Contract with America class

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I never thought it could happen … but it has. The MAGA cult that dominates what passes for today’s Republican Party makes me yearn for a time when another class of GOP officeholders seized power in Congress.

The famous 1994 election that brought us the Contract With America led to Republican control of both congressional chambers for the first time in 40 years.

What makes that revolution different from this one is simple: issues.

The Contract With America class ran on issues. They vowed to enact term limits for members of Congress; they wanted to make Congress live by the laws it enacts on the rest of us; they sought a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution. There were others, but the point is that the CWA crowd did something that the MAGA cabal has failed to do.

The CWAers sought to enact issues. Do we hear anything coming from the MAGA crowd that speaks to issues? No. They are vowing only to punish Democrats. They want to put Dr. Anthony Fauci in the dock and question him about the COVID-19 vaccines he has championed. They want to bring charges against Hunter Biden, the president’s son. They intend to punish any Democrat who played a major part in impeaching Donald Trump twice.

The CWA crowd didn’t push issues that I particularly liked at the time. The fact that it did run — and win — on issues rather than vengeance makes me yearn for the “good old days” when we could debate policy matters rather than quarrel over punishing our foes.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

education news

School politics gets overly nasty

I fear a storm might be brewing in the community where my wife and I live and — to be candid it — makes me queasy to think of Princeton, Texas, as a place that could produce a serious culture battle.

The Princeton Independent School District is considering whether to ban all outside groups from using school venues for things such as, oh, rallies, fundraisers, luncheons.

It’s not that the school system wants to ban all of ’em. It appears the actual aim is to keep a certain group of constituents from using the venues: the LGBT community.

The PISD school board considered the item the other day, went into executive session, then came out and decided to send the matter to its legal counsel for advice on how to proceed.

I am just one voice in the community. I have no children or grandchildren enrolled in the school system. I just pay my taxes that help fund the school district. Thus, my conscience tells me to urge the school district to move away from banning all groups.

It is a ham-handed tactic that some on the school board apparently want to become part of an overall Princeton ISD strategy to keep certain people from using public property. We see this drama played out all over the country.

Some folks within the gay community want to use space in Princeton HIgh School to hold a gay pride event later this year. Some in the community object to it. They have friends on the school board who are willing to echo their objections. Two of their PISD school board friends were just elected to the panel and I sense they are moving this item toward some conclusion.

What is troubling to me is the idea that banning all groups means, well, all groups. That means church groups, Scout groups, veterans groups, homeowners association groups. They all would be denied use of public property — their property — for any purpose. Is that fair? No. It isn’t!

The school district, though, well might get advice from legal counsel that suggests it’s OK to ban them all. They can cite liability concerns or other safety-related matters. Except that any group also could be asked to sign documents that waive the school district from responsibility in case of an accident on school grounds.

Let’s not lose sight of what appears to be the cause of this discussion: foes of those who promote gay pride and want to express their pride on public property.

An outright ban on all outside use of that property is a slap in the face of those who pay for the right to use what is rightfully theirs.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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