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

national news

Why worry about Santos?

For the life of me I cannot fathom easily why I should give a damn about a freshman Republican congressman from New York.

But I kinda do give a damn! Here’s why.

George Santos has been indicted by the Department of Justice on a number of charges related the bucketload of lies Santos told while getting elected to Congress in 2022. They relate to mail fraud and campaign expenses.

Santos has pleaded not guilty to the federal charges.

Whatever … here’s the deal about this serial liar.

He has become a top target of Democratic Party strategists looking to flip the House district back to their corner after Santos’s surprise victory in 2022.

Santos probably ought to just resign his seat and concentrate on defending himself in court. Were he to do that, it would reduce the GOP’s razor thin House majority even more, giving Speaker Kevin McCarthy even more reason to complain about sleepless nights.

Let me remind you, too, that McCarthy had to make a whole lot of concessions to the MAGA wing of his GOP caucus just to win election as speaker … on the 15th ballot.

Thus, it becomes important that George Santos be held accountable for (a) the lies he told to get elected and (b) the allegations that he misspent campaign money given to him by those who swallowed the baloney he served them.

I suppose I should mention, too, that even his Republican colleagues cannot stand him. Do you recall seeing anyone standing with this liar defending him for the deceitful campaign he waged?

I suppose one of the lessons all voters should take from this loser’s saga is to remain vigilant when someone talks about family members surviving the Holocaust or 9/11. Santos’s lies on those tragedies helped open the door to all the lies he told to win voters’ trust.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

economic news

They must avoid debacle

The debt-ceiling debacle that might befall the nation is an event that no sane politician anywhere should want to occur.

Republicans for the first time in the nation’s history are threatening to withhold the votes to raise the debt ceiling because they want cuts in spending to which they have contributed along with their Democratic colleagues.

Now that a Democrat is in the White House, though, Republicans are insisting on massive spending cuts to offset what historically — since the beginning of the republic — has been a pro forma vote to increase the debt ceiling. Where was the GOP outrage over spending when Republicans were in the White House?

Failure to do so would put the nation in default for the first time ever. The consequence of that? Well, every economist on Earth says the nation would spiral into economic catastrophe.

Millions of jobs would be lost; interest rates would skyrocket, making home- and auto-buying impossible; the stock market would collapse; retirement accounts would vaporize; and — this is where it really hits home for me — Social Security payments would be suspended.

I am on a fixed income. I rely on my Social Security income to pay my own bills. What’s more, if my retirement account goes poof!, then I won’t have that money on which could pay those bills.

How can I say this clearly? Do not allow any of this happen, GOP members of Congress! You will pay dearly for it at the next election.

That ain’t a threat. It’s a lead-pipe promise!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Journey gains some light

Well, everyone, my journey through the darkness has brightened up with the arrival this week of my elder son.

My wife’s passing from cancer in February has presented all of us with a mighty struggle to be sure. My sons, my daughter-in-law and my granddaughter all miss Kathy Anne terribly … as I do. The sadness I continue to feel without her won’t go away any time soon. Of that I am certain.

My son’s arrival after he sold his house in Amarillo, though, has brightened both of our spirits. It’s the “new era” I mentioned in an earlier blog post.

It will be a temporary arrangement. He needs to find a job, even though he is officially “retired” from the state of Texas, where he worked for 20-plus years as an adult probation officer.

After that, then the search will commence on a new place to hang his hat. However, I am delighted beyond words to have human companionship in my house, which had grown so very quiet since early February.

He brought his two cats with him. As of this moment, there have been no issues with Toby the Puppy, who continues to dominate his house. I don’t expect any trouble with the kitties. At least that is my fond hope.

This arrangement produces a whole array of “new normal” activities for both my son and me.

The journey continues.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

education news

Princeton ISD voters speak out, however …

I want to offer a tepid endorsement of the decision rendered this past weekend by voters who live in the Princeton Independent School District.

Those who bothered to vote have endorsed a $797 million bond issue to build several new campuses over the next decade. The amount of the bond issue is gigantic, but it is needed in light of the explosive growth that is occurring — and will continue — within the Princeton ISD.

That’s the good news, and it is very good news, indeed.

However, let’s examine something else. The final unofficial vote totals are, to put it simply, abysmal. Princeton ISD officials said that 597 votes were cast in support of the bond issue, compared to 302 votes cast against it. That’s a 66.4% to 33.6% difference. Not even close!

What drives me to the edge of nuttiness, though, is that local elections do not seem to gin up any interest. I don’t have any hard data on the eligible rolls of voters within the school district. The population of the school district is something a bit north of 20,000 residents. Of that total, my rule of thumb puts the number of eligible voters at about half.

So, if that estimate holds up, that puts the percentage of turnout at less than 9%.

I am compelled to ask whether, therefore, the 597 votes in favor of this bond issue constitute a “mandate.” It most assuredly doesn’t come close to a mandate.

What we have here is a case of a few people making decisions for others.

I long have been a champion for greater voter turnout as a way to spread the power throughout a large base. The turnout for Saturday’s critical bond issue invests far too much power in far too few Princeton ISD constituents.

Our democratic process works better when more of us take part.

Don’t misconstrue me on this point. I am delighted that the bond issue received the endorsement it got. The school system was transparent in developing the proposal. It made its recommendation in full public view.

I only wish more of us would have responded at the ballot box.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

House boots Slaton

OK, it was a symbolic vote, given that a disgraced Texas legislator had resigned his office a day earlier, but it is a welcome signal that the Texas Legislature won’t stand for the kind of conduct on which it was voting.

The state House voted 147 to zero to boot former Rep. Bryan Slaton, a Royse City Republican from its ranks. The House needed a two-thirds vote to expel one of its members. Boy howdy, it got what it needed!

Slaton had sex with an underage staffer in his Austin apartment, getting the young woman too drunk to fend off any advances. The House Government Investigations Committee recommended expulsion for the second-term lawmaker.

Well, he’s gone now. I’m glad of it, given his extreme hypocrisy in boasting that he is a “family values, Christian conservative” politician.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

 

local news

Quick solution? By all means!

“People want a quick solution. The long-term solution here is to address the mental health issue.”

So said Texas Gov. Greg Abbott when a Fox Propaganda Network interviewer asked him about public opinion surveys indicating widespread support for legislative action in the wake of the Allen mall massacre that killed eight victims.

Yes, we want a “quick solution.” We are entitled to demand quick action. As for the mental health matter, which Abbott favors, we can work on that too.

So, here’s an idea: How about instituting a ban on AR-15 rifle purchases while working forthrightly on the mental health issues that drive madmen such as the Allen mall lunatic to kill innocent victims?

There must be a “quick solution” provided by government. Will it prevent all future acts of insanity from occurring? Probably not, but the public is demanding our government to take decisive action.

This is what we elect our leaders to do!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

It’s time for politics

The massacre at the Allen Premium Outlet Mall has produced the usual mantra from politicians and others who want to ignore the issue of “gun regulation.”

They are telling us that “this is no time for politics.” Excuse me? It is past time for politics.

They purport to be speaking for grieving families in shock over the assault on their lives by a lunatic who opened fire with an AR-15 rifle. It was the 199th mass shooting in the country this year … on the 128th day of the year!

At issue is how to control the purchase of firearms and keeping them out of the hands of loons such as the moron who opened fire in Allen. That is purely a political solution.

It starts with enacting legislation that is faithful to the U.S. Constitution’s Second Amendment. Is there a solution out there? I believe there is. Does a ban on weapons designed to kill people on the battlefield violate the amendment’s guarantee that we can “keep and bear arms”? No, it does nothing of the sort!

What about universal background checks that could flag individuals with histories of mental instability? The Allen mall shooter was discharged from the Army in 2008 because of “mental issues.” Yet he still owned an AR-15. Is it OK to wonder if a background check could have kept the gun out of his hands were he to seek to purchase it? What’s more, how does that violate the rights of anyone with zero such issues? It doesn’t!

I am weary of the refrain in the wake of these tragedies that “this is no time for politics.” These solutions reside in the halls of government, where politicians roam and where they — if they ever grow a spine — could enact laws that make us safer.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news

Slaton quits House … good riddance!

Bryan Slaton, who was about to be expelled by his colleagues in the Texas House of Representatives, has decided to spare himself the humiliation of being booted out of office.

He quit the office on his own!

Slaton, a Royse City Republican, had been investigated for having sex with an intern after serving her alcohol. A House committee had recommended he be expelled from the House, which was set to vote Tuesday on whether to throw his sorry backside out of the place. There still might be a vote, even though Slaton’s gone from the body.

Well, the second-term legislator is done embarrassing the House in which he served, the state that must live by the laws he endorses and his constituents who sent him to the House to do their bidding … which did not include boorish behavior.

This self-proclaimed Christian conservative, a married man who said with no appreciation for the irony he expressed about he now gets to “spend time with my young family,” has disgraced himself.

State Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, said this on social media: “His resignation gave no apology to the young woman he violated, his wife whom he betrayed or his district that he failed. No remorse. No acceptance of responsibility. He’s the victim that rides off into the sunset. That was the resignation of a narcissist.”

Good riddance!

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Rep. Self disgraces himself

Keith Self has taken no time at all during his first term in Congress to demonstrate a level of boorishness that astounds many millions of us.

Self, a Republican House member whose congressional district represents Allen, Texas — the scene this past weekend of the latest mass shooting — decided to declare that those who question whether “thoughts and prayers” are insufficient in deterring these acts of madness “don’t believe in an almighty God.”

“Well,” Self said in a now viral video, “those are people that don’t believe in an almighty God who has, who is absolutely in control of our lives. I’m a Christian, I believe that he is. We have people though, with mental health [issues] that we’re not taking care of.”

Rep. Self, I, too, am a Christian. I also believe in God’s infinite power. I also believe that human beings do things that are out of the Almighty’s control.

For this guy to say that everyone who wants legislative action to deter future acts of madness don’t believe as he does is demagoguery at its worst.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

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