So long, Chris Christie

January 11, 2024 kanelis2012

Well … there goes my favorite Republican Party presidential candidate.

Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie today announced he has “no path toward the nomination,” and declared he is “suspending” his presidential campaign. I am going to ask one thing of the two-time presidential candidate: Keep up your relentless attacks on Donald Trump, and seek to remind the Trump cultists what the rest of us know … that Trump is “unfit for public office.”

Christie’s message simply had the reverse effect on the Trump base. It energized the MAGA cult, made ’em even more intent on working to ensure the crook’s nomination. Christie, I am sad to observe, simply never got out of single digits in polling data.

What, then, was the point, he asked today while speaking to a gathering of supporters in New Hampshire.

He said he won’t endorse President Biden. I get that. He continues to have a valuable message that is worth heeding. It is that Trump presents an existential threat to the nation.

Sorry your campaign never gained traction, governor. Stay vocal … and stay strong.

economic news, national news

Are we better off these days?

January 11, 2024 kanelis2012

What in the world is it going to take to persuade Americans to shed their gloomy-Gus outlook on the U.S. economy?

You don’t need to answer that one. Just hear me out for a brief moment while I vent a bit of my frustration.

Here we are now officially in an election year. President Joe Biden is seeking another term, but he is facing headwinds that befuddle me. He is unable to persuade Americans that we are better off now than we were when he took office in January 2021.

Joblessness is down; employers are hiring tens of thousands of employees each month; inflation is down; interest rates are beginning to inch downward as well; retirement accounts are healthy; the stock market is setting records.

OK, I am going to set aside commenting on the border crisis and the phony investigations into alleged corruption involving the president.

Joe Biden has plenty of goods to sell Americans as he seeks re-election. He cannot seem to shake loose from Republicans who continue to feed the lie about the state of our economy.

They said we would plunge into recession. That the Dow would plummet. That inflation would gobble up Americans’ hard-earned savings accounts.

I don’t know about everyone else, but I am doing far better economically today than I was doing in 2020.

Should the president re-purpose the query that Ronald Reagan posed during the 1980 campaign against President Carter? He shouldn’t even consider it. I am certain that a similar question can be presented this year that would produce a far different response than the one Reagan used to devastating effect.

The very future of our nation depends on whether President Biden can find a way to vanquish forever the forces that keep lying to us about our nation’s economic health.

Donald Trump, local news, national news

No arguing with MAGAites

January 10, 2024 kanelis2012

Command decisions come easily for me these days as a lone wolf who runs his own blog.

So … I am proud to announce that beginning this very moment I no longer am going to argue with the MAGA cultists who continue to back the idiocy preached by Donald Trump.

I just visited with a West Texas friend, who is far from a MAGA adherent, and we determined that there is no avenue of reason available when we engage a MAGA moron on policy matters.

They have swilled the Kool-Aid offered by Trump. It has seeped into their brain’s soft tissue. They are contaminated by the lies, the absolute lack of authenticity, the distortions blathered by Trump.

What, then, is the point of even trying to persuade them that their guy is a crook, who likely will be convicted (eventually!) of felonies relating to his denial of the 2020 presidential election, his theft of classified documents and the conspiracy to “find 11,780 votes” that would enable him to steal the electoral result in Georgia.

Does anyone see the irony? Trump accuses Democrats of trying to steal the 2020 election, but the only thievery taking place comes from Republicans!

From this moment forward, I no longer am going to debate with the MAGA morons. See y’all in the next life.

Uncategorized

Get well, Mr. Secretary, but still …

January 10, 2024 kanelis2012

Now we know the nature of the illness that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sought to keep from the American public and the president of the United States.

It’s prostate cancer. I want to join Americans far and wide in wishing a speedy and complete recovery from a disease that strikes one in six Black Americans and one in eight of all Americans.

However, none of this lessens the nature of the mistake Austin made in hiding himself from public view for four days and even keeping his whereabouts a secret from those in the White House who had every reason in the world to know his status.

That includes Joe Biden, the commander in chief of the monstrous military operation that Lloyd Austin administers.

Biden was kept in the dark for four days during a period of extreme military tension. Wars have erupted in Ukraine and the Gaza Strip. Ukrainians are seeking to fend off an invading force of Russians; Israel is seeking to destroy the terrorist organization that sought to kill thousands of Israelis with a hideous rocket attack on Oct. 7.

The United States is involved as it provides financial and military assistance to Ukraine and the Israeli Defense Force.

The secretary of Defense needs to be available 24/7 … period.

Secretary Austin need not lose his job over this mistake. He does need, however, to be scolded harshly by the president of the United States.

Austin was trying to protect his “privacy.” That’s a noble notion, except that the defense secretary is as public an official as anyone who holds that title, which means to me that he sacrifices his “rights of privacy,” particularly during these perilous times.

Still, I wish Lloyd Austin well and will pray he recovers from what ails him. Just don’t allow a recurrence of this sort of vanishing act!

military news

Defense boss’s privacy need backfires badly

January 8, 2024 kanelis2012

Lloyd Austin seems to have lost sight of an important fact of a grownup’s life … which is that everyone must answer to someone else.

Therefore, for the U.S. defense secretary to keep his whereabouts hidden from those to whom he reports was a serious mistake. There needs to be some action taken to prevent this kind of keep-away from ever recurring.

Austin was hospitalized for four days before the brass at the White House knew about it. He had gone into the hospital for a routine surgical procedure. He didn’t tell the fellow who hired him, President Biden, nor anyone on the president’s staff.

One of his deputies stood in for him while he was “away,” which in itself is no big deal; Cabinet officials have done more of that since the COVID pandemic ravaged the nation.

It is troubling, though, that the individual who runs the Pentagon, the nation’s military establishment, would treat his absence from public view in such a cavalier fashion. The weirdness of this episode is illustrated by the fact that Austin is a retired Army four-star general who no doubt never would tolerate such secrecy from his subordinates in the military.

Politico reports: White House and Pentagon aides insist that Austin’s job is not in jeopardy — at least not yet. But they are sticking to that line despite seeming to lack full information about what’s actually been going on at the Pentagon. The precise nature of Austin’s surgery, medical complications and even his current condition remain unclear or addressed only in vague terms. Senior Defense Department and White House officials still don’t know the details of the procedure.

What the hell? The White House still doesn’t know the “details of the procedure”? Hey, Secretary Austin isn’t some chump mid-level bureaucrat. He is sixth in line to the presidency. He runs an agency that spends about $800 billion a year to keep us safe from our enemies.

The White House needs to know at all times the defense secretary’s status. For that matter, I want — and I deserve — to know what is occurring when it involves the defense boss.

Must he be fired over this? Probably not … but damn, he needs to shed this misbegotten need for privacy.

Immediately!

environmental news, local news

City manager hire: Is it perfect?

January 7, 2024 kanelis2012

If one is to accept the views expressed in an op-ed column published in the Dallas Morning News, then Princeton City Council could have hired the perfect individual to be the new city manager.

Whether manager-designate Mike Mashburn achieves perfection, of course, remains to be determined.

Why the early optimism?

Arun Agarwal writes in today’s DMN that “urban parks” form a shield of serenity in a bustling environment. The tagline at the end of his column describes Agarwal thusly: Arun Agarwal is president of the Dallas Park and Recreation Board and vice chair of the Texas Economic Development Corporation.

OK, he’s got some street cred on the subject. What about Mike Mashburn? He comes to Princeton after serving as an assistant city manager in Farmers Branch, where he emphasized park development in that community.

Meanwhile, Princeton voters have approved a city bond issue with funds dedicated to park expansion and improvement. It’s a match made in heaven, yes? Hmm. Could be.

Agarwal writes: Regardless of socio-economic status, age or ethnicity, urban parks provide a neutral ground where individuals can come together in an environment of belonging and shared identity. Picnic tables, playgrounds and sports fields become platforms for interaction, dialogue and the forging of meaningful communal relationships.

Agarwal cites a park study aimed at finding the benefits of park development. He writes: Furthermore, this study established that Dallas parks advance equity by helping to build intergenerational wealth, and that our parks generate real estate value through property value premiums and park-oriented development.

I met Mashburn on Friday after the council approved his hiring, and he mentioned he liked the “small-town feel” that Princeton provided. I reminded him that Princeton is still a small-ish town, but it stay that way for much longer, as it is in the midst of a growth explosion.

Which makes the benefit of “urban park” development more critical for the residents of this city.

What’s more, parks can improve our health, according to another study that Agarwal cites. A more recent study, presented last year, found that 78% of repeat visitors to Buffalo Bayou in Houston reported a decrease in physical ailments such as stress, asthma and general poor health since beginning to come to the park, and 90% said it contributes to improved quality of life and sense of well-being.

Parks promote community, equity and economic growth (dallasnews.com)

So, are we on the verge of a park-related improvement in our collective physical, emotional and spiritual health?

I look forward to seeing if our city manager can stir up the elixir.

Joe Biden, national news

Raucous SOTU on tap?

January 7, 2024 kanelis2012

President Biden … you are about to receive some more unsolicited advice from little ol’ me, one of your many supporters who wants to see you re-elected in November.

House Speaker Mike Johnson invited you to speak to a joint congressional session about the State of the Union. I am delighted you accepted the March 7 speaking engagement.

Be prepared, sir, to be heckled, harangued and harassed by a handful of MAGA morons sitting on the Republican side of the House chamber. You have a marvelous message to deliver. The state of our Union is strong. I expect that declaration to come with force during your speech.

It won’t matter to the likes of Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Paul Gosar, Matt Gaetz, Lauren (The Carpetbagger) Boebert, Sens. Ted (the Cruz Missile) Cruz or John (no, not that …) Kennedy.

They will hoot, holler and hiss as you extol the virtues of your term in office.

The challenge, Mr. President, will be in how you deal with it in the moment. One of your predecessors, President Obama, had a masterful sense of timing as he swatted away such idiocy arising from the GOP side of the chamber. Some advice? Why not call the man you call your “brother” and ask him for a tip on how to handle such juvenile behavior. Hey, no one needs to know you made the call.

Use your personal cell phone. Slip him a text message. He’ll call back, right?

Yes, this speech will be seen through a political lens. You know that, as you have sat through many other such SOTUs as senator and vice president.

As you declare the strength of our Union, though, it is imperative that you deal forthrightly with some of the issues that do plague this great nation. You know what I am talking about: the southern border crisis stands out; a solution to that difficult matter can come from you and the SOTU is an ideal forum to offer it. Wars in Israel and Ukraine also are deep concern for your fellow Americans. We need some glimmer of an “end game” strategy and again, the SOTU can provide the venue for it.

I am delighted with the state of our economy and you need to remind Americans that the recession the “experts” predicted hasn’t come … and isn’t likely to come.

And, finally, you need to frame this upcoming campaign as a battle to retain our cherished democracy and resist the rants of those who want to turn the presidency into an autocracy.

I am with you, Mr. President.

As for the delinquents in the crowd who will toss decorum into the dumper as you stand before the nation, you’ll know how to handle them, too.

Joe Biden, national news

Biden is now engaged … fully

January 6, 2024 kanelis2012

Joe Biden has decided to engage the individual who is believed to be his likely opponent in the 2024 presidential election.

As a chump bystander perched in North Texas, I merely want to say: Bring it, Mr. President!

President Biden marked the 1/6 assault on our federal government in a most fascinating way. He traveled to Valley Forge, Pa., where George Washington was encamped with his chilled revolutionary forces who were battling the British while trying to create a new democracy.

President Biden spoke on behalf of democratic principles and draw a straight line between those principles and the authoritarian theme sung by the presumed Republican nominee, Donald J. Trump. Biden said Trump poses a direct and existential threat to democracy.

I am one American patriot who wants us to continue on the democratic path forged by our founders and continued through the two centuries-plus since the American Revolution.

Biden told us in 2020 that he was campaigning for our nation’s soul. Sadly, much of that soul has been hijacked by Trump’s idiocy. Biden plans to seek to recover it, breathe new life into it and expose Trump — as if he needs the exposure — for the fraud he has shown us to be.

Go for it, Mr. President!

High Plains Blogger