national news, political news

Democracy, indeed, is on the ballot

Make no mistake: Democrats across the nation have pegged the stakes in this election correctly.

Democracy itself is on the ballot in all 50 of our states. It falls, then, on voters to ensure that our democratic process survives the onslaught it is facing from the array of election deniers, MAGA adherents and political perverts who believe that violence is the way to settle political differences.

Many of them are threatening to take power in states where believers of The Big Lie are making noises about overturning election results; one of the big liars, Wisconsin Republican nominee for governor, Tim Michels, has said that Republicans never will lose another election in his state if he is elected governor.

Yes, democracy is on the ballot. Its well-being is facing direct peril. It is up to the voters of this great land to ensure it survives.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

local news, political news

Getting set for MAGA rep in Congress

It’s time to acknowledge the obvious, which is that the next congressman from the Third District in North Texas is going to be of the MAGA ilk.

Republican nominee Keith Self won’t get my support, but I am of a distinct minority in Collin County.

Self once served as Collin County judge. He stepped away, then returned to the political war this year when he challenged GOP U.S. Rep. Van Taylor for the seat Taylor has occupied since 2018. Taylor won the primary earlier this year, but then pulled out of the race after he acknowledged a months-long extramarital affair with a woman who once was married to an Islamic State political officer.

Self, who finished second in the primary, became the nominee by default after Taylor pulled out.

He is running against Democratic nominee Sandeep Srivastava. The Democrat has my support … but you knew that, right?

What troubles me about Self has been the fiery rhetoric he used during the primary against Taylor. Self sought to run to the right of one of the House’s more conservative members, which to my way of thinking puts Self on the fringe of a party that already has become a haven for fringe thinkers.

Self fits right in, near as I can tell, with the loons who hold much of the power within the GOP. He talks about curing the electoral system of “widespread fraud” … which doesn’t exist! He backs the right-wing effort to criminalize abortion. He will oppose any common-sense legislation to curb gun violence.

Collin County is considered one of those solid, rock-ribbed Republican counties. Except for this little nugget: Donald Trump defeated Joe Biden in Collin County by fewer than 5 percentage points in 2020, which I suppose could make the county where we live a “battleground.”

Well, that doesn’t matter in this race for Congress.

Keith Self is likely to be elected next week. He’ll take his seat in January and then will ease into the crowd of Republicans who pledge their loyalty to the party dogma, while forsaking what is best for the country.

It’s a shame.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news

Support this guy to keep him out of jail?

Just suppose for a moment that Donald J. Trump actually becomes a presidential candidate in 2024.

What is this twice-impeached former POTUS going to use as a campaign slogan? He is facing the probability of being indicted by the feds or state prosecutors on a number of alleged crimes.

However, there is some chatter out there that a presidential candidacy actually might shield him from being prosecuted by the authorities.

I can see it now: Support Trump … your vote will keep him out of prison.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news, political news

GOP ‘fixer’ emerges as prime threat

Tim Michels has emerged as the No. 1 enemy of the nation’s democratic process. He is a dangerous man who needs to lose his effort to become Wisconsin’s next governor.

Michels is running against Democratic Gov. Tony Evers. He said something this week that — no matter how you parse it — presents an existential threat to our democracy.

Michels has declared that if he wins the election next Tuesday, that Republicans will “never again lose an election” in Wisconsin.

Think for just a moment — if you can resist the urge to throw something heavy through a large window — about what Michels is suggesting. From my perch, Michels has said he would “fix” future elections to ensure that GOP candidates emerge winners. Every single time! That’s what he said.

How does he do such a thing? By rigging elections! By tossing out votes cast for candidates he opposes! This is the very thing that the Big Liar in Chief — Donald J. Trump — said (without producing a lick of evidence) occurred in the 2020 presidential election.

Tim Michels now wants to follow Trump’s lead over the cliff by pledging to ensure that Republicans never lose an election ever again in Wisconsin.

Does anyone out there see the utter irony in this kind of chicanery? I cannot remember a major-party candidate for public office ever pledging to rig elections. Until now.

I get that it involves only one of our 50 states. However, it reveals a mindset prevalent within the ranks of a once-great political party … which has been hijacked and co-opted by those who present a serious threat to the democratic process that once was immune from such attacks.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news, national news

Trump the crook to run again? Hah!

Donald J. Trump keeps dropping hints along the trail, kinda like breadcrumbs, that he is “strongly considering” a third campaign for the presidency.

I don’t think so.

He might announce his intention to run. He might go through the motions. He might act as if he’s in the hunt for the White House.

I just continue to believe that another U.S. citizen is going to have plenty to say about whether The Donald runs again.

That would be Attorney General Merrick Garland, who I continue to believe is preparing to indict the former one-term, twice-impeached POTUS of multiple felonies.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Waiting for the end

I am officially tired of the 2022 midterm election campaign.

There. Having gotten that off my chest, I now will explain what has drained me of my enthusiasm. Admittedly, it’s a partisan matter.

You see, I was filled with a bit of new enthusiasm when Democrats appeared poised to retain control of the Senate and possibly the House of Representatives. Then — pfftt! — they lost their momentum. Just like that!

All across the political landscape I keep seeing reporting that tells us of once-sure-fire Democratic victories becoming nail-biters. Republican dumbass MAGA-loving candidates actually appear to be poised to upset their foes.

It’s making me wonder: What the hell is wrong with this country?

I won’t sign any surrender documents until they count all the ballots next week. Some of these contests might not be decided until, oh, late next week … or maybe into the following week!

Whatever. My enthusiasm is waning. I fear a political bloodbath might be in store. I continue to have faith that our cherished Constitution will see the nation through.

It’s just going to be a rough, tough fight.

Now, having made all this gloomy prediction, the polls have been wrong a lot in recent years. Maybe they’re wrong now.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

crime news, State news

Fake calls need stern punishment

Call it a disturbing sign of these most disturbing times, with tension running white-hot whenever police respond to calls of an “active shooter” on school grounds.

Still, with an increase of fake calls, police are being tested in ways they haven’t seen before. My own view is that those who make those bogus calls need to be sought out and punished strictly for the havoc they are create.

It is a disgraceful symptom of the era we entered a long time ago.

The Texas Tribune reported: “Events like this shake everyone to the core,” said Kathy Martinez-Prather, the director of the Texas School Safety Center at Texas State University. “It is definitely a situation that is at the top of mind of parents right now.”

All of this appears to be part of the damage brought by the lunatic who opened fire at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. He killed 19 fourth-graders and two teachers before police — finally! — were able to shoot him to death.

A recent fake shooter incident involved Central Catholic High School in San Antonio. Police evacuated the 500 students enrolled in the school. Once they delivered the all-clear, officials said they would make counseling services available to the students.

Texas hoax active-shooter calls put parents, police on edge | The Texas Tribune

This is a reprehensible consequence of the Uvalde massacre. To think that more of these fake calls are coming in, subjecting students, teachers, administrators and parents to unnecessary trauma simply strains one’s tolerance for such nonsense.

Those who make those calls need to be hunted down — to the extent that law enforcement is able to find them — and given the harshest punishment possible.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

legal news, local news, political news, State news

Garza is not Paxton

I couldn’t help but chuckle under my breath when I read the opening two sentences of a recent Dallas Morning News editorial.

The paper stated: There is little we can find to recommend Rochelle Garza for attorney general except that she is not Ken Paxton.

Frankly, that’s enough. 

I suppose you could say the DMN was set to damn Garza with faint praise as it recommended her for election next week as Texas attorney general.

So, it did that with its editorial that spent most of its space condemning the lunacy that has accompanied Paxton’s two terms as the state’s chief law enforcement officer.

The Republican AG has been on the hot seat ever since he took the oath of office in January 2015.

A Collin County grand jury indicted Paxton in 2015 on a charge of securities fraud; he has yet to stand trial. Seven of his top deputies resigned and then blew the whistle contending that Paxton is guilty of felonious criminal conduct; the FBI is investigating the complaint. The Securities and Exchange Commission announced it was conducting an independent probe into the securities fraud matter; no decision has come down. Paxton has filed specious lawsuits contending that the 2020 presidential election was infected with widespread voter fraud; he has been laughed out of many courtrooms.

This guy wants another four years as attorney general, an office that requires its occupant to be squeaky clean. Paxton falls far short of that reasonable requirement.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Debate becomes casualty

One of the casualties of the current political climate happens to be a major battlefield loss for those of us who long for a return of political civility.

It is debate. Yes, it is become virtually impossible to debate those with whom one might have a political difference. The nastiness and the doubling down by the Trumpkins who read this blog has forced me to hunker down and no longer engage in active and lively debate over the issues.

It has come down to this: What is the point?

I know too many people on the other side of the wall with whom I once might have been able to argue a point, but who now stand wedded strongly to their point of view.

Come to think of it, so do I!

Political debate too often — even in the halls of government — morphs into name-calling, epithet-hurling, threats of physical harm. The same can be said among friends out here in Flyover Country.

Too many friendships have been torn apart, tossed aside because of political differences. Man, it ain’t supposed to be that way … you know? But it is.

Given the toxic environment that exists today, I am going to resist the temptation to engage anyone in serious discussion about political differences. Almost immediately, we end up talking past each other.

The value of debate, therefore, is lost.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

Cannot comprehend the stupidity

Make no mistake about it. I will go to my grave never understanding how supposedly mainstream Americans can buy into the stupidity being peddled by so many Republican candidates for public office.

Yes, the midterm election is coming up rapidly. It appears that the GOP is going to wrest control away from Democrats in at least one congressional chamber. The House appears to be vulnerable to the potential politics of revenge that awaits once Republicans seize the gavel and committee chairmanships from Democrats.

What just utterly astounds me, though, is the idiocy being blathered by the MAGA-loving, election-denying cult followers of the most recent former GOP POTUS.

They belong to what I should refer to as the Dumbass Wing of the GOP. The espouse treasonous views that seek to undermine the integrity of our electoral process. Some GOP candidates for governor and secretary of state vow to “overturn” the results of the 2020 election. Why? Because they have bought into the Big Lie about the election being “stolen.”

What is stunning beyond all measure is that so many Americans have signed on to that bullsh**, believing the rubbish being spread about election integrity.

We have utterly incompetent candidates running under the Republican banner who stand a good chance of being elected to important public offices. They will then be able to foist their idiocy onto the public that believes it. I am left to wonder how long their supporters will hang with them once we’re all exposed to the chaos and confusion their policies are likely to bring.

I am going to offer all kinds of karma and prayer that seeks to stop on the onslaught I fear might be about to swamp Congress, some of our statehouses and even some of our school boards, which could elect book-burners and those who believe we need to purge our public schools of that phony “critical race theory” principle.

I am feeling the pangs of fear … and I don’t like it.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

Commentary on politics, current events and life experience