Craft Hayes Named New Finance Chairman for Davidson County Republican Party

Tennessee Star

  The Davidson County Republican Party has appointed a new finance chairman. Craft Hayes, who was tapped for the position, received “resounding support” from the executive committee, according to a news release posted Aug. 15 on the county party’s Facebook page. The executive committee includes Melissa Smithson, who became chairman in June and has been working hard to boost the county party’s profile. “I’m excited about the opportunity to work with Melissa and her team to further conservative principles and candidates in Davidson County,” Craft said. “Nashville is a vibrant, growing city that will benefit from investment in business-minded, fiscally sound policies and leaders that will preserve our home as one of the best places to live and work in the nation.” Hayes, who will chair the finance committee for the 2017-2018 election cycle, leads the Nashville team of employer advisers for Bernard Health, where he helps employers get health plans for their organizations. He has an MBA from Tennessee Tech and is a member and former president of the Phoenix Club of Nashville, a nonprofit organization of young men that seeks to benefit disadvantaged youth in Middle Tennessee and to help members become community and business leaders.    

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Historian: GOP Wins Because of ‘Backlash Against’ D.C. Establishment

Military historian and political columnist Victor Davis Hanson said during an interview Tuesday on “The Laura Ingraham Show” that Never-Trumper Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) “really shows a lot of ingratitude” for rejecting President Donald Trump and the conservative-populist wave across the country that gave the Republican Party the White House, the Senate, and the House. Hanson,…

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Tennessee Congressional Delegation Split on Trump’s Afghanistan Decision Along Partisan Lines

Tennessee Star

Republican Sen. Bob Corker and Republican Reps. Marsha Blackburn, Scott DesJarlais and Chuck Fleischmann released statements in support of President Trump’s decision to keep troops in Afghanistan. Trump announced his decision Monday evening in a televised address. His decision is likely to disappoint some conservatives because he campaigned on pulling out of Afghanistan. “My original instinct was to pull out — and, historically, I like following my instincts,” Trump said in his address. “But all my life I’ve heard that decisions are much different when you sit behind the desk in the Oval Office.” Trump said that, as happened with the withdrawal from Iraq in 2011,  “a hasty withdrawal would create a vacuum that terrorists, including ISIS and al Qaeda, would instantly fill.” Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN), who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the following in a statement: I had the opportunity to talk with Secretary Tillerson in advance of this evening’s address, and while I look forward to receiving additional details, I support the direction President Trump laid out tonight for the U.S. role in Afghanistan. While there are certainly substantial questions about whether Afghanistan has the capacity over time to provide stable governance to its people, this more focused…

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NASA Scientist Scott Bolton Describes the Science and the Mystery of Eclipses

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — A total solar eclipse is often attributed to various things. Coincidence. Magic. Divine intervention. The rare event is so grand that even scientists are moved to use words beyond the realm of science. Scott Bolton of NASA used all the words above when talking to reporters Monday at First Tennessee Park. The city of Nashville hosted a sold-out eclipse viewing party at the ballpark, home to the Nashville Sounds minor league baseball team. Nashville was the largest U.S. city in the path of totality, along which the moon for a few minutes completely blocked the sun. Bolton is the principal investigator for NASA’s Juno Mission, a program designed to learn more about the planet Jupiter. He was at the ballpark to speak to those in the crowd about the dramatic, once-in-a-lifetime event that would unfold before their eyes. While a solar eclipse is in some ways mystifying, it’s also something that can be predicted with surprising accuracy. “We know the moon’s orbit and we know the earth’s orbit very well,” Bolton said. “We measure these things over many years.” In the past, people were limited by hand calculations. But computer technology enables us today to make accurate calculations far into…

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‘Drive to 55’ Likely Gives ‘Tennessee Promise Scholarship’ to Illegal Immigrants in a Boyd Administration

Tennessee Star

Gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd takes full credit for the “Drive to 55” higher education umbrella initiative which includes programs like the Tennessee Promise scholarship, but has made no definitive statement to date about whether illegal immigrants should be permitted access to this benefit or in-state college tuition. Boyd, however, is a named member of an organization that pushes state and local policymakers to support giving in-state tuition to illegal immigrant students and he has used his philanthropy to help expand an entrepreneurship program whose services are available to illegal aliens. He is also a board member of the “College Promise Campaign” which wants a universal and free entitlement for the first two years of a higher education. The board is led by the president of the leftist Joyce Foundation and honorary chair Dr. Jill Biden, wife of former Vice-President Joe Biden. A briefing book for state leaders posted on the College Promise website, Making Public Colleges Tuition Free, includes a reference to the “alternative application for undocumented students” used by two states for their college promise scholarships. Boyd also has six state legislators working to get him elected as governor, four of whom voted to give illegal immigrant students access to in-state college tuition.…

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Nashville Was the Place to Be for Many Eclipse Watchers Monday

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — In preparing for Monday’s total solar eclipse, Mark Holloran read that from where he lives in Franklin, he could see 99.8 percent totality. That wasn’t good enough, he and his wife decided. “We drove in to get the last .2 percent,” he said at First Tennessee Park, home of the Nashville Sounds minor league baseball team where an eclipse viewing party was held to watch as the moon completely covered the sun. Nashville was the largest U.S. city in the path of totality. Holloran was monitoring the progress of the eclipse using an app on his cell phone as he and his wife stood in line to buy eclipse t-shirts as the eclipse was just beginning. Jenny Holcomb stocked up on t-shirts for herself, her husband and her 14-year-old son, who were at the ballpark with her. The family lives in the Nashville area in Donelson. “It’s exciting,” she said of the chance to see the eclipse at an event so close to home. The 8,000 people at the ballpark came from 35 states and 10 countries. There also were more journalists than the Sounds stadium normally attracts, including a news crew from TRT World, a new…

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George Rasley Commentary: How And Why Virginia’s Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe Caused the Deaths of Three People In Charlottesville

by George Rasley ConservativeHQ.com Editor   “The police actually allowed us to square off against each other,” a Black Lives Matter protester told CNN. “There were fights and the police were standing a block away the entire time. It’s almost as if they wanted us to fight each other.” “Where are the police?” One Antifa protester said in the crowd. “I don’t see any police here!” While the Far-Left dominated national media has concentrated on driving the narrative that President Trump somehow embraces “white nationalism” an astonishing set of facts about who is responsible for the chaos of the Charlottesville riot has emerged. That reporting by truth-seeking independent journalists has revealed that, more than any other single person, it is Virginia’s Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe who is responsible for the deaths of Heather Heyer, Trooper-Pilot Berke M. M. Bates. Pilot Lt. H. Jay Cullen, because he ordered his Secretary of Public Safety and Homeland Security Brian Moran to disperse the lawful “Unite the Right” protesters directly into the unlawfully gathered thugs of the anarchist and Black Bloc movement. What’s more, McAuliffe held back the riot control-equipped police and allowed the unlawfully assembled Antifa shock troops to repeatedly charge the lawfully…

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Conservatives Launch Campaign to Bolster Trump’s Judges, Pressure Democrats

Tennessee Star

Conservative groups announced a campaign Monday designed to pressure Senate Democrats to sign off on President Trump’s judicial nominees, saying this White House deserves a chance to fill the record number of vacancies remaining across the federal courts. The Judicial Crisis Network said it will spend $500,000 on digital ads, and they and at least four…

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Matt Schlapp: Left ‘Going Right After the Founders’ with War on History

Stewards of the National Mall announced that an exhibit adjacent to the Jefferson Memorial will soon include a plaque noting the Founding Father’s status as a slaveholder. In the aftermath of the white nationalist rally in Charlottesville on Aug. 12 that killed on woman and injured approximately 20 others, left-wing activists began calls for statues and…

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Trump Campaign Supporters During Election Snubbed for Pentagon, State Department, National Security

Many of the Donald Trump supporters who toiled long payless days last year to get the Republican elected president remain on the sidelines as plum national security jobs go to outsiders. A review of campaign policy groups shows that a scant number landed senior posts at the Pentagon, the National Security Council and the State Department.…

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White House Petition Asking Trump to Label Antifa a ‘Terrorist Organization’ Nears 200K

A petition urging President Trump to recognize Antifa – a left-wing, militant activist movement – as a terrorist organization has well surpassed the required 100,000 signatures for an official White House response. The “We the People” petition, created Thursday by someone of the name M.A., says Antifa’s violent actions in cities across the country should earn…

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The Polk Foundation Launches The Tennessee Star Constitution Project Featuring September 23 Constitution Bee for Students

  FRANKLIN,Tennessee – The Polk Foundation today announced the launch of their initiative to teach secondary school students the cornerstones of American liberty: the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and all the amendments. Dubbed The Tennessee Star Constitution Project, the effort includes: The publication and free distribution of an original book, The Tennessee Star Guide to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights for Secondary School Students to teachers and secondary school students anywhere in the state who sign up to participate in the 2017-2018 academic year Pilot Project for use as supplementary material for eighth grade Social Studies, high school U.S. Government and Civics, American History, and political elective classes. The development and distribution of support materials based on the popular Constitution Series by The Tennessee Star for teachers, students, and adult volunteers. Training on its implementation in the classroom by teachers and in review sessions by adult volunteers. The first-of-its-kind Constitution Bee for Tennessee secondary school students, to be held in Pleasant View on September 23. Details about the unique project – including two full chapters of the book – are available for review at the Polk Foundation website: http://polkfdn.com. “For years, educators have struggled to fulfill…

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Total Solar Eclipse A Hit At Nashville Ballpark

NASHVILLE, Tennessee — The total solar eclipse on Monday amazed a sold-out crowd at First Tennessee Park north of downtown. The park is home to the Nashville Sounds minor league baseball team. It was one of many venues where people from near and far came to watch the solar eclipse in Nashville, the largest U.S. city in the path of totality, when the moon completely blocks the sun. “Nashville knows how to throw a party, and we’re doing that here,” Mayor Megan Barry told reporters by the third-base dugout before the eclipse. She was joined by Booster the Hot Chicken, the Nashville Sounds mascot. Though a chicken, Booster was a ham in front of the cameras, posing playfully and wearing what appeared to be gigantic eclipse glasses. Barry said that the 8,000 people at the ballpark came from 35 states and 10 countries. More than one million visitors were in town for the eclipse, she said. Adam Nuse, general manager for the Sounds, said players were happy to be in Nashville for the eclipse and not on the road. The Sounds were set to play a home game later Monday against the Iowa Cubs. “It’s an incredible opportunity,” said Sounds…

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Middle Tennessee Prepares to Watch Solar Eclipse

  MURFREESBORO, Tennessee — Up to 3,000 people are expected to watch today’s solar eclipse from the Stones River Battlefield in Murfreesboro. In this picture, Travis Batton, a local photographer and an amateur astronomer, has a telescope set up to project the eclipse on a large screen at the Stones River Battlefield. Across Middle Tennessee, hundreds of thousands are expected to view the once in a lifetime natural event. # # # NASHVILLE, Tennessee–In Nashville, Mayor Megan Barry is seen here in the dugout of the Nashville Sounds at First Tennessee Park as she waits to address the crowd gathered to view the eclipse.   The stands were full: Looking at the eclipse, wearing special sunglasses in the stands: Looking at the eclipse, wearing special sunglasses on the field: T-shirts for sale! The Tennessee Star was able to obtain a YouTube video of this 1979 ABC News Broadcast where the late Frank Reynolds told the audience of the next solar eclipse, which scientists would happen 38 years later – today, August 21, 2017.     Medical experts advise anyone watching the eclipse to wear special safety glasses.

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Kyle Busch Wins NASCAR Series Race at Bristol Motor Speedway

BRISTOL, Tennessee — Kyle Busch won the NASCAR Series race at Bristol Motor Speedway on Saturday and The Tennessee Star was there to capture all the sounds and sights.   Before the evening officially kicked off, fans were able to sign the starting line with greeting and well-wishes.   Dale Earnhardt Jr., surrounded by a few of the Monster Energy girls, makes his entrance during drivers introductions at the Bristol Motor Speedway. Earnhardt Jr. has announced his retirement at the end of the 2017 NASCAR racing season, making this his last night Bristol race. He was greeted by lots of cheers from the crowd.   Aric Almirola (Tampa, FL) driver of the No. 43 car, with his daughter during Drivers introductions.   Driver of the No. 7 car, JJ Yeley (Phoenix, AZ), came out dressed as a hippie for drivers introductions.   Kyle Busch (Las Vegas, NV) and his rambunctious little boy Brexton at drivers introductions – he is rarin’ to go!   Meanwhile, drivers and their teams discuss strategy. Here’s Dale Earnhardt Jr. and team owner Rick Hendrick (Hendricks Motorsports).   Jimmy Johnson goes over last-minute details with his crew.   The event officially kicked off with the National…

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Louie Gohmert, Texas Republican, Calls for DOJ Investigation of Charlottesville Violence

Rep. Louie Gohmert said Sunday the Justice Department should investigate Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Charlottesville Mayor Michael Signer and “Unite the Right” rally organizer Jason Kessler for their roles in violent clashes that resulted the death of an anti-racism protester at last Saturday’s rally. In an appearance on “Fox & Friends,” Mr. Gohmert said there should…

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Constitution Series: Revisiting the Tenth Amendment and the Powers Reserved to the States, Or to the People

Madison

    This is the seventeenth of twenty-five weekly articles in The Tennessee Star’s Constitution Series. Students in grades 8 through 12 can sign up here to participate in The Tennessee Star’s Constitution Bee, which will be held on September 23.   As we wrote about extensively earlier in this series, the foundational concept of Federalism in the United States Constitution is most specifically outlined in the Tenth Amendment: The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. One aspect of the Tenth Amendment very relevant to contemporary issues is that it makes absolutely no mention of reserving any powers not delegated to the federal government to cities or counties that are subdivisions of State governments. Indeed, the Constitution grants powers to only three entities–(1) the federal government, which it grants limited and enumerated powers, (2) the State governments, which along with (3) the people–and by that the Founders meant each of us as individual citizens–have all the powers not specifically delegated to the federal government reserved to them. The text of the Constitution, clearly enumerates thirty-three specific powers granted to the national government, as we explained in…

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Antifa Chronicler: Violence a ‘Legitimate Response’ to the ‘Far-Right’s Ideology’

Author Mark Bray defended a loose collection of leftists known as Antifa for their use of violent tactics in the wake of the deadly white nationalist Charlottesville rally, saying that such aggression “is a legitimate response to white supremacist and neo-Nazi violence” during a discussion Sunday on NBC News’ “Meet the Press.” Bray, the author of…

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Gas Tax Opponent Menda Holmes Announces Candidacy for 46th District in Tennessee House to Replace Mark Pody, Now a State Senate Contender

  Menda Holmes, chairman of the Wilson County Tea Party and an avid opponent of Governor Haslam’s gas tax increase, announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination to represent the 46th District in the the Tennessee House of Representatives on Friday. Holmes was one of 50 leading Tennessee conservatives who signed a letter to the Tennessee General Assembly opposing the gas tax increase back in March, as The Tennessee Star reported at the time. The district is currently represented by State Rep. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon), who has announced he will not run for re-election, but will instead run for the State Senate seat currently held by State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet). Beavers is not running for re-election, but instead is one of five candidates seeking the Republican nomination for governor. “As a self-employed business owner and the daughter Albert McCall Sr., owner of D.T. McCall and Sons, Holmes has been a resident of Wilson County for the past 28 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Trevecca University and is the mother of two grown children. Holmes lives in the southwestern part of the county with her husband, Howard, and they are both active members at New Vision Baptist…

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Faith: Verse of the Day for Monday, August 21

Tennessee Star - Verse of the Day

  VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing August 21, Monday Ezekiel 32:7 When I snuff you out, I will cover the heavens and darken their stars; I will cover the sun with a cloud, and the moon will not give its light. John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”    

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American Icon Jerry Lewis Has Died

    Comedy pioneer, philanthropist, and an all-American original, Jerry Lewis has died at 91, friend and fellow performer Penn Jillette tweeted this morning. Jerry Lewis just died. When I met him, I feel apart, just sobbed. I guess it's time for that again. — Penn Jillette (@pennjillette) August 20, 2017 Via The Hollywood Reporter: He dominated show business with Dean Martin in the 1950s, starred in ‘The Bellboy’ and ‘The Nutty Professor,’ hosted the Labor Day telethon for decades and received the Hersholt award. Jerry Lewis, whose irrepressible zaniness and frantic creativity vaulted him to stardom as a comic movie star who wielded unparalleled green-light power at Paramount in the 1960s, died Sunday. He was 91. Lewis, who teamed with Dean Martin in the 1950s as one of the most successful tandems in the history of show business, died at 9:15 a.m. at his home in Las Vegas, John Katsilometes of the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported, citing a statement from Lewis’ family. Lewis’ health ailments over the years included open-heart surgery in 1983, surgery for prostate cancer in 1992, treatment for his dependence on prescription drugs in 2003, a heart attack in 2006 and a long bout with pulmonary fibrosis, a…

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Anti-Trump New York State AG Raked In Campaign Donations From An Oil Tycoon With Ties To Putin

Tennessee Star

One of the attorneys general who has sought probes against the Trump administration has accepted large individual campaign donations from an energy tycoon with connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin. New York attorney general Eric Schneiderman has accepted more than $60,000 in small donations from Leonard Blavatnik, a Ukrainian-born energy billionaire with ties to Russian oligarchs,…

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Tina Turner Museum in West Tennessee Has Nearly $50,000 Deficit

  by Chris Butler Editor, Tennessee Watchdog   A taxpayer-funded museum in Brownsville that honors singer Tina Turner has a nearly $50,000 deficit, according to a new audit. As reported, in 2014, town officials forced Brownsville taxpayers to pay $20,000 to move Turner’s childhood schoolhouse a 15 mile-distance to the Delta Heritage Museum along Interstate 40. At the time town officials said the museum would generate more local tourism. The museum draws funds from the town’s Delta Heritage Fund. An audit that Tennessee Comptroller Justin Wilson released this week said the fund has a deficit fund equity of $49,260. “The Delta Heritage Fund may not have the needed funds to pay its expenditures if the General Fund doesn’t cover or if the fund doesn’t raise its revenues,” the report said. Mayor Bill Rawls did not return repeated requests for comment. Delta Heritage Museum Director Sonia Outlaw Clark also did not return repeated requests for comment. The museum also showcases the home of Blues singer “Sleepy” John Estes. Turner grew up in this rural area, about 65 miles northeast of Memphis, which runs along Interstate 40. Turner’s childhood schoolhouse, built for African-Americans, consists of one room. Center officials have slightly renovated…

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Trump to Skip Kennedy Center Honors This Year: White House

President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have decided to skip this year’s Kennedy Center honors events because they don’t want to cause a “political distraction,” the White House announced Saturday. The arts awards are traditionally hosted by the president and first lady and past ceremonies included a White House reception. “The President and First Lady…

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Most Of ‘Nonpartisan’ Kaiser Foundation’s Board Donates To Democrats Exclusively

Tennessee Star

The Kaiser Family Foundation, a prominent health care think tank, styles itself as a non-partisan research organization, yet the majority of its board, including Obamacare architect Kathleen Sebelius, donate to Democratic candidates and causes. The highly-cited Kaiser organization (it is not connected to insurance company Kaiser Permanente) is referred to as non-partisan in its research on…

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President’s Arts and Humanities Committee Resigns Over Trump’s ‘Words and Actions’; Widow of Ted Kennedy Among Those Leaving

Tennessee Star

The President’s Committee on the Arts and Humanities announced its plans to resign Friday, making it the first White House department to do so. “We cannot sit idly by, the way that your West Wing advisors have, without speaking out against your words and actions,” reads the joint letter members wrote to President Trump. The group…

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Richard Viguerie Commentary: Does Bannon’s Departure Signal the End of Trump’s Commitment to Govern as a Conservative?

by Richard A. Viguerie ConservativeHQ.com Chairman   In the wake of the announcement that Senior Advisor and Chief Strategist Steve Bannon was leaving the White House staff, ConservativeHQ.com Chairman Richard A. Viguerie asked the question on the minds of many conservatives: Personnel is policy. Does Steve Bannon’s departure signal the end of Donald Trump’s commitment to govern as a conservative? “It seems that the West Wing is now being run by the liberal Democrats,” said Mr. Viguerie. “Gary Cohn, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, General John Kelly, H.R. McMaster, and the Obama holdovers at the NSC, have all survived and thrived, while the conservatives like Steve Bannon, Derek Harvey, Ezra Cohen-Watnick, Rich Higgins, and even the establishment Republicans like Reince Priebus and Sean Spicer, have been run-off.” “One wonders if the firing of Steve Bannon signals a general purge of conservatives on the White House staff,” observed Mr. Viguerie. “When Steve Bannon and Kellyanne Conway joined Donald Trump’s campaign, conservatives were electrified—and many who had previously been skeptical were convinced that a Donald Trump administration would be a conservative administration as long as Steve and Kellyanne were at Trump’s side,” concluded Viguerie. “As I explained in my book TAKEOVER, personnel…

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GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Bill Lee on Nathan Bedford Forrest Bust: ‘We Can’t Wash Away History Just Because A Few Are Offended By That’

Tennessee Star

  On Thursday, the second day of his “Rural Road Trip Tractor Tour,” Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Lee stopped in Johnson City, Tennessee, where WJHL TV asked him where he stands on the removal of the bust of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, a Tennessean, from the State Capitol. “It is a delicate balance,” Lee told WJHL. “We can’t wash away history just because a few are offended by that. In fact, it is important that we remember history, the people that came before us, so we know where we came from and who we are. But also to remember the parts of our history that we are not happy about and that we never want to repeat,” Lee added. You can watch the video of WJHL’s interview of Lee here:     According to the WJHL’s reporting, Lee did not specifically state whether he agreed or disagreed with Governor Bill Haslam, who on Monday advocated “for the removal of a bust of Nathan Bedford Forrest from the Capitol in Nashville.” “My position on this issue has not changed – I do not believe Nathan Bedford Forrest should be one of the individuals we honor at the Capitol. The General Assembly…

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Tennessee Department of Children’s Services Opens New Investigation Into Abuse Claims At Brentwood Academy

  The Tennessee Department of Children’s Services has opened a new investigation into alleged rape and sexual abuse committed against a male student by other male students at Brentwood Academy. DCS spokesman Rob Johnson told The Tennessee Star the new investigation was opened based on new information the department received late Wednesday. The department had investigated the case in April 2015, but Johnson could not provide more information because of confidentiality reasons. The victim’s mother filed a $30 million lawsuit against the elite private Christian school in Williamson County on Aug. 4 in Williamson County Circuit Court. The mother is identified as Jane Doe and her son, the victim, is identified as John Doe. The defendants are Brentwood Academy and several administrators and faculty members. According to the suit, John Doe was a sixth-grader at Brentwood Academy during the 2014-2015 school year when he was abused by four eighth-grade boys, who were 14 and 15 years old. On four separate dates in January and February 2015, “harassment, sexual assault, and rape were perpetrated in the locker room without adult supervision upon Plaintiff John Doe when he would only be in his shirt and underwear,” the suit says. The suit alleges, among…

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Nancy Pelosi Calls for Removing Confederate Statues from U.S. Capitol

Tennessee Star

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday said she supports removing Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol and called on Speaker Paul D. Ryan to join the push to remove them “immediately.” “The Confederate statues in the halls of Congress have always been reprehensible,” Mrs. Pelosi said in a statement. “If Republicans are serious about rejecting…

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Mark Fitzgibbons Commentary: Charlottesville, Charlottesville, Charlottesville

  by Mark J Fitzgibbons, Esq.   Charlottesville is the new meme of the far left, the media, and even the establishment GOP in their effort to replace President Trump by any means. Those means include impeachment, and by some, assassination. No longer do we hear Russia, Russia, Russia. It’s now Charlottesville, Charlottesville, Charlottesville. But whether it’s Russia or Charlottesville, the plan associated with the meme is the same. The media, often working off talking points from the left, can’t be trusted to report the facts accurately. Some members of the establishment GOP think they’ve got an issue to weaken Trump or even run him out of office, and choose the left’s narrative over facts and principles. Trump’s style has disrupted the Washington insiders’ game. On Charlottesville Trump was right again, and as facts come to the surface it is perfectly clear that two sides were responsible for the violence in Charlottesville, as explained with great reporting at The Daily Caller. Phillip Stucky’s article about how police cleared the park where the protest started before it fatally poured out onto the streets is just one of many examples. The faith leaders there to attempt to preserve the peace fled soon…

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Mitt Romney Demands That President Trump Apologize For Charlottesville Comments

Tennessee Star

  Mitt Romney on Friday called for President Trump to apologize for his Charlottesville “both sides” comments and to put all the blame on white supremacists and none on the radical leftists who also acted violently. Earlier this week, Trump explicitly condemned white supremacist groups by name, but said both sides were to blame for the violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend. He also said there were innocents on both sides. A man identified as a white supremacist drove his car into a crowd, killing a woman and injuring around 20 others. White supremacists and radical leftists threw punches, bottles and rocks at each other. They also used sticks and chemical sprays. As The Daily Caller News Foundation reported, the white supremacists were attending a legally permitted “Unite the Right” rally at Emancipation Park to protest the City of Charlottesville’s decision to remove the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee. The radical leftists had no legal permit, and were gathered on the street immediately in front of Emancipation Park. Romney was the Republican nominee who lost to former President Obama in the 2012 presidential election. On Tuesday, Romney was critical of Trump on Twitter. He elaborated in a…

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Bill O’Reilly: Trump Considers ‘Alt-Left’ Attacks ‘Fair Payback’ for Dishonest Media

Former Fox News Channel star Bill O’Reilly says President Trump’s recent condemnation of “alt-left” violence in Virginia was a form of revenge against the media. The author of “Old School: Life in the Sane Lane” is convinced that a cultural “civil war” was spotlighted this week during Mr. Trump’s press conference on Charlottesville. Mr. O’Reilly penned…

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What Does Tillerson’s ‘Rooney Rule’ Mean for the State Department?

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson on Friday announced a diversity initiative for the State Department that requires the consideration of at least one minority candidate every time an ambassador position becomes available. Tillerson did not mention it by name, but the program closely resembles a 2003 diversity initiative in the NFL that came to be known…

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Tennessee U.S. Senator Bob Corker Stands By Statements Criticizing Trump Over Charlottesville

  COLUMBIA, Tennessee — U.S. Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) on Friday defended his remarks Thursday criticizing President Trump for his comments about the violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, last weekend between white supremacists and leftist radicals. Corker was in Columbia on Friday to speak at a joint luncheon of the Rotary and Kiwanis clubs at the Memorial Building downtown. On Thursday in Chattanooga, Corker questioned Trump’s competence and said, “He has not demonstrated that he understands what has made this nation great and what it is today, and he’s got to demonstrate the characteristics of a president who understands that.” Trump’s critics in the mainstream media and on the left, as well as some establishment Republicans, have maintained that Trump indirectly supported white supremacy by blaming both sides for the violence and saying there were innocent people on both sides. Asked by The Tennessee Star after Friday’s luncheon what he thought Trump should have said instead, Corker said he didn’t want to get into analyzing it further. “I’m trying to steer away from that,” Corker said. “What I said yesterday I think speaks for itself. Hopefully this, myself and maybe a few others speaking out, will have an effect. But I just want good…

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Faith: Verse of the Day for Saturday, August 19

Tennessee Star - Verse of the Day

  VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing August 19, Saturday Isaiah 26:3-4 You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. 4 Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.    

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Country Music Artist Charlie Daniels Defends President Trump

  Country music artist Charlie Daniels defended President Trump and slammed political correctness in an interview Wednesday on Newsmax TV. Daniels said Trump was right to condemn both sides in the violent clashes in Charlottesville, Virginia, on Saturday between white supremacists and leftist radicals. “There’s no doubt about it. I mean there’s animosity on both sides, from what I saw on TV. I saw two sides fighting each other,” Daniels told host Rita Cosby. “I condemn both sides.” Daniels was also critical of the push to take down statues of historical figures. “That’s what ISIS is doing,” Daniels said. “There were pieces of history over there they didn’t like, they’re taking them down…Where does it stop?” Daniels called Confederate Army General Robert E. Lee “one of the most honorable people in our history.” If people don’t like the statutes, they just shouldn’t look at them, he said, drawing an analogy by saying he walks by movie posters he doesn’t like. “These statues are not preaching,” Daniels said. “They’re not shouting out some kind of crazy epitaphs or something. They’re just sitting there. So just turn around and don’t look at them.” Daniels said the media is “very, very prejudiced against…

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