Stephen Fincher Announces Campaign for U.S. Senate to Replace Bob Corker

Stephen Fincher on Sunday formally announced his intention to run for the U.S. Senate to replace retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN). A West Tennessee farmer and small businessman, Fincher is a former congressman who recently served three consecutive terms before deciding in 2016 not to run again because of an illness in his family. Fincher will be competing for the Republican nomination against U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-7) and conservative activist Andy Ogles. Phil Bredesen, the Democratic former Tennessee governor and Nashville mayor, is also considering joining the race for Corker’s seat. Fincher portrays himself as a solid conservative, but grassroots conservative activists tell a different story. Earlier this month, when Fincher was on a listening tour of the state while considering running, Andy Roth, vice president of the Club for Growth, released a statement saying that “it’s worth reminding Tennessee what his true colors are.” “As I’m sure you saw, Fincher recently stated: ‘I think (Trump’s) policies are spot-on for what we need as a country.’ That’s pretty funny considering that when Fincher was in Congress he routinely joined with Democrats to support liberal special interests like voting for Obama’s green energy programs and supporting corporate welfare.  But his liberal leanings…

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Apologetics Conference Brings Global Evangelists to Murfreesboro

“I don’t have enough faith to be atheist.” That statement may make atheists scratch their heads or utter a mocking remark. However, it is the focal point of Christian apologist Frank Turek’s ministry. He will share his arguments for Christianity at the Defending Truth Apologetics Conference on Nov. 4 at New Vision Baptist Church in Murfreesboro. He will be joined by global evangelist Ravi Zacharias; J. Warner Wallace, author of “Cold-Case Christianity;” and evangelist Stuart McAllister. Defending the Truth will equip people with tools to engage non-Christians within the secular American culture, people with “a sense something is wrong with the world and everyone knows there is something wrong.” In his ministry, Turek makes the case that Christianity is more rational than unbelief. Every person has a sense of justice. What is justice? What is the source of justice? Why should we fight for justice? “None of that makes any sense unless God exists,” Turek said. “There is no justice if we are just molecular machines like the atheists say. Everybody wants to right wrongs, but there can’t be something wrong unless there is something right, and right does not exist unless a standard of right exists — that’s God.”…

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Steve Gill Commentary: A Culture of Disrespect in the University of Tennessee Football Program and All Sports

by Steve Gill   When Tennessee defensive back Rashaan Gaulden celebrated a “pick-six” touchdown by teammate Daniel Bituli with a two-handed flip off of the Alabama student section, on national television no less, Volunteer fans everywhere cringed. The pitiful production by a once top-flight football team has been a festering wound all season, but the embarrassing display of bad sportsmanship hurt even more deeply. Mediocre football can, and likely may, be corrected with a coaching change. But a growing culture of classlessness is a more immediate and bigger issue. Gaulden showed up, “manned up” and apologized in the post game press conference. Even the best of kids sometimes make bad decisions, particularly in an emotional and frustrating “heat of battle” moment. “That (gesture) that I showed was very out of character,” said Gaulden, one of the team’s best players. “That’s not how my parents raised me. That’s not how a leader of the team should show their emotion on the field, and I really sincerely apologize to the student section of Alabama for disrespecting them.” What he did on the field was wrong. What he did afterwards was exactly right. Hopefully he, and his teammates and coaches, will learn from…

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Lawrence Reed Commentary: The Revolution We Must Remember But Never Celebrate

by Lawrence W. Reed   The propaganda of the old Soviet Union referred to it for decades as the “Great October Socialist Revolution,” the momentous event that brought Vladimir Lenin to power and gave birth to seventy-four years of Communist Party rule. We are presently on the eve of its centennial. It is not an anniversary that anyone should celebrate. For decent people everywhere, nothing about the Russian tragedy of 1917 is worth commemorating. Everything about it, however, is worth remembering—and learning important lessons from. The carnage wrought by the ideology that ascended to power a century ago may forever stand as an evil unsurpassed in the annals of human depravity. If you’re not sure just what that ideology was, or what to call it, perhaps this article will help. I first became an activist for liberty 49 years ago, in response to the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia. So in part for personal reasons, I could not let this centennial milestone pass without noting it in some way. The victims of the Soviet regime and the other tyrannies it spawned in the 20th Century approach 100 million in number, but can any article, book, or voluminous collection of both ever…

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Mitch McConnell Hits Back at Steve Bannon and Conservative Grassroots: ‘Specialists in Nominating People Who Lose’

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hit back at Steve Bannon and his anti-establishment faction on Sunday, saying the movement to run maverick congressional candidates in Republican primaries next cycle is being spearheaded by “specialists in nominating people who lose” elections. “Well let me just say with regard to the element that you’re referring to here, they’ve…

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Election Victory for Andrej Babis – The ‘Czech Donald Trump’

A billionaire businessman with an anti-establishment message has won this weekend’s parliamentary election in the Czech Republic. Maverick tycoon Andrej Babis has drawn comparisons with Donald Trump and like the US President, he doesn’t mind ruffling feathers. In victory, however, Babis downplayed his Eurosceptic reputation. “We have to fight for our interests,” he said. “We’re a…

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Maxine Waters Demands That Kelly Apologize For Defending ‘Moron’ Trump

Kelly Trump Waters

Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters of California called on White House Chief of Staff John Kelly to apologize Saturday for defending President Donald Trump’s conversation with a Gold Star family. Waters wants Kelly to apologize for his remarks toward Democratic Rep. Frederica Wilson of Florida about the president’s phone call with the pregnant widow of Army Sgt.…

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WHO Chief Reverses Mugabe UN Goodwill Ambassador Appointment

The head of the World Health Organization on Sunday reversed his decision to name Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe as a goodwill ambassador, following widespread uproar. “Over the last few days, I have reflected on my appointment of H.E. President Robert Mugabe as WHO Goodwill Ambassador for (Non-communicable diseases) in Africa. As a result I have decided…

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Report: Pilot Flying J ‘To Pay Ex-Staffers Legal Bills’ in Fraud Case Set to Begin Next Week

The Associated Press is reporting that the board of Pilot Flying J, which is owned by the Haslam family, “has agreed to pay the ex-staffers legal bills,” in the upcoming fraud trial set to begin next week in Chattanooga: The truck stop chain controlled by the family of Cleveland Browns owner Jimmy Haslam and Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam has publicly distanced itself from former employees charged with defrauding customers. But court records show the board of Pilot Flying J has agreed to pay the ex-staffers legal bills. Pilot Flying J has been under scrutiny in recent years because of a diesel fuel rebate scam. Fourteen former staffers have pleaded guilty, while another four — including the company’s former president — are scheduled to go on trial on Oct. 31. Court records indicate a May 2013 “undertaking agreement” in which Pilot agreed to cover attorneys’ fees and other expenses. They agreed to repay the money if they are convicted or lose on appeal. The FBI began investigating the Pilot Flying J scandal back in 2012, around the time CEO Jimmy Haslam purchased the NFL’s Cleveland Browns for a little over $1 billion. Jimmy Haslam has not been charged in the scandal,…

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