Day: June 24, 2017

Marsha Blackburn: ‘People Not Believing Evening News Is A Really Good Thing,’ Credits The Tennessee Star For Being ‘Reliable’

Laura Baigert

WOODBURY, Tennessee — U.S. Congresswoman Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-7), speaking to a group of 125 at the Cannon County Reagan Day Dinner held at the Rustic Elegance Event Center in Woodbury Friday evening, said that the American people don’t believe what they hear on the evening news, and that’s “a really good thing.” Blackburn was introduced by one-time fellow Tennessee House colleague, gubernatorial candidate and State Senator for the district Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet), who later spoke about her campaign platform, as did fellow candidate and Franklin businessman Bill Lee.  Representatives Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) and Judd Matheny (R-Tullahoma), also gave brief remarks at the event. Referencing a survey of 3,000 people, Blackburn said 70 percent said “no” to the question of whether they believe what they hear from the evening news.  She blamed that on the fact that they are simply not reliable, in contrast to a reliable news outlet “like The Tennessee Star.” After pointing out that if the evening news is not believable, the next question is who do they believe. Blackburn gave a message of optimism in pointing out that the answer is “Y-O-U.” “They believe their well-informed friends and neighbors.  People they trust and know.  Not Fox,…

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Phil Montag, Nebraska Democratic Party Official, Ousted for Saying He’s Wished Steve Scalise Dead

Tennessee Star Staff

The Nebraska Democratic Party ousted an official Thursday after a recording surfaced of him saying he wished House Majority Whip Steve Scalise had died in the Alexandria, Virginia, shooting that left him critically wounded. Phil Montag, a volunteer co-chairman of the party’s technology committee, unloaded a series of expletives in describing his disdain for Rep. Scalise,…

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Johnny Depp Skates on Kill Trump Joke: ‘When Was The Last Time An Actor Assassinated A President?’

Tennessee Star Staff

Johnny Depp, Hollywood movie star, made a tasteless joke about President Donald Trump’s assassination – just the latest on the left to poke fun at killing or physically harming the White House commander-in-chief. If this had been about Barack Obama, the mainstream media would be alive with rage, and the jokester would be out of work.…

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Mae Beavers Says UT-Knoxville Chancellor Decision to Reinstate Pride Center Shows Disrespect

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

  Conservative Republican Gubernatorial candidate State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) expressed “disappointment” on Friday night in an exclusive interview with The Tennessee Star that the Chancellor of the University of Tennessee – Knoxville, Beverly Davenport, has announced plans to reinstate the Campus Diversity Office and hire a new Director of the LGBT Pride Center despite the Legislature defunding the highly controversial office last year. Earlier in the evening, Beavers, an announced candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, touched briefly on the issue in her remarks to the Cannon County Republican Party Reagan Day Dinner in Woodbury. It was important, Beavers said in her talk, that we uphold the morals of our country as our Founding Fathers intended. She noted that the diversity department at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville had been mired in controversy, and for those reasons had lost significant state funding in the Tennessee General Assembly’s budgeting process. “They got their money back,” Beavers told the crowd of about 125, then added that the administration at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville then proceeded to hire a head of the “Pride Department.” Williamson County businessman Bill Lee, another announced candidate for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, also spoke at the event,…

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State Rep. Judd Matheny Pledges ‘To Orchestrate a Massive Response to Davidson County’s Attempt at Embracing Sanctuary City Status’

Tennessee Star Staff

State Rep. Judd Matheny (R-Tullahoma) gave it to the Metropolitan Davidson County/Nashville Government with both barrels in a brief speech he delivered at the Cannon County Republican Party Reagan Day Dinner in Woodbury on Friday night. “I pledge, along with my colleagues in the House, to orchestrate a massive response to Davidson County’s attempt at embracing sanctuary city status,” Matheny told the crowd. Matheny then spelled out exactly how opponents of the Metro Nashville Council’s proposed sanctuary city ordinance in the Tennessee General Assembly will respond. “They come to us every year for a lot of money, for professional sports teams, mass transit, tourism, business development and other initiatives they ask the state to support,” Matheny said. “If the council won’t yield to the pressure they will face prior to the July 6 third reading of the proposed ordinance, then my colleagues and I will do everything in our power to deprive Metro Nashville of funds,” he vowed. “On July 7, there will be all out political war after July 6,” Matheny said. The crowd, estimated to number about 125, appeared to be unanimously in agreement with Matheny’s sentiments. In addition to Matheny, State Senator Mae Beavers (R-Mt. Juliet) and…

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Middle Tennessee Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America Looking to Make Impact

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  A Middle Tennessee chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is trying to gain a foothold in local politics. The group had its first meeting and created a Facebook page in April 2016. Early posts showed enthusiastic support for Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders in his quest to become the Democratic nominee in last year’s presidential election. More recent posts have announced the inaugural gathering of the chapter’s legislative working group and a regular monthly meeting with a focus on “discussing healthcare, labor, LGBTQ rights, feminism, anti-racism work, and much more through a socialist lens.” The group supports universal healthcare and minimum wage laws, and has backed causes promoted by Black Lives Matter and the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC). The group’s Facebook page, featuring a portrait and quote by Marxist revolutionary Angela Davis, has only around 400 followers. But its affiliation is with the largest socialist organization in the U.S. which has several other chapters in Tennessee. The DSA was formed in 1982 as a result of the merger of two organizations. The DSA’s other Tennessee chapters and organizing committees are in Memphis, Knoxville and Chattanooga. There are campus chapters at Sewanee: University of the South and the University…

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Commentary: Trump Understates Mueller-Comey Friendship As ‘Bothersome’

Tennessee Star Staff

President Donald Trump, in an interview with “Fox & Friends,” called the friendship between James Comey and Robert Mueller “very bothersome.” That’s the understatement of the year. The two don’t only share a warm relationship. They also share the common interest of investigating Trump and Trump-tied officials, supposedly in a non-biased, independent, above-the-political-fray type of way.…

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