Day: August 15, 2017

BREAKING: Judge Roy Moore and Luther Strange Headed Towards Runoff in Alabama GOP Special Senate Election

Tennessee Star Staff

Associated Press called the Alabama GOP Senate Special Election primary at 9 p.m central for Judge Roy Moore and Senator Luther Strange (R-AL) as the two top vote getters headed to a runoff race. Neither candidate obtained the majority needed to avoid a runoff. As of 10:09 pm central, Moore was in first place with 39.5 percent of the votes and Strange was in second place with 32.3 percent of the vote. The winner of the runoff will face Democratic primary winner Doug Jones in a December general election replace former Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL), now President Trump’s Attorney General. Rep. Mo Brooks finished in third place in the GOP primary and is out of the runoff. As of 10:09 pm central, the results are as follows: Roy S Moore (Republican) 39.5% 142,802 Luther Strange (Republican) 32.3% 116,649 Mo Brooks (Republican) 19.9% 71,853 Trip Pittman (Republican) 6.6% 23,898 Randy Brinson (Republican) 0.6% 2,191 Mary Maxwell (Republican) 0.4% 1,351 Bryan Peeples (Republican) 0.4% 1,321 James Beretta (Republican) 0.2% 834 Dom Gentile (Republican) 0.1% 281 Joseph F Breault (Republican) 0.1% 219 361,399 Total Votes

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Commentary: Left Conflates Southern Heritage with Hate in Wake of Charlottesville

Tennessee Star Staff

In states across the Old South, left-wing protestors targeted Confederate statues and monuments Monday in the wake of a white nationalist rally that took place Saturday in Charlottesville, Virginia. The Charlottesville rally, which saw protesters and counter-protesters violently clash and left one woman dead and 20 other people wounded, spurred the Left to redouble its efforts…

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Former Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey and Former Congressman Stephen Fincher Will Play Major Role In Diane Black’s Gubernatorial Campaign

Laura Baigert

In an August 14 press release, Diane Black for Governor announced “conservative leaders” former U.S. Congressman Stephen Fincher and former Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey as co-chairmen for her campaign. Dubbed “the latest sign that conservatives across Tennessee are rallying behind Diane Black’s campaign for governor,” the duo “will play a major role in [the] campaign.” Fincher represented the West Tennessee 8th Congressional District from 2011 to 2017, the same year that Black was elected to the Middle Tennessee 6th Congressional District. During his six years in Congress, Fincher would hardly be considered a conservative, even against Black’s relatively moderate scores. Black’s FreedomWorks lifetime score is 83 percent, while Fincher’s is 75 percent. Black’s Heritage Action score is 85 percent, while Fincher’s is 73 percent or sixth of seven Republicans, trailed only by Chuck Fleischman (TN-03) at 72 percent and two Democrats. Additionally, GovTrack rated Fincher as the second most absent for votes among all 432 House of Representatives rated in the 114th Congress (2015-16), which then makes him the ninth of nine for absences among the Tennessee delegation. Ron Ramsey was the first Republican to serve as Lt. Governor and Senate Speaker since Reconstruction, and is credited with strong leadership…

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Victor Ashe Commentary: Joint Legislative Committee Meets Today to Review Douglas Henry Museum Commission Rules That Stifle Dissent

Tennessee Star Staff

  A month ago the Douglas Henry Museum Commission met July 10 and adopted new by laws which purport to give the Commission the right to force a Commissioner to resign and which require a Commissioner to provide an advance copy of any column or article he/she might write to the Commission. No other Board or Commission in state government that I am aware of has sought such power to silence a dissenting member. If the late Senator Henry, who I knew for 49 years, was alive today I am sure he would join me in saying that robust debate and discussion is critical to all public bodies. Efforts to impose prior restraint on speech are unconstitutional and contrary to sound public policy in a democracy. I was one of the original Commission members and the first chairman of the Commission after its creation. The Joint Legislative committee on rules and regulations is holding a hearing today, August 15, to review these rules. The Commission majority takes the position that the joint committee does not have jurisdiction. I strongly disagree. An effort to force a member to resign under certain conditions is not a policy, it is a rule. I…

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Judd Matheny Hires Former Top Ted Cruz Strategist for 6th Congressional District Campaign Team

Tennessee Star Staff
Tennessee Star

State Rep. Judd Matheny (R-Tullahoma) announced the hiring of John Drogin, a former top Ted Cruz strategist for his campaign to win the Republican nomination for the Sixth Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06), who is running for governor. “Drogin has more than 15 years of experience working for successful, conservative campaigns. He served as campaign manager for Ted Cruz’s first Senate Campaign in 2011-2012, which was called the “biggest upset of 2012.” He then served as State Director for Cruz’s Senate office, and as a senior advisor to the main Super PACs supporting Cruz for President,” the Matheny campaign said in a statement to The Tennessee Star. He is the founder Drogin Group, a political and digital media consulting firm. “John Drogin is a great American. He has the same energy and principled conservative DNA that is part of the political souls of Tennesseans in the 6th District. He will be a great asset to a successful campaign for us,” State Rep. Matheny said. Drogin was equally enthuiastic about joining the Matheny campaign. “Judd gets it. He is the true, principled conservative in this race. Voters are hungry for someone who will change the status quo in Washington.…

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Franklin Graham Defends Trump’s Response To Charlottesville, ‘Satan Is Behind It All’

Tennessee Star Staff

Evangelist Franklin Graham defended President Donald Trump’s response to the Charlottesville riot, calling the violence Satanic and Trump’s critics absurd. Graham directly refuted Charlottesville Democratic Mayor Michael Signer’s claim that Trump was to blame for the violence of the white supremacists in a Sunday Facebook post. The post laid blame with the local politicians and leaders…

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FLASHBACK: Charlottesville Mayor Declares City ‘Capital Of The Resistance’

Tennessee Star Staff

Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer declared the city the “capital of the resistance” at a rally held in January following the election of President Donald Trump. Signer organized the rally to announce his plans to “resist” the Trump administration by providing legal assistance to immigrants and directing the Charlottesville’s Human Rights Commission to address reports of xenophobia…

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World War II Veteran Goes Skydiving In Tennessee For His 95th Birthday

Wendy Wilson
Tennessee Star

  A World War II veteran celebrated his 95th birthday Saturday with a tandem skydive in Whiteville, a small town about 60 miles east of Memphis. Roy Angin lives in Hernando, Mississippi, at the Wesley Meadows Retirement Community. He attended the U.S. Army Airborne School in 1940 and served overseas as a paratrooper in the war, said Alex Coker, a skydiver instructor and DeSoto County Sheriff’s deputy, reports WREG News Channel 3. Angin and Coker flew to 14,500 feet above Tennessee for the tandem skydive. The skydive was arranged through West Tennessee Skydiving. Angin hadn’t jumped in more than 60 years, according to Karen Hill, program director at the retirement community. But Angin told her it was on his bucket list and that if former President George H.W. Bush could do it, so could he. In 2014, Bush, also a WWII veteran, celebrated his 90th birthday by skydiving. Bush also went skydiving when he turned 75, 80 and 85. Angin is already thinking about jumping again on his 100th birthday. He is currently the star of the retirement community’s Facebook page. He is pictured in the center’s profile photo wearing a t-shirt reading, “Skydiving@95.” There are also several posts featuring news coverage…

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Commentary: Mitch McConnell’s Ruling Class Chickens Roosting Comfortably in DC

Tennessee Star Staff

  by Jeffrey A. Rendall   Have Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s establishment chickens finally come home to roost? The answer depends on your point-of-view. If you’re a liberal you’re likely clucking at the ineptitude of the Republican Senate to pass any semblance of Obamacare repeal and replace. Similarly, if you’re a member of the Washington establishment you’re applauding the fact that a few GOP senators were willing and able to Chickens roostingbuck McConnell and join every single Democrat to prevent the repeal of even the tiniest smidgen of the crumbling Obama-era healthcare law. But if you’re a conservative proponent of a constitutionally limited and restrained efficiently-run government you’re furious that McConnell couldn’t find a way – any way – to pressure a few antagonists into lending their support for the basic concept of reforming healthcare. And if you’re President Trump you’re now up in New Jersey (on a “working vacation”) looking back on your first half year in office wondering why you should have to explain to everyone within shouting distance why none of the big agenda items from last year’s campaign have managed to make it to your desk for a signature. All fingers point to the puffy-faced…

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WATCH: Richmond Journalist Assaulted During Confederate Statue Protest

Tennessee Star Staff

Protestors assaulted a Virginia reporter during a march calling to remove Confederate statues Sunday night. The CBS 6 photojournalist attended the march, outside of his work capacity, and filmed many of the protesters as they marched down the streets of Richmond. Some of the protesters got angry with the photojournalist documenting the protest and confronted him.…

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Mayors of 44 Tennessee Counties Where President Trump Won Overwhelmingly Have Endorsed ‘Never-Trumper’ Randy Boyd for Governor

Chris Alto
Tennessee Star

  Since launching earlier this year, Randy Boyd’s gubernatorial campaign has sent out numerous press releases announcing the names of county mayors who are supporting him for governor.  To date, 45 county mayors across Tennessee have endorsed Boyd. The state has 95 counties. In 44 of these 45 counties where Boyd has claimed the mayor’s support, President Trump won the vote overwhelmingly over Hillary Clinton in the November 2016 general election – with anywhere from 56.4 percent to 84.9 percent of the vote. (Shelby County is the lone exception) Here is the list of the 44 counties won convincingly by President Trump whose county mayors have pledged support to Boyd for Governor: Anderson, Bledsoe, Blount, Bradley, Carroll, Claiborne, Cocke, Decatur, Dyer, Fayette, Fentress, Franklin, Gibson, Greene, Hamblen, Hancock, Henry, Hickman, Humphreys, Jefferson, Johnson, Lake, Lawrence, Lewis, Lincoln, Loudon, Marshall, Monroe, Montgomery, Moore, Morgan, Obion, Overton, Pickett, Rhea, Roane, Scott, Sequatchie, Sevier, Unicoi, Union, Washington, Weakley, White. By supporting Boyd for governor, these county mayor are going against the voters on a key issue that put Trump in the White House, namely, illegal immigration. Boyd, who says he “aspire[s] to be like” failed presidential candidate Mitt Romney, aligned himself with “never-Trump”…

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Hillary Clinton Email Case Expands As FBI Finds More Confidential Messages

Tennessee Star Staff

The Hillary Clinton email fiasco isn’t ending anytime soon, with State Department officials saying they have no idea when they will finish sorting though and releasing the previously hidden messages. More classified documents that the former secretary of state improperly handled keep coming to light. The Trump administration doesn’t even know if it has hunted down…

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Faith: Verse of the Day for Tuesday, August 15

Dana Hunsinger Gill
Tennessee Star - Verse of the Day

  VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing August 15, Tuesday Daniel 6:23 The king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. And when Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. Proverbs 3:5-7 5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.

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