The three Republican senators that struck down the party’s seven-month push to repeal and replace Obamacare in July are threatening to once again thwart a last-ditch effort to upend the American health care system. Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine are all signaling that they might vote against…
Read the full storyDay: September 18, 2017
Lipscomb University President Apologizes for Centerpieces After Accusations of Racial Insensitivity
Lipscomb University President Randy Lowry apologized Friday for cotton stalk centerpieces that offended some African-American students invited to his home Thursday for a dinner to promote diversity on campus. “The content of the centerpieces was offensive, and I could have handled the situation with more sensitivity,” Lowry said in an email to the Lipscomb community that the school shared on Facebook. “I sincerely apologize for the discomfort, anger or disappointment we caused and solicit your forgiveness.” Lipscomb is a private Christian liberal arts school in Nashville affiliated with the conservative Churches of Christ. One student who attended the dinner wrote on Facebook, “We were very offended, and also the meals that were provided resembled many ‘black meals’ they had mac n cheese, collard greens, corn bread etc.” The student’s post included a photo of one of the cotton stalk centerpieces, a type of trendy decor depicted in many varieties on Pinterest. Hobby Lobby is getting slammed by a woman on social media for selling similar decor because “there is nothing decorative about raw cotton” as it represents “a commodity which was gained at the expense of African-American slaves.” In his apology, Lowry said, “I have heard from a number of students who…
Read the full storyNASCAR’s Cancer Warrior Gives Update on Her Serious Health Battle
sherry pollex win chicago Sherry Pollex is beautiful. Not the kind of beautiful for which makeup and a hair straightener is required. No, she is the sort of beautiful that is natural, the sort of beautiful that is undeniable whether she is waking up or working out. On this particular morning at Chicagoland Speedway before the…
Read the full storySHAKEN: Nancy Pelosi’s DACA Event Overtaken by Dreamer Protests
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi was interrupted at a press event Monday by a group of over 100 immigration activists. As Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, was speaking to a crowd in San Francisco, a group of so-called Dreamers or DACA recipients, people brought to the U.S. illegally as children, overtook the stage and began chanting. “You…
Read the full storyThe Emmy Awards: The Trump Bashing Never Stopped
The Emmy Awards all but when they hired “Late Show” star Stephen Colbert to host the 2017 ceremony. The awards extravaganza delivered exactly what no one needed — another night that revolved almost entirely around putdowns of the president of the United States. Colbert has been enjoying a ratings comeback thanks to his increasingly anti-Trump humor…
Read the full storyBob Corker’s Much Vaunted Meeting With President Trump Uneventful
Washington pundits were abuzz with speculation late last week when it was announced that Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) would meet with President Trump at the White House on Friday. News reports about what transpired at that meeting when the two men finally met in person after several weeks of mutual public criticism suggest the results were largely uneventful. “The president and Senator Corker had a productive meeting in which they discussed a wide range of shared legislative priorities for the fall session,” the Washington Examiner reported “the White House said in a readout following the sit-down.” That plain vanilla statement about a “a productive meeting” is standard operating procedure in Washington for describing meetings where nothing of substance is accomplished. The Examiner story continued: Corker, who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, sat down with Trump days before the president is slated to meet with several heads of state at the 72nd annual United Nations General Assembly at UN headquarters in New York City. The two men discussed the current state of foreign affairs and the administration’s desire for bipartisan tax reform, according to the readout. “The administration looks forward to continued partnership with Senator Corker and other members of…
Read the full storyBill Federer Commentary: Was America’s Formation a Miracle?
George Washington kneeling in prayer “Done…the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty seven.” This is the last line of the U.S. Constitution. Signer of the Constitution James McHenry noted in a diary entry (published in the American Historical Review, 1906), that after Ben Franklin left the…
Read the full storyTrump Lets Loose on ‘Rocket Man’ Kim, ‘Crooked Hillary’
Donald Trump let loose on Twitter Sunday with a shoot-from-the-hip volley of posts referring to North Korea’s leader Kim Jong-Un as “Rocket Man” — and picturing himself taking out Hillary Clinton with a golf ball. The US leader spoke Saturday night with South Korea’s President Moon Jae-In, pledging joint “steps to strengthen deterrence and defense capabilities…
Read the full storySen. Feinstein Defends Grilling of Federal Judicial Nominee Over Her Catholic Faith
Sen. Dianne Feinstein defended Sunday her much-criticized grilling of a judicial nominee over her Catholic faith, saying that Amy Coney Barrett had made “questionable” statements in her writings. Ms. Feinstein said that she considered Catholicism to be a “great religion,” but that it was appropriate for the Senate Judiciary Committee to quiz Ms. Barrett about her…
Read the full storySurvey Shows Many Americans Know Little About the Constitution
A new survey shows huge swaths of the American public don’t know the most basic tenets of their government, and a Hillsdale College politics professor says the lack of knowledge is playing a huge role in the politics of outrage and violence, since the perpetrators have no idea how the United States is supposed to work.…
Read the full storyDonald Trump’s U.N. Meeting Today an ‘America First’ Forum
President Trump arrives Monday at his first United Nations General Assembly on a mission to cultivate friendships and call out enemies, officials said, with a plan to aggressively put his “America First” agenda into action on the world stage. Mr. Trump will be pushing reforms to the U.N. and rethinking America’s massive contributions, brokering economic deals…
Read the full storyKenny Chesney Rescues Stranded Teens from Hurricane-Ravaged Virgin Islands
Kenny Chesney As Hurricane Irma ripped through the U.S. Virgin Islands, teenage brothers Jah-Haile Bruce and Jahbioseh Bruce lay fearfully on the floor of the shower in their home on St. John, pressed up against a concrete wall. “Five minutes later the roof just ripped off our head,” recalls Jah-Haile in an interview with CNN. Added…
Read the full storyUnderreported: What Happened When Government Tried to Fix a Coal Town in Kentucky
PAINTSVILLE, Ky.—When Ben Larrabee heard about a new government-funded job training program for the digital age that promised to turn “coal country” into “code country,” he stopped looking for other jobs. “The thing that got 800-plus people to apply and go through the process was that it promised jobs that would run from $30,000 to $40,000…
Read the full storyConstitution Week Kicks Off with Nationwide ‘Preamble Challenge’ and Constitution Bee in Tennessee
The country began its week-long celebration of the 230th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution by delegates to the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia on September 17, 1787 with a nationwide “Preamble Challenge” issued to secondary and elementary school students by the Civics Renewal Network on Monday. At least two schools in Tennessee are participating in the Preamble Challenge. “We plan to read ‘Shh! We’re Writing the Constitution’ and complete a Preamble Scramble and a Constitution Scavenger Hunt to learn what the Constitution says, what it means, and its importance. On Constitution Day, we will gather around our flag pole for a dramatic reading of the Constitution,” a participating teacher at Copper Basin Elementary School in Copperhill, Tennessee says. Camp Creek Elementary school in Greeneville, Tennessee is also participating. Constitution Week wraps up on Saturday in Pleasant View, Tennessee, when secondary school students from around the state gather at Sycamore High School to participate in what appears to be the first-ever Constitution Bee in the country. The winner of The Polk Foundation’s Tennessee Star Constitution Bee will receive a round trip flight to Washington, D.C. along with a parent. Among other scheduled events in the nation’s Capitol, the winner and a…
Read the full storyFaith: Verse of the Day for Monday, September 18
VERSE OF THE DAY Be blessed and be a blessing September 18, Monday Matthew 7:24-27 “Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. 26 And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. 27 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.”
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