Day: December 8, 2017

Mark West Responds to Tea Party and Liberty Movement Pushback over His Endorsement of Diane Black for Governor

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After careful consideration over the course of several months, Chattanooga Tea Party Founder and President Mark West decided to endorse Rep. Diane Black (R-TN-06) in her bid for governor, as The Tennessee Star reported on Wednesday. An experienced activist, West was an early organizer of the Tea Party rallies in 2009 with his founding of the Chattanooga Tea Party. For nearly a decade, he has poured his time, talent and personal resources into critical efforts to promote politicians and policies that live up to his high standard of constitutional muster. West has won more political battles than he’s lost and along the way, has emerged as one of Tennessee’s most respected leaders of the Liberty movement. He expected some pushback from factions among his friends and allies in Tennessee’s conservative grassroots community for his endorsement of Rep. Black. But when some strident “keyboard warriors” began to attack Rep. Black’s stance on the sanctity of life, West decided to respond via a semi-private Facebook channel. With his permission, we publish his full remarks, here: Following my endorsement of Diane Black for Governor, there has been a harsh response from some. The personal attacks are fine. Sadly, I’ve come to realize that’s the norm from…

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GOP State Rep. Candidate Tommy Vallejos Marched With Open Border Groups Demanding Amnesty for Illegal Aliens

Chris Alto

Tommy Vallejos, a Montgomery County Commissioner and GOP candidate for Tennessee’s District 67 State House seat currently held by retiring State Rep. Joe Pitts (D-Clarksville), has been an advocate for both legal and illegal aliens in Tennessee. Vallejos is the founder and current Chairman of Latinos for Tennessee (L4TN) and former Director for Hispanic Organization for Progress & Education (HOPE), a position he held for almost five years but which is not referenced on his campaign’s website. Pitts’ wife Cynthia served on HOPE’s board during Vallejos’ tenure as director. While leading HOPE, Vallejos joined Soros-backed open border groups including the Tennessee Immigrant & Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) in the 2010 D.C. march organized by the National Immigration Forum. Rally-goers were demanding comprehensive immigration reform that along with border security, would include an amnesty and path to citizenship for illegal aliens. U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez, considered Congress’ most radical open borders advocate for illegal aliens, was the rally’s keynote speaker. Today, Vallejos tells The Tennessee Star that “I have never been for amnesty, but felt our immigration system was broken (still is) and needed reform.” As a recognized leader of the Latino community, Vallejos who described himself as a “staunch Republican,” opposed a 2006…

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Democrat Pundit and Former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Jr. Fired by Morgan Stanley for Allegedly Harassing, Intimidating, and Forcibly Grabbing a Woman

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Harold Ford

Former Tennessee Congressman Harold Ford, Jr was summarily dismissed from his position at a Managing Director at the investment firm Morgan Stanley amid an internal investigation by its Human Resource department, the Huffington Post reports. In an email to the progressive news and opinion giant, a Morgan Stanley spokesperson wrote, “He has been terminated for conduct inconsistent with our values and in violation of our policies.” At issue is an allegation by a woman Morgan Stanley says is not an employee, but interfaces with Ford in a professional capacity. She alleges he forcibly grabbed her and subsequently harassed her for a date. For his part, Ford denies the claim, saying in a statement via Twitter, “I support and have tremendous respect for the brave women now speaking out in this important national dialogue. False claims like this though undermine the real silence breakers.” The Huffington Post has interviewed the woman at the center of the allegation, and have agreed to keep her identity private: In two interviews with HuffPost, the woman alleged that Ford engaged in harassment, intimidation, and forcibly grabbed her one evening in Manhattan, leading her to seek aid from a building security guard. The incident took place several…

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Senator Al Franken Will Resign ‘In a Couple of Weeks’ Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations

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Sen. Al Franken on Thursday announced he was quitting the austere upper chamber amid mounting accusations that he forcibly kissed or groped women, bowing to resignation calls from at least 32 of his fellow Senate Democrats. However, he said he was stepping down despite knowing he was not guilty of the behavior described by his accusers. He said it was the right thing to do for the people of Minnesota.

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Commentary: Reflecting on Our Bill of Rights

JC Bowman

Regardless of personal political persuasion or affiliation, American citizens can unite around the Bill of Rights because it communicates our basic shared values. Limiting the power of government and safeguarding the rights of our citizens is something we must all make a conscientious effort to protect. We should be especially appreciative for the protection afforded in our Bill of Rights against a national government gaining ground against our most fundamental rights—freedom of speech, protest, and conscience guarantees our equal protection under the law. A free society does not just occur. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom.

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OFF THE RECORD: Democrats Hope ‘Pajama Gramp’ Bredesen Will Do Better in Tennessee Than ‘Pajama Boy’ Ossoff Did in Georgia

Tennessee Star Staff

  The Democratic National Committee and liberals in Washington, D.C., New York City, and San Francisco are hoping that “Pajama Gramp” Phil Bredesen will do better in the 2018 U.S. Senate race here in Tennessee than “Pajama Boy” Jon Ossoff did in Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District special election back in June. You may recall that the 30-year-old Ossoff raised well over $30 million from the liberal coastal bastions in an unsuccessful attempt to take the seat long held by Republicans away from GOP nominee Karen Handel. Though Handel was outspent by about 6 to 1, the Democratic strategy in Georgia failed miserably, as she defeated “Pajama Boy” Ossoff by a comfortable five point margin. Democrats are attempting to deploy that same out-of-state funding strategy in the Alabama special U.S. Senate election next Tuesday in which far left liberal Democrat Doug Jones seeks to defeat conservative Republican Roy Moore. They’ve thrown everything but the kitchen sink at Moore — almost all the money supporting Jones’ campaign comes from out of state and some very shady money is coming in to a shell independent expenditure group that appears to be financed to the tune of $3.4 million on in-kind contributions from Washington,…

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Congressional Candidate Mark Green Announces 147-Member Finance Committee

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State Senator Mark Green (R-Clarksville), a candidate for the Republican nomination in the 7th Congressional District, announced his campaign finance committee Thursday, as the candidate gears up for the grand opening of his first campaign office December 19: Today, Dr. Mark Green announced his 147-member Finance Committee for his campaign for Congress. 68 members of the General Assembly are on the Finance Committee, including 14 legislators who represent all 19 of the 19 counties in the 7th congressional district. Among the well-known Republican fundraisers on the Committee are former Williamson County Republican Party chairman Doug Grindstaff, former Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey, and business leaders Lee Beaman and Willis Johnson. The full list can be found here: http://www.markgreen4tn.com/finance_committee “Camie and I are truly honored and humbled to have this powerhouse group of political and business leaders on our finance committee. With this team’s leadership, we will have the resources to win this race,” Green noted. In the two months since announcing his run for Congress, Green has coalesced the conservative movement both nationally and in Tennessee behind his campaign, with endorsements from the Club for Growth, Family Research Council Action, the House Freedom Fund, Senator Ted Cruz, Senator Rick Santorum, Dr.…

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UK Movie-Theater Cineworld Will Buy Knoxville-Based Regal Entertainment Group for $3.6 Billion: Report

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Knoxville, Tennessee-based Regal Entertainment Group is being bought out for $3.6 billion by the U.K.’s Cineworld movie-theater chain, Variety reported Tuesday, amounting to a $23-per-share payout to stockholders. “Because of the size of the transaction, and the relative sizes of Cineworld and Regal, the acquisition has been classified as a reverse takeover,” Variety said. “It is subject to approval by Cineworld shareholders, who will be notified of a meeting and given more details on the merger next month.”

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Representative Jim Jordan Calls for Second Special Counsel over FISA Warrant on Trump Aides

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Rep. Jim Jordan said Thursday that an additional special counsel needs to be appointed to look into how a FISA warrant was obtained to look at members of President Trump’s campaign team. “The only logical way to get to the answers for the American people is to appoint a second special counsel. And if the attorney general is not going to do it, frankly, I don’t think he should be the attorney general,” Mr. Jordan, Ohio Republican, said on Fox News.

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Phil Bredesen Is a Big Supporter of ‘Mayor Moonbeam’ Megan Barry’s $5.4 Billion Mass Transit Boondoggle

Tennessee Star Staff

Former Gov. Phil Bredesen, who announced his candidacy for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by retiring Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) on Thursday, is a big supporter of “Mayor Moonbeam” Megan Barry’s $5.4 billion and growing mass transit boondoggle. Bredesen showed his support for the massive deal by sitting next to Barry when she announced the scheme back in October (at the time supposed to cost just $5.2 billion, according to the mayor). Barry recognized Bredesen at the announcement as having “the insight to know that an investment in infrastructure changes the city’s trajectory and changes it for decades.” “You started with the structure of the arena, then you followed it with a stadium. Go Titans. Yes. What followed from that was a city full of people, a city full of energy and a whole lot of Predators fans,” Barry said of Bredesen. It was under then-Mayor Bredesen’s term that Nissan Stadium (previously LP Field) was constructed at a cost that exceeded $291 million, $207 million or 71 percent of which came from taxpayers. The public funding came from allocations of city sales tax and other tax revenues as well as state bonds. Taxpayers are still paying those debts today,…

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