Day: September 25, 2018

President Trump to Hold MAGA Midterm Rally Oct. 1 in Johnson City for Marsha Blackburn, Will ‘Share Great News About Booming Economy’

Jason M. Reynolds
Tennessee Star

President Donald Trump will hold a Make America Great Again (MAGA) midterm rally Oct. 1 in Johnson City. The rally will be the president’s sixth in Tennessee – and first in Johnson City – since he began his first presidential race in June 2015, his campaign announced Monday. The rally will be held at 7 p.m. ET at the Freedom Hall. The president is expected to discuss the latest news on the booming Trump economy and the critical importance of protecting and expanding the GOP majorities in the House and Senate for his America First agenda. “We are pleased to announce our next scheduled Make America Great Again rally on Monday, October 1 in Johnson City, Tennessee,” said Michael Glassner, chief operating officer for Donald J. Trump for President Inc. “With just 44 days from today until the midterm elections, President Trump looks forward to sharing the great news about the booming economy that’s delivered new jobs and bigger paychecks to Tennessee families. The President will also remind Tennesseans of the critical importance to get out and vote for Marsha Blackburn for the U.S. Senate.” The public may register online for the rally here. You may only register up two…

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Commentary: The Suicidal Sanctimony of Phony Conservatives

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by Chris Buskirk   Christine Blasey Ford made scurrilous accusations against Brett Kavanaugh for actions she claims occurred nearly 35 years ago when they were both minors. Both Judge Kavanaugh and Mark Judge, who Ford also claims was present have vehemently and categorically denied her claims. The people who know Kavanaugh, as well as decades of evidence of a life lived with dignity and propriety, support him. Even one of the people Ford claims was a witness denies her claims. Ford says that Leland Keyser was a friend of hers and was at the party in 1982. But Keyser says she has no recollection of the party. Not only that, she denies knowing or ever being in a social situation with Kavanaugh. Keyser’s statement calls into question whether the party occurred at all, which would make Ford’s claims against Kavanaugh entirely false. Predictably, however, Ford has been joined by Stormy Daniels’ execrable mouthpiece, Michael Avenatti. Now a Yale classmate is making claims about some nudity at a dorm party, which have been questioned or denied by people who were allegedly there. So why are some self-described conservatives signing up to help this circus along? What’s Different Now False accusations and smear…

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Promoting Religious Liberty Affirms ‘Human Dignity,’ Pompeo Tells Values Voter Summit

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by Fred Lucas   Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reaffirmed Friday that the Trump administration is committed to religious liberty, both at home and abroad. Speaking at the conservative Values Voter Summit in Washington, Pompeo said that more than 80 percent of the world’s population lives in countries that place significant limitations on religious freedom. He singled out Iran and China. “We are assuring human dignity by advancing one of our most cherished, indispensable liberties, enshrined in the First Amendment. It is our religious liberty,” said Pompeo, a former member of the House from Kansas and CIA director before becoming the nation’s chief diplomat in April. “Religious freedom is a universal, God-given right, to which all people are entitled,” Pompeo said. “Religious freedom is also a building block for free societies. Our Founders knew this.” Pompeo talked about the success of getting American detainees released from captivity in North Korea in May. “Far and away, the greatest highlight to date of my job as secretary of state has been bringing three Americans home from captivity in North Korea,” Pompeo said. He said the State Department now is focused heavily on securing the release and repatriation of Andrew Brunson, an American pastor who has been…

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Lose My Number: Spam Callers Abuse of System Prevents Mobile Users From Acknowledging Calls and Texts

Julie Carr

On Monday’s Gill Report– broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 1510 WLAC weekdays at 7:00 am – Star News Digital Media National Political Editor Steve Gill discussed the mass amounts of unwanted calls from sales and insurance companies and how it is preventing people from answering and opening calls and texts much like the times of the email spam days. He went on to close the commentary by calling for a solution to this growing problem. Gill continued: How often do you refuse to answer calls that either designate on your mobile phone that they may be spam, or it’s a blocked number, or you don’t identify the number? More and more people will not answer a call on their cell phone unless they knew who it is. So, you gotta leave a message and hope they call you back. And generally, if you get a call from a number you don’t recognize or from a blocked number and they don’t leave a message that’s a pretty good sign that it was one of those sales calls or spam calls. So, more and more people are not answering unless they have your number in their phone. And now a new report…

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Phil Bredesen’s Connections to Hillary Clinton Go Back Decades to Their Work Together for Liberal Democrat Presidential Candidate Eugene McCarthy in 1968

Steve Gill
Phil Bredesen and Hillary Clinton

These days former Tennessee Governor and Democratic Party nominee Phil Bredesen is working overtime to distance himself from his huge donations to liberal Democratic political candidates, including over $44,000 to help elect Hillary Clinton.  A Tennessee SuperPAC is working to remind voters about that. Bredesen recognizes that his partisan political past doesn’t really fit his rebranding as a “non-partisan” who is “willing to work with President Trump.” The fact that Tom Steyer, the liberal Democrat billionaire from California who is spending $100 MILLION to impeach Trump, has made financial contributions to the Bredesen campaign also tends to undercut his “media makeover.” But Bredesen’s close connections to Hillary Clinton predate his financial support for her failed Presidential run in 2016. While the media hasn’t paid much attention to the fact, the truth is that Hillary and Bredesen worked together in New Hampshire in 1968 for liberal Democratic Presidential candidate Eugene McCarthy. Bredesen worked as a volunteer for McCarthy that year.  He wasn’t alone, as the New York Times says Hillary “found her voice” in the tumultuous political arena of 1968 when she ALSO worked for McCarthy in New Hampshire. Liberal birds of a feather flocked together in 1968. They still do. Another…

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Poll: Republican Party Enjoys Highest Favorability Rating In Seven Years

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by Evie Forham   The Republican Party is enjoying a favorability rating of 45 percent — its highest since 2011 — that could give Republicans hope for the upcoming midterm elections, according to a Gallup poll published Monday. The survey also showed the Democratic Party’s favorability rating at 44 percent with a 4 percent margin of error. The Republican rating represents a 9-point increase from 36 percent in September 2017. The last time the Republican Party enjoyed a rating this high, it had just gained back control of the House of Representatives in the 2010 midterm elections. The party’s favorability level soared to 47 percent in 2011. Gallup attributed the Republicans’ rating to the growing economy and the middle-class-friendly tax reforms passed in December. The Republican Party had barely broken 40 percent favorability since 2013, according to Gallup. Republicans have an 85 percent favorability rating when only taking “Republicans and leaners” like independents into account, according to Gallup. That is compared to 67 percent in September 2017. There has been essentially no change in Democrats’ views on the Republican Party and their own party, according to Gallup. Democrats typically have “the upper hand” in favorability numbers, according to Gallup. The Gallup poll was conducted on Sept.…

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President Trump an ‘Absolute No’ on Puerto Rico Statehood Until ‘Good Leadership’ is In Place

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Puerto Rico

President Donald Trump on Monday declared himself an “absolute no” on statehood for Puerto Rico as long as critics such as San Juan’s mayor remain in office, the latest broadside in his feud with members of the U.S. territory’s leadership. Trump lobbed fresh broadsides at San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz, a critic of his administration’s response to hurricanes on the island last year, during a radio interview with Fox News’ Geraldo Rivera that aired Monday. “With the mayor of San Juan as bad as she is and as incompetent as she is, Puerto Rico shouldn’t be talking about statehood until they get some people that really know what they’re doing,” Trump said in an interview with Rivera’s show on Cleveland’s WTAM radio. Trump said that when “you have good leadership,” statehood for Puerto Rico could be “something they talk about. With people like that involved in Puerto Rico, I would be an absolute no.” Gov. Ricardo Rossello, an advocate of statehood for the island, said Trump’s remarks had trivialized the statehood process because of political differences. “The president said he is not in favor of statehood for the people of Puerto Rico based on a personal feud with a…

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Vatican Caves To China’s Demand, Recognizes Bishops Appointed By Communist Government

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by Joshua Gill   The Vatican reached a breakthrough in negotiations with China by acquiescing to Beijing’s demands to recognize eight bishops appointed by the country’s communist government. Chinese and Vatican officials announced Saturday that they had signed a “provisional agreement” to the effect that the Vatican would recognize eight bishops appointed by China’s communist government without papal approval and that all of China’s bishops would now be considered in full communion with the church. The Vatican issued a statement concerning the agreement, saying it was meant to foster conditions of greater collaboration between Beijing and the Vatican, but Chinese Catholics are divided over the agreement and some have harshly criticized it as a capitulation to China. “Pope Francis hopes that, with these decisions, a new process may begin that will allow the wounds of the past to be overcome, leading to the full communion of all Chinese Catholics,” the Vatican statement reads, according to The Associated Press. Negotiations between the church and China previously included the prospect of China’s recognition of nearly 40 bishops of the country’s underground Catholic Church, which refuses to bend the knee to the Communist Party run Patriotic Association, which governs state-regulated Catholic churches. The Vatican and Beijing…

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Tennessee State Lawmakers Gave Up a Section of the State Constitution When They Quickly Ratified The U.S. Constitution’s 26th Amendment

Gregory Watson

Back in 1971, the Tennessee General Assembly quickly ratified the 26th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which lowered the voting age in all elections–federal, state and local– to 18 in every state. By doing so, they voluntarily give up a section of the Tennessee State Constitution. Here’s that story: During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Vietnam War — with which the United States was heavily involved — continued to rage overseas.  With so many American soldiers — several of them younger than 20 years of age — dying on the battlefields of a foreign land in this War, public opinion within the United States began to shift in terms of by what age a person should become eligible to vote.  At the time, an individual had to be at least 21 years of age in order to register to vote. But with the evolution in social sentiment occasioned at least in part by the Vietnam War, Congress began to take steps to lower that age from 21 down to 18.  A popular slogan of the day was “if you are old enough to fight for your country, then you are old enough to cast a…

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Steve Osborne Commentary: #ConfirmKavanaugh Now

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by Steve Osborne   The Kavanaugh hearings have devolved into a disgraceful spectacle. As his accuser’s accusation falls apart, another accuser mysteriously appeared over the weekend saying the judge acted inappropriately during his freshman year in college. If you haven’t figured it out by now, let me tell you that this whole charade is an orchestrated attempt by the democrats, hoping to delay a vote on Kavanaugh’s appointment to SCOTUS. The Democrats see that there’s a possibility of retaking the majority in the senate. If they can delay the vote on Kavanaugh until after the midterm elections, the judge won’t get the necessary votes to be confirmed. All the while, the judge’s family has to endure unfounded mudslinging all for the sake of unseemly politics. Sadly, we’ve seen this movie before. The Honorable Robert Bork, nominated for SCOTUS by President Reagan, was publicly and unjustly ripped to shreds during his confirmation hearing, and failed to get the necessary votes to confirm his nomination. Justice Clarence Thomas was similarly defamed during his confirmation hearing by a democrat operative named Anita Hill. Thankfully, Justice Thomas, knowing Anita was a setup, read a statement prior to his vote in which he excoriated the…

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Bredesen’s History With Refugee Resettlement in Tennessee Consistent With Democrats in Congress Who Want Big Numbers Resettled in FY 2019

Chris Alto

Right after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that the FY2019 ceiling for refugee admissions would be no more than 30,000, Democrats in Congress flew into action and federal refugee resettlement contractors began objecting. On Thursday, 51 U.S. House Democrats, including Tennessee’s Steve Cohen, co-sponsored House Resolution 1073 calling for no fewer than 110,000 refugee admissions for fiscal year 2019 which begins on October 1st. This was the last refugee admission ceiling proposed by Obama before leaving office. The resolution also takes a swipe at President Trump’s integrity on the refugee issue by stating that Trump “and his administration must operate the United States Refugee Admissions Program (USRAP) in good faith.” Democrat Senate candidate Phil Bredesen’s history of welcoming thousands of refugees to Tennessee during his two terms as governor, is strong evidence that he agrees there should be a higher number of refugees brought to the U.S. in the coming year. Between 2003 and 2011, Bredesen’s last year as governor, over 9,000 refugees of multiple ethnicities were brought to Tennessee by federal contractors. The numbers do not, however, account for secondary migrants who are first resettled in other states or other parts of Tennessee but then relocate to follow friends,…

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