Tennessee Sen. Blackburn: White House Plans to Silence Critics in Run-Up to 2022

Sen. Blackburn: White House

Speaking to iHeartRadio host Sara Carter on Thursday, Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn condemned the Biden administration’s professed “flagging” of what it terms “disinformation” regarding COVID-19 for social-media companies.

“What they’ve set up is basically a premise that if your message is not government-approved, then what you’re going to experience is state-sponsored censorship….” Blackburn said.

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Attendees Lining Up the Night Before ‘Protect Our Elections’ Rally with Former President Trump Hosted by Turning Point Action

PHOENIX, Arizona – Dozens of good-spirited attendees were already lining up Friday evening outside the Arizona Federal Theatre in anticipation of the “Protect Our Elections” rally Saturday with former President Donald Trump hosted by Turning Point Action.

Most were planning to spend the night, despite the weather forecast that includes thunderstorms during the overnight after a day that started that way and continued with rain showers throughout most of the day.

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Commentary: The Liz Cheney Meltdown, and What It Means

Liz Cheney

Bye, Liz.

The abject implosion of a politician once thought to possess national prospects — though not due to her talent but rather her name and connections — might have been overshadowed by the alarming performance just a few hours later by our near-invalid president. But Liz Cheney’s bizarre performance on the U.S. Capitol steps Wednesday was nonetheless notable.

If you haven’t followed the lead-up to Wednesday’s meltdown, it involved the sham 9/11 Commission–style inquiry being built to examine the Capitol riot of Jan. 6. That inquiry, to be chaired by partisan hack Mississippi Democrat Bennie Thompson on behalf of Nancy Pelosi, is obviously not built to fully examine what happened that day; it’s built to assign blame to the Republican Party for what Pelosi and the rest of the Democrat Party is determined to present as a casus belli against half of the American people.

Pelosi’s Jan. 6 commission is a big deal, because she has turned the Capitol into an armed camp behind razor wire for most of the past six months and change over the dubious assertion that the protesters who descended on the building and briefly disrupted the vote to certify a presidential election that still reeks of irregularity and worse presented an “insurrection” and a “grave threat to democracy” to trump (pun not intended, but whatever) anything else since the Civil War.

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Host Leahy Questions Whether Gov. Lee Is Aware of His State’s Own Health Policy on the Mature Minor Doctrine

Gov. Bill Lee

  Live from Music Row Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy – broadcast on Nashville’s Talk Radio 98.3 and 1510 WLAC weekdays from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. – host Leahy discussed the firing of vaccine chief, Dr. Michelle Fiscus, and Governor Lee’s statement, which exposed his unfamiliarity with the Tennessee Department of Health’s mature minor doctrine. Michel Patrick Leahy: Well, we’ve been talking about Governor Billy’s statement yesterday about the termination of Dr. Michelle Fiscus, the state’s former vaccine chief. And there’s something wrong with the way he’s explained it, it seems to me. By the way, you can call in if you want to disagree or if you have any additional insight into this number. So here’s the story. Actually, I’m reading the story from Newsweek about this and will elaborate a little bit on some of the headlines that you heard on the radio during the break. Here’s how Newsweek reported it. Remember, Newsweek is part of The Daily Beast. It’s more of a far-left outfit. So take this with a grain of salt. But they have done the most comprehensive reporting that I’ve seen on this so far. Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee…

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Kamala Harris Tells Illegal Aliens That America ‘Is Your Home’

Kamala Harris

On Thursday, Vice President Kamala Harris met with several illegal aliens at the White House, promising them that the Biden Administration would fight against a judge’s ruling that the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) amnesty program was unconstitutional, as reported by Breitbart.

The illegals, referred to as “Dreamers” because they would have qualified for amnesty under Barack Obama’s failed Dream Act amnesty plan, met with the vice president both in-person and virtually over Zoom. Addressing the recent ruling that struck a major blow to DACA, an executive order signed by Obama as the successor to the Dream Act after the latter failed to pass through Congress, Harris told the illegals that “this is your home, this is your home, and we see you, and you are not alone.”

Harris went on to claim, with no evidence, that some illegals have gone on to work for Fortune 500 companies, have worked in health care, or have served in the military. “Many have been living recently, these years, a life of uncertainty,” she said, “even though this is the only country they have ever known. They deserve a pathway to citizenship.”

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California Certifies 46 Candidates for Recall Ballot as New Poll Shows Newsom’s Support Shrinking

Gavin Newsom

The California Secretary of State’s Office has certified 46 candidates running for governor against Gov. Gavin Newsom during September’s recall election. The list includes five more candidates from the preliminary list released on Saturday, including conservative radio commentator and Republican candidate Larry Elder, who had been left off the list and successfully sued to be added back on.

“Victory!” Elder tweeted after the court ordered he be added to the list. “My next one will be on Sept. 14 at the ballot box.”

The recall election is scheduled for Sept. 14.

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Psaki Says White House Won’t Be Releasing Numbers of ‘Breakthrough Cases’

Press Secretary Jen Psaki

A day after Press Secretary Jen Psaki announced “a commitment to transparency” regarding White House COVID-19 disclosures, she told reporters that the White House will not be releasing the number of “breakthrough cases” that occur on its campus.

The term “breakthrough cases” refers to fully vaccinated individuals who have come down with the coronavirus. Transparency advocates argue that the American people can be given that information without invading the privacy of COVID-stricken White House employees.

On Wednesday, after admitting that there had been multiple COVID cases at the White House that had not been previously revealed, Psaki said that the White House would only announce positive tests among officials if they had come into contact with Joe Biden, Kamala Harris or their spouses.

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Texas Starts Jailing Illegal Aliens on State Charges of Trespassing

Texas authorities announced on Thursday that state law enforcement has begun the process of arresting and jailing illegal aliens who cross the border on state trespassing charges, in a new effort to crack down on illegal immigration where the federal government is failing to do so, ABC News reports.

This latest step follows up on the promises of Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas), who first vowed in June to step up enforcement of immigration laws in the state in direct response to the Biden Administration’s open-borders approach. Abbott also declared that the state would continue building the border wall that was started by President Donald Trump, on which Biden had halted construction after taking power.

The arrested illegals are being detained at a state prison in the city of Dilley, roughly 100 miles north of the border. All of the illegals who have been arrested thus far are single adult men, who are the most likely to be a threat to society. The prison in question is capable of holding up to 950 illegals, but Abbott said in a visit to the border on Saturday that “the state jail commission has worked out a way to jail far more people than are currently being jailed.”

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Biden Administration Pays $3 Million Every Day to Not Build the Border Wall

The Biden administration is spending around $3 million daily to not finish construction on the southern border wall, Republican Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford said Wednesday.

Around $2 billion in taxpayer dollars have been wasted on paying Department of Defense (DOD) contractors to not build the border wall since Jan. 20, increasing by at least $3 million daily, according to Lankford. Former President Donald Trump allocated $10 billion to the DOD for border wall construction and the Biden administration had spent about $2 billion on suspension and termination costs paid to contractors.

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Democrats Introduce Bill Holding Tech Companies Liable for ‘Health Misinformation’

Amy Klobuchar and Ben Ray Luján

Senate Democrats introduced legislation Thursday removing liability protections from online platforms that promote content deemed health misinformation.

The bill, proposed by Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Ben Ray Lujan on Thursday, seeks to carve out an exception from Section 230 liability shields enjoyed by online platforms, such as Facebook or YouTube, if those platforms boost content classified as health misinformation, Vox first reported.

The legislation, known as the Health Misinformation Act, directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to create a definition of health misinformation, and strips liability protections from platforms “if the provider promotes that health misinformation through an algorithm used by the provider.” HHS defined health misinformation in an advisory last week as “information that is false, inaccurate, or misleading according to the best available evidence.”

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Commentary: Biden Gaffe Renews Questions About COVID Transparency

Joe Biden smiling at crowd

President Biden so desperately wants the vaccine-hesitant part of the country to get their shots that he may have spread a little misinformation. “You are not going to get COVID,” he promised during a CNN town-event Wednesday night, “if you have these vaccines.”

Of course, this is not true. Biden knows it. He said as much later during the forum, explaining that, while vaccinated individuals enjoy significant protections, they can still test positive for the virus. But even if that happens, the president pointed out, the vaccine largely mitigates the most serious dangers. “You are not going to be hospitalized,” he said, reciting the latest scientific consensus. “You are not going to be in the IC unit, and you are not going to die.”

The fact that fully vaccinated individuals can still contract the coronavirus is a medical reality. It has also led to more uncomfortable questions about transparency for the Biden administration.

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Knoxville City Council to Appoint Members to African American Equity Restoration Task Force

Knoxville City Council will appoint its first members to the African American Equity Restoration Task Force during its meeting next Tuesday. The task force will consist of the following members: George Underwood, Enkeshi El-Amin, Brandon Hardin, Regina Olum, Anderson Olds, Dave Miller, Deborah Porter, Matthew Best, Tanisha Fitzgerald Baker, Bill Lyons, Stanley Taylor, and Gwen McKenzie. 

These members were selected from applicants that qualified as business, community, financial, educational, faith, health care, youth, and city leaders. According to the council documents, the task force will determine its organizational and leadership structure during its first meeting. 

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GOP Ohio Gubernatorial Candidate Renacci Blasts Gov. DeWine in Expanding FirstEnergy Scandal

Jim Renacci

  COLUMBUS, Ohio – FirstEnergy Corp.’s agreement this week to pay a $230 million fine in the ongoing federal investigation into an Ohio Statehouse bribery scheme has generated more criticism from GOP gubernatorial candidate Jim Renacci who is seeking to take the 2022 Republican nomination from incumbent Governor Mike DeWine. The Akron-based electric utility on Thursday agreed to the massive fine after admitting it paid an energy consultant – who DeWine later selected to be chairman of the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio – $4.3 million to help formulate House Bill 6, a 2019 piece of legislation supporting a $1.3 billion ratepayer bailout of two nuclear power plants a FirstEnergy spinoff owns. That legislation passed after an alleged $60 million bribery scheme that funneled cash to the election campaigns of various state legislators through a so-called “dark money” political action committee, or PAC. FirstEnergy has now claimed it paid consultant Sam Randazzo the money for helping craft the legislation and in anticipation of further assistance when he took over as PUCO chair in February 2019. Former Congressman Jim Renacci, one of two announced opponents for the GOP nomination, on Friday said the unwinding scandal implicates DeWine for “helping create a…

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Florida Gov. DeSantis Places Ben & Jerry’s on Boycott List

On Thursday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called on the State Board of Administration (SBA) to place Ben & Jerry’s on the Continued Examination Companies that Boycott Israel List as well as the Scrutinized Companies that Boycott Israel List.

DeSantis called on the SBA by way of letter to show the historic relationship between Florida and the nation of Israel, and the “commitment to a swift response to those who discriminate against the Israeli people.”

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Minnesota Sen. Klobuchar Cosponsors Bill to Stop Spread of ‘Misinformation’ on Social Media

A Minnesota senator is cosponsoring a bill that would punish social media companies for allowing the spread of “medical misinformation.” 

“These are some of the biggest, richest companies in the world and they must do more to prevent the spread of deadly vaccine misinformation,” Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) said. “The coronavirus pandemic has shown us how lethal misinformation can be and it is our responsibility to take action.”

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Biden Stumps for Virginia Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Terry McAuliffe

ARLINGTON, Virginia – President Joe Biden joined Democratic gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe at Lubber Run Community Center on Friday evening. Biden, McAuliffe, and leading Virginia Democrats hyped progress made under their administrations and repeatedly linked GOP gubernatorial candidate Glenn Youngkin to former President Donald Trump.

“Terry and I, we share a lot in common. I ran against Donald Trump, so is Terry,” Biden said to laughter and applause. “And I beat Donald Trump in Virginia and so will Terry.”

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D.C. Police to Hold Street-Corner Food Pantry on July 28

Washington, D.C. police officers will be hosting a food pantry at the corner of Martin Luther King Avenue and Melon Street, Southeast next Wednesday at 11 a.m. Local residents can walk up and ask the officers for items.

“It’s not just about groceries, it’s how you make people feel. And that goes for the officers as well as citizens from the community,” Code 3 Association Executive Director Joseph Abdalla said.

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Georgia County GOP Clashes with Raffensperger After Office Brushes Off Voter Fraud

Just days after Secretary of State’s office chief operation officer Gabriel Sterling brushed off concrete proof of illegal voting in the 2020 election, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) was met with protests in Bibb County. 

GOP protestors in Bibb County held up signs and demanded a full forensic audit of the vote tallies in the Peach State as Raffensperger spoke to the Bibb County GOP, according to WMAZ. 

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U.S. Rep. Al Lawson Jr. Endorses Charlie Crist for Florida Governor in 2022

U.S. Representative for Florida’s 5th Congressional District, Al Lawson Jr., announced his endorsement of 2022 Gubernatorial candidate and current U.S. Representative, Charlie Crist on Thursday. 

Lawson, a Democrat, was re-elected to his third term in 2020 and has represented the 5th Congressional District in North Florida since 2017. Before Congress, Lawson represented North Florida for 28 years in the state legislature.

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Minnesota State Rep. John Thompson Apologizes to Police Sergeant, While Scrutiny About Abuse Grows

St. Paul Police officer

Representative John Thompson allegedly apologized to the St. Paul police officer that he accused of “racial profiling” who pulled him over on July 4 for driving without a front license plate. St. Paul Police spokesman Steve Linders said in an interview with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that, “John Thompson did show up unannounced at our Western District offices…so he could apologize to the sergeant who pulled him over on July 4th.”

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COVID-19 Cases Barely Pass 1,000 Per Day in Arizona

Despite fears that COVID-19 cases are surging in Arizona due to the state’s low vaccination rate and the emergence of the delta variant, new cases barely exceed 1,000 per day. The most recent data from Worldometer, which is cited by reputable organizations and governments around the world, shows the number of new daily cases was 1,043 on July 21. The number of new cases has stayed generally between 500 and 1,000 since the beginning of March.

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Former President Trump Blasts Cleveland Indians Name Change

President Trump Blasts Cleveland Indians

Calling the move a “disgrace,” former President Donald Trump blasted the decision by the Cleveland Indians to change their name to the “Guardians.”

“Can anybody believe that the Cleveland Indians, a storied and cherished baseball franchise since taking the name in 1915, are changing their name to the Guardians? Such a disgrace, and I guarantee that the people who are most angry about it are the many Indians of our Country,” Trump said in a statement on Friday.

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Feds Won’t Investigate Michigan Gov. Whitmer’s COVID-19 Nursing Home Policy

Old woman sitting on brown bench

The U.S. Department of Justice won’t investigate Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s nursing home policies.

The initial inquiry was opened under former President Donald Trump’s administration, which requested data from Michigan.

Now, 11 months later under Joe Biden’s administration, the probe won’t happen. Democrat Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel refused to investigate as well.

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Tucson, Arizona Petition to Raise Minimum Wage to $15 Will Appear on November Ballot

The Tucson City Clerk approved the signatures for a petition to adopt a $15 minimum wage citywide, meaning it will be placed on this November’s ballot. If approved by voters, the minimum wage would increase incrementally for the next four years, starting in April of next year. The minimum wage would first increase to $13 next year, $13.50 by January 2023, and $14.25 by January 2024. That means the $15 minimum wage would be established in January 2025.

The city clerk’s office verified with The Arizona Sun Times that they certified the petition on Thursday, called “The Tucson Minimum Wage Act.” The petition needed over 14,800 signatures; the campaign reportedly gathered over 25,000 signatures. The campaign, Tucson Fight for $15, submitted the signatures at the beginning of this month. 

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Minneapolis City Council Frustrated over Slow Review of 2020 Unrest Response

Minneapolis Police Department

The Minneapolis City Council is frustrated over the slow review of the city’s response to the unrest in 2020. Minneapolis was plagued by riots as well as peaceful protests after the death of Goerge Floyd on May 25, 2020. Due to the massive amounts of damage and the repercussions of the violence, the city contracted a third party consulting group to assess the city’s response to the situation. As reported on FOX 9, “A final report and its recommendations aren’t due until January of next year but some city council members say that’s too long to wait.”

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State Senator Says Tennessee Children Could Still Get COVID-19 Vaccine Without Parental Consent, but Only in Rare Circumstances

State Sen. Kerry Roberts (R-Springfield) on Friday accused the media of trying to drive a wedge between him and Tennessee Department of Health (TDOH) Commissioner Lisa Piercey when it comes to giving the COVID-19 vaccine to children. Roberts co-chairs the legislature’s Joint Government Operations Committee. He voiced concerns this week about state officials administering the vaccine to children without parental consent. Roberts said Thursday that he and Piercey agreed that administering the COVID-19 vaccine to children — without parental consent — violates TDOH policy.

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