Day: February 23, 2022

Bannon’s WarRoom Discusses ‘Super Neo-Con’ Morgan Ortagus’ Upcoming D.C. Fundraiser ‘Filled with Trump Adversaries’

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The Tennessee Star’s Aaron Gulbransen appeared on Bannon’s War Room Wednesday to discuss his report on Morgan Ortagus’ upcoming fundraiser in Washington, D.C., where the congressional hopeful will be hosted by a former Trump administration State Department staffer who was fired for tweeting that President Trump was unfit for office, as well as several NeverTrumpers.

War Room host Steve Bannon began, “Morgan Ortagus – have you heard her name? She worked for Pompeo in the State Department – a super neo-con. She’s announced. She went district shopping in to run for Congress. She found it in the great state of Tennessee.”

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Pompeo Endorses Morgan Ortagus for TN-5, But Dodges Questions on Her Carpetbagger Status

Aaron Gulbransen

Former Trump administration Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has endorsed Morgan Ortagus in the race for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The Tennessee Star reached out to Secretary Pompeo’s team for comment on his endorsement of Ortagus and Secretary Pompeo’s team dodged the issue of her recent immigration to Tennessee.

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Vanderbilt Concerned After Uptick in Suicide Among Medical Students

Peter D'Abrosca
Woman in lab coat looking through microscope

Vanderbilt University is concerned after four of its medical school students have committed suicide in less than two years. 

“Vanderbilt University is committed to a culture of caring in which the well-being of all community members—our extraordinary students, the faculty who teach them, and the staff who play an immeasurable role in the success of this remarkable university—is enhanced and supported,” Vanderbilt said in a statement. “We strive to foster a culture of openness through brave dialogue, honest self-reflection, and willingness to invest in this incredible university by investing first in the mental health and wholeness of every member of the Vanderbilt family.”

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NRA and Tennessee Firearms Association Call for Action Against Two Tennessee General Assembly Bills

Aaron Gulbransen

The NRA Institute for Legislative Action has weighed in on several firearms-related bills being considered by various Tennessee General Assembly committees and subcommittees this week.

The Tennessee Star has previously reported that the Tennessee Firearms Association has weighed in on firearms-related legislation. The Tennessee Firearms Association and the NRA agree on opposition to two bills in particular.

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Abortion Funding Groups Admitting to Violating Texas Heartbeat Act to Face Depositions

Susan Berry, PhD

Two litigation firms have filed petitions against organizations that have admitted to paying for abortions in Texas after detection of a fetal heartbeat, a violation of the Texas Heartbeat Act.

Attorneys from both America First Legal and the Thomas More Society filed petitions for discovery against the Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equity and the Texas Equal Access Fund, both of which have admitted in court that their organizations paid for at least one abortion of an unborn baby in Texas who had a detectable heartbeat.

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Commentary: In 2022, Voters Must Stand Up to America’s Uniparty Empire

Admin

If we follow the conventional political thinking, Republicans can anticipate an electoral shift during the November midterm elections and appear likely to recapture the White House in 2024. A grassroots revolt is already showing signs that the Democrats should expect to be punished for politicizing education and mismanaging COVID policy.

If we follow the conventional thinking even further, this will spell success for a usual cast of Republican-leaning characters in leadership and consulting roles. Karl Rove is likely already updating his fee structure. Veterans of the two Bush Administrations will send their résumés east in hopes of retaining old posts so they can steer contracts and favors back to their allies and former employers.

Right, Left, Right, Left, the hypnotic rhythm drums on—briefly interrupted only by an aberrational Trump Administration or popular uprising—but it all returns to the statists’ status quo in the end. The uniparty simply shifts its weight from its left foot to its right while business proceeds as usual.

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Commentary: What Happens in New York Doesn’t Stay in New York

Admin

It seems like every day America is becoming more anti-American than the day before. The Biden administration just keeps shooting for the “how can we out-do ourselves in pushing our Marxist policies” prize, and blue states are in lockstep. The American people keep getting whacked day in and day out, and the media is complicit. No one is safe these days in Biden’s America.

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Texas Attorney General Declares Puberty Blockers and Gender Transition Surgeries ‘Child Abuse’

Susan Berry, PhD
Doctors performing surgery

The performance of surgical and chemical procedures on children for the purpose of gender transition “can legally constitute child abuse” under Texas law, declared Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Friday in a formal attorney general opinion.

Paxton responded to questions from State Representative Matt Krause (R-Fort Worth), chair of the Texas House Committee on General Investigating, who asked whether “sex change” surgeries performed on children, including castration, vasectomy, hysterectomy, penectomy, phalloplasty, vaginoplasty, mastectomies, and removal of otherwise healthy body parts, constitute child abuse.

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Initiative Modeled After Federal HR 1, ‘Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections,’ Seeks to Get on Ballot

Rachel Alexander

A consortium of Left-leaning groups is seeking to add an initiative on the Arizona ballot that is very similar to the federal HR 1. “Arizonans for Free and Fair Elections” rolls back recent election integrity laws passed by the Arizona Legislature, makes it easier for people to vote without proving citizenship, and removes standard election fraud safeguards like requiring registering to vote in advance of elections. 

The Arizona Free Enterprise Club called the initiative “a leftist wish list of election law changes.” AFEC contends, “[T]heir federal takeover of elections has been held up in the U.S. Senate for months, so they have moved to ‘Plan B ’— taking over the election process in Arizona.”

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Two Incumbent Democrats Vie for Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, Leave the 10th Congressional District a Seat Open

Aaron Gulbransen

Democratic U.S. Representatives Andy Levin and Haley Stevens have announced their plans to run in Michigan’s 11th Congressional District, setting up an incumbent-versus-incumbent primary. This leaves Michigan’s 10th Congressional District seat open.

Redistricting changed the district lines and numbering, significantly affected Michigan’s 10th and 11th Congressional Districts, and likely led to Levin and Stevens running against each other in a Democrat primary. The new district lines, drawn by the Michigan Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission, took MI-11 from an R+2 partisan rating to a D+15, according to Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight.

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Fiscal Office Chief: Pennsylvanians Leaving for Low-Tax Southern States

Bradley Vasoli

On Tuesday, at the first Pennsylvania Senate hearing on next fiscal year’s budget, lawmakers considered the state’s slow economic recovery—and the state’s failure to attract new residents.

Independent Fiscal Office (IFO) Director Matthew Knittel testified before the Senate Appropriations Committee regarding the state’s fiscal, economic and demographic outlook. Particularly in that last category, the Keystone State doesn’t boast an envious position.

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Georgia Representative Jody Hice Launches Statewide Tour in Athens About Georgia’s Election Integrity Issues

Chris Butler

ATHENS, Georgia – Representative Jody Hice (R-GA-10), currently running to replace Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, launched a statewide tour in Athens on Tuesday to address Georgia’s election integrity issues. And, during the stop, Jessica Fore, a Democrat running for Hice’s 10th Congressional seat, challenged Hice on Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.

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Minnesota Democrats Introduce $13 Million Plan for Meeting Demand for Police Officers with Strong Moral Character

The Center Square
Group of people walking outside on a sunny day

Democrats announced a plan Monday to promote police officer recruitment that mirrors proposals of Gov. Tim Walz and Republicans.

House Majority Leader Ryan Winkler authored the bill, HF 3581, which was developed in consultation with the Minnesota Sheriff’s Association, Minnesota Chiefs of Police Association, and Minnesota Department of Public Safety. He said at a news conference announcing the bill that law enforcement leaders want to recruit officers who reflect the community, have a high social-emotional set of skills and are committed to community services, but they’re struggling to do that.

“[The bill] is built on the premise that Minnesota can recruit, can hire, can train and can retain the kinds of police officers who reflect our communities’ values,” Winkler said.

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Senate Privileges and Elections Committee Kills Most House Elections Reforms Bills

Eric Burk
Person voting in poll booth

Delegate Lee Ware (R-Powhatan) sponsored HB 46, which would have reintroduced a photo identification requirement, repealed the permanent absentee voter list, shortened early voting, and required representatives from each political party to verify the absentee ballot cure process.

“About photo ID, there is wide public polling that shows that support for [photo id] this crosses every demographic group, every partisan group,” Ware said.

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Florida Governor DeSantis Announces Millions for More Rural Infrastructure

Grant Holcomb

Earlier this week, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced $11 million will be going to supporting rural infrastructure in three counties: Madison, Suwannee, and Putnam. He made the announcement from Madison, Fla., as the money will come from the Community Development Block Grant program administered by the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO).

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Arizona Congressman Says Government Should Impound Trucks If Freedom Convoy Spreads to America

Peter D'Abrosca

In response to a report that American truckers could follow the lead of their Canadian counterparts and clog parts of the I-95 Beltway near Washington, D.C., a Democrat congressman from Arizona has a solution for the potential peaceful protest. 

“Perfect time to impound and give the trucks to small trucking companies looking to expand their business,” Representative Ruben Gallego (D-AZ-07). 

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Kalamazoo Deputy Cleared in Fatal Shooting of Knife-Wielding Man

Peter D'Abrosca
Crime Scene

A police officer in Kalamazoo County who shot and killed a knife-wielding suspect in a gas station parking lot has been cleared of any wrongdoing after a standard post-shooting investigation, as officials say he acted lawfully in self-defense. 

“The events of Oct. 4 were incredibly tragic,” Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting reportedly said Tuesday. “They forever changed the lives of those personally involved, their families and loved ones, our law enforcement officers, and our community.”

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Virginia Husband and Wife Realtor Team Plead Guilty to Federal Wire Fraud Charge, Now Await Sentencing

Kaitlin Housler

A husband and wife realtor team from Abingdon, Virginia, pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal wire fraud charges related to their scheme to create fake residential sales contracts in order to obtain advance sales commissions to which they were not entitled, according to a press release by the Western District of Virginia U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich Signs Letter to Demand Resignation from DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas

Cooper Moran
Alejandro Mayorkas and Mark Brnovich

Arizona Attorney General Mark Brnovich signed a letter, led by Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, to urge Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to resign.

The letter, signed by 13 other states and sent directly to Mayorkas, accused him of abandoning his oath of office and putting Americans at risk.

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Ohio Senate Candidate J.D. Vance Slams Proponents of Intervention in Ukraine

Peter D'Abrosca

Noting that Russian President Vladimir Putin is “an evil man,” U.S. Senate candidate J.D. Vance Tuesday slammed proponents of U.S. intervention in the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. 

“The media and political elites are seething at me because I uttered aloud what everyone deep down knows is true: that the Russia-Ukraine border dispute has nothing to do with our national security, no American interest is served by our intervention, and that the obsession with Ukraine from our idiot leaders serves no function except to distract us from our actual problems,” Vance said in a press release. 

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Senate Majority Leader Saslaw Spars with Secretary of Finance Cummings over Administration Analysis That Virginia Is Lagging Economically

Eric Burk

Secretary of Finance Stephen Cummings told the Senate Finance and Appropriations Committee on Tuesday that while General Fund revenues are performing well, there is an overall lack of economic growth in Virginia. That’s similar to the message from a letter Governor Glenn Youngkin sent to the Senate Finance and House Appropriations chairs last Friday. Tuesday’s discussion between Democratic senators and Cummings illustrated the policy divide on finance between the administration and the Senate.

Cummings said that January 2022 was the sixth consecutive month of revenues exceeding the prior year by more than 15 percent. “So, pretty remarkable times,” Cummings said.

“Obviously, the extraordinary level of revenues for the government is great, but that does not indicate success in our economy,” Cummings said. “It’s the result of external factors, and in our opinion, taxes that are too high.”

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Ivy League Law School Will Pay Tuition for Low-Income Students

Admin
Yale Law School

An Ivy League law school will start paying tuition for low-income students beginning next fall to diversify its culture and make law degrees more affordable, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Yale Law School will cover the tuition for students with income below the federal poverty line by offering scholarships of roughly $72,000, the Wall Street Journal reported. The scholarship will cover tuition, fees and health insurance while students are responsible for their estimated $21,000 living expenses.

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Kyle Rittenhouse Launches New Initiative to Hold Media Outlets Accountable for Telling Defamatory Lies

Admin

Kyle Rittenhouse on Monday announced that he is launching a new initiative aimed at holding major media outlets and celebrities like Whoopi Goldberg accountable for telling “malicious defamatory lies.”

Last November, the 18-year-old was acquitted of all charges related to the shooting deaths of two antifa rioters, and the injury of a third in Kenosha, Wisconsin in August of 2020. The jury found that he had acted in self-defense. Charges ranged from intentional homicide to recklessly endangering safety.

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Commentary: Confronting the Snake Oil of Woke Ideology

RealClearWire
Group protesting; "no justice no peace" sign

Woke ideology is proof that the world has gone Mad – as in Mad Magazine. What passes as penetrating insight on the left is just a newfangled version of the old fill-in-the-blanks word game Mad Libs. Try to guess what the Princeton University students are talking about here:

We aim to decolonize our practice of ____, even as ____ remains an imperialist, colonialist, and white supremacist art form. (Answer: ballet)

How would you complete this statement from Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau?

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Ohio Supreme Court Gives Redistricting Commission Deadline to Show Cause

The Center Square

The Ohio Supreme Court has given the Ohio Redistricting Commission until noon Wednesday to show cause why it should not be held in contempt of court for failing to meet a deadline for new state legislative maps.

The commission missed an 11:59 p.m. Feb. 17 court-ordered deadline to submit a third set of maps after the court ruled the first two were unfairly gerrymandered to favor Republicans.

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Supreme Court to Hear Case of Woman Forced to Create Websites for LGBT Causes Against Religious Beliefs

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The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of a web designer fighting a Colorado law that forces her to promote messages against her religious beliefs, the court announced Tuesday.

Lorie Smith of 303 Creative asked the court to review the 10th Circuits’ ruling that Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act requires Smith to engage in speech that violates her conscience, according to the Alliance Defending Freedom, which is representing her.

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Audit Called for Environmental Protection Agency Response to Benton Harbor Water Contamination

The Center Square

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is being audited over its response to lead-contaminated water lines in Benton Harbor.

The investment was announced in a memo from the Office of Inspector General Director Michael Davis, EPA Environmental Investment and Infrastructure. The letter says the audit aims “to determine the extent to which the EPA followed its 2016 elevation policy memorandum” to fix Benton Harbor’s drinking water.

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Hillary Clinton’s ‘Fake Scandal’ Attack on Durham Probe Revives Strategy from Whitewater Era

Admin
Hillary Clinton

Aquarter century ago as Whitewater prosecutors closed in on evidence that Bill and Hillary Clinton both gave factually inaccurate testimony, the then-first lady unleashed a blistering attack that stunned a capital city that in those days was far less rancorous.

Mrs. Clinton called the Whitewater probe “an effort to undo the results of two elections,” claiming it was run by a “politically motivated prosecutor who is allied with the right-wing opponents of my husband.”

Prosecutors have been “looking at every telephone call we’ve made, every check we’ve ever written, scratching for dirt, intimidating witnesses, doing everything possible to try to make some kind of accusation against my husband,” she declared in that 1998 interview with NBC’s “Today” show.

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Commentary: Teaching Unbiased American History

RealClearWire

In his Gettysburg Address at the height of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln pointed out that the United States was “conceived in liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.” “Now,” he continued, “we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure.”

Thankfully, we are not in a civil war today – and, one hopes, never will be again. We are, however, in a battle for the soul of our country.

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Missouri Senate Candidate Vicky Hartzler Scores Another Endorsement as Frontrunner Loses Momentum

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Missouri Republican Rep. Vicky Hartzler scored another major endorsement in her bid to succeed Sen. Roy Blunt as polls show that the race’s frontrunner could be a risky general election candidate.

The Susan B. Anthony List endorsed Hartzler Tuesday, calling her an “unwavering pro-life champion” who is “Planned Parenthood’s worst nightmare.” It comes just days after Republican Sen. Josh Hawley also endorsed her over the rest of the crowded GOP field.

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Ortagus Holds Out-of-State Fundraiser in D.C., Host Committee Includes Never Trumpers and Fired State Dept. Staffer

Aaron Gulbransen

The host committee for an out-of-state fundraiser for the Morgan Ortagus for Congress campaign includes a former Trump administration State Department staffer who was fired for tweeting that President Trump was unfit for office, as well as several Never Trumpers.

Former Trump administration State Department spokesman and candidate for Tennessee’s 5th Congressional district Morgan Ortagus will be in Washington, D.C. on Ash Wednesday, March 2, 2022 to attend this fundraiser for her campaign.

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