Live from Music Row Tuesday 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 welcomed official guest host and Grassroots Engagement Director of Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee Grant Henry in studio to begin his new series of Grant’s Rants and discuss the divisive media and the consequences of a red and blue state secession.
Leahy: In studio, the official guest host of The Tennessee Star Report, Grant Henry. Now, Grant, we are adding all sorts of new features here to The Tennessee Star. In the 5:00 hour. We did the first of The Tennessee Star Comedy Players routines, which will be a regular contributor to the program.
We’re starting and we haven’t quite got the name right, but I’ll call them as a working title, Crom’s Commentaries, which will begin tomorrow.
Crom will be with that. But today, right now, this very moment, we are introducing a new feature to The Tennessee Star Report is called Grants Rants. Grant, you are on.
Henry: I love it. All of you know that I do grassroots with Americans for Prosperity-Tennessee here and so many of you have visited stopthespendingspree.com and made your voice heard that I think you are finally recognizing the result.
I want to rant today a little bit on there’s a proper way to do grassroots and there’s a wrong way to do grassroots. Okay, look, you all are having a massive impact in D.C.
This is a massive victory for the grassroots in America. What just happened over the weekend? Take a pause and congratulate yourself for letting D.C. know that we the people will not be ignored.
They are hearing the message that Jefferson told us centuries ago. “To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. We must make our election between economy and liberty or perfusion and servitude.”
Now here’s the headline. Pelosi Sets an End of October Deadline for the Infrastructure Vote. They had to punt on this thing y’all. And a dear colleague letter released Saturday Pelosi said, “We need more time to pass the infrastructure bill along with this three $5 trillion boondoggle.”
And also Biden came out and said, hey, if this takes six minutes, six days or six weeks, we’re gonna get this thing done eventually.
Now all of this has led to activists following Senator Sinema into a bathroom and harassing her over opposition to this package.
They literally followed her into a bathroom, filmed her while she was using the bathroom, and yelled at this lady for several minutes. Instead of a left-wing berating of a moderate Democrat in the loo, a right-wing individual would have been excoriated for this.
And I was sitting here wondering, Michael, where was the condemnation for these activists? Either a mainstream meter or social media. Where was the condemnation? It was non-existent. It just wasn’t there. I blame the media.
I blame the media. We are witnessing the death of media, the slow atrophy of journalistic integrity. The allowance of ever more egregious and salacious behavior in order to garner clicks. If it bleeds, it leads.
The media is quite literally justifying delusional behavior and lending credence to psychosis. The media is no longer just manufacturing division, they have hosted divisiveness into the position of virtuous behavior, and we are all going to pay the price for it.
We must attempt to move past this age of warring factions bent on destruction. We must present these people with a better alternative.
It is no longer enough just to show them how they are wrong. It is no longer enough just to publicly embarrass a college kid. We must show them a better alternative, which I believe we have Michael.
Leahy: And there you have the very first of Grant’s Rants. Well done. Well done, my friend.
Henry: Thank you.
Leahy: Speaking of debt, Joe Biden has a word or two to say about that.
(Biden clip plays)
Democrats in the House have already passed a bill that would do that. It’s sitting in the United States Senate where Democrats have the votes ready to pass it. That’s the only way to eliminate the uncertainty and risk that’s going to harm American families and our economy. Let us vote and end the mess.
Leahy: Well, Joe Biden, the legal but not legitimate occupant of 1600 hundred Pennsylvania Avenue, that’s the guy that’s intentionally created the mess all around the country.
Henry: They’re trying to get Republicans to take some kind of responsibility for this absurd, outrageous boondoggle that they’re trying to pass through right now. I think we need to attack this back as a nation.
The message that we’re using is clearly working. $4.7 trillion in wasted deficit spending, historic tax increases, massive energy taxes of California-style mandates put the government in more control over your health care.
They’re trying to get Republicans to take responsibility for this. Meanwhile, do we forget the Bush years? Republicans all throughout the Bush years, just Republicans alone raise the debt ceiling.
They could do this just as Democrats if they want to. We all understand the game they’re playing here. They’re being as transparent as possible. I’m not buying into it.
Leahy: Nor am I. Nor am I. Nor do I think would have Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson would have looked at what the Democratic Party and he would have thrown his hands up and said, no, no, no, no, no.
You’re doing it all wrong. He warned against concentrating people in the cities because cities he said were prone to mass hysteria. That’s what we’re seeing right now is on the Democrat side.
Henry: There are new studies coming out now showing that it seems like we’re more divided now than we ever had.
Leahy: We are. I have an idea about that. Would you like to hear it? I’ve been thinking it through. And when it comes to a divided America, it is true. We are divided.
There are 35 states in which the possibility of freedom still exists, and there are 15 blue states that have gone over to the authoritarian dark side. There’s no question about that. There was a poll that came out from Rasmussen Reports just recently.
Fifty-two percent of people living in red states were open to the idea of secession. 40 percent of blue staters were open to it. It does seem to be inevitable on one side, but on the other hand, I think that’s absolutely the wrong way to go.
We cannot surrender in any of the 35 states, and we cannot surrender in any of the 15 States where the authoritarians are currently in control. Why?
If the United States were to break up and the 15 blue states were a separate country from the 35 red states, it would be a huge national security threat to the 35 red states.
Because with whom do you think if we let the authoritarians take over the blue states, what countries would they align with? They would aline with China. They would align with our enemies. We cannot let that happen.
The answer, my friend, is this, never surrender. And if you’re listening to us and you are living in California, and you have decided not to move to Tennessee, where, by the way, we have no state income tax, you’re welcome to come to Tennessee. But if you’re going to stay in California, do not surrender. We stand and fight for the constitutional republic.
Henry: Come to Tennessee. Fight for the constitutional republic with us. There’s a great story on Fox News about all these incredible businesses, one of which I believe is the Glock Store that came to Tennessee to set up stands over here.
I think you’re exactly right. In this day and age where we have no more common language anymore, we have to do as much as we can to stand for virtue, value, and objective truth.
Leahy: I’m in favor of that.
Henry:Â I’m in favor of it too.
Leahy: This is the place where you come to for virtue, value, objective truth, and support of the constitutional republic.
Listen to the third hour here:
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Tune in weekdays from 5:00 – 8:00 a.m. to the Tennessee Star Report with Michael Patrick Leahy on Talk Radio 98.3 FM WLAC 1510. Listen online at iHeart Radio.
