The future president of the United States has announced a “new era” for the nation. I propose 10 goals that will make the next Trump administration as solid as the beginning of Metallica’s Load.
Read the full storyTag: freedom
Commentary: The New Fundamentalism and the Religion of Politics
Those who would abolish religion and prohibit the free exercise thereof, are themselves religious. Those who would replace religion with the cult of reason, and sacrifice the soul before the altar of science, are unreasonable in the extreme: they are political extremists whose religion is politics.
This religion, with contempt for one nation under God, is in opposition to our civil religion. This religion, with contempt for the idea of God, that God exists, that God is true, that God is just, is without mercy. This religion, with contempt for the sons of Abraham, and of all who are children of God through faith, is a declaration of war against Jews and Christians
Read the full storyCommentary: Remembering D-Day
This Sunday marks the 77th anniversary of the greatest gamble in World War II.
On June 6, 1941, more than 156,0000 allied forces launched from the sea onto the beaches of Normandy. Nearly 7,000 allied ships commanded the French coastline, and more than 3,200 aircraft dominated the skies. A few miles inland, 23,000 paratroopers landed to block German reinforcements from the shore.
After years of preparation, practice, and training, the Allies had come to break German power in Europe.
Read the full storyCommentary: Female Liberation Can Be Found in Marriage
What does a fulfilling, self-focused life look like, according to liberated feminism?
Spa nights alone in a fancy apartment, perhaps. A boss babe CEO who enjoys hooking up on the weekends. Plastic surgery and perhaps a cute pet to post on Instagram.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Resurrection of Jesus Is the Most Important Event in History
Christians around the world will commemorate the most important event in our faith’s history this Sunday, but the Resurrection of Jesus isn’t just important to those who believe a Nazarene who walked the earth 2,000 years ago is the Son of God. The secular world’s history also turns on this pivotal event, which inspired so much progress that we take for granted today.
Christianity turned the values of the Pagan Roman world upside-down. The Romans considered the early Christians subversives—many called them “atheists” because they didn’t worship any pagan gods—and put them to death for refusing to worship the emperor. After some emperors adopted the faith, Emperor Julian attempted to revive paganism, but lamented that the Christian ethic had transformed the empire.
Read the full storyPoll: One-Third of Democrats Say Americans Have ‘Too Much Freedom’ of Speech
A new poll from RealClearPolitics shows that a staggering number of registered Democrats think there is “too much freedom” to speak freely in the United States.
As reported by the Washington Free Beacon, the RCP survey on Friday revealed that 34% of Democrats believe that Americans have “too much freedom” of speech, compared to just 14.6% of Republicans who believed the same. By contrast, 46% of Republicans believe that Americans have “too little freedom,” with only 22% of Democrats agreeing.
Read the full storyCommentary: FreedomFest’s Journey to Memphis Echoes the Anthem of Liberty
This year, from July 12 to 15, FreedomFest takes its spirit of liberty on the road, landing in a city steeped in history, resilience and innovation – Memphis, Tennessee.
FreedomFest isn’t just a conference; it’s a gathering of free spirits and forward-thinkers, a celebration of every aspect of liberty we cherish in our lives – be it political, financial, social, creative, professional, physical or intellectual. From academics and business tycoons to free-market aficionados and cultural powerhouses, the event brings together a melting pot of ideas and individuals all bound by a shared respect for liberty and freedom.
Read the full storyBeacon Center Hires Renowned Attorney to Lead Legal Efforts
The Beacon Center of Tennessee announced Thursday that it has hired Wen Fa, a nationally renowned attorney, as its Director of Legal Affairs.
“Fa joins Beacon from the Pacific Legal Foundation, where he served as a senior attorney in PLF’s equality and opportunity program,” according to a press release. “Fa led the expansion of PLF’s equality project by litigating numerous cases and securing important victories for farmers and entrepreneurs fighting for economic opportunity and against racial discrimination.”
Read the full storyBlount County Resident Mark Pulliam Describes How the Public Library Is Being Overtaken by the Homeless
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Mark Pulliam, a retired attorney and Misrule of Law blogger, to the newsmaker line to discuss how the Blount County Public Library is becoming overrun with homeless people.
Read the full storyPennsylvania Lawmaker Rebukes Ben Franklin’s Defense of Liberty in Call for Hate-Crimes Bill
Rallying for hate-crimes legislation on the steps of the Pennsylvania Capitol in Harrisburg on Monday, state Representative Napoleon Nelson (D-Glenside) rebuked founding father Benjamin Franklin.
The representative observed that a Franklin quote etched into a wall 40 feet from him read, “Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Read the full storyTomi Lahren: We Need to Take Part in the Culture War and Lead with a Freedom First Message
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed conservative commentator Tomi Lahren to the newsmaker line to weigh in on corporate wokeism and waking up the under-30 TikTok crowd to freedom and conservatism.
Read the full storyDeSantis Touts Florida ‘Freedom’ at Hillsdale College
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis visited Michigan on Thursday, claiming his state’s “freedom” is the antithesis of Michigan.
Headlining the stage at Hillsdale College’s Searle Center, DeSantis touted Florida laws that he said empower parents to object to items that violate their standards such as pornographic material in school libraries.
Read the full storyCalifornia Refugee Craig Huey Describes His Return from Oppressed California to the Freedom and Liberty of Middle Tennessee
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed marketing guru, Craig Huey of The Huey Report in studio to describe his recent trip to California where he witnessed the overwhelming homeless condition and vibes of oppression.
Read the full storyCommentary: The Things We Believe In
Rosa Parks was one of America’s indispensable civil rights icons, Rita Hayworth one of its great actresses, Ronald Reagan one of its most consequential presidents, and Norman Rockwell one of its most beloved artists. They all had something else in common, along with 700,000 Americans who die with Alzheimer’s disease every year. All four of them suffered memory losses so thorough and tragic that they eventually had no knowledge of who they were, how important they had been, and why their lives had mattered to millions.
Read the full storyTo Cap Off AmericaFest 2022, Charlie Kirk, Steve Bannon, and Others Spoke on Freedom, Faith, and the Future
PHOENIX, Arizona – To mark the end of Turning Point USA’s four-day-long AmericaFest 2022, Charlie Kirk and many other Conservative commentators took the stage in downtown Phoenix to share final remarks with a crowd of cheering onlookers.
“Hey, AmericaFest is completed. Make a plan. Make a promise to yourself. Make a challenge to yourself. The easy thing in 2023 would be to complain and say this is kind of an off-year. The necessary thing is to say I’m going to do something in 2023 I did not do in 2022, and if you’re looking for that place to start, that’s why Turning Point exists,” Kirk said during his final remarks.
Read the full storyMaury County Republican Mayoral Candidate Debbie Matthews Discusses Keeping the County Conservative
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Maury County, Tennessee mayoral Republican candidate Debbie Matthews to the newsmaker line to talk about her campaign and keeping the county seat conservative.
Read the full storyBeacon Center’s Justin Owen Urges Voters: Don’t Skip It, Vote ‘Yes’ on Amendment 1
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed the Beacon Center’s CEO, Justin Owen, to the newsmaker line to make a call to action and urge voters not to skip the vote on Amendment One to protect Tennessee’s right to work and maintain economic growth and freedom.
Read the full storyPatriots Rally Together to Promote Freedom in Ohio
PLAIN CITY, Ohio – The Ohio Republican Council of Clubs along with Turning Point Action held the second of what they hope will many Ohio Freedom Rallies on the Scheiderer Farm in Plain City, Ohio Sunday.
Read the full storyCommentary: To Save Freedom, Defund Pro Sports
In the last few years, the “Defund the Police” cry has reverberated through many of our cities. The police are not serving our communities, we’re told, and they’re wasting taxpayer money on ineffective services and driving racism. “It’s time to get rid of them,” many yell.
They’re barking up the wrong tree. If the public wants to defund something that’s wasting money and not serving the community, then they should look toward pro sports and defund them.
Read the full storyJenny Beth Martin of Tea Party Patriots on IRS: ‘Another Example of How This Administration and the Radical Leftists Want a Centralized Power to Control People Around the Country’
Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed to the newsmaker line Jenny Beth Martin, co-founder of the Tea Party Patriots and columnist for The Washington Times, to voice deep concerns with the IRS’s intent on auditing middle-class Americans and violating the rights and privacy of citizens.
Read the full storyDeSantis Denounces Cuban Government’s Deceitful Investment Practices
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis (R) denounced the Cuban government’s deceitful investment practices. The Castro regime has been incentivizing American investors to invest in Cuba’s “private sector,” but the DeSantis administration warned that they’re not actually assisting the Cuban people, but rather lining the coffers of the Castro dictatorship.
Read the full storyCommentary: Gavin Newsom’s Weird Idea of ‘Freedom’
In a run-up to what is likely to be a 2024 presidential bid, California Governor Gavin Newsom hit upon the bizarre idea of boasting in commercials that California is America’s true “free” state.
Part of his ad campaign is to attack Florida—currently run by Newsom’s possible rival, Governor Ron DeSantis.
Read the full storyTN-5 Candidate Andy Ogles Talks Campaigning and Why He’s the Consistent Conservative Choice for Congress
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Tennessee 5th Congressional District candidate, Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles to the newsmaker line to discuss his recent campaigning efforts, why he’s the best choice for Tennessee and the upcoming Epoch Times debate.
Read the full storyCommentary: To Gain More Freedom, American Morality Must Increase
American morality is in decline, and the population is starting to take note. Half of Americans—a record high number—now rate U.S. morals as “poor,” according to a recent Gallup poll. “Consideration of others” is the leading indicator of this moral decline, Americans say, followed by “racism/discrimination.”
Read the full storyCommentary: An Independence Day Hat Tip to America’s Police Officers
As those of us who are not leftist ingrates celebrate Independence Day, it is important to remember and thank our men and women of the armed services for the sacrifices they make to keep us safe. Yet, it is well to remember and thank another crucial group of uniformed individuals. who also sacrifice to keep us safe—America’s police officers.
Recently, I had the chance to visit with members of one of my home state’s police organizations. It has been a rough couple of years for them. While the radical chic of attacking the police and demanding they be defunded has somewhat abated, my friends reminded me that dangers wrought by this injurious policy have only managed to dent, not end, its advocacy.
Read the full storyKnox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs: ‘The Second Amendment Really Represents the Power Lies with the People’
Friday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, guest host Gulbransen welcomed Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs to the newsmaker line to discuss the Bill of Rights, 2nd Amendment, and the security of public schools.
Read the full storyCommentary: Memorial Day Is About Remembering Those Who Sacrificed for Our Freedom
On this Memorial Day, we honor and remember military service members who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving the United States of America.
Memorial Day is a day in which we commemorate the men and women who died while fighting against the evils of tyranny, radical terrorism, slavery, and religious persecution. Yet it is also a day in which we are grateful for what their sacrifices have meant for our nation and our people.
Read the full storyTim Doescher of The Heritage Foundation Explains the Release of the 2022 Index of Economic Freedom
Monday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Director of Coalition Relations for The Heritage Center, Tim Doescher to the newsmakers line to discuss the recently released 2022 Index of Economic Freedom.
Read the full storyCommentary: Corporate Media and Their Insistence of ‘No Evidence of Voter Fraud’
Anyone with half an ounce of integrity knows the manner in which the 2020 election was conducted was neither free nor fair. Never before in our nation’s history did we have a presidential election with so many safety measures that were deliberately ignored or willfully removed. And never have we had an election with so much early voting, and mail-in voting.
All of this was made possible by drastic and unconstitutional rule changes implemented illegally by Democratic secretaries of state at the 11th hour, including the expanded use of mail-in ballots, unsupervised drop boxes, and ballot harvesting.
Yet the propagandists in the corporate media have remained silent about all of it, and have shown zero interest in exploring what may actually have occurred. Donald Trump is out of office. That’s all they care about.
Read the full storyCongressman Mark Green Describes His ‘Sad but Historic’ Trip to Ukraine
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Congressman Mark Green to the newsmakers line to inform of his recent visit to Ukraine.
Read the full storyKnox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs on OSHA Mandates, Football, and Helping Veteran’s Mental Health in Tennessee
Tuesday morning on The Tennessee Star Report, host Leahy welcomed Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs to the newmakers line to discuss the OSHA employer vaccine mandates, football, and mental health in Tennessee.
Read the full storyCommentary: Individual Liberty and the Rule of Law
I have been looking back over Alexis de Tocqueville’s unfinished masterpiece, The Old Regime and the French Revolution. It is full of piquant observations, for example this from the end of the preface: “a man’s admiration of absolute government is proportionate to the contempt he feels for those around him.” How much contempt do you suppose emanates from the apparatchiks who inhabit the D.C. swamp and control our lives? How slavish is their devotion to the unfettered prerogatives of the idol they serve, the state?
That dialectic between adulation of the sources of power and contempt for those subject to it may in one sense be perennial, a sentiment captured by the old Latin tag: Proprium humani ingenii est odisse quem laeseris: “it is part of human nature to hate those whom you have injured.” But Tocqueville translated that psychological characteristic into the realm of politics in which the question of liberty is paramount. Like Edmund Burke, Tocqueville was a supreme anatomist of the ways in which power co-opts the passion for liberty in order to counterfeit liberty’s essence. Describing the habit of “governmental paternalism,” Tocqueville notes that “Almost all the rulers who have tried to destroy freedom have at first attempted to preserve its forms.”
This has been seen from Augustus down to our own day. Rulers flatter themselves that they can combine the moral strength given by public consent with the advantages that only absolute power can give. Almost all have failed in the enterprise, and have soon discovered that it is impossible to make the appearance of freedom last where it is no longer a reality.
Read the full storyReport: Florida Named the Second-Freest State in U.S.
Only a state with the motto “Live Free or Die” is freer than the Sunshine State.
That’s according to the nonprofit CATO Institute’s annual Freedom in the 50 States report, which compares states based on different aspects of autonomy and choice in key policy areas. The report uses hundreds of variables to gauge states on fiscal, regulatory and personal terms.
Read the full storyCATO: Tennessee Fourth Freest State in the U.S.
Tennessee ranked fourth in the country in the CATO Institute’s recent 2021 Freedom in the States rankings.
The rankings use 230 policy variables to rank states on how their policies promote freedom in fiscal, regulatory and personal realms. The CATO Institute is a public policy think tank based on libertarian ideals to promote limited government, free markets and peace.
Read the full storyCommentary: Natural Law Liberalism—An Ideology for the Republican Party
Do you ever wonder why Democratic politicians frequently resort to name calling when challenging Republicans? Why do the so-called mainstream media always seem to have the same anti-Republican talking points? Why are Republican judges consistently portrayed as evil? Why do progressive commentators and democratic policy makers always seem to “talk down” to their conservative opponents?
Alternatively, does it seem odd that most Republican politicians and conservative speakers often try to portray their arguments as policy disagreements and their opponents as “good people” with “differing views”? Republicans and most mainstream conservative pundits generally answer policy questions directly. They try to show respect and yield to opposing points when they make sense. Republicans in general just want to argue for practical solutions to problems.
The reason for this is simple: the Democratic Party over time has embraced an all-encompassing ideology that governs the way their politics and quest for power are shaped. All Democratic politicians and their pundits embrace at least some key aspects of this ideology. This fact is not readily apparent to everyone because Americans are not inclined to over-intellectualize politics. Most Americans view government and politics as a means of enacting the best common-sense policies to govern their daily lives. Each issue is viewed on its merits and Americans often split policy allegiance between Republican and Democratic ideas. Republican politicians subscribe to this concept as well, frequently supporting individual Democratic policies or at least trying for a compromise if the Democratic policies appear to have some stand-alone merit. Unfortunately, this is increasingly a losing proposition because they are fighting against a unified ideology bent on reshaping our constitution and imposing a totalitarian worldview. Democrats and the Left believe that the future is the collective and the collective is guided by an intellectual ruling class.
Read the full storyCommentary: Red China Persecutes Tennis Star Peng Shuai
In early November, the Chinese (PRC) tennis star Peng Shuai wrote on her blog that she had been aggressed in 2018 by a Communist Party boss and vice-premier, Zhang Gaoli, who made her his concubine. The blog post, on the Chinese social media platform Weibo, was removed in less time than it takes to play a set, 20 minutes.
Peng’s glory days as an athlete were in the mid-teens, when she was the first Chinese tennis player to reach a no. 1 ranking; hers was in doubles. In that format she won Wimbledon 2013 and Roland-Garros 2014, partnering with the Taiwan (Free China) player Hsieh Su-wei (at a time when the Chicoms were offering Hsieh big bucks to defect to their side); Peng was also strong in singles, ranked no. 14.
Peng has not been seen in public or heard from since her blog was censured.
Read the full storyMaury County Mayor Andy Ogles: ‘There’s a Time in History Where You Stand up to Your Government and You Tell Them Enough Is Enough’
Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles to the newsmakers line to explain his pushback on the federal government’s mandate requiring Tennessee healthcare workers to be vaccinated by Janauary sixth of 2022.
Read the full storyTennessee State Representative Jerry Sexton Discusses Recent Court Ruling That Blocks Tennessee’s New Mask Mandate Law
Wednesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed State Representative Jerry Sexton to the newsmakers line to weigh in on a recent stay ruling against the Tennessee General Assembly law banning school mask mandates.
Read the full storyGrant’s Rants: Grant Explains the Problem with Big Government
Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed official guest host Grant Henry in studio for another edition of Grant’s Rants.
Read the full storyGrant’s Rants: ‘Americans Deserve Stronger Leadership Than What We Have Right Now’
Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed the official guest host of The Tennessee Star Report, Grant Henry, in studio for another edition of Grant’s Rants.
Read the full storyCrom’s Commentary: The Rejection of the Democrats Agenda
Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed all-star panelist Crom Carmichael in studio for another edition of Crom’s Commentary.
Read the full storyConstitutional Attorney Jon Emord Describes How America’s Founding Principles Are at Stake
Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Constitutional Attorney and author of The Authoritarians, John Emord to the newsmakers line to outline how America has been historically dismantled by socialists.
Read the full storyBig Tech Companies Are Defying Texas’ Vaccine Mandate Ban
Major tech companies are continuing to require their employees to be vaccinated at their Texas facilities, in violation of Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order banning all vaccine mandates.
Abbott signed an executive order on Oct. 11 prohibiting “any entity,” including private businesses, government contractors and local schools, from imposing a requirement that employees be vaccinated as a condition of employment. However, Google, Facebook, HPE, Twitter and Lyft have yet to lift their vaccine mandates in response to the order, Protocol first reported.
HPE spokesman Adam Bauer confirmed the company had not changed its vaccine policy, and told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the company was making “vaccination a condition of employment for U.S. team members to comply with President Biden’s executive order and remain in good standing as a federal contractor.”
Read the full storyCommentary: A.G. Garland’s Use of Police Power Against Parents Could Be His Undoing
Destruction of the family has always been at the center of the collectivist project. In chapter two of The Communist Manifesto, Marx and Engels point out that the destruction of private property will never be complete until the “abolition [Aufhebung] of the family” is accomplished. The dream is perennial among snarling misanthropists. A couple of years ago, an interview in The Nation with a radical feminist explained that if you “want to dismantle capitalism” then you have to “abolish the family.”
It is worth keeping that in mind as the little drama of Merrick Garland versus the parents of America unfolds. I wrote about the attorney general’s absurd but troubling memorandum shortly after it was released on October 4. As all the world knows (but only some precincts of the world admit), Garland threatened to mobilize the entire police power of the state against parents. Why?
Read the full storyCommentary: America and the Dying Citizen
by Victor Davis Hanson Only a little more than half of the current world’s 7 billion people are citizens of fully consensual governments. That lucky 50 percent alone enjoys constitutionally protected freedoms. Most are also Western. Or at least they reside in nations that have become “Westernized.” Migrants, regardless of their race, religion, or gender, almost always head for a Western nation. And most often their destination remains the United States. The more it is now fashionable for Americans to take for granted or even to ridicule the idea of their own country, the more the non-American global poor risk their lives to crash America’s borders. Constitutional systems easily perish because they ask a lot of their citizens—to vote, to be informed about civic and political issues, and to hold elected officials accountable. That responsibility is perhaps why, of the world’s true republics and democracies, only about 22 have been in existence for a half-century or more. We are seldom told, then, that America is a rare, precious, and perhaps even fragile idea, both in the past and in the present. American citizens are clearly also not the custom of the past. Unlike history’s more common peasants, citizens are…
Read the full storyAuthor of Journeys with a Tin Can Pilgrim, Lynda Rozell on Inspiration to Give Everything up and Travel via Airstream
Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed former attorney and author of Journey with a Tin Can Pilgrim, Lynda Rozell to the newsmakers line to discuss what prompted her to leave everything behind to travel in an Airstream RV.
Read the full storyKnox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs: ‘The Idea That the President Is Just Making Laws on His Own Should Really Bother Everyone’
Monday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Knox County Mayor Glenn Jacobs to the newsmakers line to discuss his recently penned letter to President Biden.
Read the full storyGuest Host Ben Cunningham: ‘As Government Grows Bigger, It Gets Further and Further Away from the People’
Friday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, guest hosts Ben Cunningham and Grant Henry joined in studio to discuss big government and questioned the role it plays in individual lives.
Read the full storyRepublican Congressional Candidate Robby Starbuck Announces Ric Grenell Endorsement and How He’ll Put Liberty Above All Else
Thursday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Republican candidate for Tennessee’s Fifth Congressional District, Robby Starbuck to the newsmakers line to announce his endorsement from former DNI Ric Grenell.
Read the full storyAmericans for Prosperity-Tennessee’s Grassroots Director Grant Henry Discusses the Governed, the Government, and Bill Lee’s Executive Order
Tuesday morning on the Tennessee Star Report, host Michael Patrick Leahy welcomed Americans for Prosperity’s Grant Henry in studio to weigh in on the laws and liberties of American citizens, dangerous precedence, and Governor Lee’s disturbing executive order.
Read the full story