Judge Michael Warren Commentary: Celebrate Your Right to the American Dream as Written in the Declaration on Independence

American flag in the grass

The toxic cultural and political environment in which we live continues to slowly unravel our once shared belief in the American Dream. Many people on this Independence Day will undoubtedly go through the empty gestures of fireworks, barbecues, and family gatherings. Hardly any will reflect on the magnificent Declaration of Independence and how, despite its many flaws, it is a shining, monumental change for all of mankind. Let’s look at four such reasons:

First, it is the first major document in world history that dedicates the creation of a country to key founding First Principles:  the rule of law, unalienable rights, limited government, the Social Compact, equality, and the right to alter or abolish an oppressive government. Governments and countries before then were forged by blood, conquest, ethnic group, religion, and similar circumstances. In America, we committed ourselves to groundbreaking ideals. It has been those ideals that have motivated massive changes within our society for a more just and free government.

Second, the document is dedicated to freedom. Certainly many of the Founding Fathers were hypocrites when they proclaimed liberty and held slaves. Such Founding Fathers were flawed and blind men like the near entirety of human history before them. But with the Declaration, they did something earth shattering. They opened the entire world’s eyes to a new vision – one based on liberty, in which free people would rule themselves. The promise of the vision continues to reverberate today.

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Commentary: Federalism is Key to Surviving a Divided Nation

We live in a divided nation. Our politics have become not just polarized, but toxic. For a country founded on the principles of individual liberty, democratic choice in representative government, and republican protection of natural rights, America has seemingly lost its way. American politics have devolved into a zero-sum game power struggle between two wings of the same establishment—with the prize being the privilege of exploiting the American working class. We are a long way, both figuratively and literally, from the raging fires of liberty that opposed the crown’s Stamp Act in 1765. 

Like all empires, America’s decline, or “transformation” in the words of our 44th president, was the result of poor decisions by both elected leaders and the citizens who elected them. Corruption on the part of a rent-seeking elite and apathy on the part of the citizens have delivered us to our present situation. Although it is important to understand the mistakes that we made along the road to our failing empire, the real question we should be asking now is what are we to do about our current predicament. 

In David Reaboi’s essay in the Claremont Institute’s The American Mind, he discusses the importance of ending traditional America’s favorite pastime of arguing the same ground with the political opposition over and over again—as if minds are not already made up and just one more pithy tweet or witty meme would finally produce a tidal wave of political defections. Instead, he states, we should consider the work we must do in order to salvage some form of republican society that appreciates and protects the founding principles of America’s charter and our way of life. 

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Commentary: Remembering D-Day

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.

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Michigan High School Valedictorian Forbidden from Mentioning Christianity in Graduation Speech

Silhouette of graduate holding up graduation cap

A high school valedictorian in Michigan is being prohibited by the school from mentioning her Christian faith in her graduation speech, the Daily Caller reports.

The student, Elizabeth Turner, is the valedictorian of Hillsdale High School in Hillsdale, Michigan. Upon submitting the draft of her speech to the school, the speech was returned to her with several passages censored due to her mentioning Jesus Christ and her Christian faith. The justification given by the school’s principal, Amy Goldsmith, was that discussing Christianity was “not appropriate” and would not be “representing the school.”

“You are representing the school in your speech, not using the podium as your public forum,” Goldsmith said in her comments on the Google Doc version of the speech. “We need to be mindful about the inclusion of religious aspects. These are your strong beliefs, but they are not appropriate for a speech in a public school setting.”

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Commentary: Mask Mandates Promote Servitude, Not Safety

Man on escalator with mask on

The other day, for the first time since March 2020, I embarked on a journey outside of the slave state of California. My wife and I drove to Montana. While I had heard tales of the existence of freedom in other states, I had yet to experience the thing firsthand.

My experience in Montana confirmed what I have long suspected and known, but not witnessed or experienced for myself—that there are two Americas and two very different types of Americans. There are free states and slave states. There are fearful, obedient slaves, and fearless, free Americans.

I didn’t wear a mask for an entire weekend in Montana—not entering my hotel, not walking down the street, not entering a grocery store or gas station convenience store, not getting a coffee, and not entering numerous restaurants and bars. At no point did I put on that filthy face diaper. Nor did anyone else.

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Free Range Kids Founder Lenore Skenazy Talks About Her Two New Inititiaves, Let Grow Play Club and Let Grow Project

  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 President of Let Grow and founder of Free Range Kids Lenore Skenazy to the newsmakers line to talk about her two new initiatives. Leahy: On our newsmaker line, our new friend, Lenore Skenazy, the President of Letgrow.org. And really the founder of the Free Range Kids Movement. So, Lenore, I have a question for you. Are you open to it? Skenazy: I thought you had a great idea for me. Leahy: I do. I have a question for you. So first, before we get to our idea, why don’t you describe some of the K8 projects that Let Grow has currently? Skenazy: Oh, thank you so much. Sure. So we just have two school initiatives. They’re both free. So it’s not like I’m selling something. One is like I was telling you before the Let Grow Play Club. We encourage schools to open before after school for kid-led, no adult. There’s an adult in the corner with an EpiPen. But otherwise, it’s just kids playing.…

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Harvard Poll Shows Voters Overwhelmingly United on Many Issues, But View Many Rights as Under Threat

Americans largely agree on rights and values that they deem fundamental to the United States, a Harvard University Carr Center poll shows, despite all-time high political polarization.

The survey shows that over 70% of Americans “have more in common with each other than people think” and that they favor an expansive view of rights beyond those in the Constitution. The poll also shows that most Americans believe those rights are under threat.

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#FreeTN Rally Draws Attendees from Across Tennessee and Speakers on the Subject of Freedom

  NASHVILLE, Tennessee – A third #FreeTN rally held Sunday included attendees from across Tennessee and out-of-state visitors as well as subject matter experts on the topic of freedom. The event was held across the street from the Tennessee Department of Health in Nashville, which also happens to be the lawn that sits below the state capitol with a few hundred in attendance. Counties as far away from Nashville as Carroll, Knox, Maury and Putnam were represented as were neighboring counties of Sumner, Robertson, Rutherford and Williamson. Residents of other states, such as Wyoming and Washington also took time to attend. Even the highly esteemed Dr. Alan Keyes – a champion of returning the United States to a God-honoring nation who served in the administration of President Ronald Reagan and more recently founding IamTV – made the drive from Sevier County. He told The Tennessee Star that, as he has conducted interviews about the impact of the coronavirus, he wanted to see what the #FreeTN movement was all about. While Kim Edwards spearheaded the non-partisan, grassroots #FreeTN movement to push for the reopening of Tennessee’s economy by pointing out that everyone is essential, it has evolved into protecting constitutional liberties…

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#FreeTN Rally Sunday Expands Message to Protecting Constitutional Liberties from Government Overreach

The #FreeTN movement is expanding its messaging for a rally scheduled for Sunday from a focus on reopening the economy to protecting constitutional liberties against government overreach. This rally will be held at the Tennessee State Health Department building on 710 James Robertson Parkway, Nashville from 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

To start this movement, Nashville resident Kim Edwards organized rallies while the state was on a shut down to “flatten the curve” of the COVID-19 spread.

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Commentary: Be a Daniel and Take Charge of Your Own Lives

by Theodore Roosevelt Malloch   There is an old Puritan hymn (based on the apocalyptic Old Testament book of Daniel for the less-than-biblically literate) we grew up singing. Perhaps you recall it: Dare to be a Daniel, Dare to stand alone; Dare to have a purpose firm, Dare to make it known.  In a famous essay written just after World War II, George Orwell, in one of his great punchlines, suggested, “to bring this hymn up to date one would have to add a ‘Don’t’ at the beginning of each line.” He was talking about the timidity of modern people, thinkers and doers alike, in relatively safe circumstances, to be quiet about dishonesty. Doesn’t intelligence require truth-telling? But then in the first sentence of Nineteen Eighty-Four, Orwell himself wrote satirically: “It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen.” In our present-day Chinese-induced viral pandemic, which started with colossal lies from the East, perhaps it is time to get to the essential truth. Our brilliant global elites over a number of decades made a dangerous Faustian bargain with the Communist Party of Beijing. The deal was supposed to bring them into the capitalist fold and yield greater international…

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Commentary: The Land of the ‘Free’ and the Home of Shelter-in-Place Orders

In mid-March, governors across the country began issuing broad shelter-in-place orders in response to the coronavirus outbreak. The orders contain sweeping restrictions on individuals’ freedom of movement and activity in every sphere of life. They preclude people from going to work, running their businesses, convening to worship, visiting their own properties, taking a drive, attending school, and visiting with family or friends.

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Beacon Center Tells 30 Largest Tennessee Cities It Will Call Them Out on July 4, 2020 on How Free Their Citizens Are

  Conservative think tank Beacon Center of Tennessee has placed the 30 largest Volunteer State cities on notice: On Independence Day 2020, it will call them out on how free their citizens are – or are not. The Beacon Center of Tennessee announced Tuesday it will release a City Freedom Index on Independence Day 2020. As many of our state and local elected officials know, thousands of people across the United States move to Tennessee each year. While their reasons may vary, many choose to live here due to state-level policies such as: Right to Work, a lack of a state income tax, low taxes per capita, and low levels of debt. These policies are well known and their benefits well documented. While certainly the state you live in has a large impact on your life, so does the city you live in. However, we have found there are few resources on the best places to live within Tennessee due to local level polices. In an emailed press release, Mark Cunningham, vice president of communications and outreach, said the center will rank the 30 cities according to an overall freedom score. Because this is a brand new report, Beacon is giving cities a…

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Commentary: The Eternal Return of a Malevolent Charade

by Roger Kimball   The eternal return – Friedrich Nietzsche thought the idea was horrifying. Life as an endless merry-go-round in which the same things keep recurring, forever. That prospect, Nietzsche thought, was the hardest, weightiest, most depressing idea mankind could ever confront. It was part of Nietzsche’s blustering nihilism that he should first conjure the most unpleasant idea he could think of and then announce that true heroism lay in embracing it. The rest of us may be less enthusiastic about the prospect of ceaseless repetition. After all, we’ve all had a foretaste of what it entails in the remarkable career of socialism. Like the fabled hydra, socialism is an evil that suffers decapitation after decapitation only to spring back to life, its blood—or, rather, the blood of its victims—somehow sprouting ever new heads of credulousness. The Soviet Union was “really existing communism,” under whose aegis millions were impoverished, tortured, and murdered (but, according to the New York Times, the sex was great). Western intellectuals, gullible creatures that they are, adulated that steaming tyranny. Eventually morons like Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, and Pope John Paul II brought to an end that horrible “experiment in living.” Chairman Mao probably has the…

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Commentary: In Today’s Politics, ‘Bipartisanship’ is a Fool’s Gambit

by Jeffery Rendall   The late Senator John McCain was laid to rest a little over two weeks ago. In the time since there’s been much discussion concerning one of his most passionate lifelong political causes, namely bringing both parties together to “compromise” on legislation and act in a bipartisan manner. Judge Brett Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings began a couple days after McCain’s burial, and had McCain witnessed personally his Democrat senator colleagues’ atrocious Judiciary Committee behavior he would’ve been astonished at their depravity. On the GOP side you had Republicans complimenting Kavanaugh on his stellar judicial record and certifiable qualifications to serve on the high Court. On the Democrat side there were endless objections and tacit approval of the leftist protesters’ constant interruptions and incitements to violence. There’s little doubt the legitimacy of the American system is at stake these days. Is coming together the answer? And is “bipartisanship” even possible anymore? Some seem to think so, and according to them such a kumbaya moment is essential to moving forward as a country. (Democrat) David L. Mercer and (Republican) Chris C. Reid wrote at The Hill, “Contrary to the current national mood, bipartisanship is not lost to posterity. In fact, President Obama worked…

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Commentary: Political Correctness, Just One Tool In The Arsenal Of ‘Sustainability’

by Kathleen Marquardt, Vice President, American Policy Center   “At its worst, political correctness is nothing different from Orwell’s Newspeak – an attempt to change the way people think by forcibly changing the way they speak.” ~ Urban Dictionary “Every child in America entering school at the age of five is mentally ill because he comes to school with certain allegiances to our founding fathers, toward our elected officials, toward his parents, toward a belief in a supernatural being, and toward the sovereignty of this nation as a separate entity. It’s up to you as teachers to make all these sick children well by creating the international child of the future.” Chester M. Pierce, Harvard psychiatrist, speaking as an expert in public education at the 1973 International Education Seminar. The “Dear Hillary” letter, written on Nov. 11, 1992 by Marc Tucker, president of the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE), lays out a plan “to remold the entire American system” into “a seamless web that literally extends from cradle to grave and is the same system for everyone,” coordinated by “a system of labor market boards at the local, state and federal levels” where curriculum and “job matching” will be handled by counselors “accessing…

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Commentary: When Did It Become Okay to Disrespect the Culture, Traditions, and Values of America?

homes

by Jeffery Rendall   Wake up any particular morning and glance out the window. Do you notice anything different from the day before? Changes in weather or the seasons don’t count. Chances are you’ll see things appear pretty much the same – and if you’ve lived in one place long enough that’s true from year to year as well. Time slips by unobtrusively, so much so we don’t easily recognize all the transformations going on around us. Sometimes the changes are quite noticeable, however. Fox News host Laura Ingraham disturbed the liberal hornet’s nest last week with one such keen observation. Rick Moran of PJ Media reported, “It’s really too bad we can’t have a civil debate about anything anymore because Laura Ingraham’s observation that the ‘American we know and love doesn’t exist anymore’ in some parts of the country is a ripe topic for serious discussion. The Fox News host’s remarks were triggered by idiotic comments from nitwit Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez… “Ingraham acknowledged that Ocasio-Cortez was right ‘in a general sense,’ but was missing the point about what’s been changing in America: “[Ingraham said:] ’In some parts of the country it does seem like the America we know and love doesn’t…

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Commentary: My Life Behind the Iron Curtain Was Not a Socialist Utopia

by Carmen Alexe   Individual freedom can only exist in the context of free-market capitalism. Personal freedom thrives in capitalism, declines in government-regulated economies, and vanishes in communism. Aside from better economic and legislative policies, what America needs is a more intense appreciation for individual freedom and capitalism. I was born and raised in communist Romania during the Cold War, a country in which the government owned all the resources and means of production. The state controlled almost every aspect of our lives: our education, our job placement, the time of day we could have hot water, and what we were allowed to say. Like the rest of the Eastern European countries, Romania was often referred to as a communist country. In school, we were taught it was a socialist country. Its name prior to the 1989 Revolution to overthrow the Ceausescu regime was the Socialist Republic of Romania. From an economic standpoint, a petty fraction of property was still privately owned. In a communist system, all property is owned by the state. So if it wasn’t a true communist economy, its heavy central planning and the application of a totalitarian control over the Romanian citizenry made this nation rightfully gain…

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Constitution Series: The Golden Triangle of Freedom

Tennessee Star

    This is the eleventh of twenty-five weekly articles in The Tennessee Star’s Constitution Series. Students in grades 8 through 12 can sign up here to participate in The Tennessee Star’s Constitution Bee, which will be held on September 23. A remarkable aspect of the Constitution of the United States is that since its ratification in 1789 the American people have, for the most part, viewed it as a covenant agreement between themselves and the national government. It is a powerful document not simply because of the words it contains, but because the people have freely chosen to be governed by those words. Words written a parchment or typed into an I-phone have no impact unless they are accepted within a common belief system. This why “the rule of law,” particularly as it has developed here in the United States, is so central to the development and growth of a vibrant and dynamic society where individual freedom flourishes. In America, we call this freedom “constitutional liberty.” But, as Ronald Reagan famously said, “freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” The Founders knew this, and recently a Chinese-born English scholar who resides in America expressed in very…

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JC Bowman Commentary: Let Freedom Ring

American Spirit

  It is July 4th, Independence Day in America. Which makes us contemplate: What is liberty? What is freedom? Liberty is the right to choose. Freedom is the result of the right choice. As we celebrate liberty, we should also reflect on the repressive regimes around the globe, and be grateful for the freedom we enjoy in our country. We should thank God for our nation’s founders and their bravery in writing and signing the Declaration of Independence. Today, despite what people may think, the American flag is still a universally recognized symbol and beacon of hope that stands for liberty and freedom. Just as patriots long ago, we are bound together by a common destiny. Citizenship in this nation connects together all Americans. That is why citizenship matters. We are a nation bound not by race or religion, but by the shared values of liberty and freedom. Nelson Mandela who was imprisoned, understood what loss of freedom meant. He wrote: “To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.” Too many want freedom for themselves, and yet seek to withhold it from others.…

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