Saturday, July 13, 2024

Sen. Bill Hagerty, Sen. Marsha Blacburn, Rep. Andy Ogles and Colleagues Question DOJ’s Lack of Prosecutions of Aliens Registering to Vote

by Rod Williams, July 13, 2024 - Yesterday, Senator Bill Hagerty and Senator Marsha Blackburn, Representative Andy Ogles and other of their colleagues wrote a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland inquiring as to the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) efforts to prevent aliens from registering to vote in American elections. This follows several recent reports of non-citizens registering to vote amid a record number of illegal border crossings.

I totally reject the unproven, but widely accepted MAGA claim of the stolen election. I accept that some politicians and media personalities will use election integrity issues as a tool to prop up the stolen election claim and undermine faith in the legitimacy of our elections. I am cynical enough to take the alarm about the integrity of our elections including claims of illegal immigrants voting in our elections with a grain of salt. 

On the other hand, we should always be diligent to ensure that our elections are fair and only people who are eligible to vote, vote and that the people voting are who they say they are.  Those who vote illegally should be prosecuted. With upward to 16 million undocumented aliens living in America, many of them having lived here for years, I would be surprised if there are not some illegal aliens who vote in our elections. 

I don't know if the letter signed by Hagerty, Blacburn, and Ogles is a legitimate inquiry as to the Justice Department's response to reports of illegal aliens registering to vote in our elections or if it is politically motivated sensationalism. The conservative media and the talk show host will report it as them "demanding answers."  I don't know if the Justice Department is lax in protecting us from illegal aliens registering to vote or not. I could be persuaded they are because they could be motivated by a desire to not give ammunition to the stolen election thesis. I can believe that no one is actually acting in good faith and believe that almost everyone is motivated by something other than the truth. I don't like being so cynical, but in today's environment, I think cynicism is justified. It does appear to me that the information requested is a legitimate request. I think however, releasing the letter to the public on the day it was written is cynical publicity-seeking. 

Below is the letter:


For four more pages of signatures, follow this link.



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Robby Starbuck turns focus to John Deere policies

 By Jon Styf, The Center Square, July 13 - Two weeks after shining a light on Tractor Supply Co.’s corporate policies and sponsorships related to diversity, equity and inclusion, Robby Starbuck has taken aim at John Deere.

Starbuck, a 2022 Republican write-in candidate in Tennessee's 5th Congressional District, posted his first set of issues with John Deere’s policies on Tuesday. His sunlight on Tractor Supply Co. drew response from the company changing policies.

Starbuck says John Deere, headquarters in Moline, Ill., is funding "pride events," meaning those promoting homosexual activity; using preferred pronouns; and implementing diversity, equity and inclusion policies across the board in the company, including in its Latin America and India branches.

“What’s unknown is whether CEO John May is knowingly forcing these policies or if it’s gotten out of control and he’s out of the loop on how bad it is,” Starbuck wrote. “His response to this story will be very revealing as to the culpability in the implementation of woke policies.”

The Center Square was unsuccessful obtaining comment for this story from John Deere before publication.

Starbuck said Bill Gates is listed as John Deere’s largest shareholder, the company has implemented
“Genderbread man” training and that it is using the “United for Equity” program while promoting what he called “bigotry against Christians.”

The accusations come as John Deere announced large layoffs despite reported net income of nearly $2.4 billion for the second quarter of 2024, which ended April 28.

Starbuck said his post was just the beginning on the subject, which will continue with company donations, hiring practices, causes it supported, and what its executives have said in interviews.

“John Deere seems to have forgotten who their customers are,” Starbuck wrote. “Having a farm myself, I’m disgusted that a once great American brand is now taking this turn to seemingly embrace leftist policies that are diametrically opposed to the values of most farmers.”


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Thursday, July 11, 2024

House Republican primary races in which Gov. Bill Lee has endorsed pro-voucher candidates


By Marta W. Aldrich, Chalkbeat, July 11, 2024 - At the Halfway Market in Franklin, Tennessee, where locals come for a good hamburger and friendly conversation, Republican Brian Beathard works the crowd as a candidate for a high-profile legislative seat ahead of a pivotal session on the future of the state’s education system.

By most standards, Beathard should be a shoo-in to replace departing state Rep. Sam Whitson, a four-term Republican lawmaker who’s retiring this year.

Beathard (pronounced BETH-ard) has served on the Williamson County Commission since 2010 and, as its current chairman, has a record of advocating for government efficiency, competence, and conservatism in a predominantly Republican community.

He’s been endorsed by top local leaders, including Whitson, three mayors, and a retired sheriff.

And he’s the only one of three Republican candidates for the District 65 seat who has continuously lived and worked for more than 25 years in the affluent suburban county south of Nashville.

But when Republican Gov. Bill Lee handed out endorsements in key statehouse primary races last month, Beathard got bypassed because of his stance on a single issue: private school vouchers.

Lee is betting big on a policy in which he’s had major victories during his nearly six years in office, but has still fallen short of his ultimate goal: taxpayer funding for private school tuition for any Tennessee student who wants it — including those from middle-class and wealthy families — all under the banner of “school choice.”

The governor’s universal voucher proposal stalled in the legislature this spring, even with a GOP supermajority. Now, in anticipation of a do-over, Lee is taking the unusual step of using his bully pulpit to endorse certain Republican candidates over others.

A proponent of local control, Beathard — like Whitson — opposes the governor’s plan, especially for Williamson County, home to two of the state’s top-performing public school districts.

....

Here are contested House Republican primary races in which Gov. Bill Lee has endorsed pro-voucher candidates:

District 20: Candidate Jason Emert, former chair of the Young Republican National Federation, over Blount County commissioners Nick Bright, a cattle farmer, and Tim Stinnett, a retired Maryville teacher

District 33: Incumbent Rep. John Ragan, a retired Air Force officer, over former Clinton Police Chief Rick Scarbrough

District 64: Incumbent Rep. Scott Cepicky, a lead sponsor of this year’s House voucher bill, over Maury County Commissioner Ray Jeter

District 65: Candidate Lee Reeves, a real estate attorney and investor, over Williamson County Commissioner Brian Beathard and Michelle Foreman, a former GOP state executive committee member

District 68: Candidate Aron Maberry, a Clarksville pastor and school board member, over retired Army pilot Greg Gilman, Montgomery County Commissioner Joe Smith, and former county Republican Party co-chair Carol Duffin

District 73: Incumbent Rep. Chris Todd, of Humboldt, over former longtime Madison County Mayor Jimmy Harris, of Jackson

District 97: Incumbent Rep. John Gillespie, of Memphis, over Christina Oppenhuizen, a small-business owner

(read it all)

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Tennessee Right to Life State House and Senate Endorcements

 



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Update: Some Political Trends are Headed in the Right Directions as Wokeness is in Decline.

by Rod Williams, June 12, 2024- It is hard to find political developments to be encouraged about these days. The Republican Party has become a Trump cult and abandoned principled conservatism. Republicans and Democrats do not only disagree; they hate each other. They think the other side is not only wrong, but evil. Political divisions mean Republicans and Democrats cannot be friends or often even worship in church together. 

We are losing control of the seas, and it is doubtful we could counter an aggressive China. As we head for a financial cliff, no one it seems is concerned about the national debt or entitlement reform. Republicans oppose aid to Ukraine and would let Russia just take it and Democrats hand out aid too slowly and with too many restrictions to let Ukraine win. Regardless of who wins the 2024 election, we will likely experience violence and chaos. I could go on, but most news is bad news and I see little to be encouraged about.

Despite the above tone of gloom and doom and list of reasons to despair however, there are a few developments that are encouraging. With so many bad political developments, some trends in the right direction have gone almost unnoticed and uncommented upon, yet to me these developments seem significant. It appears that political wokeness is in retreat. The pendulum is swinging away from recent extremes. Below are some examples.

Defund the police is out. 
Following the George Floyd murder and the subsequent BLM and Antifa riots that swept the county, "defund the police" became a rallying cry across the nation. Liberals wanted to eliminate or drastically reduce police departments and divert resources from police to social workers. This insanity has come to an end. No where did a city actually dissolve their police departments, but in some places, budgets were reduced and underfunded police departments did not get the funding they need to do their job. 

This effort to defund the police was primarily a utopian vision of White liberals. They saw the police as propping up a racist society. Disparity in who had unpleasant encounters with the police, to their minds, did not indicate a dysfunctional Black culture but indicated systemic racism.  As it turns out, most Black residents of crime infested communities wanted a greater police presence in the communities not a lesser police presence. 

Now, almost no one is calling for defunding the police and cities which cut police budgets have, for the most part, restored them. For a report on how the defund the police movement played out in Minneapolis, follow this link. Do a search engine search and the similar stories are common. It seems that now the only people wanting to "defund the police" are Republicans wanting to cut the FBI and Homeland Secuity. 

Colleges are dropping DEI. 
In recent years to promote "diversity, equity, and inclusion" universities compelled student applicants to include a statement on their applications as to what they would do to promote DEI. Compelled speech is contrary to living in a democratic society and is a hallmark of totalitarian and authoritarian societies. We long ago accepted that people cannot be forced to pledge allegiance to the flag, but somehow forcing students to pledge fidelity to DEI seemed acceptable. Not only did students have to say they supported and would promote DEI, but potential professors also had to do the same. This had the effect of eliminating conservative viewpoints from the university.

Quietly, colleges are dropping DEI. One example of where this requirement is being dropped is MIT which you can read about at this link. Some of this cutting of DEI programs and illuminating of DEI gatekeeper questions on applications is the result of red state legislation, but it is often also happening elsewhere. In many places it is the Board of Governors banning the practice. Many large ivy league private universities are dropping the policy. As an example, Harvard’s Largest Faculty Division Will No Longer Require Diversity Statements. 

In addition to requiring students and potential staff to say they support DEI and would promote it; many colleges had created DEI promotion positions on their campuses to monitor DEI efforts and hear complaints of inadequate vigor in carrying out DEI mandates. Quietly, colleges are ending these stand-alone offices. Whether it is bowing to political pressure or responding to donor pressure are simply recognizing that compelled speech is incompatible with the ideas of higher education, this is a welcome trend.

ESG is losing ground as investors push back.
A development of the last few years is the push to make Environmental, Social and Governance a factor for investment decisions. Some state and city pension plans required companies to have a good ESG score to be eligible for investment of public funds. The ESG metric scores a company on a variety of factors such as having policies to fight climate change, promoting sustainable policies, paying for abortions for their female employees and various other liberal objectives. Liberal investor activist have successfully exerted pressure on companies to make ESG a factor in their operations because often few investors take an interest in company's policies and few attend annual stockholders' meetings. This is changing. 

According to Forbes, interest in ESG peaked in 2023 and its sharp decline seemed to have begun. Firms have a fiduciary duty to maximize shareholders’ wealth and ESG makes other objectives a priority. Attorney Generals of several U.S. states have sued financial companies that employ ESG. Also, stockholders are pushing back. According to the Wall Street Journal, shareholders have voted on 70 measures opposing traditional ESG initiatives at S&P 500 companies through the end of May this year, up from 30 two years ago and seven in 2020.

Reclaiming the language.
For years now, liberals have perverted the language and instead of saying the word "mom," they say things like "child-bearing people." They come up with such silliness as using the plural pronoun "they" as a single pronoun for a person who does not think of himself or herself as a "he" or "she." The list goes on and on. It is most pronounced in promoting a trans agenda that denies there is such a thing as men and women, but it is also prevalent in other contexts. This is now waning, and it is being made the subject of ridicule. 

The Atlantic is one of the journals to which I subscribe. It is liberal but it is not Mother Jones or The New Republic. Much of the content is not political at all and contains some excellent writing but I think anyone would say the publication is liberal. In a recent issue it had an article The Moral Case Against Euphemism. The subtitle of the article is "Banning words won't make the world more just." 

In the article they report that Sierra Club’s Equity Language Guide discourages using the words stand, Americans, blind, and crazy. "The first two fail at inclusion, because not everyone can stand and not everyone living in this country is a citizen. The third and fourth, even as figures of speech (“Legislators are blind to climate change”), are insulting to the disabled. The guide also rejects the disabled in favor of people living with disabilities, for the same reason that enslaved person has generally replaced slave : to affirm, by the tenets of what’s called “people-first language,” that “everyone is first and foremost a person, not their disability or other identity.”"

The article goes on for multiple pages reporting on how the language police get sillier and sillier. As an example, one should not use "marginalized" as an adjective. It is acceptable to say, "historically marginalized" but not "marginalized people." That The Atlantic points out what has happened and disapproves is encouraging. 

I have also seen others quietly return to normal. I get the communications from the Tennessee Democratic Party and for a long time, the letter writer of a communication always ended their letter with the writers preferred pronoun following the writer's name. Suddenly, a few months ago, they just stopped the practice.  While most comics are liberals, I have recently seen some slip into their humor jabs at political correctness language and related silliness.

Given the discouraging trends we are seeing in politics and society, these trends may not amount to much, but they are something. I welcome steps in the right direction no matter how small. 

Update, 7/11/2024Brentwood's Tractor Supply ends DEI initiatives, pride funding



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U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Columbia, expensed more on lodging and and meals than 94% of his House colleagues in 2023,

 U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Columbia, expensed more on lodging and and meals than 94% of his House colleagues in 2023,

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Ogles spends $335K on tax-funded mailers, far outpacing Tennessee colleagues

 

Ogles spends $335K on tax-funded mailers, far outpacing Tennessee colleagues

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The Nashville Public Library Promotes Transgenderism among Children. Your Tax Dollars at Work.

by Rod Williams, June 29, 2024- I had occasion to go to the main Public Library downtown today and found the lobby had been devoted to celebrating Pride month. Many of the displays were aimed toward promoting transgenderism of among children. Below are pictures. 

Recently, I posted an essay critical of Tennessee Stands and and Gary Humble for equating Pride celebrations to Domestic Terrorism. I stand by that essay. I condemn spreading intolerance and hate. I kind of take a live and let live approach. Liberty means tolerating a lot of actions and opinions with which you may disagree. 

However, I object to using public funds to spread propaganda promoting transgenderism among young people.  If I private bookstore wanted to have these displays then I would think government ought to stay out of it and the private bookstore has the right to do what they want. If a private bookstore wants to have drag queen story hour, then I support their right to do so; if a public library wants to have a drag queen story hour, I object. 

When the government does something, they are doing it with my tax dollars and in my name. I object. 

































About this book, from Amazon.
















From Amazon


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Tuesday, July 09, 2024

The national debt is ballooning. The next president probably won’t stop it.

By Jacob Bogage, The Washington Post, June 24, 2024 - As the national debt soars toward a new and worrisome record, neither President Biden nor former president Donald Trump is likely to bring the tide of red ink under control, experts say.

Trump is pledging to extend the enormous package of tax cuts adopted on his watch and has discussed further reducing taxes for corporations. Biden, meanwhile, also wants to extend the Trump tax cuts for families earning less than $400,000 a year, while calling for nearly $1 trillion in fresh spending over the next decade on social programs — though Biden vows to cover those costs by raising taxes on the rich.

Neither candidate has made debt reduction a priority while in the White House, according to research released Monday by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The debt grew by $8.4 trillion during Trump’s first term, while Biden so far has added $4.3 trillion, ... Last week, the CBO projected annual budget deficits of nearly $2 trillion for the foreseeable future. That mismatch between spending and revenue will drive borrowing ever higher, with the debt growing to more than $50 trillion by 2034 — or more than 122 percent of the nation’s overall economy — the CBO said. (read it all)

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Monday, July 08, 2024

Courtney Johnston builds fundraising war chest

Courtney Johnston
Axios Nashville, July 8, 2024- Metro Councilmember Courtney Johnston raked in $715,000 in the last three months to fuel her Republican primary challenge of U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles, her campaign tells Axios.

Why it matters: The race is a political rarity for a Republican primary: an incumbent backed by former President Trump facing a legitimate, well-financed challenger.

The big picture: Johnston's fundraising haul this quarter shows there's an appetite to get rid of Ogles, the freshman House member who's been embroiled in controversy.

By the numbers: Johnston now has over $500,000 cash on hand to bankroll her campaign for the stretch run. In addition to her own fundraising efforts, an outside group called Conservatives With Character has been airing anti-Ogles television ads for about the last two weeks.

Ogles, meanwhile, is playing catch-up on the fundraising front. For much of his tenure, he disclosed a $300,000 personal loan to his campaign. Earlier this year, he amended 11 disclosures to remove the loan after becoming the subject of an ethics complaint.

After those changes, he reported just over $95,000 cash on hand. The Tennessean reported last week that Ogles' re-election effort relies on the Americans for Prosperity political group for financial support.

State of play: Trump expressed his support for Ogles last year, but that was before Johnston entered the race.

Johnston has earned the admiration of Nashville's business community during her five years on the Metro Council. Some of the city's most prominent business leaders back her campaign.

Between the lines: The race is also colored by the fact that this is just the second election in the newly drawn District 5, which represents a large portion of Nashville where Johnston lives.

Nashville, previously a single House district and Democratic stronghold, is now divided into three House districts where Republicans have large advantages.

As a result, none of Nashville's three representatives live in the city.

Reality check: Ogles still enjoys support from Republican leaders.

In addition to Trump, eight Republican state lawmakers endorsed Ogles' campaign. Johnston touted Ogles' work to address "border security, government accountability and inflation" to the conservative Tennessee Star outlet.

Election Day for the Republican primary is Aug. 1. Early voting begins July 12.

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Traffic + Transit Forum, Saturday July 20

 


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Trump is less Fiscally Responsible than Biden. Even Excluding Covid relief, Trump added more to National Debt than Biden.

by Rod Williams, June 8, 2024- In discussion with fellow Republicans, they may admit Trump's flaws and express concern about Trump's character and commitment to democracy but will argue that his policies are superior to those of President Biden. They will assert that Trump and Republicans are fiscally responsible, and that Democrats spend recklessly. The data does not support that.  

At one time, not so long ago, I believe Republicans were the party of fiscal responsibility. Along with abandoning many of their other principles, Republicans no longer seem concerned about the looming debt crisis and in practice are no better than Democrats at restraining our ballooning national debt. Republicans may put on a good show and threaten a government shutdown when it is time to raise the debt ceiling, but that is reckless drama. In practice, Republicans are no better stewards of taxpayer dollars than Democrats.

When one points out to a Trump supporter that Trump ballooned the deficit, they will excuse this by saying he had to deal with Covid and provide Covid relief. That is true. However, even excluding debt relief for Covid, Trump was a bigger spender than Biden. Also, you may recall, that if Trump would have had his way, the government would have even been more generous with Covid relief. At one time when Congress appropriated $600 a month Covid relief for the unemployed, Trump argued it should be $2,000 a month. (link) Democrats were more fiscally responsible than Republicans. 

The following from Committee for a Reponsible Federal Budget provides data to show that Trump has been a bigger spender than Biden.

Trump and Biden: The National Debt

The national debt is on course to reach a record share of the economy under the next presidential administration, due in part to policies approved by Presidents Trump and Biden during their time in office, including executive actions and legislation passed by Congress. 

While it is important to understand the fiscal impact of the promises candidates make on the campaign trail – particularly because they reflect the candidates’ own policy preferences and are not impacted by unexpected external events or the actions of Congress – the fact that both leading candidates have served as President also allows for a comparison of their actual fiscal records. This analysis focuses on the estimated ten-year debt impact of policies approved by Presidents Trump and Biden around the time of enactment.1 In this analysis, we find:

President Trump approved $8.4 trillion of new ten-year borrowing during his full term in office, or $4.8 trillion excluding the CARES Act and other COVID relief.

President Biden, in his first three years and five months in office, approved $4.3 trillion of new ten-year borrowing, or $2.2 trillion excluding the American Rescue Plan.

President Trump approved $8.8 trillion of gross new borrowing and $443 billion of deficit reduction during his full presidential term. 

President Biden has so far approved $6.2 trillion of gross new borrowing and $1.9 trillion of deficit reduction.


 


For the complete report follow this link

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Sunday, July 07, 2024

Tennessee U.S. Congress election: Meet Courtney Johnston, candidate for House District 5

by David Plazas, The Tennessean, July 1, 2025 - ... 

Which office are you seeking? U.S. House District 5. One of two Republicans in the primary election.

Age at the time of election: 45

What city/town in Tennessee do you live in? Nashville, Tennessee

Education: Bachelor of Science from the E.J Ourso College of Business Administration at Louisiana State with a Major in Finance

Job history: I worked at Deutsche Bank where I worked in debt service and as a debt reorganization specialist, primarily for corporate and municipal clients. I resigned from that role to pursue a career in music, which led to me to work in the restaurant and catering business. I ended up starting my own restaurant and catering business and eventually sold that business. After meeting my husband who is a general contractor, I became a real estate agent and have enjoyed that work for 10 years now.

Family: I’m married to my husband Danny of 7 years. Unfortunately, we were unable to have children. My mother moved here from my hometown in Louisiana in 2021 after my stepfather passed away and I’ve enjoyed having her so close. Danny and I have several siblings between us and many, many nephews and nieces that we enjoy immensely!

11 questions for the candidates

Why are you running for this office? (read more)


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City to Set New Goals, Outline Strategies and Develop Policy Recommendations to Advance Affordable Housing.

Nashville.Gov, reposted July 7, 2024- Metro Nashville’s Housing Division is developing a Unified Housing Strategy (UHS) that will set goals, outline strategies, and provide policy and program recommendation to advance access to affordable, safe, and stable housing for all Nashvillians.

The UHS will build upon other existing and on-going studies, including the 2021 Affordable Housing Task Force report, to provide detailed policy and program recommendations on how to increase housing security. The Housing Division has partnered with HR&A Advisors, Pillars Development, and MEPR Agency to support the development of the UHS.

This summer the Housing Division invites input from stakeholders through the following channels:

Metro Nashville’s Housing Division will be hosting four community listening sessions in late June and July that are open to all residents. Please see below for information about those sessions.

  • Unified Housing Strategy Community Listening Session, Monday, June 24, 5:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m. at Southeast Community Center (5260 Hickory Hollow Parkway, Suite 202)
  • Unified Housing Strategy Community Listening Session, Tuesday, July 9, 11:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. at the Main Library (615 Church Street)
  • Unified Housing Strategy Community Listening Session, Thursday, July 11, 5:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m. at East Park Regional Community Center (600 Woodland Street)
  • Unified Housing Strategy Community Listening Session, Thursday, July 18, 5:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m. at Bordeaux Branch Library (4000 Clarksville Pike)

Please contact Randi Semrick at randi.semrick@nashville.gov if you require accommodations, including translation services.

The Housing Division has also partnered with more than a dozen community-based organizations – “UHS Community Ambassadors” – to hold listening sessions with target populations during June and July. Residents interested in joining a session hosted by a UHS Ambassador may contact the organization directly. Please see below for a list of Community Ambassadors and their contact information. (follow link for list)

Rod's Comment: Last summer a proposal was introduced in the Metro Council that would significantly increase housing density and revamp Metro zoning codes. The proposal was known as NEST. The proposal was met with fierce opposition and was withdrawn. While NEST is not mentioned in the above announcement, it is expected that the Unified Housing Strategy will address some of the same issues as was the basis of the NEST proposals.

While many Nashvillians simply place preserving the character of their neighborhood above all other concerns, the problem of urban sprawl and lack of affordable housing must be addressed. If you are interested in the future of Nashville and the issues of housing affordability, you may want to engage in this planning process. 


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It’s Time for President Kamala Harris

 

It’s Time for President Kamala Harris

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Joe Biden is a delusional and amazingly stubborn man.

 By MARK ANTONIO WRIGHT, National Review, July 5, 2024 - I avoided all commentary before watching Joe Biden’s sit-down interview with ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos because I didn’t want to risk being influenced by other people’s opinions in any way — I wanted to see and hear and feel this thing firsthand and viscerally so that I could gauge the condition of the president of the United States.

Here’s what I think: 1) Biden looked and sounded terrible. ... 2) Biden’s stubbornness and obstinacy will come off as completely inexplicable to normal Americans. They’ll conclude that Joe Biden is a selfish politician primarily interested, above all else, in his own status and his own power. .... (link)

Rod's Comment: The above pretty much mirrors my view of the Stephanopoulos interview. 

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The 25th Amendment Should be Invoked to Remove Biden from Office.

by Rod Williams, June 29, 2024 - Now the whole world knows that Joe Biden is a senile old man who is incapable of fulfilling the duties of the office of president, where does that leave us?

The Democrats could replace Biden if he would agree to decline the nomination and voluntarily release his delegates. Even if he does agree to step aside, the window for replacing him is short. Even if Biden agrees to release his delegates and let the convention chose a candidate, it would be difficult. Some state laws would conflict with Party rules and replacing Biden as the candidate and releasing the delegates would not automatically remove Biden from the ballot everywhere. And if Biden is not persuaded to voluntarily step aside, it will prove even more difficult, almost impossible, to replace him. 

If Biden agrees to step aside and the conventions chooses a new nominee, who would it be? Kamala Harris is not well liked. She could not win. It will not be Kamala. At first glance Gavin Newsome of California has the good looks to be an attractive candidate, but California is a basket case. The high taxes, over regulation, corporations fleeing the state, income inequality, homelessness, and crime would be highlighted. There is a lot of fodder for destroying a Newsom candidacy. I don't think people would want the rest of the country to become a copy of California. Newsoms star would fade quickly. Maybe there is a dark horse candidate that could emerge that could have potential of attracting support, but I don't know who it would be, and the time is almost too short for even the perfect candidate to gain traction. 

The Democrats have been insisting that Donald Trump is an existential threat to democracy. I accept that. I also believe he is. However, I am beginning to question if Democrat leaders really believe it. If so, why did they not tell the truth about Biden's condition and find a viable candidate to challenge Trump. Democrat leaders and their allies in the media have covered up Biden's condition and left us with a senile candidate who should not be trusted to take care of himself, let alone be in control of America's nuclear arsenal and conduct the affairs of the nation. Biden needs to be in a nice assisted living facility; not the White House and those in the know, knew it.

I will never vote for Donald Trump again. January 6th was only one day, but the effort to overturn election results started on November 3rd, 2020 before the polls closed. Trump and his surrogates plotted to overturn the election results, pressured election officials to find votes for Trump, put up fake electors and called a mob to the capital to "stop the steal."  Trump is "practically and morally responsible” for the Capitol insurrection. He deserves to be in jail, not back in the oval office.

Unfortunately, at this point Donald J. Trump will again be the next President.  I don't see how he can be stopped. You can't defeat somebody with nobody, and Joe Biden is out for lunch and might as well be a nobody. All I can think of to do is simply hope and pray that Trump will not be as bad as he could be for our country. We will just have to wait and see how he governs and hope that in fact he does not become a dictator. 

While we wait and hope and pray, that means that for now, Joe Biden is still the man in charge and that is scary. We should deal with this now.

The twenty-fifth amendment to the constitution deals with presidential succession and disability. Section four of the 25th says that if the Vice President and a majority of the cabinet declare in a written declaration to Congress that the President is unable to discharge his duties, immediately the vice president becomes acting president. They should do it. I do not want Kamala Harris to be president, but at least she is not mentally incapacitated. If the VP and cabinet will not do it on their one initiative, Congress should pass a resolution asking that the VP and cabinet invoke the 25th. Joe Biden should not only not serve another term, but he should not be allowed to complete this term. 


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423 guns have been stolen from vehicles in Nashville

Metro Nashville Press Release, July 2, 2024- The Nashville Police Department strongly encourages Nashvillians to lock their automobile doors, secure any valuables---especially guns, and remove the keys.

So far this year, 423 guns have been stolen from vehicles in Nashville, 11 were taken from autos just last week. The total number of guns stolen this year in Davidson County is 594, which means that 71% of guns stolen so far in 2024 have been taken from automobiles. Last year at this same time, 663 guns had been stolen from vehicles, a 36% decrease so far this year.

MNPD’s special initiative to combat car theft and related crimes, begun on February 1st, has resulted in 589 arrests and the recoveries of 318 stolen vehicles and 119 guns.

Going hand in hand with vehicle burglaries is vehicle theft. Too many automobiles remain easy targets because keys are left inside or made available to thieves. Just like guns taken from vehicles, these stolen autos are also routinely involved in criminal activities, including carjackings and robberies.

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