Former TN Rep Robin Smith will avoid Jail

Robin Smith

The Tennessean, Jan. 7, 2026- Robin Smith, the former Tennessee lawmaker sentenced for running a scheme to defraud taxpayers, is no longer going to prison.

A federal judge on Jan. 5 reduced the sentence for Smith, 62, from eight months in prison to a year of probation. U.S. District Judge Eli Richardson's decision came two months after President Donald Trump pardoned Smith's two co-defendants, former Tennessee House Speaker Glen Casada and his ex-chief of staff Cade Cothren.

Trump did not pardon Smith, who testified against Casada and Cothren at trial. She is still seeking a pardon, her attorney Ben Rose said in an emailed statement. (link)

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What is Behind Trump's War on Venezuela

by Rod Williams, Jan. 4, 2026- Of all of the commentary and analysis I have read and viewed regarding Trump's adventure in Venezuela, this from David Frum and Anne Applebaum, staff writers at the Atlantic, is the most insightful. They posit that President Trump's military action in Venezuela is not just an isolated incident but part of a larger move toward a multi-polar world divided into spheres of influence. Either through agreement or an unstated understanding, Russia and China, both of which have strong relations with Venezuela, will not object to the US colonization of Venezuela, and the US will not meddle in their backyard. Russia can take Ukraine, the U.S can take Venezuela, and the U. S. will be less robust in our defense of Taiwan and other Asian countries. 

While Frum and Applebaum do not mention Russian philosopher Aleksandr Dugin by name, this idea of the great powers dividing the world into spheres of influence has been advanced by him. In the more intellectual MAGA circles, Aleksandr Dugan is often favorably referenced. This idea that the great powers of the world should dominate their regions and leave the other great powers to dominate their region helps explain Trump's siding with Putin in the Ukraine war and Trump's calls to annex Greenland, Canada, and Panama.

David Fraum is a former speech writer for former President George W. Bush, has been a writer at National Review, and has served on the board of several influential think tanks, including the American Enterprise Institute. 

Anne Applebaum is a historian and journalist and was previously a writter for the Washington Post. Among other awards, she has won a Pulitzer Prize, for Gulag: A History, in 2004; the Cundill Prize, for Iron Curtain, in 2013; the Duff Cooper prize, for Red Famine: Stalin’s War on Ukraine, in 2003.

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Collectivism, Warmed Over

by Jonah Goldberg, The Dispatch, January 2, 2026 - ... “We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism,” declared Zohran Mamdani in his inaugural address as mayor of New York City on Thursday. 

... “Collectivism” and its sibling, “collectivization,” are trigger words for, well, people like me. In the academic and philosophical literature, “collectivism” is the blanket analytical term for certainly most and arguably all forms of totalitarian ideology. 

The term came into the English language in the 1850s—probably borrowed from the French collectivisme—where it battled with competing terms for basically the same thing: communism, socialism, cooperation, corporatism, solidarity, etc.   

But it wasn’t until the 1930s that it got separated from the solidaristic adjectival herd. American journalist William Henry Chamberlin, a communist sympathizer until he lived under actual communism in the Soviet Union, wrote Collectivism: A False Utopia in 1937, which solidified its negative connotations. On the first page, Chamberlin writes, 

A question that, in my opinion, far transcends in importance the precise point at which the line may be drawn between public and private enterprise in economic life, is whether the people are to own the state or whether the state is to own the people.

“Collectivism, both in its communist and fascist forms” falls on the wrong side of that question, according to Chamberlin.

After Chamberlin, Karl Popper, Friedrich Hayek, Joseph Schumpeter, and countless other heavy hitters established “collectivism” as the acceptable term for a political orientation that stands in opposition to the individual and individual rights. 

Colloquially, the reason collectivism acquired a bad odor that sometimes even communism did not emit was because of collectivization. At least when one denounces communism, communists spout the usual “but true communism was never really tried!” Precisely because of its bloodless academic nature, the word “collectivism” evades such defenses. No serious person can claim that “true collectivism was never really tried,” in part because, again colloquially, collectivization is the fully realized act of putting collectivism into practice. 

The Soviets used collectivization to describe their effort to transform agriculture, and they killed millions in the process. In Ukraine in the early 1930s, collectivization led to such mass man-made starvation and cannibalism that Soviet authorities had to distribute posters that read, “To eat your own children is a barbarian act.” 

When I first heard Mamdani refer to the “warmth of collectivism,” I immediately thought of Anne Applebaum’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Gulag: A History. In one scene, she describes how a slave-laborer fell in the snow from exhaustion. The other slaves—and they were slaves, owned by the state, as Chamberlin would put it—rushed to strip the fallen man’s clothes and belongings. The dying man’s last words were, “It’s so cold.”

Collectivization under Mao’s “Great Leap Forward” led to millions more Chinese famine deaths from 1959 to 1961—from a lowball estimate of 20 million to a high of 45 million.

Now, I don’t for a moment think Mamdani has anything like that in mind. Moreover, even if he did, nothing like that can be orchestrated from New York’s City Hall. 

.... The inability of many people on the American left to understand why millions of decent, rational, even quite progressive, people are turned off by radical communist—or communist cosplay—rhetoric is one of my great obsessive fascinations. I have no problem with people who think Hitlerism was worse than Stalinism or Maoism—there are good and persuasive arguments on that score. What I cannot fathom, or credit, are people who can’t understand or acknowledge why it’s a fairly debatable question, a legitimately close call. 

.... Go ahead and argue that Hitlerism was worse than Stalinism. I think that’s correct. But Stalinism was close. And yet, communist kitsch—hammer and sickle T-shirts, Maoist caps—are transgressive fashion statements (in a boringly conformist sort of way), but the swastika is taboo (or was). I’m all for the swastika being taboo, I’m just at a loss why communist swag shouldn’t be too. 

(There is much more to this article, and it expresses my views exactly.  To continue reading, follow this link. Rod)

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Mamdani on ‘the Warmth of Collectivism’

By The Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal, Jan. 2, 2026 - The inaugural address of a mayor isn’t typically of national interest, but Zohran Mamdani is an exception. The New York City mayor’s speech on New Year’s Day laid out the large scope of his socialist ambition and how little it is rooted in reality.

Give him his due: He has real charisma and political talent. While he says Bernie Sanders is his hero, Mr. Mamdani is the anti-Bernie as a political actor: smiling not snarling, more optimistic than aggrieved. He can almost make socialism sound appealing if you missed the last century, which as it happens he did.

But every so often the 34-year-old mayor says something that reveals his harder-edged politics. In his inaugural it was this: “We will replace the frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.”

That line could only be uttered by someone who overlooks the human misery that has been visited in the name of “collectivism.” The greatest killers of the 20th century put the virtues of the collective above individual rights and liberty. For the cold reality of collective warmth, we recommend “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” by Alexander Solzhenitsyn. It was a very cold day in Siberia. (link)

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I will Never Support "The Warmth of Collectivism."

by Rod Williams, Jan. 3, 2025- In his inaugural address, NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani said that under his administration rugged individualism will be replaced by the "warmth of collectivism." That is chilling. 

As much as I detest Trumpian authoritarianism and corruption, I detest socialism and collectivism more. If the choice facing America is between an America First agenda or a socialist-collectivist agenda, I think most Americans will choose to continue with an America First agenda.

In the abstract, I would like to see Democrats regain control of Congress in the midterms. However, when I had a choice between a Republican backed by Donald Trump and a radical with the endorsement of the Democratic Socialist, I voted for the Trump-backed Republican. If Democrats regaining control of the House means supporting candidates like Zohran Mamdani, Bernie Sander, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Aftyn Behn, I will be pulling for the Republicans.

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The Heritage Foundation Blows Up. I Welcome the News.

by Rod Williams, Dec. 31, 2025- In another essay on this blog, I wrote about my end-of-year giving and listed some organizations to which I contribute.  I also said that I had stopped giving money to the various branches of the Republican Party and to prominent conservative organizations I had once supported. I listed the American Conservative Union and the Heritage Foundation as organizations I formerly, but no longer support. I wrote that, "several of the Republican and conservative organizations that I used to support have abandoned the principles they long advocated and now advance the cause of authoritarian nationalist populism, so I no longer give to them."

I am pleased that I am not the only conservative who recognizes the abandonment of conservative principles in the Heritage Foundation. The Wall Street Journal recently posted about trouble within Heritage and wrote, "Heritage once supported free trade; now it is protectionist. It once supported a robust American foreign policy; Heritage purged its defense hawks two years ago. Heritage was a supporter of the originalist judicial revolution and the rule of law; now it defends Mr. Trump’s expansion of executive power whether or not it has a constitutional basis."

While this flip-flop on core values, as stated by the WSJ, has caused tension within Heritage for the last few years, it has now escalated, and many of the scholars associated with Heritage are jumping ship. Not only are individual scholars leaving Heritage, but they are taking whole divisions of Heritage with them, and donors are putting away the checkbooks.

The final straw for some was Heritage president Kevin Roberts saying there should be no enemies to the right and defending Tucker Carlson’s softball interview with Nazi adjacent podcaster Nick Fuentes. Before this month's pubic break with Heritage, several scholars associated with Heritage had already quietly slipped away. Many of those who are jumping ship at Heritage are landing at an organization headed by former Vice President Mike Pence called Advancing American Freedom.

I stopped giving to Heritage, I guess about four years ago, maybe longer ago than that. Heritage was founded in 1973 and I have probably been giving since the founding or shortly thereafter. Anyway, I have been supporting Heritage for a long time. I am now adding Advancing American Freedom to my giving list.

The following article provides more information about the Heritage breakup and tells who is leaving:

The Heritage Foundation Blows Up

Its conservative scholars jump to Mike Pence’s policy shop after being stifled at the think tank.

By The Editorial Board, Wall Street Journal, Dec. 22, 2025- ... Some 15 or more Heritage employees, including the leaders of three prominent policy departments, are jumping to the Advancing American Freedom foundation that the former Vice President established in 2021. The defectors include the leaders of Heritage’s most important policy shops: The Edwin Meese III Center for Legal and Judicial Studies, the Center for Data Analysis, and the Roe Institute for Economic Policy Studies.

The move by John Malcolm and his colleagues at the Meese Center is especially notable. We’re told it is endorsed by Mr. Meese, the Reagan-era Attorney General who is now 94 years old and has been a fixture at Heritage. The Roe Institute is the think tank’s free-market shop—or it was before Heritage embraced Trumpian industrial policy. One data project stifled at Heritage is to map the district-by-district impact of the Trump tariffs.

...Several Heritage board members have resigned, as has Trump economic adviser Stephen Moore. Monday’s departures are the largest so far, and they underscore how far Heritage has wandered under Mr. Roberts. Mr. Pence and his board have set a target of $15 million from donors to finance the defecting analysts for three years, and as of Friday we hear they had raised more than $13 million. 

... A think tank is fundamentally a collection of people and donors who believe in certain ideas and principles. Heritage abandoned its principles, it is losing its people, and soon there might not be much left to donate to.

This is welcome news. I am heartened and have just made my donation to Advancing American Freedom.

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How to Tell if Someone is a Conservative

by Rod Williams, Dec. 29, 2025- It has always been easy to tell the difference between a conservative and a liberal (or a Republican and a Democrat) if one had a conversation of substance with someone for more than a few minutes. Not that there aren't some overlapping concerns between conservatives and liberals, and sometimes the difference is about the best policy for achieving a goal rather than the goal. Sometimes, the differences are more profound.

In any event, until recently, if talking to a conservative, one would hear concern about the rule of law and constitutional governance; not so much anymore. A conservative advocated free trade; not so much anymore. A conservative would oppose the government ownership of the means of production; not so much anymore. A conservative cared about America's role in the world, a strong national defence, strong alliances, and collective security; not so much anymore. Conservatives cared about norms and tradition and process; not so much anymore. 

A conservative would express support for the Second Amendment, sanctity of life, small government, balanced budgets, reducing the national debt, states rights, restricting immigration and a secure border, and law and order. Conservatives still care about some of these things and still profess to care about some of them, but most are not the issues that animate conservatives any longer.

Now, the way to know you are talking to a conservative is if they express support for any number of weird conspiracy theories. Some of these are only believed by a very few people, but if someone expresses the belief, you can rest assured you are talking to a conservative. There may be a couple of these that liberals or nonpolitical people also express a belief in, but more often than not, if someone expresses the following beliefs, you can know you are talking to a conservative:

• The 2020 election was stolen. It probably involved mail-in voting fraud, widespread noncitizen voting, and "vote-flipping" by voting machines.

•  The 2020 election was stolen, and George Soros engineered it.

• The Charlie Kirk assassination was not what it seemed but the result of a conspiracy. You can choose the conspirators: the Jews, Israel, an Egyptian military contractor, the French Foreign Legion, staffers within Turning Point USA, Erica Kirk, the CIA, the Trump administration, Kash Patel, Calvary Church, or some other entity.

• Chemtrails are real. That is not water vapor you are seeing in the sky.

• Chemicals purposely released into the water and maybe the air are turning frogs gay and lowering testosterone levels in American males, making them docile and willing to do things like wear masks during the COVID-19 epidemic.

• More people died from the COVID vaccine than died from COVID. 

• The COVID-19 pandemic was a bioweapon engineered by China.

• The COVID epidemic was a hoax and no worse than the flu. 

• Vaccines cause autism. 

• The Kennedy assassination was the result of a conspiracy. You choose: the CIA, the Communist, the Anti-Communist, Lyndon Johnson, or the Mafia.

• The moon landing was faked.

• 9-11 was an inside job.

• A half-century ago, the Jewish state deliberately attacked the USS Liberty during the Six-Day War.

• There is a vast child sex-trafficking ring in the nation, and it involves a lot of Democrats, elites, and Hollywood types. They have sex with children, and maybe they kill them and drink their blood. 

• The elites, probably Jews, are working on "The Great Replacement" to reduce the influence of white Americans by replacing them with non-white immigrants.

• Obama was ineligible to be President of the United States because he was not a natural-born citizen of the United States as required by the Constitution, but was born in Kenya.

• Michelle Obama is really a man.

• Brigitte Macron, wife of French President Emmanuel Macron, is really a man. 

I know someone is saying, "I am a conservative and I don't believe any of these things." I am a conservative also, and I don't believe any of these things either. There are still a few of us old Buckley-Reagan conservatives, but the Tucker-Trump conservatives define conservatism (and the Republican Party) these days and unfortunately, they constitute the majority strain of contemporary conservatism and this strain is what defines the movement. It makes me sad, too. 

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Van Hillary to Speak at the Breakfast Club

 From Ronnie Spivak:

Greetings Bellevue Breakfast Club,

We’re excited to kick off the New Year with a special guest at our first meeting of 2026!

Van Hillary will join us on Saturday, January 3, from 8:30–10:00 AM at Plantation Pub 8321 Sawyer Brown Rd., Nashville, TN 37221

Van currently serves as Chief of Staff to Congressman John Rose and is a candidate for Tennessee’s 6th Congressional District in the 2026 election. 

As always, the Breakfast Club is informal and open discussion is encouraged. Grab breakfast, bring a friend, and join fellow members for conversation and insight.

Van Hillary

About Van Hillary:

Van is a lifelong Tennessean and former U.S. Congressman. He served four terms in the U.S. House representing Tennessee’s 4th District, where he focused on strengthening the military, balancing budgets, and promoting conservative values. After his time in Congress, Van returned to public service as Chief of Staff for Rep. John Rose. He is now running to succeed Rep. Rose in Tennessee’s 6th

Event Details:

•  Date: Saturday, January 3
• Time: 8:30–10:00 AM
• Location: Plantation Pub – 8321 Sawyer Brown Rd, Nashville, TN 37221
• Guest: Van Hilleary – Chief of Staff to Rep. John Rose & TN-06 Candidate

I hope to see you there.

Lonnie Spivak

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A REALLY BAD IDEA

Ralph Bristol

…that just keeps surfacing

by Ralph Bristol, Facebook, Dec. 29, 2025-About this time every year, someone starts a social media campaign to eliminate property taxes for people 65 and over. Speaking as someone in that age group – I can’t think of a more selfish campaign. 

People 65 and over hold 70% of the nation’s wealth. Politicians and business owners constantly pander to us and it’s embarrassing. 

I don’t like property taxes, but the idea that the wealthiest segment of the population should get a special break, putting added pressure on our working children, who are already paying the massive payroll taxes that subsidize our medical bills and fund our retirement income to the tune of about $2.5 trillion a year, is born of ignorance, venality, or both. 

Conversely, replacing ALL property taxes is an idea worth considering, but it would require a hefty increase in other taxes. 

Property taxes provide the revenue for 20-40 percent of city budgets and about half of the average school district budget.  Unless you think schools and cities could manage the services we demand; police, fire, infrastructure maintenance, and education, eliminating the property tax altogether would require a large increase in sales taxes or the implementation of city income taxes. Those changes are worthy of consideration, but I detect no appetite for such a change. 

I look forward to the debate if such a proposal surfaces by a serious person in a position to instigate such a change, but until then, I hope everyone will forget the outrageous notion that property tax should be eliminated uniquely for people 65 and older.  

Sixteen states, including Tennessee, already provide property tax breaks for seniors with modest incomes. In November 2006, Tennessee voters approved an amendment to the Tennessee Constitution giving the General Assembly the authority to authorize counties and/or municipalities to implement a local option property tax freeze for taxpayers 65 years of age or older.  Tennessee also offers to reimburse part or all of the property taxes seniors pay, based on income limits and property value parameters, which are set annually. The current income limit is $37,500. 

If you see a social media post encouraging you to support the elimination of property taxes for people over 65, I hope you will politely inform the poster of his or her “misunderstanding” of the issue.

Ralph Bristol is the former long-time morning talk radio host broadcasting on Supertalk 99.7 WTN. He was one of the less provocative and bombastic of conservative radio personalities, more thoughtful and grounded in conservative ideas. He left talk radio in 2018 and retired. He lives in Nashville. 

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Trump's War on Canada May End Badly

by Rod Williams, Dec. 26, 2025- One can be a well-informed citizen and still miss a lot these days. With Trump the occupant of the White House, more happens, and there is hardly time to focus on one alarming thing before that thing is replaced by a new something. Trump is a master at flooding the zone. 

In addition to Trump's moving fast and breaking things, flooding the zone, and diverting attention, some things are just more interesting than others, and these things take up all the bandwidth. Also, there are limits to how much people want to pay attention to political news. Many may watch a program like Meet the Press and the local news and feel they are adequately informed. In normal times, they might have been. 

While the capture of oil tankers and the extrajudicial murder of suspected drug smugglers and the Epstein files dominate the news, some other outrages get scant attention. One such thing is the unprecedented and masterful corruption of the Trump administration. Another is the rapidly deteriorating relations with Canada and Canada's response and the market response.

Canada has been our closest ally for decades. When America has been engaged in foreign conflicts, we could always count on Canada to be a junior partner and commit troops. Our economies are deeply intertwined and we share the world's longest unprotected border, and we listen to the same music and watch the same movies and share much of the same culture.  It is almost as if the two nations were like cousins. We are seeing all of that being ripped apart. Even if Trump leaves the White House at the end of his term and even if sanity returns to trade relationships, our relationship with Canada may never be the same. 

The most remarkable development is that Canada is taking steps to protect itself in the event the US invades.  Concerns over potential annexation, fueled by Trump's comments about making Canada the 51st state and seeing Trump's belligerent behaviour elsewhere in the world has sparked discussions within Canada about potential defense strategies. It is hard to believe we have reached this point but Canadians are talking about guerrilla warfare tactics should the US invade. 

Some of Canada’s top military strategists are working on a plan to boost the country’s armed forces.  Canada is increasing its military spending and, for the first time, will meet NATO's target of spending 2 percent of GDP on defense and has committed to the new target of 5 percent. Canada is also in the process of creating a civil defense force made up of as many as 300,000 volunteers. Canada has professional armed services of about 65,000 and a reserve force of about 300,000. This proposed civil defense force would be in addition to those forces. 

Another development signaling the deteriorating US-Canada relationship is that it appears Canada will not buy the US Lockheed Martin F-35 fighter jets it had planned to buy, and instead buy the Swedish JAS-39 Gripen. For one thing, Canada is simply angry at the US for the trade wars and talk of annexing Canada. For another, Canada does not want to be reliant on the US for spare parts and upgrades if tensions continue to rise between the two nations. There are consequences to US beligenrcny, and trade wars. The US is not the only place to buy advanced fighter jets. 

As the trade war continues, Canada is fighting back with embargoes and boycotts. You may have heard that Jim Beam whiskey has suspended production for a year. Canada has been boycotting American whiskey and Canadians did consume a lot of American whiskey. Expect more iconic American brands to disappear from shelves. 

Trump's placing tariffs on Aluminum from Canada is hurting America and creating shortages. There is growing concern about a potential shortage of high-grade aluminum from Canada for U.S. military use.  Canada supplies high-grade aluminum vital for U.S. defense needs, and the tariffs are impacting everything from aircraft to armor. Canada is finding new buyers for high-quality aluminum. If America wants to again buy high grade alumimun, the supply may not be availlable and if it is, it will demand a higher price.

The U.S. produces only a fraction of the aluminum it consumes, relying heavily on imports, primarily from Canada. While Trump's stated goal of his tariff policy is to return production to America, the US simply can't produce the aluminum we need. Factories cannot be built overnight and if they could, the US does not have the raw materials. In addition to not having the raw material and the fact that building new factories takes time, the US does not have the necessary energy to smelt aluminum. One report I saw recently said that to smelt the amount of aluminum we consume would require the energy of ten Hoover Dams. I have not verified that this is true, but aluminum production does require a lot of energy, which we do not have. While Canada is providing relief to its aluminum industry to soften the blow of the tariffs, it is successfully finding new buyers for its aluminum. The stockpile of aluminum that U. S. manufacturers hold has dropped from a three-month supply to a one-month supply. Soon we will feel the effect of Trump's policy. Even if we drop the tariffs, new aluminum will cost more.

The U. S. agriculture sector is also being hurt by Trump's tariff policy. Not only is Trump destroying the export market, making it hard to sell US exports like soybeans abroad, but Trump's policies are increasing the cost of agricultural inputs. One of those inputs with an almost inelastic demand is potash. Farmers have to have it. Organic farming is a niche boutique thing, but it can't feed the nation. Without potasium many crop yields are so low that they are not worth producing. The U.S. gets the vast majority of its potash from Canada, with Canada supplying around 80-90% of U.S. potash imports. With the tariffs in place, Canadian potash producers are cutting back on the mining and production of potash and are laying off staff. When the spring planting season rolls around, even if Trump lowers the tariff, the disruption may mean there is not enough potash available to meet our farmers' needs. The US does not have the natural deposit of potash we need. We just can't make it. While this trade war over potash is a self-inflicted wound for the US agriculture sector, it is a source of tension between our two nations. 

So many of Trump's policies make no sense. For generations, we had an almost seamless border between Canada and the United States. In the winter, a lot of Canadians would get in their car and drive south to Florida to escape the harsh Canadian winter. Obviously, Trump is an economic illiterate. Otherwise, why would he want to curtail tourists visiting America? Econoically tourism acts as an export. Foreigners get something we have that they want, and we get their money. Trump is making it harder for us to take Canadians' money.  

Canadian tourists are facing new hurdles visiting the U.S., including heightened border scrutiny, mandatory registration for stays of over 30 days, increased questioning about past cannabis use despite pot being legal in Canada, and requiring Canadians to allow US border officials access to their social media accounts, among other insults. While they can't drive there, many Canadians avoiding visiting the US are instead visiting the Caribbean or Europe. Canadian tourism is off by something like 37%, and polls show that number to drastically increase as Canadians say they will not be visiting the United States. 

Canada is standing up to the United States in other ways. Canada just opened its first consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, to boost its Arctic presence, security, and diplomacy. In light of Trumps continuted talk of annexing Greenland, this shows defiance of the United States. All of Greenland only has a population of 65,000, and I doubt there are a lot of Canadian toursit visting Greenland, so I doubt the new consulate will be a very busy one, but this shows the U.S. that Canada stands with Greenland. 

Despite some auto manufacturing moving from Canada to the U.S. to avoid Trump tariffs, the U.S.is also losing some manufacturing to Canada. Aircraft manufacturer Boeing is expanding in Canada and not in the United States. Canada has rapidly been finding new markets for its goods, expanding trade with the EU and the Pacific. While over three-quarters of Canadian exports use to head south, one might be tempted to think Canada would just accept whatever the US is dishing out, but it is not. Canada is fighting back and while the Trump tariffs have caused hardships and layoffs in Canada, it is surprising how rapidly Canada has found new places to sell its products, in many cases replacing the U.S as the primary customer.

In Trump-speak, Canada is holding some cards. We need to buy what Canada is selling as much as Canada needs to sell it. Canada is holding other cards they have not played yet. One is water. The American Southwest is in the midst of a severe long-term draught getting worse by the day.  Groundwater supplies are being depleted faster than they can be replenished. The Columbia River Treaty, between the US and Canada, governs the sharing of water between the two nations. If relationships continue to deteriorate, Canada could turn off the spigot. 

Canada also supplies a lot of electricity to cities like Buffalo and Rochester and  Seattle and Portland and to large parts of the states of  New York, Michigan, Minnesota, and much of New England. If the war on Canada continues, Canada could turn off the lights.

This story of how Canada is finding new trading partners and resisting U.S.economic aggression should have a happy ending for Canada; however, I fear what may be coming next.  Despite the U.S. wounds from the trade war with Canada being self-inflicted, I could see Trump arguing that we must have Canadian potash, aluminum, rare earth minerals, water, and electricity, and arguing it is necessary to occupy Canada to secure the things we need for our survival. Unfortunately, a lot of flag-waving Trump supporters would cheer him on. 

On a good day, I think this conflict with Canada will end with a whimper. Trump is old. He may die. If not dying soon, he may be weakened when the Dems retake the House, and his aggression may be checked. On a good day, I think that even if J.D. Vance succeeds Trump, we will see a relaxation of tensions with Canada. J. D. is not quite as crazy as Trump and will likely pull back from the brink and abandon any dream of annexing Canada. On a good day, while recognizing things will not return to the way they were before, I think relationships will normalize and equally beneficial trade will resume and Canadians will resume vacationing in Florida.

On a bad day, I see Americans coming home in flag-draped coffins killed by Canadian guerrillas resisting the American occupation. 

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Tennessee Schools See Gains in 2024-25 Letter Grades, Charter Schools Shine

Tennessee Charter School Center, Dec.23, 2025 -According to the 2024–25 State School Report Card released last Thursday, 355 schools across Tennessee earned an overall A—up from 290 last year. Tennessee Department of Education Commissioner Lizzette Reynolds highlighted the progress, saying, “We are inspired by the dedication of schools that excelled in School Letter Grades and are making a meaningful difference for students.” 

Public charter schools are seeing strong gains. Our analysis found 37% of Tennessee charter schools earned an A or B, with 30% improving their grade, compared to 26% of non-charter schools.

Nashville public charter schools earned A or B grades at more than twice the rate of non-charter schools, and 56% of Tennessee Charter School Commission-authorized schools earned an A. 

We encourage families to explore the state’s online School Report Card tool. It’s easy to search for your school and learn more about your child’s education, including test scores, growth data, and other important information to help support their success!

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My End-of-Year Giving Guide and List

By Rod Williams, December 2, 2025 - I am in the process of completing my end-of-year giving and for those who may be doing the same or are those who are normally not very charitable and are thinking of becoming so, I wanted to suggest you consider the organizations I list below. 

I don't make a distinction between supporting the cause of freedom and charitable giving. To my way of thinking, there is no better use of my money than in helping to conserve the American Founding.  I want to leave the world a better place than I found it and I want future generations to know the blessings of liberty, justice, a free-market economy, and a world not dominated by authoritarian and totalitarian tyrants.  I believe freedom is the greatest gift we can leave our descendants. The way I view it, making a campaign contribution to someone who will advance the cause of freedom is as worthwhile as giving to Saint Jude's or the Alzheimer's Foundation. 

I am not a wealthy man, and my contributions are modest by the standards of some, but for the last dozen years are so, I have had more disposable income than I have had in earlier periods of my life, so I have increased my giving.

Like last year, I am not feeling quite as generous as I have felt in years past. I am not sure why, exactly. With the reelection of Donald Trump and seeing how he is shredding the Constitution, and day by day imposing his authoritarianism on the nation, I think that helping thwart this march toward authoritarianism is the most important use I could make of my money, but I don't really know where it is best to spend it to that end. I refuse to support candidates or causes that advance a woke, progressive, socialist agenda.  I want to oppose Trumpism and yet not advance the left. 

Prior to the Republican Party becoming the Party of the Trump cult, I contributed to the RNC, the Senate Republican fundraising organization, the House Republican fundraising organization, and the Republican Governors Association and the State Party and the local Party. I also supported individual conservative candidates and I supported prominent conservative organizations such as the American Conservative Union, also known as CPAC, and the Heritage Foundation. I have recently seen no candidates worthy of my support and several of the Republican and conservative organizations that I used to support have abandoned the principles they long advocated and now advance the cause of authoritarian nationalist populism, so I no longer give to them. So, that money is looking for a home. 

I wish there was a prominent PAC dedicated to advancing traditional conservatism within the Republican Party and financing candidates to primary the Trump acolytes, but I don't see one, so I am holding a lot of my funding in reserve until I find the right place to put it to work. 

While organizations like CPAC and Heritage have gone Trump, there are still several think tanks and other organizations advancing conservatism and I have increased my contributions to these. I think it is important to fund the organizations that continue to promote free market ideas, constitutionalism, and liberty. Liberty is now threatened from the Trumpian right and the progressive woke left. Those promoting liberty need to be supported. 

In addition to the list below, I also help a couple of individuals financially. If you have a family member or an acquaintance in need whom you could help, that may be where your charity should begin. If people helped other people directly, there would be less demand for the welfare state. Personal giving creates a community bond, and you know if the recipient is deserving. Often, churches help fellow church members in this way. I am not a member of a faith community, but I think that supporting one's local congregation can be a good way to give.

Unfortunately, sometimes charity does more harm than it does good, both foreign and domestic charity. A good documentary that makes this point is Poverty Inc. Before giving, I ask myself if this organization just perpetuates dependency, or does it respond to a crisis, or support actions that really help people long-term. Sometimes it is hard to know.  

When I give, I want to make sure I am not being scammed and that the organization I support does more than just perpetuate itself. A lot of organizations spend more money raising money than they do funding their goal. A good source for checking an organization's efficiency is Charity Navigator and Charity Watch.

Another thing I consider when giving is that I don't want to support and encourage bad behaviors. I never give money to beggars holding signs on the side of the road. In addition to encouraging bad behavior, they may be trying to scam you. I don't want homeless people freezing on the streets, so I support organizations like The Salvation Army and The Nashville Rescue Mission, but do not support panhandling. 

I also do not contribute money to organizations that insult my values. For several years, I gave money to an organization that saves places of natural beauty in Tennessee and preserves critical habitats.  I still think they do a worthwhile job doing what they do. However, in one of their email communications about three or four years ago, they went off-topic and expressed their support for Black Lives Matter and pledged a commitment to equity and diversity, and social justice.  I support tolerance, equality, and non-discrimination, but not contemporary woke concepts of social justice and equity. I marked them off of my giving list. There was also another organization I stopped supporting for the same reason. I am not going to support any organization whose values I do not share and that insults my values.

I think in this age of misinformation and attacks on the press that it is important to support journalism, and I subscribe to many more publications than I can possibly read.  I subscribe to The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal and some others. I also subscribe to The Tennessean, although it is not much of a newspaper; however, I do not want our city to not have a daily newspaper. If we don't support journalism, the truth will suffer, and corruption will flourish. While there are thousands of blogs and podcasts and pundits, a free society needs boots on the ground digging for the truth. We need more than just opinions; we need facts. I think subscribing to newspapers is a contribution to a better world and preserving freedom. I am not listing these publications as charitable giving but in a sense, it is. I am using my limited resources to advance a worthwhile goal. 

I also subscribe to National Review and a couple of other conservative journals that have not succumbed to Trumpism. In addition, I am a paid subscriber to The Bulwark and The Dispatch. I get more than enough of their free stuff on YouTube and newsletters, but I want to support them. Not all analysis can fit in a meme or be expressed in 280 characters. Good analysis and opinion journalism need to be supported. 

If you are looking for a place to give, please consider the following.

Rod's End-of-Year Giving List

The Beacon Center is my favorite non-profit and gets the largest single chunk of my charitable giving.  It is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, and independent organization dedicated to providing expert empirical research and timely free-market solutions to public policy issues in Tennessee.  Time and time again, Tennessee is recognized for being one of the most fiscally responsible and economically free states in the union.  Much of the credit for these honors is due to the work of the Beacon Center.  The Beacon Center has worked to ensure the Right to Work by pushing to overturn professional licensure laws that serve no purpose but to keep out the competition. They have worked to prevent local government from banning work-from-home opportunities like recording studios in homes in Music City. They have stopped local government from forcing homeowners to build public sidewalks when they remodel their homes. Beacon is responsible for enshrining the protection against being forced to join a union in the State Constitution.  Beacon gets much of the credit for the advancement of educational choice in Tennessee.  Beacon produces the annual "Pork Report," highlighting the most egregious examples of government waste in Tennessee.

Nashville Rescue Mission: "A Christ-centered community committed to helping the hungry, homeless, and hurting by providing programs and services that focus on a person’s entire life-physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, and social. We are devoted to restoring the whole person through a Christian approach that helps the homeless and addicted learn how much God loves them and gain the biblical insight they need to lead a productive life in and for Christ.

We provide emergency services that meet immediate and practical need for people experiencing homelessness, hunger, disappointment, and regret. By meeting these most basic and immediate needs, not tied to any expectations, we provide “hope for today” in a nurturing environment that reflects the love of God in tangible ways.

Guests are cared for in a safe, supportive environment where they can find refuge and rest. Once their basic and immediate needs are addressed, case managers work one-on-one with each person to identify next steps, including healthcare and treatment options with a goal of helping them change unhealthy patterns of behavior.

If you or someone you know is in immediate need of food, clothing, or shelter, Nashville Rescue Mission serves three hot meals a day and is open 365 days a year. You are welcome here.

Nashville Rescue Mission’s Emergency Services Include: FOOD, SHELTER, CLOTHING, HOT SHOWERS AND PERSONAL HYGIENE, COURTYARDS/DAY ROOMS, CASE MANAGEMENT TRANSFORMATIVE PROGRAMS, EDUCATION/TRAINING."

The Mercatus Center: "A research center at George Mason University that advances knowledge about how markets solve problems and help us lead happier, healthier, and richer lives. For more than 40 years, Mercatus has supported leading talent and scholarship in the mainline economics tradition, applying rigorous research to real-world concerns. Through our continuing efforts to bridge the gap between theory and practice, we strive to realize a world where markets operate at their full potential to increase abundance, civility, and well-being. Your gift to the Mercatus Center ensures free-market ideas are championed in public policy, the academy, and the broader public discourse. 100% of your donation supports educating tomorrow's academic leaders as well as generating peer-reviewed research on today's most pressing issues."

Doctors without borders: "Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) translates to Doctors without Borders. We provide medical assistance to people affected by conflict, epidemics, disasters, or exclusion from healthcare. Our teams are made up of tens of thousands of health professionals, logistic and administrative staff - bound together by our charter.  Our actions are guided by medical ethics and the principles of impartiality, independence and neutrality. We are a non-profit, self-governed, member-based organization. MSF was founded in 1971 in Paris by a group of journalists and doctors. Today, we are a worldwide movement of nearly 63,000 people."

Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee opened its doors in 1978 with commitment from several community leaders. The purpose of the organization was to provide a central distribution center for companies, groups, and individuals who wished to help provide food for hungry people in Middle Tennessee. During my years of working for a non-profit agency, we were a Second Harvest outlet.  This organization provides food, mostly bread, that would otherwise be thrown away, to needy people.   

The Fund for American Studies: "(TFAS) is a 501(c)3 educational nonprofit that is changing the world by developing leaders for a free society. Our transformational programs teach the principles of limited government, free-market economics and honorable leadership to students and young professionals in America and around the world." 

By offering a portfolio of more than 20 different academic programs, fellowships and seminars, the TFAS Journey helps cultivate future leaders from high school, all the way through to their university studies and professional careers. 

Today, there are more than 42,000 TFAS alumni making the difference in their communities and throughout the world by championing the values essential to the preservation and success of a free society."

"The Salvation Army has Been Serving Nashville For Over 125 Years Through Much Needed Social Services And Programs. A 90-bed Adult Alcohol and Rehabilitation Center for men was opened in 1900 and served the community for over 100 years. In 1940, The Salvation Army built and opened the “Red Shield” Community Center – rebuilt in 1984 as the Magness-Potter Community Center which offered Army-administered youth and adult leisure activity programs. Now, the community center houses the United Way-sponsored Family Resource Center, the Red Shield Kids Club after-school and summer day camp programs, the Life Skills Learning Center, the Second Harvest Food Pantry, and the Emergency Services Program.  In 1980, the Area Command facility was moved from Demonbreun to Dickerson Pike, receiving the name the “Center of Hope”, and opened a 75-person transient shelter, an emergency shelter for men, and a day and night child care center serving homeless and other families in urgent need. Today, the Center of Hope and the Magness-Potter Community Center, along with the three worship centers, serve Nashville by being strategically placed in the neediest areas of the community. Our services are provided to all of Davidson County, as well as Cheatham, Dickson, Hickman, Williamson, and Sumner Counties. Your donation will directly impact your community.

The Salvation Army has been many things over the years as communities’ needs have changed over the years, but today, the focus of the Nashville Salvation Army is to fight poverty and prevent homelessness in our community through a myriad of comprehensive programs designed to bring a holistic approach to the individual’s or family’s need."

The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation (VOC) is an educational, research, and human rights nonprofit organization devoted to commemorating the more than 100 million victims of communism around the world and to pursuing the freedom of those still living under totalitarian regimes.

Institute for Justice: "IJ is a nonprofit, public interest law firm. Our mission is to end widespread abuses of government power and secure the constitutional rights that allow all Americans to pursue their dreams. Donations to the Institute for Justice enable us to represent our clients at no cost to them—and to stand with them no matter how long their cases take. And when we win for our clients, we secure precedent that protects the rights of all Americans. IJ’s work is powered by nearly 10,000 supporters from across the country who believe in the Constitution and its ideals. 70% of our funding comes from individuals like you. Please join our fight for freedom and justice today." 

IJ has been involved in several high-profile fights over the years in Nashville. IJ defended a small music studio owner from efforts of the city to take her property by condemnation for no other purpose than to provide room for expansion of a bigger neighbor.  In the pre-ride-share days of Uber and Lyft, IJ defended an innovative entrepreneur who wanted to provide cheaper limo rides and had to fight city hall. IJ has defended homeowners who wanted to work from home.

"The American Enterprise Institute is a public policy think tank dedicated to defending human dignity, expanding human potential, and building a freer and safer world. The work of our scholars and staff advances ideas rooted in our belief in democracy, free enterprise, American strength and global leadership, solidarity with those at the periphery of our society, and a pluralistic, entrepreneurial culture.

The Center Square. The disappearance and decline of journalism concern me.  Nashville went from two daily papers to one newspaper that is only a shadow of its former self.  While there are lots of people, like me, blogging and sharing opinions, without staff they can seldom break stories.  Journalism needs paid boots on the ground. News, especially local news, most often comes down to shootings, car wrecks, sports, and reposted press releases.  There are far too few outlets looking for scandals and corruption.  The watchdog of democracy has died.

The Center Square is conservative but without the rancor, sensationalism, and conspiratorial mindset of what defines many so-called conservative news sources today. 

"The Center Square was launched in May 2019 to fulfill the need for high-quality statehouse and statewide news across the United States. The focus of our work is state- and local-level government and economic reporting. A taxpayer sensibility distinguishes our work from other coverage of state and local issues. As a result of this approach, our readers are better informed about the focus of state and local government and its cost to the citizens whose tax dollars fund governmental decisions.

The Center Square is staffed by editors and reporters with extensive professional journalism experience. We engage readers with essential news, data and analysis – delivered with velocity, frequency and consistency. We distribute our journalism through three main channels at no cost to our partners or readers: a newswire service to legacy publishers and broadcasters. The Center Square is a project of the 501(c)(3) Franklin News Foundation, headquartered in Chicago."

Pre-Born! partners with life-affirming pregnancy clinics all across the nation. In the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, several states where abortion is still legal have become key destinations for vulnerable women seeking abortions. Planned Parenthood has placed mobile abortion units on the borders of states where abortion is illegal. 

Pre-Born! provides ultrasound equipment to pro-life pregnancy crisis centers.  Data shows that when an expectant mother sees an ultrasound image of her baby and hears the heartbeat, she most often decides to keep the child. 

National Review Institute. "Your support ensures that NRI will continue to preserve and promote the legacy of William F. Buckley Jr. and advance the conservative principles he championed: limited government, free markets, individual liberty, personal responsibility, a strong national defense, and the rule of law. Your philanthropic investment is a vote of confidence in our mission and our methods. "

Foundation for Economic Education. "FEE's mission is to inspire, educate, and connect future leaders with the economic, ethical, and legal principles of a free society. These principles include: individual liberty, free-market economics, entrepreneurship, private property, high moral character, and limited government. Here are some highlights from 2021: We broke a world record for the largest online economics lecture. We made 95 mainstream media appearances. Our videos received 11 MILLION views and over 1.8 MILLION shares. On TikTok, we went from reaching 65,000 people to over 2 MILLION in just seven months! We reached over 83 MILLION Gen Z online."

The Pamphleteer: The Pamphleteer is an arts, culture, and politics publication based in Nashville, TN. Corporate and progressive media dominate the landscape in the state of Tennessee. The word "independent"—typically associated with legacy brands such as the Nashville Scene—means less and less as time goes on. Many of the perspectives from local media outlets you read come from an almost identical perspective, inseparable from the tone and tenor of politics at the federal level. The Pamphleteer seeks to reinvigorate local discourse by offering fresh, regional perspectives on local topics. It is our hope that through our work, we can challenge readers to engage more earnestly in local politics and motivate leaders to reach higher and farther in their efforts to make Nashville a world-class city.

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget is a nonpartisan, non-profit organization committed to educating the public on issues with significant fiscal policy impact. Our bipartisan leadership comprises some of the nation's leading budget experts, including many past heads of the House and Senate Budget Committees, the Congressional Budget Office, the Office of Management and Budget, and the Government Accountability Office. 

As an independent source of objective policy analysis, we regularly engage policymakers of both parties and help them develop and analyze proposals to improve the country’s fiscal and economic condition. These efforts have reinforced the Committee’s role as an authoritative voice for fiscal responsibility and an educational resource for policymakers and the general public. We are also a trusted budget watchdog that assists journalists across the country in understanding fiscal developments in Washington.

WinTheCenter PAC: "Elections are decided in the center. That’s where most Americans are – and that’s where Democrats must compete and win. Win the Center was built from the momentum of Adam Frisch’s campaign against Lauren Boebert, where a pragmatic Democrat almost unseated an extremist in a Solid Republican district.

We know the path to victory isn’t about chasing the loudest voices – it’s about earning trust in the center, building broad coalitions, and putting our communities over Washington politics. In partnership with WelcomePAC, we’re taking these lessons national, and backing Democratic fighters who can win tough races, beat extremist opponents, and deliver for working families." 

This is new for me. I never thought I would be supporting a Democrat PAC, but given the current political landscape, I am willing to support any faction of the political spectrum that is not far-right nationalist populist or far-left woke progressive socialist. I would much prefer a commonsense Republican PAC rather than a commonsense Democratic PAC, but I can't find a Republican one.

I am going to wrap this up, but below are other organizations that I think are worthy of support, to which I have previously contributed or am considering contributing. 

• The Hoover Institute
• Institute for Humane Studies
• CATO Institute
• American Institute for Economic Research (Harwood Salon Nashville)
• National Association of Scholars
• Friends of Warner Park 
• Independent Institute 
• The Tax Foundation 
• Political Economy Research Institute at MTSU 
• American Enterprise Institute 
• Foundation for Individual Rights in Education
• The Manhattan Institute 

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