MAURY COUNTY’S CONFEDERATE CHRISTMAS BALL

Below is our interview with Tammy Hatcher, who runs Maury County’s Confederate Christmas Ball, which Natalie Allison of The Tennessean tweeted about earlier today:

It turns out it is in fact a real thing, taking place tomorrow night in Columbia.

From their site:

“Step back in time and fill your dance card as you swirl the floor to authentic Reels, Promenades and Waltzes popular during the 1860s. On site dance instruction provided by dance master Mark Orman, period music provided by the 52 Tennessee Band. Light refreshments will be served.
Period dress is a must for participants and optional for spectators. Tickets go on sale October 1st. 2019.
Advanced tickets 30.00 and 35.00 at the door. Spectator tickets (non period dress) 25.00. For tickets and costume rental contact Tammy Hatcher at 931-698-3876 mailing address 4595 Old Sowell Mill Pike Columbia Tennessee 38401.”

We went ahead and called Tammy Hatcher. Here’s what she had to say.

HOLLER: How long has the Confederate Ball been running?

TAMMY: This is our 23rd year.

HOLLER: And how many people generally attend?

TAMMY: Anywhere from 150… I have had 200.

HOLLER: And what kind of events happen there? What is the program?

TAMMY: It’s basically a historic dance. We have a band that plays period music of the time and we dance. We just dance and have a good time. We do serve finger foods. That’s basically what we do.

HOLLER: What’s your background? Are you born and raised in Tennessee?

TAMMY: I am, yes. Born and raised in Columbia. I’ve always been into history.

HOLLER: And how do people dress at the Ball?

TAMMY: They dress in 1860’s period clothes. Spectators are welcome also. They cannot dance. We reserve the dance for period costumed participants.

HOLLER: Is there an acknowledgment of the racial aspect of it?

TAMMY: No. I have black folks that come. It’s not racially divided in any way. And no – we don’t do speeches, we don’t talk about anything, we dance. That’s all we do.

Tammy then asked about the Tennessee Holler.

TAMMY: Do y’all take… I don’t know how to say this without sounding ugly – there are a lot of people who don’t like people that do what we do. Are y’all on board with that train?

HOLLER: What train is that?

TAMMY: The one that’s trying to cover up our history, tear down our monuments… a lot of people like to advocate for certain kinds of things, and I don’t have any tolerance for those kinds of people. I don’t oppose to anybody knowing what we do. We’ve done it for years. We get together, we dance, and we have a good time. It’s not political. It’s not racial. It’s not anybody trying to segregate or… you know, be ugly to any one group of people.

HOLLER: Seems like what they would say probably is if it’s a celebration of the Confederacy that tends to rub people the wrong way.

TAMMY: It is a celebration of our history. We dance, and we have a good time. That is all we do. It is a Christmas celebration. We just picked the year 1860… but just because I have the word “confederate” in it, I don’t want anybody trying to stir up shit. Because the word “confederate” should not offend anybody. And it does offend a lot of people. But it shouldn’t. It’s ridiculous.

HOLLER: But sometimes the person who gets offended can’t control what offends them, right?

TAMMY: Well that’s true. And that’s what’s wrong with our society today. People can’t seem to control themselves. Just because they’re offended they think everybody else should be offended, and everything should be changed because they’re offended. People need to get over being offended. My goodness. I’ve lived 60 years and I can’t tell you the things that offend me and have offended me during my life – but I don’t try to change people because I’m offended… anybody that wants to come, we are a family-friendly event. We have young people come. Up from children to 15-16 year-old teenagers. No alcohol. Very hospitable. Nothing for anybody to be offended by in my opinion.

#ColludyRudy: Giuliani Seeking Criminal Counsel in Nashville?

Eagle-eyed Nashvillians, including Tennessean reporter Natalie Allison, have spotted Rudy Giuliani, personal attorney and consigliere to President Trump and chief Ukrainian arm twister, in Nashville. We’re pretty confident he ain’t here for the hot chicken.

Rumors have swirled: Is he here for visits with Sen. Marsha Blackburn, another notorious Trump defender and smearer of actual patriots?

Allison reported Monday that Giuliani denied being in Tennessee to see local lawyer Jay Sekulow, another Trump attorney.

But, a local attorney well connected in government circles and a reliable Holler source has proposed a theory.

As first reported by Reuters Monday, federal prosecutors have subpoenaed records belonging to Giuliani and his consulting firm. The subpoena doesn’t accuse Giuliani of wrongdoing but does specify the work is part of an investigation of money laundering, wire fraud, campaign finance violations, obstruction of justice, making false statements, and and violations of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). As a result, it would have been far better to contact a professional forensic accountant who might be familiar with the basic legal framework for fraud investigations. Anyway, looking at these reports, it would be natural for anyone to assume that he is in the city to meet a criminal defense attorney (if interested, you might want to visit for more information). Nonetheless, this visit could surely do Giuliani a world of good right about now).

Which brings us to our theory: Richard W. Westling, an attorney in Epstein Becker & Green’s Nashville and Washington, DC offices, was added as an integral part of Trump associate Paul Manafort’s defense team in 2018. Prior to that, Westling, who counts both tax law and — Shock! Government and internal investigations — among his expertise, was on the defense team for U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous. Porteous, of Louisiana, was impeached and removed from the bench for perjury in signing false financial disclosure forms under oath.

Westling’s bio on Epstein’s website says: “Clients call upon Mr. Westling when facing complex compliance challenges, government investigations, high-profile enforcement actions, or the prospect of severe criminal, civil, or administrative actions.” (Boldface is ours.)

We left a message with Westling’s office to ask if he’s representing Giuliani, but at publication time, had not heard back.

INTERVIEW: State Senator Raumesh Akbari on Vouchers & Medicaid Expansion

State Senator Raumesh Akbari talks about why Governor Lee’s public school-harming vouchers shouldn’t be rushed, and why Tennessee needs to expand Medicaid.

Listen to the PODCAST HERE.

FULL INTERVIEW:

CLIP: State Sen. Akbari on $1 BILLION In Unspent Aid: “FAITH WITHOUT WORKS IS DEAD” 

VIDEO: “Y’all Means All!” — Sevierville Fights Back Against Homophobic Hate

After a homophobic outburst from county commissioner Warren Hurst, Sevier County showed up this week to say he doesn’t speak for them.

Most of the protestors couldn’t get in, but they made their voices heard, chanting outside the window of the meeting. There were a few actual Nazis who showed up to support commissioner Hurst and do “Seig Heils” in the parking lot, but they were vastly outnumbered.

Love outshined hate yet again. Watch the VIDEO:

Meanwhile inside, witnesses were speaking FOR and AGAINST Hurst. Watch the highlights/lowlights, courtesy of WBIR:

TN Dems Call On Rep. Curcio & Speaker Sexton To Keep Their Word, Hold #ExpelByrd Hearings

Tennessee still has an admitted child sex abuser sitting in a State Rep seat.

Now that the Attorney General has said expelling him would be constitutional, it’s time for Tennessee Republicans to stop harboring him.

HOLLER AT THEM HERE:

[email protected] 615-741-3513 

[email protected] 615-741-2343

The 78 Year-Old Woman Arrested for Growing Marijuana

“I was 78 and got arrested for growing marijuana.”

Flo Matheson ran against Cameron Sexton and Diane Black, but was arrested for growing marijuana because someone “snitched”.

It’s time to move forward on medical marijuana to give addicts, veterans and more another way to treat their pain. “GET HONEST” – Flo to Rep. Kumar, who stands in the way.

After 188 Days of Protest, KINGSPORT TN Citizens Fight Anti-Free Speech Ordinance

Kingsport has protested the gutting of their hospital by a shady state-sanctioned monopoly Ballad Health for 188 DAYS. The city just passed an ordinance directed at them, and even threatened to charge their leader with “Felony Vandalism” for damage to the grass.
Watch the VIDEO from their heated meeting last night below, and holler at the mayor Patrick Shull and the city officials like Vice Mayor Colette George HERE.

Here’s the back story, from Daily Kos.
‪And here’s Ballad CEO ALAN LEVINE on 60 Minutes defending HMA pressuring doctors to admit people to the hospital unnecessarily FOR PROFIT. (AKA “MEDICARE FRAUD”)‬

Spoiler: Levine was lying. HMA ended up paying $260 MILLION in fines for DEFRAUDING the government.

‪Hey when nobody goes to jail, it’s worth it right? Now he’s in Kingsport sharing his *expertise* with them.‬

Meet Doug Meyer, Republican for Congress: Racist, Islamophobic “Proud Boy” Hungry for Civil War

It’s old news by now that Congressman Scott Desjarlais, who proclaims himself to be “a consistent supporter of pro-life values”, paid for 2 abortions and cheated on his wife with three coworkers, two patients and a drug rep- yet still keeps getting re-elected.

Would you believe us if we told you it appears Desjarlais is the moderate in his Republican Primary this time around?

Franklin County resident Doug Meyer has filed to run against Desjarlais in 2020 in the Republican primary, and spends much of his time making outlandish, violent, racist posts on Facebook. Allow us to show you a few lowlights…

Most of his vitriol is directed at Muslims. For instance, he’d like to shut down mosques:

Shares extremely unfunny posts about abused Muslim women:

Which he says is ok, because it’s important to “ridicule” “sandbox turds” so they get angry and expose themselves:

He believes Islam is a “parasite”:

And seems to be spoiling for a fight with Muslims:

He also thinks teachers are “Islam’s secret agents”:

And speaking of teachers, Doug and his wife homeschooled their kids because of the “mind-numbing bullshit” in our schools:

And he wanted to keep his kids away from the “moral destruction” that takes place there:

Something tells us he won’t be getting that TEA endorsement.

But Muslims and school aren’t his only targets. He wants to hang some or all members of congress… which would likely not make him the best co-worker were he to win:

He also has no love for “fake Republicans”:

He’s not a huge fan of Mitt Romney:

Or “communists”:

He also celebrates the death of indigenous people:

Thinks those shot in Gaza should be thankful they were only hobbled:

And then there’s whatever this is:

So it should be no wonder that he considers himself a “Proud Boy”, a far-right neo-fascist organization that admits only men as members and promotes political violence:

He truly seems to want war, apparently on behalf of Christianity – basically a new Christian Crusade:

And encourages Trump to cause that “Civil War”:

But while Doug seems to be cheerleading a Civil War outbreak, Doug generally believes we’re already at war:

He’s also a fervent supporter of D.A. Craig Northcott, the Islamophobic homophobic D.A. we exposed, who is STILL currently serving as the special prosecutor on the Glen Casada-Justin Jones case.

As Meyer expressed his support for Northcott, he also expressed his readinesss for violence. Another man on Facebook said a movement to “drive out” the “abomination” that is Islam needs to happen, “blood will have to be shed” and “laws will have to be broken”…

To which Meyer responds “you are precisely the sort of brave soul I would be proud to team with to do this thing”:

Doug’s vitriol for Islam is constant. He calls it a “death cult” on his official policy page (where he also says corruption should be punishable by death), and believes Trump is a genius for pulling out of Syria to allow Islam to implode on itself:

He regularly uses “DEUS VULT”, the rallying cry of the Christian Crusades, which killed between 1 and 9 millions people according to historians.

He’s also not a big fan of the idea of red flag laws:

Doug is really running. He has filed his paperwork to run as a Republican, and loaned his campaign over $3000:

The Tennessee delegation to congress is already full of questionable characters who encourage violence. Just this week Rep. Mark Green supported the idea of “Declaring War on Democrats”. 

But Doug Meyer appears to be a horse of a different color.

The question is this: Is the Tennessee Republican Party ok with him running on their ticket?

Feel free to HOLLER AT THEM HERE: (615) 269-4260 | [email protected] | On Twitter| On Facebook

And if you have anything to say to Doug Meyer, or Facebook for that matter, here’s his page.

And here’s his website.

His “Why I’m Running” Page says:

“Congress is broken. On the one side, The Democrats have become so aggressively and shamelessly anti-American that one can’t often tell them apart from Revolutionary Communists, and, increasingly, even terrorists. Worse yet, The Republicans are timid, directionless, weak and irresolute, and, therefore, in no moral position to counter The Left’s destructive foolishness. Career politicians on both sides have betrayed The Public Trust, and Institutionalized Corruption has destroyed Congress’ capacity for effective functional administration and oversight of Our Government. With scant few determined patriots in a position to protect her, Our Great Nation is being very intentionally and systematically injected with the poisonous doctrines and subversive agendas of weaponized political movements such as Liberalism, Globalism, Communism, and Islamic Jihad. But I believe that Our Republic is worth saving, that she is worth fighting for. Our hallowed dead demand that we stand in this the time of her greatest peril, and take Our Country back. It is time for a political revolution.

What Our American Founders fought and died to establish and protect, I will NEVER surrender.

I will not be bullied, I cannot be bought, and I fear none but God.

Please Pray for and Stand With Me.

God Save The Republic.”

VIDEO: JAMESTOWN TEENS DRESS AS KKK FOR HALLOWEEN

Do better, Jamestown!

INTERVIEW: The Woman Who WALKED OUT on the Homophobic Sevier County Commissioner

 “I just did what I felt I had to do as a human being.”

Our interview with Sara Thompson, the ONLY one to walk out on Sevier commissioner Warren Hurst’s homophobic, bigoted rant where he said there’s a “queer” running for president and white men are somehow losing their rights… while on a panel of all white men.

FULL INTERVIEW.

PODCAST.