“THE BALLAD OF CAMERON SEXTON”

 

Watch & share!

On Twitter
On Facebook
On YouTube
On TikTok
On Instagram

And if you like what we’re doing, please consider CHIPPING IN MONTHLY to help us out! Make it $10/month or more and we’ll send you a holler hat!🧢  (or on SQUARE)

The Holler

 

Lyrics by Tom Johnson and Jay Orsi Music by Bill Berry, Peter Buck, Mike Mills, and Michael Stipe Recorded and all instruments performed by Steve Goodie Backup vocals by Steve Goodie and Deb Guy

INTERVIEW: FORMER PUTNAM GOP CHAIR ON WHY CURRENT PARTY LEADERS ARE “RACIST”

FULL INTERVIEW.

PODCAST.

VICIOUSLY BIGOTED BUTT OFFICIALLY IN FOR MAURY MAYOR

As the Maury County Holler reported this week, rumor at Mulefest on Saturday was Maury County Mayor Andy Ogles would NOT be running for both re-election and the open TN-5 congressional seat, but would instead be relinquishing his hold on the mayor’s office to focus on the crowded circus of a TN-5 primary.

Word was the Maury GOP would then throw their weight behind former TN House GOP Rep Sheila Butt for mayor.

Well, the Maury Holler appears to have been correct. Butt has just posted a picture of herself dropping off her petition to run for Maury mayor.

This is noteworthy because even in a party that has come to stand for anti-LGBT hate, anti-Muslim hate, and, yes, racism, Sheila stands out from the crowd.

Butt’s anti-LGBT hate is blatant and right out in the open. Would you like some examples, with receipts? That’s what we’re here for. Let’s begin…

She has said homosexuality is a “slippery slope” to pedophilia and a “godless” “horrific” “immoral” culture:

She told Maury County residents to steer clear of downtown Columbia because of a PRIDE block party:

She even put her name on whatever the hell this is:

BUTTT it isn’t just about her hatred for our LGBTQ brothers & sisters.

She is also deeply anti-Muslim, and once even called for Christian and WHITE organizations to form in opposition to CAIR.

She’s also as anti-reproductive freedom as they come, advocating for the ban of all abortions without exceptions for rape, and even going as far as to say most instances of rape are “not verifiable” – a comment for which she was admonished by one of her Democratic House colleagues:

And if all that wasn’t enough, Butt once openly disparaged the idea of interracial marriage in her book, saying women who date outside of their race are often less desirable to those of their own races afterwards:

And these are just a few of her greatest hits. There is undoubtedly plenty more.

In today’s GOP, does harboring racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, anti-woman views count as baggage? Or is that, in fact, her qualifying resume?

Judging by the word that the party is already in the tank for her, we probably have her answer.

How can LGBT people, Muslims, People of Color, women – or anyone really – feel safe in the community knowing Butt is their mayor? Is being this hateful what Maury County is looking for in a mayor? We hope it isn’t. We fear it is.

Ogles was hateful. Butt may somehow be worse. We have to be better than this.

And we truly hope other members of the media, particularly in Maury County, will remind people what Butt is really all about.

Sen Johnson Didn’t Want to Talk About How He’s Hurting Poor People

“How come you’re raising BANK FEES ON POOR PEOPLE but not the minimum wage? Will you be pushing your RUN-OVER-A-PROTESTOR BILL?” We asked Sen. Jack Johnson (R-WILLIAMSON COUNTY) why he’s targeting poor people and putting protestors in danger. He didn’t seem to want to talk.

 

Wallen & Combs Should Call for The TN Capitol’s KKK Statue To Be Removed

OPINION: Country Stars Wallen & Combs Should Call for The TN Capitol’s KKK Statue To Be Removed

By

Justin Kanew

By now most of you have seen the recent video of Morgan Wallen using the “N word” in Nashville, which shook the country music world.

His label dropped him. Radio stations stopped playing his songs. The fallout was significant. 

This opinion piece by Charlane Oliver of the Equity Alliance tackles the racial significance of the incident as it pertains to country music. It’s a worthwhile read.

Now this week we heard from another country star, Luke Combs, who says “there’s no excuse” for his use of Confederate flag imagery in his performances, and acknowledges the hurt and pain it caused.

Both artists are apologetic, and seek forgiveness. But apologies are easy. There’s another step they could take that would help bring about some actual progress – not only in country music, but in Nashville specifically, Tennessee in general, and America as a whole.

They could speak out about the KKK Grand Wizard statue that still sits prominently in our capitol.

Yes, you heard that right – Tennessee still holds a statue of the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, Nathan Bedford Forrest, in a place of prominence in the state capitol building. Forrest was a Confederate General who led the Fort Pillow Massacre, during which many black Union soldiers were slaughtered even after surrender, then went on to become the KKK’s first Grand Wizard.

Defenders of the Forrest bust claim he was eventually reformed. That he changed his tune in his later years. Regardless of the veracity of that claim, they can’t erase the harm he caused, and what he represents to the many black Tennesseans who have been calling for the statue’s removal.

Legislators like Rep. Mike Sparks, who refuses to even admit the Civil War was fought over slavery, say they’re against “whitewashing history” – ignoring the fact that it’s the statues themselves that whitewash history, treating Confederate generals who rose up against our country as heroes.

There’s a reason KKK members posed proudly with the statue when it was erected.

The fight to remove the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue has been going on for years. There have been countless protests. Pastors, students, activists, and legislators have all made their voices heard… but still it remains.

Last year a big hurdle was overcome, as the Tennessee State Capitol Commission finally voted to move it despite “NO” votes from Senator Jack Johnson on behalf of the TN Senate Republican caucus and Rep. Matthew Hill on behalf of the TN House Republican caucus.

The next step was supposed to come this week, when the Tennessee Historical Commission was scheduled to vote on the Capitol Commission’s recommendation, but because of the cold weather it has been delayed until March 9th.

Meanwhile, Lt. Governor Randy Mcnally and Speaker Cameron Sexton have been busy trying to delay it even further, claiming the issue isn’t properly before the Historical Commission and asking the attorney general to weigh in with an opinion.

Delay, delay, delay. It’s obvious Mcnally and Sexton and their caucuses are doing all they can to keep this hurtful statue in place because the cries of black Tennesseans and their allies are not enough.

But what if they were to hear from entirely different voices? What if Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs were to show they truly do understand how much pain their words and actions have caused, and speak out about the bust, encouraging Mcnally and Sexton to drop their challenge to its removal, and asking the Historical commission to vote to remove it once and for all?

It would be a healing moment for country music, our state, and their souls.

“These elected officials aren’t listening to black Tennesseans,” says Pastor Chris Williamson of Strong Tower Bible Church, who has been involved with the statue issue for quite some time, and recently spoke out about it at a hearing. “They aren’t even listening to their black colleagues who have to walk by that statue every day and be reminded of what it represents. Maybe white country music stars are exactly who they need to hear from. Words of encouragement from Morgan Wallen and Luke Combs for them to do the right thing could go a long way.”

A long way indeed.

Taking a position on this controversial topic probably wouldn’t be easy for country music stars like Wallen & Combs. But very often doing the right thing isn’t.

 

Justin Kanew is the founder of the Tennessee Holler. Foller him on Twitter here.

How MNPD Responds to Drugs Versus Bombs

“I’d like to see some level of acknowledgment from Metropolitan Nashville Police Department that if it had been drugs instead of bombs that would have triggered different levels of alarm.”
 
Nashville Council Member Bob Mendes on how MNPD was tipped off about the bomber 16 months ago but did nothing.

PODCAST available on Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you like to listen.

 

Evacuation Before Nashville Bombing

“IT’S LIKE SOMETHING OUT OF A MOVIE”

Metropolitan Nashville Police Department has released Officer Sipos’ BODY CAM footage of the moment the Nashville Bombing occurred. They demonstrated heroic courage and calm under pressure.

 

KANEW: “TENNESSEE REPUBLICANS ARE TURNING THEIR BACKS ON DEMOCRACY”

TENNESSEE REPUBLICANS ARE TURNING THEIR BACKS ON DEMOCRACY

On November 3rd Donald Trump lost the presidential election. I know it’s hard for some people to hear that, but that’s all the more reason it needs to be said. It was close in some key swing states, but President-Elect Joe Biden is now up by tens of thousands of votes even in those states, and Republican secretaries of state across the country are telling us there is zero real evidence of widespread fraud. 

Obviously that hasn’t stopped President Trump from refusing to accept defeat. He told us he would only accept the outcome if he won before the election, and he has followed through. He now tweets incessantly, day after day about how he has been cheated – pointing to vote counts being changed, dead people voting, Republican observers not being allowed into the counting rooms… all of which have been debunked one by one by one. Trump is tweeting about fraud publicly while his lawyers admit in court, under oath, that they are not actually saying any such fraud took place.

Simply put, there is no evidence of widespread fraud. He is lying. There is no debating that. 

What is up for debate is why. Is it simply so he can drag this out as long as possible to give himself more time to milk money from his supporters? Money which he claims is going to help him fight the lawsuits he keeps losing, but which the fine print tells us he is stuffing into his own pockets

Or does he really think he can take this all the way to the end and overturn this election with the help of Republican-held state legislatures, who would have to turn their backs on democracy, throw out the results of the election in their states, and assign their electors to him without any justification for doing so?

One would hope he knows the latter is an impossibility, since it would essentially mean the end of The American Experiment.

One would hope he would understand that even Republicans in his party would deem that to be a bridge too far.

But would they? If they’re anything like the Republicans in Tennessee, perhaps not. 

So far here in Tennessee, the only prominent Republicans who have been willing to acknowledge that Joe Biden is president-elect are ex-Senators Bob Corker and Bill Frist. Senator Lamar Alexander has said nothing. Governor Lee has expressed his support for Trump’s efforts, as have Senator Marsha Blackburn, senator-elect Bill Hagerty, and both chambers of the Tennessee supermajority legislature. The Tennessee Republican delegation of congressmen have also gone right along with the charade, including Rep. Chuck Fleischmann, who told a news network “what we’re seeing is fraud,” but when pressed for specifics pointed to Nevada – where the 3000 ballots in question had already turned out to be mostly military families who had been transferred.

Is this what it has come to, Republicans? One can only imagine the outrage they would be demonstrating had Hillary Clinton refused to concede, especially if she had a 5 million vote deficit in the popular vote rather than the 3 million advantage she ended up with (in fact, they did rip her viciously for even just having questions in the aftermath of 2016).

Or worse yet, imagine their reaction if Obama were doing any of this. 

Perhaps they think they’re just humoring Trump, and that at the end of the day this will have no lasting impact after he inevitably leaves the White House. But that’s shortsighted. Tennessee Republicans had a chance to stand up, finally show some leadership and backbone, and say enough is enough. Instead, they signed up to join this circus and help Trump trash our election process, a favor to our anti-Democracy enemies that ultimately means Trump’s loyal following of millions of Americans will now forever believe this was a rigged election. 

Nobody knows what lasting impact that will have in the days, weeks, and years to come, but what we do know is Tennessee Republicans have shown us they put their loyalty to Trump and their own self-preservation ahead of their commitment to the democratic process that undergirds the very notion of America, and that in itself is the opposite of patriotism.

Free and fair elections, respecting the will of the people, is what makes us who we are as a country. Republicans love to invoke the Founding Fathers when convenient, but any objective reading of their intentions makes it clear they set up our constitution to guard against efforts to drag us back towards the authoritarianism our country was established in opposition to, the tyranny they fought and bled to keep us away from in favor of the freedom to elect our own leaders and center the people’s voice. A freedom many brave Americans have since died to preserve.

This is a dark path we’re heading down, one few would have believed possible even just a few short years ago. This has already become a black eye on our nation’s history, and the further down this road we go, the bigger the stain will be on the reputations of this crop of Tennessee Republicans – a stain which will not soon come off.

Justin Kanew is the Founder of the Tennessee Holler

TORREY HARRIS, MEMPHIS TN House Candidate

MEMPHIS TN House candidate Torrey Harris talks about running against ex-Democrat John Deberry and being an openly gay candidate in Tennessee.

www.TorreyHarris.com

PODCAST VERSION available on Apple Podcasts, and wherever else you like to listen.

KANEW TO WILLIAMSON COUNTY: CANCEL CASADA

“If values matter, if we’re trying to teach our kids to do the right thing, we need to #CancelCasada like his own Republican caucus did.”

Watch The Holler’s Justin Kanew help WILLIAMSON COUNTY remember why ex-speaker Glen Casada had to resign in shame.

Here’s his op-ed in the Tennessean.