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MARSHA BLACKBURNED ON SNL

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MARSHA BLACKBURNED ON SNL

In case you missed it, our own Senator Marsha Blackburn was BLACKBURNED on SNL by the hilarious Cecily Strong after her gross mistreatment of Ketanji Brown Jackson during the Supreme Court nominee hearings last week. 

“Are you jerkin’ my perm… If you don’t know what a woman is, how are you gonna take their rights away?” 🤣🤣🔥🔥

Give Cecily Strong & SNL all the awards for this Senator Marsha Blackburn impersonation… she really captured her essence. Our hope is that they please make this recurring.

Not only did Marsha get roasted for her line of questioning asking KBJ to define “woman” and asking Jackson if she had a “hidden agenda” to incorporate CRT into our legal system… she also completely blew it by mixing up the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.

Ok which one of y’all did this? 🤣

It was cathartic to see Marsha’s antics get the national humiliation they deserve. Marsha continues to be an embarrassment to our state as she does all she can to pander to her (easily fooled) base.

As always, we thank you for follering. Please consider chipping in monthly if you’re not yet doing so, even if it’s just a few bucks – the monthly support truly keeps us going. 

The Holler

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TODAY’S HOLLER:

WATCH: “LET’S JUST MAKE ALL THE MEALS FREE.” An John Ray Clemmons bill to make meals free in Tennessee’s public schools so kids don’t have to try to learn on empty stomachs moves on – despite opposition from John D Ragan (as always🙄)

SPARKS OPEN RACISM: 😳Republican Rep. Mike Sparks (SMYRNA) baselessly says “RURAL” kids behave better than “INNER CITY” kids – causing Parkinson to react (understandably) — As a Follerer reminds us,  Rep. Sparks should remember his own son b4 baselessly trashing the behavior of “INNER CITY” kids vs. “RURAL” kids. 👇🏽🧐  he fired a gun at beer truck, got his 2nd DUI.

Reminder: Sparks won’t admit the civil war was fought over slavery🧐 
🚨ATTENTION WILLIAMSON COUNTY: Do NOT give disgraced speaker Casada a six-figure county clerk job. Be better than this.
(Also: We fixed his list of “accomplishments” for you👇🏽)

FLASHBACK — CASADA: “IF I WAS RAPED, I WOULD MOVE.” #CancelCasada Confronted by the Holler’s Justin Kanew about supporting a child sex abuser, Disgraced former speaker Glen Casada showed why his caucus made him the shortest serving TN speaker… 😳 Now he wants a $100K+ Williamson County clerk gig?

One other thing to remember as we revisit this conversation — he says Byrd’s victims “CAME INTO MY OFFICE AND SPOKE” — They did not. We’re in touch with them. It’s an outright, stone cold lie.

cc: WILLIAMSON COUNTY #CancelCasada 👇🏽

WILLIAMSON COUNTY — Dems are having an event to introduce local candidates on April 11th at the Admin Complex 👇🏽

TN ED REPORT: “If Governor Lee actually wants to improve student achievement, he’d make a significant investment in teacher salaries… but the real driving force is pro-charter pro-privatization lobbyists….” TLDR: This funding overhaul won’t help our kids. It will only help lobbyists and the companies they represent.


A THREAD on Gov. Lee’s privatization/VOUCHERIZATION of our public education system this week… call your reps…

TN PUBLIC ED: “Perhaps this year’s greatest threat to legislator incumbency is Gov. Lee’s new K-12 funding bill TISA… developed by ALEC, the school privatizing think tank. Do they work for out of state millionaires & billionaires or TN kids?” 🧐 💰

CLEMMONS: “TISA (Gov. Bill Lee’s funding overhaul and privatization) and adding $1 BILLION are TWO SEPARATE ISSUES… we should be putting at least that in anyway.” CLEMMONS on Lee using $1 Billion to hold our kids hostage to push his privatization/charter schools agenda.

👂LISTEN: “(The FBI) wanted to get MLK to Memphis where daddy & them could handle it.” On the anniversary of MLK’s murder, an MLK TAPES clip — The son of the head of the Dixie Mafia says the FBI & Memphis police engaged his family to assassinate MLK.

MLK was assassinated 54 years ago today. At the Lorraine Motel. If you’re not listening to THE MLK TAPES you should be. It makes a compelling case that the FBI & Memphis police engaged the “Dixie Mafia” to do it. (The King family does not believe it was James Earl Ray)

Important MLK 50 piece: “The TN Housing Development Authority steers affordable housing into segregated, poor neighborhoods… Of 20 largest states, only TN & FLA don’t reward building in middle-class areas… board has just 1 Black member…”

🙃 a sure sign of a healthy party is when you won’t tell people why they should vote for you until AFTER the election

ICYMI: “Tennessee (Republicans) trying to find a loophole to ban same-sex marriage even if it legalizes child brides” 🎯 nails the framing of this TN GOP outrageousness (bonus points 🏆 for including our videos)

NO CODE OF ETHICS: Of course Republicans are “skeptical” of a SCOTUS code of ethics — it’s a slippery slope… Next people might expect THEM to start behaving ethically. 😳

MASON UPDATE: Majority Black city MASON, TN is now suing comptroller Jason Mumpower for trying to take over their finances (and erase them from the map) right as a Ford plant moves in 4 miles away, calling it discriminatory and unconstitutional.

WATCH: “Does the NCAA not regulate sports? THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE STATE REACHING IN.” 🏳️‍⚧️ Senator Akbari opposes Hensley’s anti-trans athlete bill, as they prove yet again that The GOP = The Government Overreach Party.

🏳️‍⚧️ WATCH: “WHO ARE YOUR MAJOR FUNDERS?” – On the anti-trans athlete bill REP. ANDREW FARMER shields far-right ALLIANCE DEFENDING FREEDOM from REP.MIKE STEWART’s Q about anti-public school groups funding them (Kochs, etc..) and their history of arguing to criminalize homosexuality😳 (per The Southern Poverty Law Center)

PSA…

“INFLATION” IS PRICE GOUGING: Any articles about “inflation” that fail to mention skyrocketing corporate profits are running cover for corporate greed…. They aren’t raising prices because they have to. They’re doing it because they can.

😳WATCH: “The richest county in TN generates💰off its own employees?” WILLIAMSON COUNTY charges tuition to kids of (underpaid) teachers who live outside the county. Ugly. EMAIL COUNTY COMMISSIONERS: [email protected]

THIS WEEK: House Dems pass a bill legalizing marijuana — all 7 Tennessee Republicans voted NO. GOP = Government Overreach Party

REP. COHEN: “The war on drugs failed… marijuana is less dangerous than alcohol.” – Cohen rose to support the #MOREAct which would legalize marijuana at the federal level. It passed the House despite All 7 REPUBLICAN reps opposing it.

HIGH TIMES: “TN Legalization Bill Goes Up In Smoke… bill from TN Dems Rep. Bob Freeman & Senator Campbell always had an uphill climb in Tennessee’s Republican-dominated legislature… Gov. Lee has said he is against legalizing pot.” While other states are moving forward, we’re moving backwards.

Reminder: Republicans hate weed… until they can go make a lot of money off of it.

Not only are state Republicans in Tennessee not letting us move forward on marijuana, this session they killed a bill from Republican Bruce Griffey just to put a question on the ballot to ASK Tennesseans if they support medical marijuana. (SPOILER: BECAUSE OVER 80% DO)

WATCH: “WHO COULD BE AGAINST THAT?!” Republicans kill REPUBLICAN State Senator Niceley’s bill regulating Delta-8/Hemp products as Briggs’ ban passes threatening thousands of jobs MOVING US BACKWARDS. Republicans (Rose, White, Gardenhire, Lundberg, Bell, Stevens, Briggs) advanced a ban on Delta 8 and similar hemp-derived products (SB1904) – threatening a $100 million industry and thousands of TN jobs.(powerful booze & pharma lobby, eh?)

SENATOR AKBARI: “This will give a teacher a LICENSE TO BULLY… it is wrong on so many levels.” 🏳️‍⚧️ Akbari opposed the cruel anti-trans pronouns bill, passed in committee by Republicans.

🔥 WATCH – A BIG WIN FOR AMAZON (AND ALL) WORKERS: “THINGS HAVE CHANGED… this is an example of the power people have… they’re gonna have to negotiate with their workers now.” 💪🏽 #UnionStrong #AmazonUnion A win for ALL workers.

Worth remembering LEAKED NOTES from a Bezos-attended meeting showed they planned to smear Chris Smalls, leader of the unionization movement, as “not smart or articulate” 😲😳— that ain’t a dogwhistle, that’s a bullhorn.  #AmazonUnion #UnionStrong

And as AMAZON UNION gets a huge win in NY, here in Tennessee Republicans are getting ready to enshrine anti-union “Right to Work” (aka Right to Exploit) in our state constitution.

3 CLEAR CHARTS that show unions and the middle class go hand in hand — the win today is a win for ALL workers. #UnionStrong #AmazonUnion

WATCH: “KIDS’ LIVES ARE AT STAKE.” Rep. Farmer and the TN GOP ust killed a Gloria Johnson bill to limit outrageous caseloads at TN Dept of Children’s Services – even as kids are dying. (Meanwhile, $500 million for a stadium? Fascinating what we can and *can’t* afford😳)

WATCH: “TN leads 🇺🇸 in shootings involving unsecured weapons and kids.” Republicans kill Rep Gloria Johnson’s Child Access Prevention bill… but pass Sexton’s bill to let guns in parks and lower the carrying age (OF ALL GUNS) to 18. 😳 (TN has 5 of the 65 deadliest cities)

ICYMI: The House also just passed a bill to cap insulin at $35/month 232-193 (12 Republicans joined the Dems) AGAIN: EVERY Tennessee Republican REP VOTED AGAINST IT. 😳

JUST SAYING…

UPDATE: A Dem enters the TN-5 race for congress to fill Cooper’s seat — State Senator Heidi Campbell —- She’ll face off with whoever emerges from a very crowded GOP primary🎪

SOME GOOD NEWS: THE “SUE THY NEIGHBOR” ABORTION BAN & BOUNTY BILL HAS DIED (for now) Keep hollering, y’all! It works. 🤜🏽 👊🏾

Please consider CHIPPING IN MONTHLY to help us grow… make it $10 and we’ll send you a holler hat! (note your address on PayPal and which color you want when you chip in) 
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OPIOID CRISIS-ENABLER BLACKBURN THREATENS GOV SHUTDOWN OVER RACIST HARM REDUCTION FREAKOUT

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By now you’ve probably seen the blaring “BIDEN OFFERS FREE CRACK PIPES TO BLACK PEOPLE” headlines all over the right wing fever swamps. Fox, Shapiro, the whole crew is marching to the beat of the same misleading, racist drum.

Well, it’s deeply misleading, and not a little racist. The source of the issue is a $30 million “Harm Reduction” program grant the Biden administration released, based on evidenced-based science that shows those programs do work, which is targeted at addicts struggling mostly with the opioid epidemic.

Below we’ll let Hayes Brown explain the program and the “racist, callous, cruel and counterproductive” spin being put on it – but we wanted to direct your attention to one particularly disingenuous player in this ugly game: MARSHA BLACKBURN.

Marsha is now threatening a government shutdown over this, saying it’s a “slap in the face to communities and first responders fighting against drugs flowing into our country”.

Does she think we’ve forgotten that she was one of the main culprits in allowing the opioid crisis to rage on, by carrying a bill to make it harder for the DEA to fight the opioid crisis?

Does Marsha really think we don’t remember how much blood she has on her hands?

As for the issue at the root of this,  Hayes Brown breaks it down here:

For the past week, conservative media has been yelling about the Biden administration supposedly spending $30 million on “crack pipes” for poor Black neighborhoods. The hysteria is a real throwback to the 1990s and that era’s barely coded racist panic about people who use crack, given the drug’s prevalence in and strong association with Black communities — and it does nothing to help the millions of people addicted to narcotics.

At the center of the uproar is a Department of Health and Human Services grant that funds harm-reduction programs. A departure from policies that stigmatize addiction and force people who use drugs into hiding, these programs provide community-based support that includes having staff available to prevent overdoses, offering counseling on addiction and swapping out syringes to prevent the spread of HIV.

He adds:

Nowhere in the grant are pipes mentioned — but from the blog’s report, it was off to the race-baiting. “Joe Biden’s latest idea is to pay Black people to smoke more crack,” Fox News host Tucker Carlson said Tuesday. Fox News’ website also leaned into the racial angle in its reporting, noting that the grant request document from HHS referenced an executive order focused on advancing racial equity and supporting underserved communities.

Spinning a program meant to save lives into a program solely devoted to making crack more accessible in Black neighborhoods doesn’t happen by accident. It can only happen purposefully. It’s an echo of the mandatory minimums that for years made sure possession of crack cocaine drew harsher sentences than powder cocaine. It’s a remnant of the failed “tough on crime” approach to drug policy that has left hundreds of thousands incarcerated over the years and many, many more dead.

It also does nothing to help address the opioid crisis that Republicans accuse President Joe Biden of ignoring. There are millions of Americans out there who need help with their substance use disorder, enough that the grant HHS is distributing should be at least 10 times as large as it is. The attempts we’ve seen this week to prevent such people from getting that help are not just racist, they’re also callous, cruel and counterproductive.

And Marsha’s piling on this racist firestorm is especially hypocritical.

Blackburn “Concerned With Lack of Due Process” In Letter To Austin Peay Prof

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Dr. Kevin Baron is the Assistant Professor of American Politics at Austin Peay University in Clarksville. He initially posted this as a TWITTER THREAD. 

I wrote to my Senators about impeachment, discussing my concerns about the lack of seriousness with which they seem to be taking it, and their endless stream of partisan nonsense.

Here’s the response I got from Senator Marsha Blackburn:

It raises additional concerns.

First off let me begin by noting I’ve spent nearly the past decade studying and researching executive/presidential power, and feel like I know a thing or two about it.

Second, impeachment is nothing like charging an individual with a crime and in continuing this claim Marsha just adds to the confusion over the inherently political process that impeachment actually is.

Aside from the Constitution, we can look to the Federalist Papers – 65 and 66, and in particular Hamilton’s writings on the presidency – to understand Trump’s actions easily meet the supposed “high bar” to which she refers. Courting foreign interference into domestic electoral politics is exactly the kind of thing the Framers were concerned about. For Hamilton, impeachment was Congress’ ultimate check on the executive, just as the president has veto power as a check over Congress.

Next, Marsha claims the House is not and has not been following “due process” – again, impeachment is political, not legal, so there is no due process in the same sense as in our legal/judicial system, as the process is established by existing rules and precedent, and by any rules that a majority of the House agrees to –  just as in the Senate for the trial, whereby the Senate will have to have a majority vote to change or create new rules.

Last, Blackburn’s “concern” over the process of the House is not justified in reality. If she were even paying attention to a modest amount of coverage she would see the process unfolding exactly as the House has determined, but the bigger issue is that if Blackburn were truly concerned and cared about the Constitution she would be preparing to take the entire process, especially her role in the Senate, seriously – which from where I’m sitting does not seem to be happening. It also raises concerns as to why she would block election security bills and other efforts to protect elections in the US and ensure voting rights for all Tennesseans.

While I appreciate the fact that her office responded to my comments, I really don’t expect that she’ll be keeping my comments in her thoughts during this process.

Hypocrite “Moscow Marsha” AGAIN Blocks Election Security Bills, Paving Way for More Foreign Interference

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Yesterday a total of THREE election security bills introduced by Democrats were blocked by our own Marsha Blackburn, including one that would require campaigns to report foreign interference in our elections to the FBI.

It’s not the first time she has done this. Apparently Marsha is the Republican go-to when it comes to blocking bills to enable more foreign interference in our elections, which should not be a partisan issue.

From THE HILL:

Election security has become a point of contention during the Trump era. House Democrats have passed several election-related bills, including a sweeping ethics and election reform measure, but they’ve hit a wall in the GOP-controlled Senate.

Warner, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, tried to pass legislation that would require campaign officials to report contacts with foreign nationals who are trying to make donations or coordinate with the campaign to the Federal Election Commission, which would notify the FBI.

“The alarm bells are going off and what are we doing? We’re running out of time to do something about it,” Warner said from the Senate floor.

Obviously Democrats are in the middle of an impeachment inquiry focused on Trump asking Ukraine to investigate former Biden and his son and holding up aid to pressure them, which Trump’s own people have admitted he did.

Intelligence agencies have also said the Russians are still doing it, and will do it again.

Marsha clearly doesn’t care as long as it helps her team, no matter what it does to the very fabric of our Democracy.

It’s worth remembering that we just recently learned that the NRA was a key point of focus for the Russians, and that multiple people associated with the NRA were actually Russian agents using the group to gain access to conservative power players… and that the point of entry for them was actually right here in Tennessee, through associates of Blackburn. 

When we say “Moscow Marsha”, we’re not just being cute.

Marsha’s quote about blocking efforts to protect our elections is especially delicious.

“You know, it’s not a good sign if you’re doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.”

As a reminder, the house voted over 50 times to repeal Obamacare while Marsha was there.

If you think Marsha is damaging our country with her behavior, HOLLER at her HERE.

SPIN MARSHA SPIN: “Border Deal A Win For Trump, Dreamers Should Blame Dems”

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Republicans and Democrats in congress struck a border security deal this week which gave President Trump far less than he wanted for his wall.

The deal pledges $1.375 billion for border enhancements like steel-slatted barriers and other “existing technologies”, and $1.7 billion for additional security measures and humanitarian aid. The proposed new “barriers” would account for just 55 miles, which is a far cry from the more than 200 miles the White House sought.

Of the deal, Trump said:

“I can’t say I’m thrilled.”

From the Democrats perspective, they averted a shutdown, agreed to additional border funding which they all support anyway, and didn’t have to go along with an end to end wall which they collectively oppose, and which even some Republicans have said would be a waste of money.

Needless to say, the far right, led by Awful Ann Coulter, isn’t happy about the deal, and has been vocal about calling Trump out for backing down on the shutdown in the first place.


Meanwhile here in Tennessee, ever the good soldier, Marsha Blackburn is putting on a brave face and telling Fox News this is actually a victory for Republicans and encouraging them to thank President in particular, who she rarely has a harsh word for.

In the interview with Fox News Marsha even goes so far as to blame Democrats for the fact that the fate of the Dreamers is still in limbo, even though Trump is the one who threw their status into jeopardy, and the Republicans are obviously the ones still holding them hostage.

Here’s what Marsha told Fox New yesterday, when asked about the deal:

“I’ve got to tell ya, I think it is a loss for the Democrats. Because the president and Republicans had offered to solve the issue around the Dreamers. And I hope that everyone listening to you who has a Dreamer in their family or a Dreamer that is close to them realizes through their obstinance of not coming to the table, Nancy Pelosi not making good on her word to negotiate, that is not a part of what is taking place at this point in time.”

So does that mean we can count Marsha as a vote for a clean Dream Act?

Democrats would pass a clean Dream Act tomorrow. Republicans would not. Marsha blaming Democrats for the situation the Dreamers are in is the hostage-taker blaming the negotiator for not meeting all of their ransom demands.

The onslaught of insults to the intelligence of her viewing audience is endless. Holler at Marsha HERE to let her know you see right through her.