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Speaker Sexton Implies Judge Lied About Faison Complaint

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Tennessee’s new legislative hasn’t even started yet and it’s already off to a ridiculous start.

This morning Chancellor Russell Perkins decided records that would show the public who signed off on taxpayer-funded expenses used to keep an intern quiet about alleged harassment that led to TN House GOP Vice Chair Scotty Campbell’s resignation during the Tennessee Three expulsion hearings would be kept locked up.

It’s a ruling that will likely be appealed, but of note in the judge’s decision was a tidbit about another complaint about TN House GOP Caucus Chair Rep. Jeremy Faison.

The judge lists among the received items:

“A 2nd folder dated 4/5/23, with an alleged victim’s first name containing 2 pages of notes pertaining to a complaint against Rep. Faison”

That’s quite specific.

Many questions arise: Who filed the complaint? Who fielded it? Were there other expenses associated with it paid for by taxpayers also used to silence the harassed, as appears to be the case with Campbell?

Speaker Sexton brought in high-priced private attorneys to keep the information about the Campbell cover-up expenses a secret with Governor Lee’s approval, so for now we won’t learn more about the Campbell harassment.

But the Faison situation is entirely new, so reporters had questions.

Chris O’Brien from Channel 2 managed to connect with both Sexton and his legislative office director Connie Ridley, and they made the wild choice to not only refuse to give any info about the Faison complaint– but to DENY THE EXISTENCE OF IT ENTIRELY.

Bold move! So on the one hand we have a chancellor with a super specific description of files regarding a complaint about Faison, (who is known mostly for trying to pants a ref in a gym full of kids).

On the other hand we have a Speaker who notably doesn’t even appear to be telling the truth to his own district about where he lives claiming the complaint is a figment of the Chancellor’s imagination.

Who to believe? Such a tough choice!

The truth will reveal itself in due time. It always does.

TODAY’S HOLLER: DID REP. FAISON PANTS HIMSELF?

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DID FAISON PANTS HIMSELF? 
BY TRYING TO PANTS THE REF, DID REP. FAISON PULL OFF HIS OWN
– METAPHORICALLY SPEAKING?

👖💥REF PANTSING CONTROVERSY UPDATE: REP. Brandon Ogles (R-FRANKLIN) re-posted a post today about TN GOP caucus chair Rep. Jeremy Faison making national news for trying to PANTS A REF, calling it “disgusting”, and seeming to question if he’s fit to serve both as GOP caucus chair and as a representative entirely.

The post also calls on Speaker Sexton to act. 👀

💥This comes after we learned from our own SOURCES that Republican Scott Cepicky has allegedly asked TN House GOP caucus chair Jeremy Faison to RESIGN as caucus chair over the embarrassing nationally viral ref-pantsing incident. Here’s some Video, ICYMI.
To be clear, neither Ogles nor Cepicky are picture perfect in their own rights, by any stretch. Cepicky in particular spent a long time calling COVID no worse than the flu, until he eventually stopped. (He also lists himself as a professional athlete on his legislative bio even though his NFL “career” consisted of being a walk-on punter cut in training camp… but we digress.)

The question remains: Will Faison survive as caucus chair? Is his seat at risk? By trying to pull off a ref’s pants, did he pull his own caucus chair pants off, so to speak?

Only time will tell. But we will be here watching.

We’ll make sure to ask Jeremy about this in person when the legislature starts back up TOMORROW. We’re able to do this work because of your support, so 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. 

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TODAY’S HOLLER:
REPUBLICANS TO CARVE UP NASHVILLE: “into multiple congressional seats”. Not content with a 7-2 split (despite a significant % of TN being Dems), Speaker Sexton & the TN GOP will try to take a blue seat from VERY BLUE Nashville. Not democracy. There is ZERO good faith reason not to have independent, fair districting. 🇺🇸

KNOXVILLE ACTIVIST HUMILIATED BY DEPUTIES: It seems the warrant Knox County Sheriff Spangler’s Office arrested activist/former council candidate David Hayes for outside a Knoxville PD meeting was for “obstructing a roadway” at a peaceful protest about the police killing of a student (Ant Thompson). They humiliated Hayes and carried him to a detention room, where he says they punched him. Here’s video of him being carried & humiliated. Here’s David telling Knox News about being punched by deputies while in custody.

So outside a CITY discussion about policing, Deputies grabbed, carried, humiliated a black activist (former council candidate) over warrants related to peaceful protests about the police killing of a black student. Knox County’s message is loud and clear. The man ran for City Council as the warrant was still active and was in rooms with police… he says he was never officially cited, and didn’t know about the warrants. They waited for the exact moment to send the largest message to arrest him. We have questions. Will Spangler and Mayor Jacobs have answers?

NOT-SO-GRAND, OPRY: “I am extremely confused by the welcoming of Morgan Wallen to the Opry stage last night… It felt like a slap in the face.” — Holly G, founder of Black Opry, writes a letter to Opry owners expressing dismay that they welcomed Wallen after his “N Word” usage.

MORE REPUBLICAN VACCINE DISINFORMATION: More vaccine disinfo from TN GOP state Rep Susan Lynn… ignoring all data, cherry-picking stories she *hears* — and Speaker Sexton says nothing. Some actual numbers… overwhelmingly most severely Sick are un-“vexed” 🧐

Maybe Governor Ron Desantis should talk to his own wife about his anti-testing crusade? 😳😷

HIJACKING MLK: The Tennessean picks up the story of Bernice King rightly calling out Carol M Swain & Moms For Liberty WILCO for the hypocrisy of using her dad’s image to raise💰at an anti-diversity event at the Factory when M4L fights against MLK/civil rights books.

COACH DIES OF COVID: GALLATIN HIGH girls basketball coach Jerry Landers has died of COVID-19 after being placed on a ventilator. Our hearts go out to his family, friends and the community. 😷

Rolling Stone rightly highlights *Pastor* Ken Peters in a story on the burned Planned Parnethood Knoxville clinic— “Did the rhetoric of Pastor Peters’s extreme anti-abortion church literally help stoke the flames?” The clinic noticed a change when he arrived. And he’s no stranger to “fire” references.

WATCH: “It was terrifying… nobody was hurt, thank goodness, but the fire was enormous… WE ARE DETERMINED TO REBUILD.” – Ashley Coffield of Planned Parenthood TN talked to us about the arson (terrorism) that burned their clinic in Knoxville. PODCAST

“THIS SAD MAN”: Chris Hayes roasted spineless Ted Cruz for groveling for forgiveness after calling the insurrection “terrorism” — he calls it a “mistake”, but he said it MANY times. His only “mistake” was telling the truth in a party where that’s the only sin. #TreasonDay

NASHVILLE DJ WALKS OUT: DJ AJ KANG says he walked out of his set after REBAR owner Rhonda Russell told him to “stop playing that ni*ger music” because there were “too many black people in the crowd” Adding: “I’m half black and I do not support racism”

UNLICENSED BOUNCERS UPDATE: “4 of 6 bouncers at Dierks Bentley’s Whiskey Row who held down DJ BARRETT until he died in August 2021 (charged for reckless homicide & aggravated assault) not properly licensed.” VIDEO of DJ: “I can’t breathe!”

RECORD JOBS: While Marsha & Hagerty ask “WhErE ARe tHe JoBS?” despite 3.9% unemployment, Trump Jr.  helped them out with a self-own by posting Biden’s historic first 11 months job growth: “Check out how much better Biden is doing than my dad!” 🤦🏻‍♂️

🗣 “IT’S NOT ABOUT YOU.” — Barbara from Abingdon, VA writes a letter to the editor in BRISTOL, TN addressing the ARSONIST Who burned down Knoxville’s Planned Parenthood Clinic — pointing out the people they actually hurt.

NO-BRAINER: “Ossoff’s bill makes it illegal for lawmakers & their families to trade stocks” Any Senator/Rep who won’t support this ain’t there for the right reasons. And it ain’t just Pelosi. (👋🏽 Corker, Blackburn, Hagerty, Green, etc..) – good for Ossoff for leading on this. He says he wants a GOP co-sponsor for his congress stock trading ban… Does seem a little crazy to think that might happen, but kinda seems right to make a show of looking for one — If nobody bites, that says a lot in itself. Then he should push it anyway.

TOP: What’s actually happening.
BOTTOM: What the Bullshit Factory is focused on.

TOP SEED IN THE AFC: 91 different players. Lots of injuries to stars. And still… #1 seed in the AFC! Coach Vrabel should be the NFL Coach of the Year, and it isn’t close. #TitanUp

CARTOON OF THE DAY: “KING & CRT”

Josh Black sums up Tennessee in one tweet… 🎯 ❄️

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VIDEO: REP. FAISON TRIES TO FIGHT (AND PANTS) A REF

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By now you’ve probably seen the video we unearthed of REP. FAISON TRYING TO FIGHT AND PANTS A REF at a high school basketball game in East Tennessee. After we saw Faison take to social media to apologize for the incident, we figured he was likely trying to get out in front of video that existed, so we did some digging, and sure enough we found it, for your viewing pleasure.

Again: HE TRIED TO PULL THE REF’S PANTS OFF, in a gym full of kids! He’s lucky he didn’t succeed, or he might be in one of those prisons he likes to vote to send money to while underfunding our schools.

As it stands the TSSAA is declining to punish or suspend him, deferring instead to the school (LAKEWAY CHRISTIAN), who has not answered our questions about his ability to attend future games. Apparently pantsing refs is ok in Tennessee now? Or maybe just when you’re a state rep?

Faison‬⁩ is the ⁦‪Tennessee House Republicans‬⁩ caucus CHAIR, 3rd ranking Republican in the Tennessee House, which is why this absurd story then proceeded to make national headlines, which we would like to think we had a hand in. Our video has been watched 250,000 times on Twitter.

On that note, here’s a A TWEET THAT DIDN’T AGE WELL – Faison tweeted this on January 6th 2021 — then one year later made national news for trying to fight and pants a ref. 👖 🤷🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

Obviously this behavior is juvenile and unacceptable, but as Holler founder KANEW points out, “It’s not just (pantsing & threatening a ref) that makes Rep. Faison a bully – it’s the legislation he supports, and how he treats the most vulnerable people in Tennessee.”

Kanew saw firsthand that Faison is a bully when he got in his face and called him a “Hateful shit” during session last year after Kanew asked him why he was voting to cut unemployment benefits (while giving himself a raise) despite his own Cocke county having the highest unemployment in the state.

On a lighter note, a real Globetrotters player even took the time to give Faison good advice for next time he tries to pants a ref in front of children… listen up, Jeremy! 👇🏽🏀

We’ll make sure to ask Jeremy about this in person when the legislature starts back up next week. 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. 

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Rep Jeremy Faison Calls Kanew a “Hateful Shit”

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TN House GOP caucus chair Jeremy Faison came out to call Kanew a “HATEFUL SHIT” after he asked why Faison was trying to CUT UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS IN HALF despite representing COCKE COUNTY, which has the highest unemployment % in the state.

All class, this Tennessee GOP!

 

VIDEO: REPUBLICANS HONOR RUSH LIMBAUGH (Today of all days)

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“I’d just like everyone to think about their WIVES, MOTHERS, SISTERS, DAUGHTERS.”

Rep. Gloria Johnson speaks out as Reps. Faison, Holt, & the TN GOP honor RACIST, SEXIST RUSH LIMBAUGH 48 hours after TN was ravaged by a tornado, the same day #Coronavirus was discovered.

VIDEO: GOV. LEE’S VOUCHER NIGHTMARE (GOP Caucus Leader Faison: “We Robbed Teachers’ Pay”)

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Gov. Bill Lee’s public school-harming vouchers barely passed thru “sketchy” “bribes & threats” after disgraced former speaker Glen Casada held the board open for 35 minutes — until Rep. Jason Zachary finally flipped his vote and pushed through a program that will ONLY effect Nashville & Memphis, whose reps voted AGAINST it. (Zachary’s math was way off, but we digress)

Many reps say they were bribed and threatened, even with military promotions.

The FBI supposedly opened an inquiry.

There’s a $4 Million Slush fund that seems to have been used to bribe rural reps for their votes, but nobody wants to talk about it.

Lawsuits have begun.

Now it seems the Tennessee Department of Education “robbed” a teacher bonus program to fund a no-bid $2.5 MILLION Class Wallet contract to implement the program that far exceeds what the allocation was… without the comptroller even reviewing it “for merit.

A mess. The mess is so bad even TN GOP House Caucus chair Jeremy Faison regrets his vote, and Appropriations Committee Chair Matthew Hill wants answers. He voted for the bill also.

Meanwhile Governor Lee blames everyone but himself, as he always does.

Let’s keep in mind, this is not the only way Lee is coming after public schools. A charter school commission has now been formed to overrule local school boards, even in rural communities.

Watch what he does, not what he says.

VIDEO: REP. FAISON Invokes MLK During Pro-Gun Rally Resolution

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“Let’s not channel MLK, who was about nonviolence, in the same sentence as a rally for WEAPONS OF DEATH.”

Rep. Antonio Parkinson & Rep. Mitchell respond as GOP Caucus leader Jeremy Faison invokes MLK & calls AR-15’s “weapons of LIFE” as he honors Richmond’s anti-gun safety law rally.

Rep. Larry Miller was also booed, in a break from House decorum.

And Rep. Andy Holt outrageously wondered why we don’t see guns being a problem with 393 million of them in circulation in the USA.

VIDEO: Rep. Tillis “Doesn’t Necessarily Agree” with Moving the KKK Bust

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NEW: Rep. Rick Tillis (R-Lewisburg) “doesn’t necessarily agree” with GOP house caucus leader Jeremy Faison’s call to remove the KKK Grand Wizard bust from the Capitol.

Tillis worries about “whitewashing” history, wonders where the line would be.

All reps should be asked about this. Contact THE STATE CAPITOL COMMISSION to ask them to move the bust.

OR SIGN OUR PETITION.

New TN GOP Caucus Chair Faison Downplays Gun Deaths, Misstates *Fact* About Guns (Again)

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In a week in which America was yet again rocked by gun violence, newly minted Tennessee House Republican Party caucus chair Rep. Jeremy Faison has taken to Twitter to minimize the problem of gun deaths in America, using misstated facts to do it.

“Gun-related deaths are no where even close to the problem that liberals make them out to be,” Faison told a commenter:

Faison’s tweet came as a reply to a response to an earlier tweet where he had posted “pesky facts” above a post from @RealSaavedra, who listed other causes of death in America on a per day basis, including abortion, heart disease, cancer and more.

It’s a familiar talking point in anti-gun safety law conservative circles:

Faison keyed in on the “All Rifles” item at the bottom, which makes the point that only 1 American dies each day by rifle on average.

What this widely circulated statistic obviously and intentionally leaves out is all the deaths and shootings caused by non-rifles. In actuality, Every day, 100 Americans are killed with guns and hundreds more are shot and injured. Over 100,000 Americans are shot on average each year, far more than other countries – which means Faison turning the stat for “rifle deaths” into “gun-related deaths” in his follow-up tweet was either intentionally misleading, or yet another big mistake on Faison’s part.

It wouldn’t be the first flub from Faison in which he made up his own gun-related *fact* to help prove his ultimate point, which is apparently that that guns in America are really no big deal.

This past session Faison was on a committee that passed a gun permit-weakening bill which made it possible for Tennesseans to get a permit to carry a gun nearly everywhere in the state simply by taking a quick course online, without ever even having to fire one on a range. In addition to online courses, they could read blogs about such topics as 300 blk vs 5.56 NATO, which might be relevant for learning about the different types of ammo used for different guns, helping form a better understanding of gun use.

After fact-filled, emotional testimony from witnesses including Beth Joslin Roth of the Safe Tennessee Project, who demonstrated clearly that stronger gun laws do in fact save lives, Faison confidently informed Beth that despite all the numbers she presented to the contrary tighter gun laws don’t lead to fewer gun deaths – because if they did, the Bahamas wouldn’t have so many homicides, since according to Faison you can get the death penalty for illegally carrying a gun there.

As it turned out, we looked into it, and that *fact* was not true. Nobody has been put to death in the Bahamas in many years, and certainly not for having a gun.

Where had Jeremy heard this, you might ask? According to him, he heard it from a “Bohemian” he knew in college. (He meant Bahamian. Sigh.)

To his minimal credit, he apologized and retracted his *fact*. But for a man who sits on a committee that makes laws in Tennessee to be presenting false information that was so loosely sourced is a pretty devastating indictment not only of Faison, but of the level of accountability GOP Supermajority lawmakers are currently facing in Tennessee.

Inevitably, that permit-weakening law passed, and Faison has since been elected chair of the TN GOP caucus. But one thing hasn’t changed: Faison is still making up *facts* about guns to minimize a very real, very tragic problem, which makes all of us, and our children, much less safe.

Again, studies of the issue in general have shown repeatedly there is a relationship between stricter gun laws and a lower amount of guns, and gun deaths. Even Justice Scalia said you can support the 2nd Amendment while still supporting some common-sense gun safety laws. Moreover, more people need to understand gun safety and gun laws as it appears that not everyone does. For example, the gun laws for Wisconsin residents aren’t the same for Tennessee residents. Therefore people have to look up and understand those laws too, especially if they are planning on taking a gun out of their state. It is just one of the many factors one must consider before buying a gun, others being the intended use and if you are prepared to use them safely (more info here).

If you have a problem with state legislators putting out false information about serious issues like gun safety, then make sure they hear it. Holler at Faison HERE.

PROMINENT REPUBLICANS SAY CASADA SHOULD STEP DOWN

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The breaking news has been spewing forth like a powerful stream of urine on a legislator who opposes Speaker Casada’s seat lately (yes, that happened)…

…so we wanted to bring you up to speed on who has – and has not – had the courage to say Speaker Casada should resign. This issue has been all over Twitter so if you haven’t signed up for the platform yet then this might be a good time to do so! However, you may require the services of a website like useviral.com if you want a decent following. Improving your social media traction has proved helpful in multiple cases and especially in ones where you have to speak up for a particular cause! Understandably, this is where tools such as Circleboom can come in handy to manage your Twitter account effectively!

There are several tools similar to this that you may want to look into before making a final decision. One that is not often recommended is Owlead, fortunately there are plenty of Owlead alternatives. Whichever you pick, make sure to follow us on Twitter and join in on the conversation on Casada’s transgressions.

The list of transgressions that have marred Casada’s tenure as Speaker is long, and includes, lying, spying, racism, sexism, fraud, bribery, drugs, house arrest, and protecting child sex abusers to name a few (not to mention peeing on people’s chairs).

Here’s who has come forward to speak up… most notably, GOVERNOR LEE has now said if Casada worked for him he would ask him to resign.

Lt. Governor Randy McNally said “if I was in that deep of water I’d pack up my bags and go home.”

Rep. Jeremy Faison says Casada is “complicit with racism” and should step down as speaker and give Williamson County a chance to send him home altogether… and radio host Phil Valentine says he can’t believe he hasn’t resigned yet, and is angry Casada blatantly lied on his show:

The Executive Director of the Tennessee Firearms Association says Casada “willfully lied” and “should step down”:


Knox County’s Republican Mayor says it’s time for him to go:

House Majority Whip Rick Tillis (who may have been running an anonymous twitter account to shed light on the goings-on inside the legislature, and who may have had his office chair pissed on as a result) spoke out…


…Rep. Sam Whitson said Casada should step down also…


…as did Rep. Hawk… Senator Marsha Blackburn called it “disgusting”… Rep. Patsy Hazelwood seemed to open the door to change… as did Senator Massey…


and Speaker Pro Tempore Rep. Bill Dunn.

And of course, many Democrats have said it’s time for him to go as well (still no word from Rep. John Deberry though).

Those who have come out in support of Casada despite everything that has happened include: Rep. Andy Holt, Rep. Susan Lynn, Rep. Ron Travis, Rep. Mike Sparks, Rep. Micah Van Huss, Rep. Matthew Hill, Rep. Bud Hulsey, and the Williamson County Republican Party.

Do you know of anyone we’ve left out? Holler at us HERE: [email protected]

In the meantime, #ResignCasada.