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TODAY’S HOLLER: TRUMP VS. HIS BASE, GOV. LEE COOL WITH GUNS ON PLANES

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TRUMP VS. HIS OWN BASE
When the former president revealed to Bill O’Reilly that he was in fact vaccinated and boosted (as are ALL the Fox News hosts who rail against the vaccine every night), and did his best to take credit for the rollout, his base was very upset. They can forgive insurrection against the country, stealing from his own charity, cheating on his pregnant wife, trying to overturn the election, and generally being the most corrupt president this country has ever seen… but telling the truth about a life-saving medicine? THAT SHALL NOT STAND. 

New Nashville resident Candace Owens tried to come to his rescue to give him a chance to retract, but to his credit, he didn’t. TRUMP TOLD CANDACE OWENS: “The vaccine worked… PEOPLE AREN’T DYING WHEN THEY TAKE THE VACCINE… if you do get it it’s a very minor form.”

He’s right. The vaccine is working as intended. The VAST majority of COVID hospitalizations are now unvaccinated people.

Of course, his base can’t handle the truth. They went nuts over this. ALEX JONES RIPPED TRUMP, saying he is “either completely ignorant or one of the most evil men who ever lived” 👀

Candace Owens then took to social media to say Trump was just too old and out of touch to use the internet to get *REAL* information from the Facebook fever swamps – we’re betting Trump didn’t like that one AT ALL. 

Of course, not everyone was upset with him. People who understand that the vaccine is working as intended were more than willing to credit Trump with getting this right. Even White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki echoed Trump’s COVID vaccine recommendation… a sentence we never thought we’d type. 😷

But the backlash to Trump by his base for saying positive things about the vaccine has been severe. It seems the only thing they can’t forgive him for is telling even the slightest bit of truth about this life-saving medicine. Perhaps this is because many have lost their jobs or even gotten arrested over their refusal to take this life-saving medicine, clearly viewing it as a loyalty test, a way to show they support Trump to the bitter end.

But what do you do when even Trump doesn’t agree with taking that stance?

Life must get pretty confusing when you devote yourself to a grifter whose only true commitment is to himself.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. We’ll be following this story closely. 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. 

Merry Christmas, happy holidays, and here’s to a great New Year.

TODAY’S HOLLER:
LEE COOL WITH GUNS ON PLANES: Q: “Would you support guns on planes?” GOV. LEE: “That’s up to airlines.” 😲😳 Q: “Yet private companies can’t require employee vaccines?” LEE: “…uhhhh I didn’t agree with the bill I signed 🧐🙃…” How many different ways can Lee pander to extremists and fail to lead?

WAR BUDGET GOES UP EVEN DURING PEACE: 5% increase ($768 BILLION/year, $7.7 TRILLION/decade) to the war budget DURING PEACE — The GOP will vote for this but reject 1/5th of it for child care, pre-k, health care, climate, housing, etc? They care more about defense contractors than people.

Hospitalization rate by vaccine status… blue is unvaccinated… green is vaccinated… Get vaccinated. 😷

WHAT A SCHMECK: “I meant no disrespect” 🧐 – Jared Schmeck, who said “fuck you” by another name to Biden after a very cordial call in front of children, including his own, says he meant no disrespect, when in fact he meant only disrespect… Doing it is classless. Trying to walk it back is cowardly. Don’t be a Schmeck.

SCHMECK: “Trump is my president, the election was 100% stolen.”🙄 After saying he wasn’t a Trumper and “meant no disrespect”, the ex-cop who said “Fuck You” to Biden by a different name on a Santa call with kids (but says he’s a “Christian” first 🧐) sings a different tune to Bannon.

DEAD VOTER CLAIM DIES: “False claims thousands of ballots cast in the names of dead Georgia voters can rest in peace… Election investigators found just 4, all returned by relatives… latest in a series of unsubstantiated claims of fraud since debunked…”

It’s good that Georgia only found 4 ballots sent by relatives after death, but also— why are they getting fines when Crystal Mason (a black woman) got 5 years in Texas for thinking she could vote and casting a provisional vote that wasn’t even counted? Obscene.

LAWSUIT: “2 Georgia election workers who were the target of vote-rigging conspiracy theories sued far-right OANN & Giuliani for allegedly spreading lies about them…” (One is Ruby Freeman, who Kanye’s publicist and a Trump aide tried to pressure)

🚨BIDEN: “I support making an exception on voting rights for the filibuster.” #SaveDemocracy 🇺🇸

VP HARRIS: “Half of the senate (all the Republicans) REFUSE TO EVEN DEBATE voting rights legislation… Stand up before the American people. Defend your position. See if it stands up to logic and reason.” #EndTheFilibuster 🇺🇸

👂LISTEN: “Probably because you keep touching them, you nasty perv!” – CLEVELAND, TN televangelist Perry Stone interrupted during service 11/30 – he is accused of sexually harassing multiple ministry members. There is a federal investigation.

Paid for by taxing those who can afford it — thanks for the breakdown, Fox! imagine thinking these are bad things. 🧐🙃 #PassThePeoplesBudget

UNITED MINE WORKERS TO MANCHIN: “REVISIT YOUR OPPOSITION TO BBB” – America’s largest coal mining union that reps West Virginia miners is urging Senator Manchin to support Biden’s bill AND get voting rights legislation passed. 🇺🇸 🗣 

A fair question for Senator Schumer…

LEE WANTS THE RNC HERE IN 2024: Oh boy – this is just what we need around here. 🎪

LEE PUTS PRISON GUARDS OVER TEACHERS: Perhaps nothing shows Governor Lee’s misplaced priorities like his decision to have entry-level correctional officers earn what it takes a teacher with a bachelor’s degree TEN YEARS to make… budgets are moral documents.

LAKELAND COUNTY:  Anti-LGBT parents threaten to pull their kids out if the school board allows a GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE to exist… board says it can’t pick which clubs to allow.🏳️‍🌈

MADISONVILLE: Officer Wes Martin for Monroe County Commission 1st District arrests a Latino man for “HOOTIN’ & HOLLERIN’” because he says he disturbed his coffee, then arrests the man filming it. They say he was annoyed the waitress played their music. Cops on power trips is a danger to us all.

UNDERCOVER KKK INFORMANT: “came across dozens of police officers, prison guards, sheriff deputies, other law enforcement officers involved with the klan and outlaw motorcycle groups…” – How many more must there be?

OFFICER FANONE RESIGNS: “Clearly there are some members of our department who feel their oath is to Donald Trump and not to the Constitution… I no longer felt like I could trust my fellow officers.” 😳 — Be alarmed. 🚨

FORCED BIRTH ACTIVISTS HAVE NO ANSWERS: Anti-reproductive freedom activists have very few answers as to why they also support cutting programs (Medicaid, food stamps, child care, etc.) that help women feel they can afford to go through with a pregnancy.

🎯 🇺🇸

NASHVILLE STRONG: Nashville restaurants Rodizio Grill & The Melting Pot post notes about the Christmas bombing 1 year ago: “A lot was lost but we remain grateful nobody was injured.” 

😳🌎

In case you’re wondering, this is what we got everyone we know for Christmas…

And while we’re talking about Marsha, let’s always remember this little gem…

CARTOONS OF THE DAY 🎄 🎅

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GOV. LEE’S BOARD OF ED APPOINTEE LINKED TO AMMO SALE TO AURORA KILLER

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Governor Bill Lee has just appointed Jordan Mollenhour of Knoxville to the State Board of Education, the governing and policy-making body for Tennessee’s Pre-K-12 public education system – which through partnership with the TN Department of Education maintains oversight in K-12 implementation and academic standards.

According to Knox TN Today:

“Mollenhour is co-CEO of Mollenhour Gross LLC, an investment company based in Knoxville. He will represent the Second Congressional District… Mollenhour’s term of service is for five years….”

What the article does not mention is Mollenhour’s very concerning history as an online ammunition dealer, owning an online company with an obscure ownership trail that according to the St. Louis Dispatch sold thousands of bullets to at least one mass shooter.

In a 2014 article called “HOW THE AURORA SHOOTER GOT HIS AMMO” by Todd Frankel, then of the St. Louis Dispatch, Frankel follows the trail of the sale of the bullets used in the murder of 12 people and the injuring of 58 others in an Aurora, Colorado movie theater all the way to Knoxville, and then on to Atlanta.

The article reads:

“The answer appeared to be an online company in St. Louis… but the trail leads not to St. Louis but to Knoxville, TN, and on to Atlanta, to a secretive company considered to be among the nation’s top online ammunition dealers. It’s founders – a pair of former real estate developers – sell bullets using far-flung P.O. Boxes, different corporate entities, and online marketing tactics that have offended even some firearm enthusiasts. By last summer, these entrepreneurs stood perfectly positioned to close on a quick, legal sale to a deranged killer.”

Those “former real estate developers” were Jordan Mollenhour and his partner Dustin Gross. Both are University of Tennessee graduates. Governor Lee has just appointed Mollenhour to the Board of Education.

According to the article, their company was called www.BulkAmmo.com, and operated under the names www.luckygunner.com, www.ammoforsale.com, and others. In the article Frankel tracks their web of corporations and business names to a distributor in Atlanta, but he’s never able to contact them for comment.

Frankel also summarizes the history of the ammo business in America, pointing out that it wasn’t always possible to order thousands of bullets online and have them show up to your door no questions asked, but that a piece of legislation in 1986 changed it so that they could.

Maybe Chris Rock is right – If gun control is impossible to pass in our messed up, gun-sick nation – maybe restricting the ammo is what we should be focusing on? But in the meantime it seems fair to ask why Governor Lee is appointing someone with a sordid past that includes enabling at least one mass shooting in Colorado to a board of education overseeing what our kids learn.

Selling thousands of bullets online to a mass killer wasn’t illegal, but it probably should be, and at the very least we shouldn’t be putting people who think it’s ok to make a living doing that in charge of our children’s education.

It’s worth noting that this isn’t Lee’s only questionable education appointment – Lee and Speaker Sexton just also recently appointed anti-Muslim 9/11 Truther Laurie Cardoza-Moore to the textbook commission.

Extremism at the highest levels of Tennessee’s government is on full display. And it’s our kids who will suffer.

TWO VERY DIFFERENT PUBLIC SCHOOL FIGHTS

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Even though the VA governor race has gone opposite the president basically every time historically, everyone seems to have their own hot take about why the Democrats lost in Virginia, a need to treat the race as a bellwether for the impending doom of the Democratic party.

Some are blaming it on progressives, saying Biden is overreaching with his Build Back Better agenda (despite the fact that everything in it is extremely popular).

Others are saying it’s the gridlock that had Biden’s popular budget and the infrastructure package stuck in gear (and gutted) that caused people to sour on the Dems.

And then there’s the schools issue.

Glenn Youngkin seized on a big misstep by Terry Mcauliffe in the closing weeks of the race where he said:

“I’m not going to let parents come into schools, and actually take books out, and make their own decision.”

Republicans seized on the quote as Mcauliffe saying parents should have “no role” in public schools, which is something no candidate is arguing for or running on.

Those who want the truth taught, believe masks keep kids safe, and who insist Critical Race Theory is not being taught are not saying parents have “no place” in schools. School boards were elected by parents to make many of those decisions, and parental involvement is obviously an important key to a child’s education.

Youngkin seizing on that unfortunate Mcauliffe quote was fair play. His closing ads that insisted Mcauliffe was lying about CRT being taught in schools, however, were not. The slides Youngkin featured in those ads were not from a Virginia public schools curriculum, but were instead from a presentation given to adults about student discipline – according to the woman whose presentation it was, and who was horrified by Youngkin’s tactics.

Never one to let facts to get in the way of a good story, that didn’t matter to Youngkin. He featured them anyway, which led to many Virginians pointing to CRT in schools as their main issue in the election even when they couldn’t tell you what CRT actually is.

Whether or not you believe the CRT lie turned the election, one thing is clear: Republicans are going to make public schools an issue throughout the country in future elections.

And they’re finding sympathy for their causes in some unlikely places – the bluest cities in America.

There’s now no shortage of think pieces about how school issues in places like New York City and San Francisco where people believe the push for equity and inclusion have gone too far have laid the groundwork for the conflicts we’re seeing in places like Virginia – as though the discussions surrounding public schools in these very different places are somehow even remotely the same.

But they are not.

In Tennessee for instance, the fights at school board meetings are about refusing to mask children, banning books, and not even letting teachers talk about race, which is essentially the bill Tennessee legislators just proudly passed.

Notably, that anti-CRT bill didn’t even mention CRT, but instead basically banned teachers from putting history in the context of race.

The state legislature is also banning the ability of teachers to even mention LGBT people, and passing bills that threaten heavy fines if teachers teach the truth about our history, instead insisting that they both-sides things like the Civil War (while they fight to keep KKK Grand Wizard statues in our capitol and refuse to acknowledge that the Civil War was fought over slavery).

This is all against a backdrop of having Governor Bill Lee as our governor, who has made “school choice” and private school vouchers his #1 priority, getting them passed through “bribes and threats” according to members of his own party before they were struck down by a federal judge.

Yet he’s still trying.

Lee even had Trump Secretary of Education Betsy Devos come to town to help him push the vouchers through. Devos once revealed on a Christian radio show that her agenda was to steer public funds to private Christian schools to “Advance God’s Kingdom” – a goal Governor Lee very much seems to share.

Steering funds away from our public schools is especially problematic considering we’re already #46 in the nation in per pupil spending. We have BILLIONS in our “rainy day fund”, we just awarded $900 MILLION to Ford for a new plant in West Tennessee… yet when it comes to our kids and paying our teachers properly, it’s pockets empty.

That’s the backdrop for the school board fights in Southern states like ours. It isn’t about renaming a school away from a founding father to be more politically correct here, or about whether or not there’s a more racially equitable way we can teach math.

It’s about DEFUNDING PUBLIC EDUCATION.

It’s worth noting the chair of Moms For Liberty in Williamson County doesn’t even have her kids in public schools (Lee doesn’t either), openly says we shouldn’t teach the truth, and has called public school teachers “brainwashing assholes”. Governor Lee once told a woman at a town hall he agreed people without kids in schools should have the option not to pay for them.

So when Virginia makes headlines, and moderate Democrats who otherwise believe in public schools and want to fix them start to see those Republicans as brothers and sisters-in-arms in a war against progressives, they need to realize the fight they’re fighting is a MUCH DIFFERENT FIGHT than the fight those Republicans they sympathize with are fighting, and that tying the two together ultimately runs cover for people who are hellbent on destroying public education.

As we move towards a more equitable and inclusive country, and public schools more and more become the center of the discussion, there may be things some think go too far – but please think twice before making common cause with those who don’t want to fix public schools, but instead would prefer they, and government-backed anything, go away completely – which would inevitably hurt those with the least, the most.

Public education is a bedrock of our American democracy. It isn’t perfect, but we need it. Let’s fix it and defend it, not attack it and defund it.

Justin Kanew is the founder of the Tennessee Holler. Subscribe & Support HERE.

TN ED REPORT: Public Money, Private Schools – Tennessee’s Gov. Bill Lee

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Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is an unapologetic champion of school privatization. While the Tennessee Supreme Court has delayed implementation of the voucher scheme Lee succeeded in passing in 2019, Lee has put on a full court press of other measures in order to bring privatization to the Volunteer State.

The latest effort comes by way of Lee attempting to “reform” the state’s school funding formula, known as the BEP. The move includes 18 subcommittees designed to make recommendations for revising the formula – even though Lee has indicated he has no plans to actually increasing funding for schools.

On that note, the Tennessee Education Association suggests Lee’s efforts are missing the mark:

Tennessee ranks 46th in the nation for what we invest per student. It is irresponsible and harmful to Tennessee children to continue the pattern of insufficient state investment in our schools, especially at a time when Tennessee has the largest revenue surpluses in state history. We can and must do better for our students.

Any review of the BEP funding formula must include more than recommendations on how to change the formula. Until the state makes a significant increase in public education funding to address many challenges plaguing our schools, updating a formula will not get us where we need to be to provide the high-quality public education Tennessee children deserve.”

Nashville education blogger TC Weber notes that the BEP is often studied, but never actually improved:

Hamilton County Schools Interim Superintendent Nakia Towns puts it succinctly when pointing out that without a commitment from the governor and the legislature to put more money into funding education, “this whole conversation is without any real teeth.”

There is no need for further study, but Bill Lee insists on acting in a manner not dissimilar to my children’s behavior. If you don’t like what Mom says, go try to engage Dad. If that doesn’t work, try asking the question with different wording. Likely to work out as well for him as it does for them.

J.C. Bowman, executive director of Professional Educators of Tennessee embraces Lee’s promise of including more voices, but with a caveat,

“If we want different outcomes, we need different voices in the room. I hope there is an honest attempt to let people truly express their opinions, and that the outcome is not already decided,” he said. “This cannot be an exercise in futility. We need to address some giant issues.”

 

Lee has tipped his hand a bit by suggesting the new formula will be “student-centered” – that money will follow kids. This is exactly the type of rhetoric used by voucher advocates who suggest we should fund “students not systems.” Student-centered funding is also an approach pushed by privatization advocates over at ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council).

If Lee were serious about improving public schools, his major announcement around the BEP would have included his commitment to a way to make up for the $1.7 billion shortfall in Tennessee’s current school funding.

 

Photo by Celyn Kang on Unsplash

Meanwhile, a Pro-Privatization PAC Ramps Up

Just as Gov. Lee is moving forward with his funding formula privatization scheme, a political action committee allied with Lee’s interests is ramping up activity. Team Kid PAC is now on the scene and sure to be a player in the 2022 elections.

Team Kid PAC is the political arm of Tennesseans for Student Success – a supposedly pro-schools nonprofit that is heavily involved in legislative and political advocacy with an aim toward school privatization. Plus, the group has close ties to the payday lending industry.

Finally, the Teacher Shortage Crisis is Here

I mean, we don’t actually want a teacher shortage crisis. But, for those who have been warning about it for some time, the moment may finally be here. Policy makers are actually making some noise about a crisis years in the making. One that was entirely predictable.

Few are suggesting one key solution: Raise teacher pay substantially. Yes, adjusting responsibilities and providing a more welcoming work environment are also important. But, it is long past time to pay teachers significantly more. Tennessee has a $2 billion surplus from the recently-concluded fiscal year. We could fully close the teacher wage gap (a raise of about 20% for most teachers) and still have plenty of cash left over without raising taxes one dime.

Subscribe to the TN Education Report HERE

TODAY’S HOLLER: LEE & THE TN GOP EMBRACE A GREEN NEW DEAL 🌍 RACISM IN NASHVILLE & KNOXVILLE 😡 & Much More

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THE GREEN NEW DEAL COMES TO TENNESSEE

At a SPECIAL SESSION TODAY “Tennessee lawmakers will gather for a special session focused on $900 MILLION in incentives for a FORD ELECTRIC CAR PLANT”—while they call Biden a “socialist” for investing in clean energy at the federal level? The hypocrisy is astounding welcome to the 21st century, Republicans! 🤔 #LeesGreenNewDeal

Investing in our future and creating jobs is exactly what Biden and the Dems are trying to do with the People’s budget, which Republicans are trying to paint as the end of the world while doing something similar here at home.

Keep in mind 🔥🌍 the IMF recently told us the “Fossil fuel industry gets subsidies of $11 MILLION PER MINUTE, Trillions ‘adding fuel to the fire’ of the climate crisis” We subsidize our own demise, propping up an industry that then pays our politicians to lie to us.

And as it turns out, MANCHIN IS HURTING HIS OWN PEOPLE THE MOST, as we now know 🌍 “WEST VIRGINIA IS MORE EXPOSED TO FLOODS THAN ANYWHERE IN 🇺🇸” as Senator Manchin thwarts Democrats’ push to reduce warming.

Also, TN’s disasters cost the most this year.

All this is why BERNIE Sanders dropped an OP-ED IN MANCHIN’S BACKYARD touting the overwhelming popularity of Biden’s budget… And naturally, Manchin was triggered by it.

Frankly, Biden should be doing this also

It’s time to pass this budget and show the American people it matters who governs. As Lee & The TN GOP are showing here at home, they don’t actually oppose doing these things when it helps them politically.

We’ll continue to highlight the hypocrisy. Thank you as always for subscribing to the holler. If you’re not yet, please consider chipping in – the monthly support truly keeps us going. No monthly amount is too small.

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TODAY’S HOLLER:
“MEDICAL NAZISM”?: As expected, Senator Frank Niceley & pro-COVID TN GOP legislators will try to pass a BIG GOVERNMENT law PROHIBITING PRIVATE employers from requiring vaccines (which Griffey calls “Nazism”, yet the state does it to kids in schools🤔)

VACCINE MANDATES WORKING: “Vaccine mandates stoked fears of labor shortages. But hospitals say they’re working.” 😷

How it started How it’s going – (Not actual Nashville resident) BEN SHAPIRO edition) 😷 🤔

NIGHTMARE — Ex-pastor raped a 14yo, impregnated her… won’t do jail time, she has to share custody. (Both in TN) – Her parents had pushed her to marry him (they divorced). They both live in Tennessee. Jason Greathouse. In HENDERSONVILLE. We’ll talk to her LIVE ON THE HOLLER tomorrow at noon.

UNDERFUNDED SCHOOLS: Kids are leaving public schools at a high rate. That’s a feature not a bug for Republicans. We have billions in surplus, yet we’re 46th in per pupil funding. Fully fund our schools, Governor Lee.

TN ED REPORT: “The teacher shortage crisis is here… it is long past time to pay teachers significantly more. TN has a $2 billion surplus…” (PSA: For Lee & the TN GOP and their attack on public schools, the shortage is a feature not a bug.)

LEE’S COVERT NEW VOUCHER PUSH: 🔥Rep. Gloria Johnson on Lee’s (ALEC-led, low key voucher) approach to *revising* the BEP: “He wants to give the appearance he’s listening to everyone on this… Why do we need 18 committees to tell us we’re 45th in funding in 🇺🇸 for education?”🗣🎯

UPDATE: Rutherford County Judge Donna Davenport is no longer an adjunct professor at MTSU after the NATIONAL report that she oversaw illegal mass jailing of (mostly black) kids in Rutherford County. Good hollerin’, y’all.

COLIN POWELL DIES OF COVID: Ex-Secretary of State and Joint Chiefs Chairman COLIN POWELL has died from COVID complications at 84 😷

IMPORTANT As Republicans inevitably use Powell’s death to denigrate vaccines…

BUTTIGIEG SCHOOLS TUCKER: 🔥🗣🎯 “I won’t apologize to Tucker Carlson or anyone else for taking care of my premature infant twins… it’s important work we should all be able to do… we’re the only developed country that still doesn’t guarantee paid family leave…” 🇺🇸

AOC SCHOOLS BURCHETT: 🔥AOC dismantles Rep. Tim Burchett’s ignorant gaslighting talking points… ouch! 👇🏽 Republicans canceled extra unemployment early, it didn’t work, but they just continue to blame it for people not working anyway🤔

TRUMP DOJ OFFICIAL FACING DISBARMENT: “Former assistant attorney general and high-ranking Justice Dept official Jeffrey Clark is facing disbarment and criminal charges for assisting Trump in his attempts to subvert the 2020 presidential election.”

GOP FUNDRAISING EMAIL: “YOU’RE A TRAITOR” – Actual pro-Trump NRCC message calls Republicans “traitors” & “deserters” to get them to donate.. the anti-democracy hostility at an 11. Extremely telling about where they’re at as a group right now.  😳

LITTLE OAKS RACISM: After backlash, LITTLE OAKS ACADEMY in Knoxville defends themselves/sort of apologizes after a black teacher was “racially harassed” by a trainee— then left “feeling worthless” after being told to go back to class. The comments are not having it.

NASHVILLE HAS RACISM TOO: NEWSWEEK picks up the story of JOSH BLACK being accused by a woman of breaking into her car in his own NASHVILLE building… she said he “fit the description” — a black dude in a pink anti-racism hoodie. The building said the actual guy was white. 🤨

GRAINGER COUNTY: “MAGA-loving religious sect that worships with AR-15s has purchased a 130-acre property in eastern Tennessee to serve as a “training center” and holy ground for its devoted, gun-toting followers…” 😵‍💫😳

ROME, GEORGIA: “Black students at COOSA HIGH SCHOOL were suspended for planning a protest after another group of students came to school waving a Confederate flag and were filmed hurling racial slurs.” 😳

TERRIFYING SITUATION IN HAITI: “As many as 17 Christian missionaries from the United States and their family members, including women and children, kidnapped in Haiti…”

🔥 FLORIDA MOM to angry parents of kids who break mask rules on purpose😷: “Where were you when we were sending black boys home for their *distracting* hairstyles? — You know what I never caught from a saggy pair of pants or an exposed shoulder? A FUCKING COMMUNICABLE DISEASE.”

SOCIALIZED RISK, PRIVATiZED GAINS: COVID drug developed with $35 MILLION in federal funds at Emory may be able to halve the risk of hospitalization & death… so naturally, MERCK wants to charge a 46x MARKUP… Socialized risk, privatized reward… aka CAPITALISM!

ICYMI — the embarrassing scene at the UT game… Lane Kiffin hit with a golf ball and “brown liquid”, which according to him wasn’t moonshine because “they wouldn’t waste that on me…” – game delayed. Embarrassing for our state.

Ok who made this 😳😩🎯

GLEIB BUSTS CHARLIE KIRK ON ABORTION… Chef’s kiss💋 perfection… watch and share…

AND MARSHA GETS BUSTED TOO…

In Times Square… “paid for by Republicans for Voting Rights”

Today’s CARTOON OF THE DAY is an Evergreen classic… #PassThePeoplesBudget

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INTERVIEW: JB SMILEY JR., CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR

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We’re joined LIVE by JB Smiley Jr., a Memphis councilman running for governor of Tennessee as a Democrat.

Watch the FULL INTERVIEW below. CLIP HERE. Listen to the PODCAST HERE.

ED REPORT: THE PRIVATIZATION PUSH (Disruption Agenda Exposed)

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Subscribe to “The Education Report” by Andy Spears HERE

Jennifer Berkshire writes in The New Republic about the unraveling of the charter school coalition. She notes that while progressives have previously expressed support for charters, that support is waning. Meanwhile, those on the right are moving rapidly toward their actual goal: full privatization of public schools.

Yet today the charter school movement itself is perhaps more vulnerable than it has ever been. Unlikely allies in the best of times, its coalition of suppo

rters—which has included progressives, free-market Republicans, and civil rights advocates, and which has been handsomely funded by deep-pocketed donors and Silicon Valley moguls—is unraveling.

David Menefee-Libey, a professor of politics at Pomona College, likened the original political coalition that came together to back charter schools to a treaty. “You see this bipartisan embrace of a market-based approach to schooling, but both sides also had to give something up,” he said. For Democrats, that meant weakening the party’s support for teachers’ unions—a key constituency—and retreating on demands for school integration. Republicans, meanwhile, accepted charter schools as a watered-down alternative to private school vouchers.

Berkshire references West Virginia as a clear example of the rapid movement from charters to private school vouchers:

Starting in 2022, West Virginia parents who withdraw their children from public schools will receive their child’s state share of public education funding—approximately $4,600 in 2021—to spend on virtually any educational cost: private school tuition, online education programs, homeschooling, tutors, even out-of-state boarding schools.

Take Me Home, Mountain Vouchers
Lawmakers in West Virginia and Kentucky last week passed legislation that would create school voucher programs in those states. Both states saw teacher strikes in recent years over school funding and teacher pension issues. Now, policymakers there are planning to divert public dollars to fund unaccountable private schools…

The bottom line: Privatizers want privatization. Period. No half-measures here. A recent story out of Tennessee further bears this out. It seems the ed reform groups who have been driving “disruption” in public education in the state for years are now lamenting the outcomes of all that disruption.

Groups like Tennesseans for Student Success are joined by other privatization apologists such as Bill Frist’s ed reform group known as SCORE in an ongoing and seemingly never-ending push for BOLD! REFORM! NOW! It’s odd because one might think that with all the bold reform of the last decade, we’d finally have achieved some element of “success.” Instead, we must keep reforming because our students are still “behind” and there’s all this “learning loss.”

Meanwhile, a shortage of educators and education support professionals is creating all sorts of interesting situations in schools. Here’s one example out of Baltimore:

Baltimore City Public Schools is offering to pay several hundred parents to transport their own children to school this month.

The payment for September would be a $250 stipend, according to a reimbursement form obtained by WBFF News in Baltimore.

And, the school funding fight rages on in Tennessee:

The State of Tennessee now has a court date to face allegations of inadequate school funding. The lawsuit, originally filed by school systems in Nashville and Memphis, has been joined by Tennessee School Systems for Equity, a group representing smaller systems around the state. The suit alleges that as it currently stands, the state’s school funding formula (BEP) does not provide sufficient funding for the operation of schools.

SETTING A BAD EXAMPLE: GOV. LEE’S FAILURE TO LEAD COMES AT GREAT COST

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SETTING A BAD EXAMPLE:

GOV. LEE’S FAILURE TO LEAD COMES AT GREAT COST

At Governor Lee’s press conferences, in the presence of statewide media and TV cameras, he presents himself as someone who personally believes masks work. It’s not that he shares the opinion of anti-mask extremists who think masks are tyranny, he assures us – it’s just that he believes people in Tennessee should have the final say over whether or not their kids wear masks to school.

Clearly he has done the polling and decided that middle ground is the safest place for him to live.

Not firmly on either side. One foot in each camp. Tell the pro-mask parents they’re right about the efficacy of masks, while telling the anti-mask parents they’re right about “freedom” and all that.

His opt out executive order was the legislative manifestation of this wishy-washiness – not a “mask mandate ban” by name, but one in spirit. It allowed the anti-maskers to feel like they had won, while allowing Lee to pretend he hadn’t actually banned mask mandates – even though he had (as a judge in Memphis seems to have figured out).

But underneath it all, Lee’s attempt to present himself as a personal believer in masks doesn’t pass the smell test. He may have spent state money on a “mask up” ad campaign… his Health Department may have “recommended” them… but if Lee really thinks they work, why isn’t he wearing one?

Why with cases skyrocketing and hospitalizations at all time highs was he just recently pictured with kids, inside a school, maskless? And why did he POST IT ON SOCIAL MEDIA, as if to say it was the right way to behave? Why even bother pretending to think masks are the right thing to do if he’s not going to lead by example?

The truth is, Lee is either an anti-masker at heart, or a coward.

If he truly believes wearing masks are the right thing to do, he should be doing it. But doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do is not in Lee’s DNA.

Leadership is simply not in his bag of tricks.

Lee has shown us time and again he will always say the most politically convenient thing in the moment. He will always follow the way he thinks the polling goes.

But leaders aren’t supposed to follow the way the wind is blowing. Leaders are supposed to lead.

And because our state doesn’t have a leader, but instead has a man in charge who is first and foremost worried about pandering to extremists, 27 school districts are closed, at least 8 teachers are dead, our hospitals are pleading for help, and we have the worst outbreak in the country (one of the worst in the world)

We are paying a heavy price for Lee’s failure to lead.

Setting a bad example comes at great cost.

Justin Kanew is the founder of the Tennessee Holler

TODAY’S HOLLER: LEE’S MASK MANDATE BAN BLOCKED

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LEE’S OPT OUT ORDER BLOCKED


U.S. District Judge Sheryl Lipman just issued a temporary restraining order sought by the parents of 2 kids with health problems who argue Lee’s opt out order endangers students with health conditions.

The Temporary Restraining Order remains in effect until Sept. 17. Yet again, Lee doesn’t pass laws, he passes lawsuits.

Meanwhile Governor Lee continues to do nothing to help teachers and students feel safe in our schools. TENNESSEAN EDITORIAL BOARD just called out Gov. Lee for being “reactive”, which is generous since he isn’t really reacting at all, and said he should rescind his mask mandate opt out order. ??

TEACHERS DYING don’t even seem to be moving him. In CHEATHAM COUNTY It seems yet another teacher died tragically of COVID, ? and SCIENCE HILL in Johnson City lost one also. Far too many Tennessee educators have been lost to this disease, while far too little is done.

Governor Lee has not mentioned them.

A KNOX TEACHER just came on the Holler to issue a plea TO LEE & OTHER LEADERS: “PLEASE HELP… every failure to take action affects the entire state, not just those in public education.” ?

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TODAY’S HOLLER
HOSPITALS FULL OF REGRETFUL UNVACCINATED:  Truck Driver who listens to conservative radio: “I didn’t think I was at any risk.” Elderly Woman: “Guess I should’ve taken that vaccine.” As Tennessee hospitals set new records, the most critical are almost all unvaccinated. ICUs are filled with regretful patients.
1 IN 5000: “How small are the chances of the average vaccinated American contracting Covid? Probably about one in 5,000 per day, and even lower for people who take precautions or live in a highly vaccinated community.” ? #GetVaccinatedNow
A GRAPHIC from Williamson Medical Center showing how clear it is everyone should #GetVaccinatedNow.

SPONSORING THE WAR ON WOMEN: AT&T, NBC Universal, CVS Health and more are the biggest donors to the Republican politicians behind the Texas abortion bill/war on women… Yet they remain silent.

FLORIDA DOC WON’T TREAT THE UNVACCINATED ANYMORE: “This is where it draws the line in the sand for me.” – Dr. Linda Marraccini in FLORIDA is telling patients she won’t treat the UNVACCINATED in her office anymore.

BREAKING RECORDS: “Tennessee continues to set RECORD COVID-19 HOSPITALIZATION NUMBERS… 3,597 now hospitalized across the state…. 1020 in ICUs… 699 on ventilators… 74 of those hospitalized are children…” ?

LABOR DAY HYPOCRITES: Governor Lee had ZERO workers or worker reps on your COVID economic recovery group. He helped keep Volkswagen from unionizing. Republicans (Lee, Blackburn, Hagerty, etc) posting nice things about workers on Labor Day but fighting against unions, who started the holiday and gave us weekends, overtime, child labor laws, etc…  should have all the seats. ? ?

LABOR DAY REMINDER: Unions and the middle class go hand in hand, and politicians who don’t support unions don’t really support workers. (Again: Anti-union Governor Lee had ZERO worker reps or workers on his COVID “economic recovery group”)

? TN AFL CIO CHIEF BILLY DYCUS: “The only effective answer to organized greed is organized labor…“Right to Work” laws originated during Jim Crow and strip workers from having a voice… it means LESS freedom for workers, NOT MORE.” #LaborDay #UnionStrong

GOP JESUS – THE MOVIE: ”Rabbi, surely you can heal me!” — “Yes… but who would pay for it?” ? #GOPJesus helps us understand many of our Republican friends much better… especially our TN GOP delegation. 

IVERMECTIN CALLS: “The Tennessee Poison Center has seen a dramatic increase in calls for people experiencing issues after taking (horse de-wormer) IVERMECTIN for COVID-19” ?

Nice recap of how Governor Lee has *handled* COVID, with TN having the worst outbreak in the country – from the Williamson Young Dems. ?

RENKL: “We need to take health and public safety out of the hands of Republicans because this is not a game” – ? Margaret Renkl on how Governor Lee and Republican leadership throughout the South are exacerbating climate/COVID disasters… and costing lives.

WILLIAMSON COUNTY Moms for Liberty making it clear with this absurd post about American Girl dolls they have no clue what Critical Race Theory actually is, and proving all they care about is making sure our society stops fighting racism??(PSA: Nobody is “color blind”. That’s a lie they tell themselves. The point isn’t to not see color, it’s to see all everyone’s uniqueness and differences and love each other for it.)

? ?MEMPHIS MAGIC: “It’s important to get vaccinated… not only for yourself, but for those around you.” The great MAGIC JOHNSON gives SHELBY COUNTY SUPERINTENDENT JORIS RAY an assist to tout the vaccine. (90%+ of those hospitalized are unvaccinated) ?

“HOST BODY”: Florida’s former GOP Speaker of the House repeatedly calls a pregnant woman a “host body” ☹️ But sure, let’s keep letting these guys dictate women’s reproductive rights?

HOLLERIN’ ON TAMRON HALL: “At the end of the day, if we’re wrong about the efficacy of masks- sorry, you had to wear a mask. But if you’re wrong, someone dies or our kids get sick.” Yesterday the Holler’s Justin Kanew joined THE TAMRON HALL SHOW to discuss the chaotic Williamson Board meeting.

TAMRON HALL DISMANTLES ROD LUNN: Who threatened the dad in Williamson County… the guy humiliated himself further. Obvious limelight chaser. He’s a party to lawsuits against masks where he claims to have asthma, yet oddly never mentions it.

? ??‍♀️

? ?❤️? The kids are alright

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LEE: “NO PLANS TO CHANGE STRATEGY”

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REPORTER: “Hospitals preparing to run out of resources…. 11 school districts closed… US Ed Dept launched a civil rights investigation… any plans to take back your (mask mandate ban)?”

GOVERNOR LEE: “We have no plans to change our strategy.”
Welp.