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The Tennessee Conservative with Brandon Lewis covers the stories that mainstream media ignores. Join us for interviews you won't hear on the nightly news, and for the Big 7 Weekly Digest!
Hey, Brandon Lewis here with the TennCon Big 7. These are the seven big new stories you will not get anywhere else. And as we head into the wonderful week of Independence Day, let me tell you that we still live in the best nation and in one of the best states to raise a family, and I hope that you and your family are looking forward to celebrating that hard won independence that some in our nation are trying to squander.
Now the bad news is that we will not be bringing you the news during the week of Independence Day because our hard working, yet underpaid, reporters and staff need a break and so do I. And so I hope you will enjoy your week with your family. Just as we will enjoy ours, so when the Big Seven does not lumber its way into your podcast app, social media or come through the transom via e-mail, don't be worried. We'll be back the following week.
We have big stories today. We have a formal complaint that alleges some campaign coordination. Multi Billion dollar corporations get billions more in your tax dollars in Tennessee. Who would have thought it? We're going to talk a little bit about a Christian university disinviting a group because they actually want to do what the Bible says as it relates to pride month. Appeals panel is going to hear some arguments regarding the constitutionality of the state basically spying on people without a warrant. And we also have a a good story here at the end. I'm going to pick which one. Gonna do here about a court challenge, asserts the Office of Legislative Administration is not exempt from public records, and then finally, most controversial figures in Tennessee history to be removed from 8th grade classrooms. So I'm going to probably get rid of one of these articles here, right? Sure. Jason gave me an extra 1 so I could pick which one I wanted to do and that one did not make the cut.
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Let's get right into the stories. Formal complaint alleges Johnson campaign illegally coordinated with several PACs during the 2022 primaries. On June 8th, a formal complaint was filed by a registered voter of Williamson County and, based on what appears to be a substantial amount of evidence, the campaign of Senator Jack Johnson and the manager of the campaign Ward Baker allegedly, and perhaps illegally, coordinated with several packs during the 2022 primaries. During this time a virtual blitzkrieg of scathing negative manner, mailers rather, were sent out against then candidate Gary Humble, such a coordination without disclosure is a violation of Tennessee State campaign finance laws. Not only that, it it was just smarmy and ugly. And they were lies because not only did they mislead voters intentionally by taking things out of context, they often just said things that were not true. Back to the story. All the PACS that are responsible for the negative mailers against Johnson’s challenger share some of the office space at Baker’s political consulting firm. As stated in the complaint, with respect to the mailer sent out by Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally's personal PAC, it is unreasonable to believe that Lieutenant Governor McNally never spoke to Jack Johnson about using his personal PAC to run attack ads against Mr. Johnson's opponent, especially considering the amount of time that they work with one another. The complaint also listed a former boss of Senator Johnson that sits on the board of one of the other packs, TeamKid PAC, and they're also personal relationships between Senator Johnson and some of the other names that are affiliated with the PACs in question. The complaint states that similar allegations have been leveled at Ward Baker in the past with other campaigns he has managed. Now, with this official complaint being filed, we will see if there's much fire and smoke. Oh, enough fire and smoke for this organization, the Campaign Finance Registry Board, to actually investigate. And the interesting thing is they investigated Gary Humble without any type of complaint being issued. Now there is one issue, we will see if those in power get the same treatment as those who challenge them.
Next story, multi billion dollar corporations get billions more in taxpayer dollars for doing business in Tennessee. Oh, one of all you small business owners out there, when has Bill Lee or the legislature ever got together to help you? The answer is never. Don't hold your breath. But the the big corporations that that send the armies of lobbyists up to Nashville and that collect the PAC checks, which is where primarily all of the money goes for the Republican leadership in the state capital, old buddy, they they get a good return on investment for fleecing the public because we know that millionaires and billionaires definitely need more of your money. Companies worth many billions of dollars are set to receive billions more in grants and loans doing business in Tennessee. FedEx will get a 2 million dollars grant. Ford Motor Company has been conditionally approved for a $9.2 billion loan. I'll tell you what, if you spend a little bit of money on some lobbyists and you shake a little PAC money around up there, you can get all all this Tennessee money, too. You might want to get into that business. Economic Development Agency for Memphis and Shelby County, AKA EDGE, voted to give FedEx 2 million in grants on Wednesday. EDGE board members refused to talk about the board's decision to news organizations. That's not a little pay to play. That's not a little backroom dealing, is it? Surely not. The approval of the grant was made alongside the approval of EDGE’s budget during the meeting. The grant listed among other items was not even mentioned during the meeting because why would giving away that much money be mentioned in a public meeting? Child's child's play. Among the unelected board members are two who were appointed to represent the interests of local government, Memphis City Councilman Edmund Ford and Shelby County Commissioner Henri Brooks. However, neither have been to a meeting all year, so the two people that are actually supposed to look at the interest of the local governments aren't there, haven't been there. The US Department of Energy offered a loan of up to 9.2 billion to Ford Motor Company for their Blue Oval, SK manufacturing facility in Tennessee and Kentucky. The largest single federal investment ever made it in automotive industry for the Green New Deal top stuff that they're doing, even though that division is currently losing billions of dollars, we are subsidizing it and propping it up with your tax dollars. This is the good old corporate welfare, corporate corruption, and government corruption and collusion at work located near Memphis. The six acre blue Oval city is currently under construction in Haywood County, Tennessee. The plant will produce for its all electric F-150 Lightning pickup as well as electric vehicle battery components for Ford and Lincoln. I don't know why we don't put money into things that are already useful. Ford will be partnering with SK Innovation, a Korean company on production batteries. The Ford loan remains conditional on terms that have not been made public. Why would we make those public? I just bring you the news people.This is reality in Tennessee guys.
If you wanna reach Tennessee's most engaged conservative audience, please do advertise with the Tennessee Conservative. You can e-mail Jason Vaughn News at TennesseeConservativeNews.com for all the details. If you are promoting a conservative or Republican event, if you are looking to run for office, if you are trying to reach people that really care about the direction of Tennessee and you want a tax write off to help us continue along with our mission, then that would be fantastic and we will try to get you in front of the eyes and ears of people who will buy your services and wares.
Next story. Christian University in Nashville disinvites group over biblically sound statement regarding Pride month. My pastor is often talking about this. We need to be standing up in our Christian organizations, in our churches, to the unbiblical anti Christian movement in our company, or rather our country that corrupt our children and our culture, but instead we adopt it. It is amazing what how few churches, from the pulpit and through any type of political activity stand up to any of this while so many of them encourage it. I don't know if they're gonna hear good and faithful servant when you were supposed to lead a Christian organization and you allow it to be corrupted. Belmont University contacted Promise Keepers to inform them that the university will no longer host them in September, citing a conflict in values. This comes after Promise Keepers published a statement on their website entitled In Light of June being designated as Pride Month, a portion of that declaration stated, what every Christian already knows. Quote We will not stand on the sidelines and remain quiet as fathers, husbands, grandfathers and young men. We see the dangers of gender ideology and the harm it causes. At Promise Keepers, we affirm that God made human beings in His image to reflect him. He created male and female with equal worth and dignity, and there was no mistake in that design. In our present day, men and women are increasingly confused about their identities. Biological identity has been severed as separate from gender identity, while children across the United States are actively indoctrinated into intense inner turmoil about who they really are. At Promise Keepers, we believe it is more important than ever to stand up boldly for what we believe. As Christians, God's word is very clear on this topic, and we also see the way gender ideology has damaged lives, mutilated bodies and torn apart families in our own communities. Promise Keepers Chairman and CEO Ken Harrison has reached out to Belmont leadership in the hopes of having a broader conversation about the influence of social norms and popular culture on the values of Christian institutions. Belmont has yet to respond. Don't hold your breath.
Next story. Appeals panel hears arguments regarding constitutionality of game warden searches without warrants. Now, who wouldn't want some government agency types wandering around on their private property, placing cameras and surveilling people. Essentially criminally trespassing. Because they're just the government. Well, apparently anybody who has private property. A panel of three judges recently heard arguments on whether a Tennessee law that allows game wardens to search private property without a warrant is constitutional. The arguments were made as part of an appeal made by the state against the decision made in Benton County in March 2022. They said the law was unconstitutional. I can't believe that court in Benton County knew enough about the Constitution to actually stop this nonsense. Most of our lower courts in the state of Tennessee are affiliated with covered up with a bunch of folks that are more interested in their political standing with government organizations or not rocking the boat with the political establishment to actually do the job of protecting the constitutional rights of Tennesseans. So. Hats off to whoever the judge was in Benton who made this call, which we at the Tennessee Conservative believe is correct. The law that is being challenged has been unofficially dubbed Game Warden Surveillance Law that allows the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency and other state and federal agencies to search for violations of wildlife laws on any outside private properties without obtaining a search warrant to do so. What could go wrong? Tennessee Appeals Court Judge Jeffrey Eiseman said if police can't enter private property to investigate a crime against persons, why can the TWRA enter to investigate with regard to animals? Doesn't the state have an even stronger interest in protecting persons rather than wildlife? You would think. Amanda Jordanrep, a representative from the Tennessee Attorney General's office said that the difference in the interests of the TWRA require a different standard. When Judge Arnold Golden asked why the TWRA could not just obtain a warrant like it does with other searches, Jordan stated that the agency might not know the name of the hunter or they might not be at the same location at the same time to get a warrant. That is part of the uncomfortable truth about about constitutionality and privacy in our country is that you cannot go around doing kind of what the campaign finance election board did up in Nashville, which is to say, well, I think there's something nefarious going on here. We need to investigate.You can't do that. You can't just go. You can't be looking for, you know, going in search of a crime. You know, trying to create one. For people. When Judge Arnold Goldman asked why the TWRA cannot obtain a warrant, they said that it was too inconvenient that’s my my words, not theirs. The arguments only took about 1/2 hour. Golden said a decision would be given as soon as possible. Hopefully they'll uphold that.
Guys, if you want us to continue to do this, if you want us to be around, you can't sit on the sidelines. Do go to TennesseeConservativeNews.com, hit that support button guys. I do this for free and if I can do it for free because all the thousands of hours that I put into this each and every year, for you to to donate 50 bucks a month or something like that is probably not too much to ask. Tennesseans that are conservative often wonder, how did our government get so corporately corrupt? Why are we in a state where we have to pass laws outlawing racism in our own government taxpayer funded schools? Why do we have institutions and politicians that claim to embrace our ideology while trying to absolutely destroy the Republican platform at the highest levels? And it is because conservatives tend to sit on the porch and they complain. And they they they make noise about stuff and they post on social media and they consume lots of Fox News and OWN and all that stuff. But when it comes to actually getting involved at the local and state level, where you can make a difference, where you get a huge return on investment for your dollars, we just sit on the sidelines. That's why we will not have a state and a country that will be as free for our grandkids and kids as what we have now. You heard it here first, I hate to report the news in advance, but it looks like that's where we're going. And the way to stop that is to go to TennesseeConservativeNews.com/support. Or you can mail your checks. We've got a new mailing address. OK, we've got a new mailing address. Let's see who is the first person to send a donation to the new mailing address, I would be curious. That'll be the the diehards, that are listening. PO Box 625 Signal Mountain TN 37377, that is PO Box 625 Signal Mountain TN 37377. Gosh, I hope that's the right PO Box. Let me look. That's it. I can't believe I got it. Reason, why are we changing our address? I am in the process, although it will take awhile, of selling my building at the old address and we will be sending out information to everyone who is a regular donor by mail so that they can change those addresses over. I appreciate your patience during the transition. And if you give any amount, any amount whatsoever, drum roll please… We will send you this Stop Feeding the RINOs bumper sticker. We will also send you this Don’t California My Tennessee bumper sticker and we will send you a directory of all your state Senators and Reps. If you give, hold on a minute. If you give $50 or more, we will send you this Stop Feeding the RINOs tumbler. Stop Feeding the RINOs and we will send you this proud Tennessee Conservative Koozie. You can keep your drinks hot or cold all summer long and know that the money you have given will go further and do more than anywhere else you can put it. You know why? Because I don't take any money out of this thing. So that means every dollar that comes into it exclusively and only goes toward getting the news out there. And it's the type of news that really needs to get out there, not the same news that you'll see everywhere else, which does very little to advance conservative values, and in fact usually works exactly the opposite. Don't leave us out here without some covering fire. Don't leave us out here without some supporting troops. You are those troops send in the Calvary by going to TennesseeConservativeNews.com/support.
Alright guys, court challenge asserts.Office of Legislative Administration not exempt from public records law. Nashville man seeking records in a former lawmaker’s sexual harassment case says it's basic high school civics that the Office of Legislative Administration is separate from the House of Representatives and falls under the state's Public Records Act. No crap. You always hear these guys up in Nashville crow about transparency. But when they're fats in the fire, they sure do fight mighty hard to keep the truth from coming out. Brian Manookian responded to the state's argument that the legislative administration is part of the House and therefore does not have to comply with open records rules in the case surrounding resigned state Rep Scott Campbell. In his filing, Manookian points out that the Office of Legislative, Administrative and Legislative Administration and Director Connie Ridley are assuredly not the House. Nor are they co equal branch of government to the court as they assert. Instead, the office is a run-of-the-mill government agency created by state law and staffed by state employees whose activities lie within the language and the legislature drafted in the Tennessee Public Records Act. And it won't be long before somebody will introduce some kind of piece of legislation up there to keep people from looking at the shenanigans that have probably gone on up there. They're probably worried, would be my guess that if they have to respond to to public records requests in this office, that deals with all of the sexual harassment shenanigans, many of which probably go on there unreported that's at least what people have said, that this has happened frequently. They're probably worried that if they have to report what went on with Scotty Campbell that somebody's gonna, you know, stick their ear to the rumor mill up there and probably have a name of five or ten people that they could immediately do a public records request for and it wouldn't look too good. Just my guess. Just my guess, this is just my editorializing here. Manookian is seeking a wide range of records dealing with the use of taxpayer funds to relocate a 19 year old harassment victim from her apartment to a hotel and move her belongings home. The state reportedly spent nearly 9,000 to move out of her apartment building near the Cordell Hull building, including giving her cash. In a greasy paper sack. Probably a lobbyist, probably, probably four. They probably did a collection plate and all the lobbyists got together and they said, hey, we gotta help old Scotty out. We got, you know, we've been, you know, people have been messing around with the interns again here y'all just pass the hat. Wonder where that money came from? Besides financial records, Manookian sought documentation related to all sexual harassment investigations from 2021 to 2023. In addition to the calendars of House Speaker Cameron Sexton, Jeremy Faison and House Ethics Council Doug Himes. The state’s claim that the Office of Legislative Administration is a co equal branch of government with the court and isn't subject to his request, is face, is facially and profoundly wrong, Manookian’s filing says. He further contends that there is no statute or provision of law exempting the office from the public records law. We'll see how that goes. We will keep you updated.
Next story. Last story. Most controversial controversial figure in Tennessee history to be removed from 8th grade classrooms. A controversial historical figure from the Civil War era Nathan Bedford Forrest is slated to be removed from Tennessee's 8th grade social studies standards. While online discourse and City Council votes continue to demand that quote problematic historical monuments be torn down and replaced with more honorable historical figures, others argued that erasing our history and getting rid of things that remind us of what came before as a sure way to repeat the mistakes. It’s now been about two years since cancel culture controversy surrounded Nathan Bedford Forrest and his connections to the Confederate South, slavery and the KKK took over the media headlines across the state. Now Forrest’s name and story have been slated for removal from 8th grade classrooms across the state. Ultimately, Forrest is a part of both Tennessee and U.S. history. The question is, will we allow the next generation to gain a perspective on history in order to bring about better outcomes in the future, or will we continue to erase every negative aspect of history until there's nothing left for them to learn? Well, I think I saw here recently that there was a study conducted with United States students about just basic, big, fundamental elements of history. And only about 13% of them were even remarkably proficient. And that does not surprise me, which, you know, leaves about 87% that probably don't know anything about American history. And when you don't know anything about the history of our great nation, of both its warts but also it, it's remarkable achievements.It's it's fight for liberty across the globe. It's rescuing of countries faced by tyrants. It's advancement. It's advocacy for equality. Equality of opportunity, not outcomes. Because you can't do that. If you have a bunch of ignorant students, which as we know, we're churning them out as quote unquote graduates year after year in public education camps that they call schools in Tennessee. If they don't know anything about their history, it's really easy to corrupt them with modern day culture. Is that the aim? It's probably half the aim and just half good old government incompetence. So that's what we got going on here guys.
So what's going to go on this weekend? What is going to go on this weekend? Tomorrow? I'm just going to work. I got a lot of work to catch up on. I had a friend in from out of town that stayed with me for a couple of days to talk business. And then? We are going to one of my best friends house in Ringgold, GA to hang out by the pool and eat dinner on Saturday. That's gonna be good. We're gonna try to go to church first thing on Sunday morning, and then we got to get the house ready because we're going to have a little 4th of July shindig. I will be in the Signal Mountain Parade on the 4th of July driving the old 72 Chevy Blazer, you know, carrying the Betsy Ross flag and trying to maybe pick up a subscriber or two for the Tennessee conservative.
So we're taking off next week. We worked very hard all year to bring you the news because no one else will. And I just get worn out and I need to rest and our staff needs to rest and so we're going to take one. And we do that around Christmas. We do that around the 4th of July. I try to give them all the holidays off, and the 4th of July tends to be a pretty slow Newsweek.
What else is going on? I'm excited about the Let's Go Brandon tour. You can just type in Let's Go Brandon on the Tennessee Conservative, I've still got several stops. I still think about five stops from now to the end of the summer. Hopefully you can come out and see me at one of those stops. Further, do mark your calendar. We are very close to getting this thing from the Conservative Candidates Academy up and live and we're gonna partner with that organization to help equip and inform conservative candidates who want to run for office in the state of Tennessee. It is another for profit initiative, for profit. For profit. Ain't no profit over here, unfortunately, at the Tennessee Conservative News and I doubt there will be any over there either. But you know, you just gotta, somebody's gotta do it, right? Somebody's gotta do it. And I don't see anybody else getting up to do it. And so sometimes you gotta, you gotta lead, right? So I'm doing my best to lead for conservatives all across Tennessee. Even if it's not to my own personal or financial benefit. So what that means is I need you to help me, OK, if you can't get out there and do it yourself. If you don't want to run a news organization, if you don't want to, I put together a candidate training. But you think both of those things are helpful, then please do put it on your calendar. If you know anybody that wants to run or if it's something you're thinking about or you're thinking about helping somebody. September 23rd, it will be in Chattanooga, TN. Go ahead and mark that on your calendar. It will be an all day affair. More details to come.
And if you want to help the Tennessee Conservative News do go to TennesseeConservativeNews.com/support or mail your checks to that brand spanking new PO Box. It's gonna be great. It's gonna be like your your your donation may be the first one in there and I will remember it always. And that is at 625 PO Box 625, 6 and a quarter PO Box 625 Signal Mountain TN 37377. Alright guys. Love you, mean it. Do keep the emails, do keep the letters, do keep the encouraging words and the social media sharing going and right as you get to the end of this podcast, right, you get right at the end, you're gonna be looking down at your podcast app and that's when you're going to leave me a review, right now. Thanks so much, guys. Appreciate you. Take care.