Free Republic

Dear Sasha and Malia, I get you’re both in those awful teen years, but you’re a part of the First Family, try showing a little class. At least respect the part you play. Then again your mother and father don’t respect their positions very much, or the nation for that matter, so I’m guessing you’re coming up a little short in the ‘good role model’ department. Nevertheless, stretch yourself. Rise to the occasion. Act like being in the White House matters to you. Dress like you deserve respect, not a spot at a bar. And certainly don’t make faces during...

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Interstate 24 has been shut down near LP Field as a large group of protesters converged on the streets of downtown Nashville. Several hundred people took to the street Tuesday night, one day after a grand jury decided not to indict Officer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of Michael Brown. What initially began as a vigil gathering, soon turned into a demonstration with protesters forcing the closure of James Robertson Bridge and I-24 near LP Field.

Saturday marked the opening day for firearm season in Tennessee. But warm and windy weather plagued hunters across the region this weekend.

Reps. Ted Poe (R-Texas) and Diane Black (R-Tenn.) have introduced legislation to prohibit funding to implement President Obama's executive action on immigration. Their bill, titled The Separation of Powers Act, would block the use of funds for deferring deportations of immigrants living in the U.S. illegally or providing work permits. Poe said the legislation would reinforce the constitutional principle of checks and balances. "This legislation will allow Congress to exercise its 'check' on an out-of-control White House that treats the Constitution as a mere suggestion, not the law of the land," Poe said. Black said the measure could be one...

FERGUSON, Mo. (CBS ST. Louis) - Supporters of Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson successfully crowd-sourced the funds to put up a #PantsUPDontLOOT billboard in Ferguson. Don Alexander of Brentwood, Tenn., raised the over $3,000 to place the billboard in the Ferguson area amid months of racial tensions vandalism from riots following the Aug. 9 shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown.

An avid supporter of the Ferguson police officer who fatally shot 18-year-old Michael Brown has successfully fundraised enough money to erect a #PantsUPdontLOOT billboard in the embattled St. Louis suburb. Don Alexander, of Brentwood, Tennessee, has surpassed his goal of $3,000 to erect the billboard featuring a phrase intended to mock “hands up, don’t shoot” — a rallying cry used by Ferguson protesters

Even as abortion advocates in Tennessee try to find a loophole to invalidate the legitimately passed Amendment 1, lawmakers are wasting no time responding to the bill’s passage. First up is a an ultrasound bill, prefiled by Rep. Rick Womick, R-Rockvale. The Tennessean reports that the “main requirement of the bill calls for a woman to receive an ultrasound within 24 to 72 hours of when she plans to have the abortion.” Womick noted that currently abortion facilities do ultrasounds anyway and that this bill would simply say, “look, let the mother see the picture and hear the heartbeat, that’s...

Backroom deals won’t do Tennessee much good if America’s national security is compromised. Tennessee Senators Lamar Alexander (R) and Bob Corker (R) must not have considered national security when they decided to vote in favor of ratifying the dangerous New START Treaty. They also failed to research Russia’s alliance with countries like Iran, China, North Korea and Venezuela. It appears the Tennessee Senators were interested in bringing home the pork at the expense of our nation’s security. Zachary Roth’s December 23rd article states: “It will likely include more than $6 billion dollars for a uranium processing facility, to be built...

The head of the German union representing automotive workers is speaking out against Volkswagen working with anti-labor groups at its plant in Tennessee. In a statement issued Friday in Frankfurt, Germany, IG Metall President Detlef Wetzel called on Volkswagen to “show its true colors” in officially recognizing the United Auto Workers union as its bargaining partner at the Chattanooga factory once the union proves it has signed up a majority of workers there. “It is our objective to guarantee also under the politically difficult circumstances in the United States that labor union rights are respected and co-determination in the plant...

A couple posted selfies to Facebook in a car they stole from a pastor after gunning him down, police have said. Lashonda Williams, 24, and Roger Reed Jr., 23, allegedly shot Reverend Don Smith on the side of the road in Hickory Hill, Tennessee on November 1 before stealing his 2010 Buick Lacrosse. They drove more than 150 miles back home to Greenville, Mississippi, where they were caught four days after the heinous murder, MyFoxMemphis reported. But while on the journey, the apparently had plenty of time to snap multiple kissing and grinning selfies and post them to their Facebook profiles.

Abortion rights advocates in Tennessee are organizing a “mock funeral” Saturday to mourn the loss of “reproductive rights” after the pro-life measure, Amendment 1 passed in the state, where they will march past an alter outside a Memphis abortion clinic. Tennessee voters approved Amendment 1 on Nov. 4. The pro-life measure reads, “nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion. The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, circumstances of pregnancy resulting...

Stewart and Davis say they haven’t gotten a dime since their boys were born. Yet Turnage, who told a Memphis judge he was broke, flaunts a lavish lifestyle around town and on Facebook. He flashes wads of money, puts his name on luxury cars and after a recent big birthday bash at his club bragged about having a $250 bottle of Hennessy. He said 700 people turned out for the two-day event. Among those in the crowd, Stewart and Davis. We asked them about why they’re paying money to party with a man who refuses to take care of their...

On election night, Tennessee voters gave the Volunteer State a chance to enact the kind of pro-life laws that have dropped abortions to historic lows in state after state across the nation. But, now, abortion activists are trying to overturn that pro-life victory. Tennessee voters approved Amendment 1 to help ensure nothing in the state constitution could be used to secure an unlimited right to abortion. With 100% of the vote counted, Amendment 1 won with a 53-47 percent margin. tennessee3The amendment is necessary because the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled 4-1 in 2000 that the state constitution allows unlimited abortions....

(Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld gay marriage bans in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee, reversing a recent trend in the federal courts to strike down such bans.

By a two-to-one vote, a federal appeals court in Cincinnati upheld the right of states to ban same-sex marriage, overturning lower court decisions in Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee that found such restrictions to be unconstitutional.

Republicans moved up to a 28-5 advantage in the state Senate with Tuesday's election. In Hamilton County, Senator Bo Watson was unopposed. He received 37,377 votes. Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey (R-Blountville) said, "A great night for Republicans and the cause of conservatism in Tennessee. For the past few years, the Tennessee Senate has been the most Republican east of the Mississippi. After tonight, we join a elite group of Republican super majorities where the majority outnumbers Democrats more than 4 to 1. "These results are decisive proof that, in Tennessee, it matters who governs. I look forward to continuing to...

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Voters have decided to amend Tennessee’s constitution in regards to abortion, according to the AP. The amendment reads: Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion. The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Voters have approved a change to the Tennessee Constitution that would prohibit lawmakers from imposing a state income tax. The last serious attempt to impose a state income tax failed in 2002 amid raucous Capitol protests that included a brick thrown through the window of the governor's office. The public backlash against the proposal led several supporters to retire from office or to lose their re-election campaigns.

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Liberal MSNBC contributor Jimmy Williams said the “old white people” in the South who vote Republican are “going to die someday” and hopefully usher in a new era of Democratic rule in the region. Host Krystal Ball, a former failed Democratic congressional candidate, asked Williams whether white Southerners should just be written off by the party, but Williams said never, saying that since they are “for people” and Republicans aren’t, they would eventually win the day. “Mitt Romney only won South Carolina with 53 [percent], John McCain with 52,” he said. “That’s a changing South. Those old white people? They’re...

The top Republican in the Senate, who could become the majority leader if pro-life Republicans defeat pro-abortion Democrats in top Senate races tonight and pick up a majority of the seats in the chamber, won his battle for re-election. Pro-life Sen. Mitch McConnell defeated pro-abortion Alison Grimes handily, as early election returns in his state showed him getting the vote he needed to return to the Senate. mitchmconnellTop pro-life groups like National Right to Life and the Susan B. Anthony List endorsed McConnell, who has a sterling pro-life voting record during his tenure in Washington. “The contrast between Mitch McConnell...