State Rep. Justin Pearson Accused of ‘Evil
Race-Baiting’ After Confirming Intention
to Run in Tennessee’s Redrawn 9th Congressional District
Posted By: philsner, 5/13/2026 7:44:02 AM
Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) was accused of using “race baiting” in his campaign advertisement announcing the relaunch of his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the 9th Congressional District, where first launched his campaign to unseat U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) before the Governor Bill Lee signed the newly redrawn districts into law. As part of the redistricting legislation, candidates must refile or file a notice that they no longer intend to run by Friday. In his video, Pearson confirmed he intends to run in the same district, despite most analysts saying it now leans overwhelmingly Republican.
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Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville) announced Tuesday that Democratic lawmakers will be removed from all current House standing committee and subcommittee assignments following disruptions to last week’s special legislative session on congressional redistricting.
The disciplinary action comes after the Tennessee General Assembly approved a new congressional redistricting plan expected to produce a 9-0 Republican congressional delegation. Governor Bill Lee has since signed the map into law.
During the three-day legislative session, chaos erupted inside the Tennessee Capitol as Democratic lawmakers and protesters staged loud demonstrations against the proposed redistricting maps.
Videos from the House floor showed tense confrontations
Tennessee State Representative Justin Pearson (D-Memphis) was accused of using “race baiting” in his campaign advertisement announcing the relaunch of his campaign for the Democratic nomination for the 9th Congressional District, where first launched his campaign to unseat U.S. Representative Steve Cohen (D-TN-09) before the Governor Bill Lee signed the newly redrawn districts into law.
As part of the redistricting legislation, candidates must refile or file a notice that they no longer intend to run by Friday. In his video, Pearson confirmed he intends to run in the same district, despite most analysts saying it now leans overwhelmingly Republican.
The Democratic state lawmaker calling for Memphis to secede from the State of Tennessee over the new congressional districts signed into law by Governor Bill Lee previously drew controversy in 2024, when he questioned whether the attempted assassination of President Donald Trump was “staged.”
The call by State Representative Antonio Parkinson (D-Memphis) for the city to secede was first highlighted by a reporter for The Tennessean, and the Democrat later wrote in a post to X, “SECESSION NOW! Enough is enough!”
In his post, Parkinson specifically called for the portion of Tennessee, x, “From the eastern border of Nashville
State Representative Rusty Grills (R-Newbern) strongly defended Tennessee’s newly passed congressional map during an exclusive interview Friday morning, describing the day prior’s protests inside the Tennessee Capitol during proceedings as “mob rule” and accusing Democratic lawmakers and activists of deliberately disrupting legislative business.
On Thursday, the Tennessee General Assembly approved legislation creating a new congressional map that, among other changes, divides the City of Memphis among three congressional districts.
Republican leaders said the changes were designed to better align congressional representation with Tennessee’s conservative electorate.
Speaking on The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, Grills said protesters and Democratic lawmakers attempted to obstruct
Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell on Tuesday announced the members of his 2026 Winter Storm Response Commission, which will deliver its final report by February 2027, and tapped former Governor Phil Bredesen to chair its efforts.
Despite Bredesen co-founding Silicon Ranch, a green energy company that does business with NES, O’Connell told The Tennessee Star on Thursday that the former governor did not have a conflict of interest, because his commission had no authority.
“This commission was created to review the entire winter storm response,” said O’Connell.
The mayor told The Star, “While NES matters may be reviewed by the commission, the commission has no formal authority
As Elon Musk’s Boring Company nears final approval to begin digging its Music City Loop under the city, Nashville Mayor Freddie O’Connell expressed skepticism that the boring process would begin in remarks published by Bloomberg on Tuesday, expressing his optimism that “no one dies” from the project.
The company announced in a blog post published on Sunday that it had received approval for 32 of the 37 permits it needs to begin work under the city, with five more under review. Among the most critical, the Boring Company explained, is the request before the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), to confirm the lease of land to the company
Three NES Board Members, Including Chair,
Tied to Organizations Partnered with Power Company 6 replies
Tied to Organizations Partnered with Power Company 6 replies
With the municipally owned utility under scrutiny following its response to Winter Storm Fern, public disclosures and biographical information reveal three members of the Nashville Electric Service (NES) Board of Directors are tied to other organizations who also work with NES.
NES Board Chair Delta Anne Davis, who was appointed to the board in 2021 and was named its chair last year, is also a law professor at Vanderbilt University. During the year before Davis (pictured above, right) joined the board, Vanderbilt entered into a renewable energy partnership with NES and the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) through the TVA’s Green Invest program,
Nashville Electric Service (NES) made the live stream of its Tuesday press conference hosted by YouTube private on Wednesday, leaving the video inaccessible to the general public.
The decision came some time after The Michael Patrick Leahy Show analyzed the claims by CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin on Wednesday morning, concluding the top NES executive appeared to falsely conflate the company’s budgeting for tree trimming and vegetation management with the amount it actually spent.
As The Tennessee Star reported on Tuesday, Broyles-Aplin on Tuesday appeared to contradict the NES 2024 annual report she previously signed, which detailed a $7 million cut to tree trimming expenses helped generate a 6 percent decrease to operating expenses.
Nashville Electric Service (NES) CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin on Tuesday appeared to contradict the details of the municipally owned utility’s annual report she signed for 2024, which reflects a $7 million cut to its budget for contracted vegetation management, which helped drive a 6 percent decrease to its operating expenses. Instead, the top executive claimed the amount of spending actually increased.
Broyles-Aplin was asked repeatedly about the cut reflected in the 2024 report by reporters during a press conference held days after The Tennessee Star first reported the $7 million cut, prompting the apparent denial the company made the cuts it reflected in the report.
Tom Pappert, lead reporter at The Tennessee Star, said Nashville Electric Service (NES) was discussing internal diversity initiatives even as tens of thousands of customers remained without power following Winter Storm Fern.
On Thursday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show, as more than 86,000 NES customers were without power, Pappert reported that a draft board agenda from the Wednesday, January 28 meeting showed NES considering whether to renew a consulting contract focused on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).
“Nashville Electric Service is under scrutiny across the nation because they have up to 90,000 now, people still without power
An agenda published ahead of the Nashville Electric Service (NES) board meeting held on Wednesday includes a contract extension for a Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) consultant who also appears to work full-time for the municipally owned power company now facing scrutiny as 90,000 homes remain without power days after a winter storm.
Listed in the agenda under recommended purchases and contracts for the Wednesday meeting, the board was recommended to grant a six-month extension to the contract for Tony Williams, who currently provides “Consulting for DEI Projects and Initiatives” for NES.
A letter from Nashville Electric Service (NES) CEO Teresa Broyles-Aplin, included as part of the municipally owned power company’s resurfaced Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) report for 2024, reveals NES held over 100 training sessions as part of its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) agenda.
Broyles-Aplin wrote in her letter, included at the beginning of the 2024 ESG report, “NES’ Human Relations Department implemented Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, Accessibility, & Belonging (DEIAB) trainings,” and ultimately held, “a total of 102 sessions in 2023 and the first quarter of 2024 for both organization-wide education and nuanced resources for leadership positions.”
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Senators Unanimously Approve Resolution
to Withhold Their Pay During Future Government Shutdowns 20 replies
to Withhold Their Pay During Future Government Shutdowns 20 replies
The US Senate on Thursday unanimously approved a resolution to withhold their pay during a government shutdown.
The resolution, adopted by voice vote, was authored by Republican Senator John Kennedy (LA).
“My resolution to stop senators’ pay during government shutdowns cleared a key procedural vote today, moving it one step closer to final passage,” Kennedy said on Wednesday afternoon ahead of the Thursday vote.
“Fair-minded Americans know senators should feel the pain of a shutdown with the American people,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy’s resolution suspends Senators’ pay during partial or full government shutdowns.
“It’s called shared sacrifice,” Kennedy said.
Another member of Congress has been missing a slew of votes without much explanation.
Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-FL), 83, has not voted in the House of Representatives since April 17, congressional reporter Jamie Dupree of the Regular Order newsletter noted on Wednesday night. Posting on Bluesky, he pointed out that Wilson had missed all 10 House votes on Wednesday and has now missed 43 consecutive votes.
Included in Dupree’s post were images posted on Wilson’s X account on Tuesday, but he noted something was amiss.
“Wilson’s X account this week sent out photos of a Service Academy day – but pictures from the same event were posted last October,” Dupree wrote. (X) “I
James Erdman III is testifying today before the US Senate Homeland Security Committee, and he is blowing the whistle on the CIA's willingness to bow to Dr. Anthony Fauci's insistence that COVID did not originate in lab leak, likely tied to gain-of-function research.
No surprise there, I have to say. At the time, the CIA agreed to withhold its conclusion that the most likely explanation for COVID's spread was a lab leak, although it has subsequently stated that the lab leak was likely. BOMBSHELL: Here is the entire opening statement from CIA whistleblower James Erdman lll. He testifies that Dr. Fauci's role in the COVID cover-up was INTENTIONAL.
A Sarasota, Florida, woman, Desiree Doreen Segari, has been sentenced to over a year in prison after calling on social media followers to murder Trump supporters, according to the Middle District of Florida’s US Attorney’s Office.
Segari will now serve 14 months in federal prison for interstate communication of a threat to injure.
Segari previously called for Trump supporters to be shot dead in a video posted to TikTok last August.
“If we all get our guns and use our Second Amendment right … and you see somebody with a MAGA hat, ‘pew pew’ that’s what we do, that’s the way,” she told followers.
A breaking news alert from Fox News, apparently confirmed by a Republican congresswoman, states that the Central Intelligence Agency went rogue, raiding the office of the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to seize files. It seems from the Fox News report that the CIA seized the files just now, though a whistleblower from the agency who testified to Congress today referred to the wrongful seizure of files in his testimony. It is therefore not clear if the raid occurred today or before the testimony, or if there was more than one seizure.
Israel Sues NYT over Kristof Column That
Alleged Widespread Rape of Palestinian Prisoners 10 replies
Alleged Widespread Rape of Palestinian Prisoners 10 replies
The Israeli government is suing the New York Times over columnist Nicholas Kristof’s thinly-sourced report accusing Israeli soldiers and prison guards of using rape and other forms of sexual violence against Palestinian prisoners as part of an “organized state policy.”
Kristof’s column, which goes so far as to accuse Israeli soldiers of using trained dogs to rape Palestinian prisoners, cites a number of obviously conflicted organizations and individuals whose accounts are not backed by documentation or supporting eyewitness accounts.
A bolt of lightning struck a tree just feet from leftist demonstrators protesting Erika Kirk’s commencement appearance at Hillsdale College Saturday.
Hillsdale history professor Bradley J. Birzer flagged the strike in a post on X near the demonstration site. “Lightning hit this tree during the anti Erika Kirk protest. No joke. Just feet from the protesters,” Birzer wrote. Conservative commentator Josiah Lippincott seized on the moment in his own X post, invoking the memory of the slain TPUSA founder. “Yeah, Charlie is keeping an eye out for us,” Lippincott wrote. More than three dozen protesters rallied outside the Hillsdale County Courthouse hours before the ceremony began, with participants arriving from Macomb,
Democratic Socialism Works! Leftists Go
Nutty for Mamdani After He 'Balances'
the NYC Budget 10 replies
Nutty for Mamdani After He 'Balances'
the NYC Budget 10 replies
Well, friends, if you support President Donald Trump and oppose the left, the game is up. He’s done it. Zohran Mamdani, New York City’s bright young communist mayor, has balanced the city’s budget without raising taxes or cutting a dime from social services. Leftists already loved him for being a Muslim, a migrant, and an America-hating Marxist, and now they love him all the more, for don’t you see, he has proven, in the teeth of racist, xenophobic, far-right opposition, that socialism works!
If you believe that, I have a very fine bridge that would make a lovely addition to your backyard, and it’s extremely reasonably priced. But over at Threads,
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries is having a rough time right now. For months, the Speaker’s gavel looked to be easily within his reach come November, but recent developments have made it look like it could slip away.
He’s a little touchy about it. During a press conference on Wednesday, Jeffries had a bit of a tantrum, not only invoking the Confederacy but snapping at a CNN reporter who dared to ask him a question.
Last month, the Supreme Court issued a 6-3 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, striking down Louisiana’s congressional map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. The ruling opened the door for several red states to redistrict
Babies are proverbially easy to steal from, and California is going to swipe the very diapers off their bottoms.
Of course, California Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised the opposite, announcing a program to provide “free” diapers to newborns. This is meant to appear as a generous and pro-baby plan, and Newsom was even applauded by some pro-life and pro-family writers and activists.
But this is California, notorious for fraud and boondoggles ranging from fake hospices to the high-speed rail train to nowhere. So, in evaluating this program, it is pointless to try to parse the projected cost-per-diaper because California cannot accurately estimate such costs.
A 5-year-old girl was grazed by a stray bullet when she was caught in the middle of a gun fight between two warring gangs on a Bronx street Wednesday evening, according to cops and sources.
The child was grazed in the ear when shots were exchanged between two crews, believed to be gang-affiliated, on Southern Avenue in Longwood around 5:40 p.m., the NYPD and sources said.
The youngster was an unintended target in the broad daylight shootout — which sent panicked residents scattering for shelter, the sources added.
She was taken to Harlem Hospital in stable condition, cops said.
A Pennsylvania House candidate endorsed by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D., N.Y.), Rep. Ro Khanna (D., Calif.), Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D., Md.), and other leading far-left figures has hailed notorious cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal as one of several "Black freedom fighters" and "elderly political prisoners" and called for his release from prison.
Chris Rabb (D.), a five-term Pennsylvania state representative running to represent the state's Third Congressional District, cosigned a letter from the Philadelphia Democratic Socialists of America last month urging Gov. Josh Shapiro (D.) to free the 71-year-old Abu-Jamal from prison, where the former Black Panther is serving a life sentence for the 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner.