Month: October 2023

Try That in a Small Town…or what’s happening in Fentress County library?

Try That in a Small Town,”  is a song by Jason Aldean of what can what happen in a small town over bad behavior.  The nuggets of truth add to the humor. 

What about Fentress County?  Have we escaped the craziness of the “blue” states? What about Tennessee’s own “blue” cities?  Oh, you mean places like Nashville and Memphis?  Well, just try that in a small town. Okay.

One of the worse horrors of the last 3 years or so is the blatant and continuous public assault on our children. The media and airwaves have exploded with what used to be X-rated content.  It is becoming normal.  That’s the plan.  It’s called “sexual grooming.”   Legally, the American Bar Association defines sexual grooming as, “a preparatory process in which a perpetrator gradually gains a person’s or organization’s trust with the intent to be sexually abusive.”1   Sexual abuse is not just physical, it is also introducing words, pictures and actions that are not age appropriate.     

So it’s not just from a person, it can be an organization.  Like the charitable foundation of assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky of Penn State University.   The term “grooming” was introduced into the public vocabulary after he was convicted of  the sexual abuse of boys participating in his charitable foundation. 2     

As far back as 2006, the professional medical, “Journal  of Sexual Aggression”  indicates there are many types of  grooming including “grooming of the environment.”3   That means creating an environment for a child that normalizes adult themes.     

Should we be concerned in Fentress County?  Are people or places introducing things of a sexual nature that are not age appropriate?  Well, here’s another question:  Are you comfortable offering free condoms at your public library on open shelving between the front desk and the children’s section?  The library personnel report that they are recipients of donations from an organization called Operation Sharing Tennessee.  The donations are free but must be given away to the public. So if you want free handouts, you must conform to their “rules.”   Sounds fair, just do as you are told and you get free stuff.  This is a step up from lollipops.  Good thing they did not require show and tell.        

Who is really behind this?  Operation Sharing Tennessee is a Facebook page whose website redirects to Appalachian Life Quality Initiative, an arm of Alliance for Better Nonprofits who is a part of the United Way of Greater Knoxville.  All of these are non profits, and a great place to funnel money by people who have an agenda and want to get out a message. The mission of Alliance is “collective impact” and success is measured by “social change.”4   They do not define what social change is. However, their resources include “Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion,” the very definition of critical race theory which our Tennessee general assembly outlawed in schools and, governments across the country are demanding the deletion of in public organizations and higher education schools.  Do the ends justify the means?  Is getting free “stuff” worth opening the door to whatever anyone wants to introduce?  Should we consider the source?  Check out Fentress County Library where you can get your free bag of chips, vitamin water, and condoms. There are plenty.

References:

https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_interest/child_law/resources/child_law_practiceonline/child_law_practice/vol-34/november-2015/understanding-sexual-grooming-in-child-abuse-cases/

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/protecting-children-from-sexual-abuse/202010/how-to-recognize-the-sexual-grooming-of-a-minor

https://www.nationalcac.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Sexual-grooming-of-children-Review-of-literature-and-theoretical-considerations-Craven-2006.pdf

https://www.betternonprofits.org/about

Gov. Lee Calls Special Session For Gun Control

Gov. Lee Calls Special Session For Gun Control – State Sovereignty Now At Risk (Op-Ed)

submitted by Anne Featherston

This week in Nashville, Governor Lee has called the Tennessee General Assembly back into session to create legislation for gun control.  Why?

Gun control issues heated up in Tennessee March 6 with a shooting in Nashville at Covenant school that killed 6 people.  Since the General Assembly (G.A.) was still convened, Governor Lee asked  them to consider gun restrictions called Red Flag laws. The G.A. refused.  

This drew Tennessee onto a national scene on April 6, when 3 Democrat house representatives (now known as the “Nashville 3”) disrupted the House floor in protest resulting in hundreds, if not thousands of young people protesting in Nashville. (Universities shut down classes so they could attend). Many of those protesters were also from out of state. 

By April 10, Governor Lee had a 13-page proposal pushing “extreme risk” order of protection (ERPO)  aimed at “substantially changing Tennessee’s criminal and mental health codes and in effect, implementing ‘Red Flag’ laws.”  This type of law “allows law enforcement officials, household and family members, and others to petition a judge to issue an order removing firearms from an individual’s possession and/or preventing them from making firearm purchases.”  

Red Flag laws violate 4th Amendment “due process,” which means guns can be confiscated without the individual first having a court hearing, and before a crime is even committed.  The U.S. Supreme Court ruled these laws unconstitutional in June of 2022 in the Bruen case. 

Yet,  on April 20th, According to Capitol insiders,  Rules were suspended in the Tennessee House so the legislation can bypass the subcommittee and committee process and go straight to the floor for a vote.  The G.A. refused to hear Lee’s proposals, which would require attaching them as amendments onto bills currently on the floor.  Almost immediately, rumors surfaced the governor would request a Special Sessions in the summer and on May 8 he did so.  The race was on.

At least 9 GOP county offices sent separate letters to Governor Lee requesting he retract the call for a special session.  The same offices also sent resolutions to their representatives to immediately adjourn the session if called.  Grassroots groups around the state sent petitions and letters, including Fentress County’s Tennessee Action Group which collected over 345 signatures during a public petition signing at the Historic Courthouse in Jamestown.   Representative Kelly Keisling showed up to add his signature.

After 3 months of public outcry and distress, pro and con, on August  8 the governor finally issued the formal call for a special session with a proclamation to “consider and act upon legislation” listing 18 different areas to consider.  Eighteen proposals?  None deal directly with gun control.  What is going on!?

Keep this in mind:  all of this started over one school shooting, even though there have been 22 mass shooting in Tennessee  since 2012, and five of them were in schools.  Rep. John Ragan commissioned a study which is submitting a study next week.  He found that schools have  “low probability,” but “high impact”  (yes, especially for those involved). Further, “94% of mass public shootings, including school shooting,  since 1950 occurred in Gun-Free Zones.”  Therefore, our General Assembly allocated $200 Million towards school security.

At Covenant school in Nashville, there was no school guard, and the shooter’s manifesto has been kept from the public. That leaves us with 18 proposals from Gov. Lee in response to something for which there are many unanswered questions.  

The list of proclamations  from Lee it is all over the place. His proposal allows our state’s top law enforcement officials access to personal healthcare information, including what medications a person is taking. Someone who has had the courts involved in determining the state of their mental health, will have that reported to firearms dealers. He also proposes that juveniles’ criminal records are no longer protected, and the age is lowered for adult court. Gov. Lee expands Medicaid to cover mental health programs funded by federal money—which gives the federal government control.

Where is this going?  How much will the feds ultimately be involved? 

Read the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, S2938, Public Law No: 117-15, passed July 2022. Good luck on that!)   Better, let’s look at the myriad of articles about it.  The Washington Post says this bill, “enact(s) the most significant new gun restrictions since the 1990s.”  And here is where we find $750 Million from the feds to the states to put into place red flag laws. Already 19 other states have done so. This Act offers the states another $200 Million for increasing mental health services.  Perhaps that is what Lee means when his proclamation asks for “legislation regarding mental health resources, or services.”   We also find $2 Billion provided to hire and train staff for school mental health services.  

The argument here is not against mental health services.  Instead it questions why they are trying to implement this in the schools under federal government control and intervention.   Why are these services  not being offered through local community, especially where parents have more oversight?

So what is really going on?  The feds have dangled the proverbial carrot– money.  Do we want money instead of independence?  Do you?  Will you give up your state sovereignty, our independence from federal controls, for more control over your children, your guns?  Do you want the federal government controlling the state of Tennessee?   

State sovereignty is at risk. We will discuss that more in the coming months before the 2024 Sessions in Nashville. We will look at how to protect our state against federal encroachment. 

If any of this is something that concerns you call your representative and your senator, now.  Ask them to vote for adjournment.  Ask them to consider new laws during the regular legislative session January through April when they have open discussion with public input. Not now, and not behind closed doors.  

References:

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