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Tennessee GOP governor candidate says he would ban Islam, outlaw same-sex marriage

State Rep. Monty Fritts, a self-described 'Christian nationalist,' also says he would criminalize abortion in all cases — including rape — and deny the morning-after pill to women who are raped.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — State Rep. Monty Fritts, a Republican candidate for governor, calls himself a "Christian nationalist."

In a nearly one-hour interview, Fritts was candid in his admissions that, while he does not — in his words — believe in beating someone over the head with his Bible, he does believe it would be his job to enact policies that reflect his personal religious beliefs.

The Roane County Republican rejected some of the more extremist views associated with Christian nationalism, such as arguments that America should mainly be reserved for white people and that Adolf Hitler was a "Christian prince."

But he acknowledged that he would like to outlaw Muslim calls to prayer and, if possible, ban Islam itself, along with Buddhism, Hinduism and "other pagan religions." He wants to treat abortion as murder and would deny the morning-after pill to rape victims.

He would also outlaw same-sex marriage and criminalize some sexual acts between consenting adults of the same sex.

"I just kinda boiled the two words down to a 'Christian' — I am that, I will not deny Christ — and I am a nationalist. I am an America-first, Tennessee-first person. So I didn't think that was a detrimental term," Fritts said, explaining his use of the term Christian nationalist.

When asked why enacting religiously driven policies is not effectively imposing his beliefs on others, Fritts said it comes down to wanting what is best for his fellow citizens.

"Well, again, it's back to the we want the best for our fellow citizens," Fritts said.

What quickly became apparent in my nearly hour-long interview is that Fritts is confident he has the right interpretation of the Bible.

"I do think God's law is clear," Fritts said.

When pressed on the fact that widespread disagreement among Christians — evidenced by the existence of many denominations — suggests the Bible is not universally clear, Fritts responded with a laugh.

"Well, Phil, you're gonna get me in trouble with that question if we get off into denominations," Fritts said.

Same-sex marriage

Fritts said he believes same-sex relationships should be illegal and that he would outlaw same-sex marriage.

"I would, yes. And based on the authority of God's word and the natural design of it," Fritts said.

When pushed about it being his interpretation of God's word, Fritts said, "I think God's word is pretty clear there, yes."
Abortion

Fritts said he would criminalize abortion in all cases, including pregnancies resulting from rape, and compared the punishment to that given to murderers. He also said he opposes allowing rape victims access to the morning-after pill.

"So, as I understand it, that chemical, that medication can also become an abortifacient. And so to administer those either with tax dollars or without when there's a chance that you could be ending a life, I think that's murder. I think we shouldn't do it," he explained.

Four years ago, the FDA clarified that the morning-after pill does not cause abortion — it prevents pregnancy.

Fritts said he is not convinced.

When asked whether his position amounts to forcing a rape victim to carry a pregnancy to term based on his religious interpretation, Fritts pushed back.

"I don't think so. I think it's, I would state it that it's trying to be a light in what has become a very dark thing," Fritts said.
Islam and religious liberty

Fritts said he would outlaw Muslim calls to prayer and would like to ban the construction of mosques. He extended that position to Buddhism, Hinduism and what he called "pagan religions."

"And I'm not picking on just Islam. I would offer that for Buddhism or Hinduism or many of these other pagan religions. I would like to see them not exist in the United States of America. I would like to see that everyone would refer to Christ as King. That would be my goal," he said.

Fritts argued that Muslims are not protected under the First Amendment because, in his view, Islam is a political worldview rather than a true religion. Courts have repeatedly rejected that argument.

When asked whether his position would also apply to Judaism, since most Jewish people do not recognize Jesus as king, Fritts said he would not outlaw Judaism. He pointed to Messianic Jews — a group that combines Jewish identity with belief in Jesus — as a distinction, but declined to directly address the question of traditional Jewish practice.

"I think to to try to split the hair to get to to get me to say that, I'm not willing to say that," Fritts said.
On compromise

Fritts acknowledged that his positions may alienate some voters, but said he is not interested in softening his message.

"We've found ourselves all too often in America today that we're willing to compromise just to get a vote or to say something that might be less offensive. And I've just decided I'm gonna try to finish strong and not behave that way," Fritts said.

https://www.newschannel5.com/news/n...would-ban-islam-outlaw-same-sex-marriage

#notarando

No heavyweights allowed: Troops must meet fitness criteria to attend White House UFC event

Members of the military seeking tickets to the UFC fight on the South Lawn have to meet “all service-specific physical fitness test requirements” and pay their own travel expenses to the event, according to a Pentagon memo.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/wh...fitness-criteria-attend-white-rcna347606

"We think you are fit enough to serve in the military but we don't want the pubic to see you serve in our military.

Thank you for your service."

Judge temporarily halts Kennedy Center closure and orders removal of Trump’s name from building

After the ruling, Trump appeared to wash his hands of the renovation and renaming efforts by saying his administration would move to put Congress in control of the center.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration from closing the Kennedy Center for repairs and ordered the removal of President Donald Trump’s name from the building and its website.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper ruled Friday that Trump’s handpicked board did not have the authority to rename the facility on its own.

“The Kennedy Center’s organic statute makes crystal clear that the Center is to be named for President Kennedy, and it cannot bear any other formal name or public memorial based on the Board’s unilateral say-so,” the judge wrote in his 94-page decision, issued on Kennedy’s birthday. “Congress gave the Kennedy Center its name, and only Congress can change it.”

Trump blasted the ruling in a lengthy post on Truth Social and suggested that for now he was washing his hands of the institution he named himself chair of last year.

“I cannot be involved with a situation where danger to the Public is allowed to flourish in plain and open sight. Unless I am free to do what I do better than anyone else, bring this Institution back, physically, financially, and artistically, I have no interest in continuing what could only be a hopeless journey into ‘NEVER NEVER LAND,’” Trump wrote.

“We are going to be working with Congress to transfer this failing Institution back to them so they can make a determination as to what to do with it,” he wrote, adding that he had instructed the Commerce Department to take steps that would give lawmakers “the responsibility for its Operation, Maintenance, and Management.”

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether Trump, who is named as one of the defendants in the case, would formally appeal Friday’s ruling.

In his ruling, the judge said the administration did not deny the center is legally required to be named after Kennedy but had tried to claim the center had not really been renamed.

“They instead submit that everything is not what it seems,” Cooper wrote, adding that the administration insisted that calling it the “Trump Kennedy Center” is “merely a secondary name” rather than a name change.

“The rechristening is not, as Defendants suggest, like calling the ‘Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection’ the ‘Consumer Financial Protection Bureau,’ which is merely a clerical rearrangement,” he wrote.

“The ‘Trump Kennedy Center’ label adds an entirely new name to the Center’s formal title and relegates President Kennedy’s name to second place. If that is not a renaming, what is?” Cooper said, noting that the lettering on the building “literally reads: ‘The Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts.’”

The changes, Cooper wrote, “reflect far more than an innocuous nicknaming.”

He issued an order giving the administration 14 days to remove Trump’s name from the building and the center’s website.

A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center, Roma Daravi, said in a statement before Trump’s Truth Social post: “We are confident that on appeal the court will uphold the Board’s will to recognize President Trump’s historic contributions to our nation’s cultural center.”

Cooper also found the board’s vote to shutter the facility for two years for repairs was the result of an “ill-informed and seemingly preordained decision.”

The board “based its decision on an insufficient, one-sided presentation of information and neglected to consider the full range of its statutory obligations and potential adverse consequences of closure on programming and memorial functions,” the judge wrote.

“The trustees might have assessed the propriety of closure in a number of prudent ways. This was not one,” the judge wrote, issuing a preliminary injunction blocking the center from closing.

During a March vote, the board voted to close the center after July 4 for renovations over a two-year period. The decision came after Trump — who had named himself board chairman last year — had called for the temporary closure, saying it was the most effective way to carry out the repairs.

The judge said repair work can still be carried out and added that the closure could still happen if the board follows proper procedures.

The “preliminary injunction will not prevent the Center from moving forward with the capital repair work it has planned, which the record demonstrates is sorely needed. Nor will it categorically prohibit the Board from closing the Center should it come to this decision anew after independently balancing its multiple obligations to the Center in a prudent fashion,” the judge wrote.

Cooper added that the “Court does not purport to dictate how the Center should be run, nor does it prescribe any particular plan for the institution — construction, closure, or otherwise — moving forward. It simply holds the Kennedy Center Board to certain minimum requirements imposed by law. Beyond that, the Court will let the parties play on.”

Daravi suggested in her statement the center would challenge the injunction on the closure as well. “We will review the decision carefully though the reality remains — the Center requires an urgent and significant restoration — a truth that even the plaintiff acknowledges,” she said.

The lawsuit challenging the name change and closure had been brought by Rep. Joyce Beatty, D-Ohio, who serves as an ex official member of the center’s board, a position separate from the members selected by Trump.

In a statement, Beatty said the “ruling rightly affirms that this administration’s efforts to rename and close the Center have no basis in law.”

“The Kennedy Center is an institution that belongs to the American people, not to Donald Trump. He has desecrated this sacred memorial for his own vanity,” Beatty said.

Her attorneys, Norm Eisen and Nathaniel Zelinsky, said the “ruling sends an important message: the rule of law matters. This is a powerful blow against the Trump administration’s corruption.”

Several members of the Kennedy family last year criticized the board’s vote to include Trump’s name on the center, where it was later affixed.

Robert F. Kennedy’s daughter, Kerry Kennedy, on Friday praised the judge’s ruling and Beatty’s efforts.

“Perhaps I won’t need that pickaxe after all. Thank you, Congresswoman Joyce Beatty, for your courage and dedication to ensuring proper procedures are followed,” she wrote on Facebook. “What a great way to celebrate you on your birthday, Uncle Jack!”

The addition of Trump’s name to the Kennedy Center is part of an unprecedented wave of presidential branding being carried out in his second term, with the addition of his name to federal buildings, battleships, passports, a drug website and more.

On Thursday, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said his department was preparing to print $250 bills with Trump’s face on them if Congress passes legislation to do so.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/tr...er-closure-trump-name-removed-rcna347598

Another ruling another temper tantrum.

Lead prosecutor on former FBI Director Comey's 'seashells' case withdraws without explanation

The department did not include any explanation for the move.

The lead prosecutor tasked with overseeing former FBI Director James Comey's prosecution stemming from his post of seashells that the Justice Department claims amounted to a threat against President Donald Trump has withdrawn from the case, according to a court filing.

Matthew Petracca was the lone prosecutor from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina assigned to the case when it was unsealed late last month.

On Friday evening, however, the Justice Department filed a notice with the court indicating that Petracca has been replaced by assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Severo.

The department did not include any explanation for the move in the high-profile case.

Comey's attorneys are expected to make a vigorous push to have the case dismissed before it can go to trial through a variety of legal challenges.

A Justice Department spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News.

Comey was charged with threatening to kill Trump by posting a photo on Instagram of seashells on a beach arranged in the numbers "86 47." Citing the slang meaning of "86" as to "nix" or "get rid" of something, allies of the president allege that the post was a veiled threat against Trump, who is the 47th president.

Following backlash over the post, Comey removed the photo from Instagram and said he was unaware that the post could be associated with violence.

Critics of Trump say the indictment is another effort by the administration to punish the president's perceived enemies after a judge last year threw out an indictment against Comey on unrelated charges.

At a press conference announcing the charges last month, acting Attorney General Todd Blanche argued that Comey's post crossed the line between First Amendment-protected speech and speech that warrants prosecution.

Comey's trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 21.

https://abcnews.com/Politics/lead-p...comeys-seashells-case/story?id=133437435

This entire thing seems contrived, botched, manufactured and mishandled in at least 8647 different ways.

After reading how far into gambling Sorsby was I would pass on him too. We've had enough drama over the years.

...Plus, we're winning the Super Bowl, so ours will be lower anyways....

The problem with adding states is that the ones on the list would likely be democratic in political preference.

I had no idea you were homophoneic. Man that must be tough.

You still didn't explain how you think it would be reasonably executed in trying to teach four QB's a new system at the same time while having to teach the entire offense that system as three of those QB's would be rookies or second year QB's. That simply doesn't sound reasonably feasible.

If anything, the Browns should sign some QB out there that may not even be someone the Browns would consider worth playing in the regular season who knows and is familiar with Monkin's system who can help work with and help teach the system to this bevy of young QB's that are already on the roster. That's something they don't have that wouldn't cost much to get. If only until the final roster cuts before the season starts. That would be adding a valuable and needed tool to the toolbox for peanuts.

But I am glad you took a closer look at his gambling addiction issue. It seems at this point we both agree the Browns should steer clear of him. As I stated earlier, if anyone should take a shot with him it should be a well established team that has a strong, established coaching staff who could easily deal with any problems that may arise instead of a team currently in flux.

You, apparently. Can't seem to take a joke after using the wrong homophone.

Green is the definition of developmental QB. He has an unmatched tool box of physical skills. However, there is work to be done to refine and develop. He most likely will be on the practice squad. He is not in the mix currently to start.

DW will be a free agent after this year. He would almost have to win a Super Bowl to get a contract.

Gabriel may or may not make the roster. His upside might be a back-up.

Shedeur is now a second year player with seven starts. At this point his true worth remains to be seen.

He is in a battle with DW to be the starter. One will start. The other will be the back-up.

I doubt the Browns will pursue Sorsby after I read the ESPN article. I would be surprised if they did.

All this points toward the 2027 draft as the most likely future for the Browns next quarterback selection. That does not mean he would be the starter in 2027.

What Shedeur does this season and how Green develops are things that will be accessed.

You have laid out some very good and informative information that helps explain a lot. But I doubt you get a response from him. He is too focused and obsessed with me for some very strange and somewhat creepy reason.

Let's get down to the brass tacks here.

You have been engaging in making an argument for war. I have been arguing that there is not at least some immediate case for war.

My argument is based on several reasons. First I am not in favor of being the world police. Iran has no method of deploying long range missiles anywhere close to capable of reaching the U.S nor our allies in Europe. As such they are currently of no imminent threat to us. Yes I understand that there is some very remote possibility that someone could somehow sneak a dirty bomb through an airport in Iran to some neutral country, since we accept no direct flights from Iran, then pass customs in that nation, then again when it is reloaded on a connecting flight and yet once again pass customs in the U.S. However that sounds much more like something form a fictional spy novel than it does reality. Some remote possibility isn't a legitimate cause for war.

You have seemed to indicate that the reason our NATO allies have not gotten involved is because of political reasons and that war is not popular to their people. Yet from a political standpoint and from a popularity perspective war was no more popular when we went to war with both Iraq and Afghanistan. Both times our allies fought beside us. I do believe that Iran taught them not be so blindly trusting of the U.S. and has made them more cautious.

But if anything they have even greater reason to capitulate in helping us now than they did then. Trump has threatened the NATO alliance. He has struck them financially with tariffs. He is the most vindictive and punitive president in my lifetime. They fully realize the grave possible consequences of telling him no. Yet they have done so anyway.

We know that Iran and Israel have been "warring it" for decades now. We know if anyone is at risk from Iran it's Israel. As of now Israel is fighting Iran's proxies in both Lebanon and Gaza while we're fighting them in Iran. Something Netanyahu has been trying to achieve for decades now.

The world sees these things. The world understand these things. And the world isn't prepared to fight an entire war for Israel. Not even our own allies.

Here is a little more detailed article that says alot of the same talking points. And, there better not be any taxpayer money going to this.
It more seems like trump and his merry band of billionaires going from country to country where there is lots of oil/gas/rare earth minerals and starting something so they can gain access to markets.



Read more at:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/...p;utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

You're projecting again. And ignoring the topic. Still think you need 90% HEU to make nukes?

I'm not sure it means what you think it means. I think the investment would be coming from multinational corporations (MNCs), not tax payer money. I still think it's shady. Basically Trump "facilitating" MNCs getting sweetheart deals to build facilities and extract what they can in Iran, and probably trying to get kickbacks/finder's fees is what it sounds like to me. (Or he just plans to invest in the MNCs before the deals go public.) Iran gets tax income. Trump seems to always be looking for ways to make a buck using other peoples' money, no matter what he's allegedly doing.

It's kind of weird to me that this is leaking from the Iranian side. Iran suddenly wanting American companies in their country doesn't really add up for me with all their rhetoric about the evils of western capitalism. Makes me wonder if some stuffed envelopes were slipped into some pockets figuratively speaking.

Nowhere is "many" defined as half. That's just something you feel or believe. At least half would be half of them and anything over that would be the majority of them.

Policing morality is not the same as willfully ignoring it.

If he was purposefully seeking out non licensed massage therapists, 9 out of the 26 wouldn't have been licensed massage therapist. I suppose one could say he wasn't specifically seeking out licensed massage therapists but it looks more like he took the "When the urge hits pick up the phone" method.

Having a total of four QB's on the roster, two being in their second year and two being rookies makes no sense. Even if you cut one, you aren't going to cut Sanders or the kid they just drafted. So that would be two rookie QB's and one second year QB on a roster with a new HC installing a new system. I mean just a week or two ago people were claiming that Green is the best thing since sliced bread. How do you expect Monkin can teach both watson and Sanders the new system which will be your starter and backup in some order and teach two rookie QB's the new system at the same time?

That's what makes this case different and makes no sense. I mean when you look at it on a case by case basis.

Judge halts Trump ‘anti-weaponization’ fund after Jan. 6 prosecutor sues

A separate judge, who oversaw the Trump-IRS case that led to the fund’s creation, launched an inquiry after 35 retired federal judges asked the court to re-open the case.

A federal judge has temporarily blocked the Trump administration’s $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund, created as part of an unprecedented settlement with the president, his family and the Trump Organization.

U.S. District Judge Leonie M. Brinkema of the Eastern District of Virginia entered the order Friday after a Jan. 6 prosecutor and others sued to block the fund last week.

The fund is being operated out of the Justice Department. Both Democrats and Republicans have criticized the fund. Opponents have labeled it a massive “slush fund” for President Donald Trump’s allies. Its existence has alarmed some legal experts, in part because there will be very little public oversight over how it is managed. Senate Republican leaders last week punted a vote on a GOP package to fund ICE and the Border Patrol until June in part because of concerns over the fund, NBC News reported.

The Trump administration cannot take any further action on the fund while legal motions are pending, “which includes the transferring of money to the fund; the consideration of any claims submitted to the fund; and the disbursing of any funds from the fund,” according to the order.

The judge said the order was necessary to “ensure that no funds are irreversibly disbursed from the Anti-Weaponization Fund” while there are motions pending to block the distribution of funds. She set a hearing for June 12.

Democracy Forward President and CEO Skye Perryman, who heads the group that filed the suit, said the judge’s order “recognized the urgent need to prevent taxpayer dollars from being distributed through a secretive and unprecedented political compensation scheme” that needed to be fully reviewed by a court.

“This is a victory for transparency, the rule of law, and the American people,” Perryman said in a statement. “No administration has the authority to spend public money through a political rewards program that Congress never authorized.”

The process to apply for money can’t officially begin until five commissioners are chosen to decide how the money is doled out, though people who claim they were targeted by the government have already requested money. The White House referred questions to the DOJ.

“The Department remains extremely confident in the legality of the Anti-Weaponization Fund which is supported by ample precedent, including Obama-era settlements,” a Justice Department spokesperson said in a statement. “We will not allow the policy preferences of judges to interfere with our efforts to provide restitution to victims of lawfare.”

It’s also not clear how people would formally apply. The pool of possible applicants is substantial, according to the DOJ.

Andrew Floyd, who headed a task force in the now-closed Capitol Siege Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, before he was dismissed in July, filed a declaration in connection with the lawsuit on Thursday. Floyd prosecuted cases related to the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot.

The Trump administration “is gifting the people I helped investigate and prosecute after January 6” access to what he described as an illegally created process designed to “rush money out the door to perceived political allies, while treating me and people like me as disfavored enemies.”

Describing the firing of dozens of law enforcement officials as “appalling,” he wrote that no president should be able to abuse their authority to target those who did their jobs.

“The president’s targeting of me and others involved in January 6 prosecutions leaves our country in a very dark place, sending a message that insurrection and sedition will be protected (and even encouraged) as long as it is on behalf of this administration,” Floyd wrote.

The Trump administration moved to set up the fund just ahead of court deadlines over a $10 billion lawsuit Trump filed against the executive branch he controls in connection with a years-old leak of his IRS records.

A federal judge in Florida had questioned whether a court could even hear the case, given Trump’s control over the Justice Department attorneys who would be responding to the lawsuit. Trump’s private attorneys dismissed the case and announced a settlement of other claims against the government the day the fund was announced.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams, the judge who oversaw that case, requested a further briefing Friday after 35 retired federal judges asked the court to re-open the case.

She wrote that a “party’s decision to file a frivolous lawsuit for the sole purpose of forcing a settlement may qualify” as the kind of impropriety that allows the court to investigate and determine “whether an attorney has abused the judicial process.”

The fund is facing other lawsuits in Washington.

Trump mass pardoned roughly 1,500 Jan. 6 defendants on his first day back in office last year. Last week, the Trump administration began erasing news releases about Jan. 6 prosecutions from the Justice Department’s website, which it described as “partisan propaganda.”

“We will do everything in our power to make whole those who were persecuted for political purposes,” read a statement posted from a Justice Department social media account.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/ju...d-jan-6-prosecutor-files-suit-rcna347539

Once again we see proof that when it comes to trump, every accusation ends up being a confession.

That's what they do every time this idiot does or says something foolish. "He didn't mean it!" He was only joking!" "He's just pwning the libs!"

They come up with some lame excuse every time. And just remember, these are the same people who claim to be the party of personal responsibility. Or at least they used to.

Sure. The screen name Bull seems quite appropriate. Now carry on and rant some more. That seems to be what you do best lately.

Oh, memories......

Here is a narrative for you. Trump has had a "concept of a plan" for healthcare without actually presenting one since 2015. Sometimes you dismiss facts as a narrative. That happens quite often in trumplandia.

He first promised a comprehensive replacement plan for the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) on the campaign trail in September 2015, famously declaring: "I am going to take care of everybody... Everybody's going to be taken care of much better than they're taken care of now."

Aw.... Who is the snowflake now?

Then why did he send envoys to Canada and Greenland and now Cuba?

I think he means it.. I think he wants Greenland and Canada and my guess is wants Cuba as well....

He wants to add states,,, Ok, start with Puerto Rico and Washington DC.

It's almost like people that don't believe him have to be idiots?