Free Republic

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) – The Tennessee Department of Transportation has “respectfully denied” the Metro Council’s request to block the Nathan Bedford Forrest statue on Interstate 65. The council approved a resolution to ask TDOT to plant trees blocking its view to the public on July 8. The statue, which is surrounded by Confederate flags, sits on private property near the Harding Place exit. Monday, the department sent the following statement to News 2: TDOT does not plant foliage on its right-of-way with the sole intention of blocking items on private property based on what might be offensive to some and...

Just south of Nashville, Tennessee, along Interstate 65, there sits a statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest riding on horseback, surrounded by Confederate battle flags. For those with little more than a passing interest in American history, Forrest may be only known to you as the person after whom Forrest Gump was named in the movie. Others will know that he was a Confederate general and the first Grand Wizard of the KKK. It’s been sitting there on private land since 1998, but given recent events you can imagine that it’s become the target of renewed political interest. The Metro...

A bid by Tennessee’s governor to remove a bust of Confederate cavalry general, slave trader and early Ku Klux Klan leader Nathan Bedford Forrest from the state Capitol building was rejected Friday. The State Capitol Commission voted 7-5 against issuing a petition to moving the bust from the Capitol to the new state museum being built nearby. It would have been the first step in a lengthy process laid out by Tennessee’s “Heritage Protection Act” that limits the removal or changing of historical memorials on public property. Republican Gov. Bill Haslam called for the removal after last month’s deadly white...

The Memphis City Council has ordered the removal of the NB Forrest Statue that sits on top of the graves of General and Mrs. NB Forrest. This action breaks several laws and the order of the State for Memphis to not make any action toward the historical monument and grave site.

(CNN) The remains of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest and his wife will be removed from a Memphis park where a monument of him once stood. The decision to move their remains came after the Sons of Confederate Veterans, a non-profit organization of male descendants of Confederate veterans, agreed to drop a pending lawsuit against park owners

In 2020’s version of the Bolshevik Revolution, almost any statue or monument that predates or doesn’t explicitly honor the Civil Rights era is a potential target for being defaced, damaged, or toppled entirely, Taliban-style. The woke social justice warriors who have somehow managed to seize the culture don’t seem to concern themselves much with whether these monuments honor Jefferson Davis, George Washington, Robert E. Lee, Thomas Jefferson, Winston Churchill, Christopher Columbus, or even famous abolitionist Matthias Baldwin. To them, these are just dead old white dudes who belong in the dustbin of history because, well, they were probably evil, engaged...

The quotes below appear towards the end of the linked article about Gen Forrest's complicated life. I found them to be so remarkable that if you don't read anything else about the self-described "most maligned" Southerner, you should read these words. For hidden in them is a remarkable story redemption and change. It brought tears to my eyes.

HENNING, Tenn. (WTVF) — A massive manhunt is underway for an "extremely dangerous" man who escaped the West Tennessee State Penitentiary in Henning, Tennessee. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation issued a Blue Alert for Curtis Ray Watson. He is a person of interest in the murder of Tennessee Department of Correction Administrator Debra Johnson on Wednesday. The 64-year-old was a 38-year veteran employee of the state of Tennessee. Johnson was found dead in her home, which is on penitentiary property. Officials said they didn't know of any specific contact she may have had with Watson. Watson escaped from jail on...

When Alan Henning, a 47-year-old taxi driver from Eccles in Salford, was on his way to Syria in an aid convoy late last year, he said it was important to make sure aid was going to "the right people". But his charitable actions took him into the hands of Islamic State (IS), who took him hostage within minutes of him arriving in the country in December 2013.

ISIS has executed Alan Henning. Henning is the fourth western hostage to be executed by the Islamic State. Here’s what we know so far:

An Internet video released Friday purports to show a fighter for the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) beheading British hostage Alan Henning and threatening yet another American captive, the fourth such killing carried out by the extremist group now targeted in U.S.-led airstrikes. The video mirrored other beheading videos shot by ISIS, which now holds territory along the border of Syria and Iraq. It ended with an Islamic State fighter threatening a man they identified as an American named Peter Kassig. "Obama, you have started your aerial bombardment of Shams (Syria), which keeps on striking our people, so...

<p>SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Jack Henning, a pioneering leader of California's labor movement who served under presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson, has died at his home in San Francisco. He was 93.</p> <p>Henning served 26 years as executive secretary-treasurer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, which represents more than 2 million workers.</p>

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Carolina Panthers fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and two other assistants Monday, two weeks after finishing a disappointing 8-8 season. Offensive line coach Mike Maser and secondary coach Rod Perry were also let go."This is a very difficult decision because these coaches have played an integral role in the success we have experienced since coming to the Panthers," coach John Fox said. "They were part of a Super Bowl and two NFC championship games and those accomplishments would not have been possible without their contributions."The Panthers struggled on offense and failed to make the playoffs, hurt...

SACRAMENTO — After upsetting labor unions by favoring corporate interests this year, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Tuesday appointed a Democrat and longtime labor leader to manage the sprawling bureaucracy of the Employment Development Department. Patrick W. Henning — son of legendary labor activist Jack Henning, a one-time appointee of President John F. Kennedy — becomes director of the department as it faces criticism that it is a recalcitrant, inept bureaucracy. The $12.1-billion agency, which handles unemployment, family leave and disability insurance, had an interim director for about a year. Henning's appointment is one of dozens that Schwarzenegger has given to...

<p>BRANDON, Fla. -- Professional wrestler Curt ``Mr. Perfect'' Hennig was found dead in a hotel room Monday. Officials said foul play wasn't suspected.</p> <p>Hennig, 44, of Champlin, Minn., was scheduled to appear Monday night at the Florida State Fair in Tampa.</p>