Today's Takes: Monday, June 21
The big news at the end of last week was the Biden administration's declaration that Juneteenth, commemorating the emancipation of American slaves, be treated as a federal holiday. To state the obvious, the end of slavery warrants celebration. That is not up for dispute and no sensible person would say otherwise. What's driven people up the rails is that it sits closely to July 4th and appears in direct competition to it. It's often referred to as Black Independence Day, and the title of the bill to introduce it was "Juneteenth National Independence Day Act".
We'd offer our own angle on Juneteenth, but Dan McLaughlin, writing for the National Review, did a thorough job of it. You can read his column here. McLaughlin tackles the particulars of the holiday and contextualizes it well. Curiously, he picks the biggest bone with the addition of an 11th holiday to the federal calendar and the tax burden of that choice. In an era of infinite deficits and 24/7 money printing, it's a trite point. It's more likely the Biden administration needed a bone to throw to voters after a subpar international tour and swelling police forces in response to a bloody 2020 and an even bloodier 2021.
Headlines
🛩 Trump announced his intent to travel to the border on June 30th in response to Kamala Harris' curious refusal to venture down there herself. In other Trump news, his recently announced national tour with Bill O'Reilly has thrown a wrench in QAnon supporter's belief that he will again summit the throne in December.
⛪️ Roman Catholic bishops in the US want to deny President Joe Biden communion because of his stance on abortion. The Vatican issued a statement to "not to use access to the Eucharist as a political weapon."
🗳 Ron DeSantis edged Trump in the Western Conservative Summit’s straw poll for the 2024 Presidential election.
Nashville Politics
- Senator Blackburn introduces bill to defund 1619 Project curriculum (Star)
- Narrow election wins highlight continued rifts in Southern Baptist Convention (Tennessean)
Nashville News
- Get excited, Nashville: Big events are back in Music City (Biz Journal)
- Artists overwhelmed with gigs as 'shortage of musicians' takes hold of Broadway (Channel 5)
- Nashville Then: 25 years ago in June 1996 (Tennessean)
- New task force will partner ATF agents with local police and fire for bomb investigations (Tennessean)
Nashville Development
- Site for future Nashville SC facility sells for $9M (Post)
- 12South building lands two local boutique retailers (Post)
Waffle House Hero
🧇 One of the feel good stories flying around the internet this weekend involved a man who had to spend 24 hours in a Waffle House after he lost a bet. For every waffle he ate, he could shave one hour off his time. The man only managed to eat 9 waffles, reducing his sentence to 15 hours. Pretty unimpressive numbers if we're being honest (Read)