Was Tim Walz Minding The Store … I Think Not
There’s not a rational person in the country who believes Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota is competent. With the billion-dollar scandal growing in Minnesota, the scope of Walz’s incompetence is becoming harder for even Democrats to deny. Even the leftist New York Times is describing how fraud swamped Minnesota’s “social services.” There has been a decade of fraud schemes that may have stolen billions of taxpayer dollars. Evidently, some taxpayer money may have been funneled to a terrorist group, Al-Shabaab, in Somalia. What appear to be somewhat sophisticated criminal enterprises began milking Minnesota’s mighty generous social welfare benefits for all they were worth and more besides. How they were able to avoid any kind of scrutiny is going to be a question in search of an answer. I would say scrutiny was scarce or not applied at all to the Somali community in Minneapolis, which is a very powerful voter bloc there, largely made up of Black and Muslim residents. In other words, there was no scrutiny so no one would be called a racist. Meanwhile the treasury was being looted.
As always, the corporate mainstream media has tried its best to ignore the story. That failed when the New York Times confirmed several aspects of the story, which many on the Left tried to claim were misrepresentations by conservatives. CBS made a feeble effort to try and debunk the accusations and was eventually put in the embarrassing position of having to correct itself. The idea of mass migration to this country and hooking up everyone who crosses the border with social welfare benefits is hailed by the Left, as they believe the recipients will religiously vote for their candidates. The Democratic Party is being hijacked by those soft on crime and void of common sense. Here in Tennessee, Aftyn Behn, the Mean Girl’s version of AOC, did her level best to dodge questions about hiring more police officers and public safety. The Far Left in this country is rapidly turning the Democrats into the party of crime, criminals and cartels. The drug cartels have killed some 600,000 Americans, almost as many as died in the American Civil War.
Congratulations, Matt Van Epps
Speaking of that slice of nutcake known as Aftyn Behn, the polls were wrong about the outcome of the special election in the 7th Congressional District. Matt Van Epps, the Republican candidate, won the race by almost 9%. With a third of Davidson County inside the 7th District, everybody ought to be aware that there are a significant number of Democrats voting. When Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly gerrymandered Congressman Jim Cooper out of office to squeeze one more congressional district out for the GOP – – – and both parties do it – – – they divided Davidson County, which is as blue as indigo, into thirds and placed them in Republican districts. The end goal of getting rid of Jim Cooper, a Democrat, was accomplished, but at the same time, the three districts became slightly less Republican. The special election saw tens of thousands of voters participate in an election held in December while it was snowing and sleeting in much of the 7th District.
It wasn’t an especially close election and there wasn’t an uptick in the number of insane people willing to vote for a candidate as crazy as Aftyn Behn. It was the same number of deranged voters from Davidson County who voted 3 to 1 for Behn. Considering how Behn has said she hates everything that makes Nashville the city that is Nashville, there must be a lot of self-loathing people in Davidson County. Despite having said she hates country music, Behn dressed herself in an outfit making her look like a drag queen version of Porter Wagoner, for an election night that didn’t turn out as the narrative had projected.
When she called Matt Van Epps to concede, she had the poor taste to try and force her own view of healthcare down his throat instead of acknowledging she lost the election like a gracious human being.
The poster child for Democrats’ version of “affordability” is the social welfare network in Minnesota. Squeeze, and ye shall receive. The taxpayers’ pockets are bottomless. There’s not a thing affordable about that.
Randy Tyree Was A Good Man
Former Knoxville Mayor Randy Tyree passed away on November 24, 2025, at age 85. Tyree was elected mayor in 1975, when he upset incumbent Kyle Testerman. Reelected in 1979, Tyree was the Democratic nominee for governor in 1982, defeating state Senator Anna Belle Clement O’Brien in the primary to face Governor Lamar Alexander in the general election. Tyree was the mayor of Knoxville during the 1982 World’s Fair here.
Born in Gordonsville in West Tennessee, Tyree eventually worked for the FBI and came to Knoxville with the idea of attending the University of Tennessee. Tyree became a patrolman in the Knoxville Police Department and later became a detective. Mayor Leonard Rogers made Tyree Knoxville’s Police & Fire Commissioner. Old-timers here still can recall “Operation Aquarius,” which was the largest police raid on illegal drugs in Tennessee at the time.
Replaced as Knoxville’s Police & Fire Commissioner by Mayor Kyle Testerman, Tyree began practicing law. Tyree’s defeat of Testerman was considered astonishing at the time.
Tyree ran two other races for mayor of Knoxville as well as campaigns to become Knox County Sheriff, all of which were unsuccessful. Throughout the highs and lows that comprise most lives, Randy Tyree remained a pleasant and gracious man. Moreover, Tyree was a good man and was well-liked by political friends and foes alike.
To Randy Tyree’s family and many friends, The Knoxville Focus joins in expressing deep regret and sorrow at his passing. Knoxville is a poorer place without Randy Tyree.
