Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN-07) announced her candidacy for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate seat currently held by retiring Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) on Thursday.

Blackburn explained why she is running for a seat in the U.S. Senate in this three minute video posted on her campaign website:

VIDEO

“The United States Senate . . . it’s totally dysfunctional, and it’s enough to drive you nuts, and that’s why I’ve decided to do something about it,” Blackburn says at the beginning of the video.

Blackburn continues:

I’m Marsha Blackburn. I’m a hard core, card carrying Tennessee conservative. I’m politically incorrect, and proud of it.

So, let me just say it like it is: The fact that our Republican majority in the U.S. Senate can’t overturn Obamacare, or will not overturn Obamacare. It’s a disgrace.

Too many Senate Republicans act like Democrats. Or worse. And that’s what we have to change.

Here in Tennessee, I fought my own party to stop a massive, job killing, state income tax. And we stopped it. We won.

Blackburn, a former Chairman of the Williamson County Republican Party, was elected to the Tennessee State Senate in 1998. It was there that she led the successful efforts to stop Republican Gov. Don Sundquist’s proposal to impose a state income tax in the Volunteer State.

In 2002, she broke through a crowded field of a half a dozen men running for the GOP nomination to represent Tennessee’s Seventh Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives using the campaign theme “Marsha’s our Man.”

She has served in the U.S. House of Representatives since 2002, and has never had a close election since.

While in the House, she has regularly been among the most conservative members of the Tennessee delegation, according to Heritage Action Scorecard voting record ratings.

In the current session of Congress, Blackburn’s 88 percent rating by Heritage Action Scorecard makes her the second most conservative member of the Tennessee delegation, and significantly more conservative than the average Republican member of Congress, who receives a 65 percent rating.

Blackburn has been one of the most visible supporters of President Trump in Congress, a position that is very popular among Tennessee Republican primary voters, who give the president high approval ratings. In 2016, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in the state by a 61 percent to 35 percent margin, winning 92 of the state’s 95 counties.

Williamson County Republican Party Chairman Debbie Deavers issued the following statement about Blackburn’s announcement:

Congressman Marsha Blackburn has represented the residents of our county with distinction for the last 14 years. As a longtime member of the Williamson County Republican Party’s Chairman’s Circle and former Chairman herself, she is well-known and well-liked in our county. We wish Congressman Blackburn all the best and look forward to seeing her on the campaign trail across Tennessee.

Blackburn’s announcement comes at the end of a whirlwind 16 days that have seen the Tennessee Republican establishment’s hold on power in the state shaken to the core.

On September 26, Senator Corker announced his sudden retirement from the U.S. Senate, one day after Breitbart News reported on his $3 million sweetheart deal in a Mobile, Alabama retail center, McGowin Park, in which he receives sales tax incentive rebates from Alabama taxpayers.

Earlier on Thursday, Corker’s friend and ally, Gov. Bill Haslam, announced that he would not be a candidate for the U.S. Senate. The announcement came after a series of articles published at Breitbart News that pointed out the political vulnerabilities Haslam would have in such a run.

Blackburn is now the clear frontrunner for the Republican nomination for the U.S. Senate in the 2018 primary in Tennessee.

So far, Andy Ogles, former head of the Tennessee chapter of Americans for Prosperity, is the only other Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate nomination.

That is likely to change, however, as the Tennessee Republican establishment, which still holds a grudge against Blackburn for her role in stopping the state income tax in 2000, is unlikely to allow Blackburn an uncontested path to the United States Senate.

The Philippines has been battling to eradicate the Islamic State’s (ISIS) presence from its southern chain of islands as the terrorist organization seeks to secure its hold over the Islamic City of Marawi on the island of Mindanao.

The city was taken over by the pro-ISIS Maute terrorist group, named after brothers Omar and Abdullah Maute, in May, prompting President Rodrigo Duterte to declare martial law there. The Philippines Congress later voted to extend the martial law designation beyond the 60-day limit and until the end of the year.

On Thursday, Philippines media reported that six members of Maute were confirmed killed in the main battle area in Marawi City, bringing the number of militants killed since the battle began more than 100 days ago to 759. So far, the Philippines has lost 155 troops.

Marawi was once home to 200,000 people and was the largest Muslim-majority city in the Philippines, an overwhelmingly Roman Catholic nation. However, tens of thousands of former residents have fled what has become a city of ruins and the center of a deadly battle where Islamic State loyalists have sought to establish their own mini-caliphate in Asia.

Sidney Jones, the Jakarta-based director of the Institute for Policy Analysis of Conflict, told the Guardian in May:

Duterte and his government have failed to appreciate that a major change has taken place in Mindanao, and these men aren’t motivated just by clan politics or money. The leaders may have been “bandits” in the past, but now, they’re ideologues. They have been convinced by Isis that the answer to Mindanao’s problems is Islamic law.

Last week, Duterte’s Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana announced that the security crisis in Marawi “could be over at the end of this month” after security forces asked for more time when they failed to meet the announced September 30 deadline to retake the city from the Islamic State-inspired terrorists.

Duterte reportedly told reporters Saturday that he sees the Marawi situation ending by December. “I have until the end of the year to contain this thing,” Duterte reportedly said, adding:

You know, the Marawi [crisis] is ending. What’s prolonging it is our effort to save the lives of everybody, including the terrorists if possible. I objected, I ruled out the bombing of mosques because destroying that could mean the destruction of what’s in the soul of Muslims everywhere.

Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman General Paul Selva told the Senate Armed Services Committee last month:

In every case where we see the resurgence of terror networks, particularly in the fragile areas of the southern Philippines, I think it’s worth considering whether or not we reinstate a named operation, not only to provide for the resources that are required, but to give the Pacific Command commander and the field commanders in the Philippines the kinds of authorities they need to work with indigenous Philippine forces to actually help them be successful in that battlespace.

In June, the Pentagon announced it was considering airstrikes against Islamic State militants in the Philippines. However, Lorenzana and Armed Forces Eduardo Año denied this and suggested that the Mutual Defense Treaty with the United States would block such a measure from occurring.

Advertisement – story continues below

When tragedy strikes, there are two kinds of people who emerge: Those who do nothing, and those who do something. I’m not talking about writing a long, emotional post about how their feelings are hurt and how we need more gun control — I’m talking about actually doing something.

Like Greg Zanis.

Zanis, a retired carpenter, Aurora, Illinois, native, and founder of Crosses for Losses, has made a cross for every fatality in Sunday’s mass shooting in Las Vegas. He left to deliver them on Tuesday.

Advertisement – story continues below

According to the Aurora Beacon-News, Zanis is known in his area as a man who makes crosses to commemorate the lives of those killed in mass shooting incidents — including Columbine High School in 1999, the Aurora, Colorado, theater massacre in 2012, and the Orlando night club terrorist attack of 2016. He also made a cross for every person killed in Chicago in 2016.

WGN9 reports that over the 20 years that Zanis has made crosses for people, he’s built more than 20,000.

He first heard about the Las Vegas shooting about 7:30 a.m. Monday from an employee of a firm that handles crime cleanup scenes.

Advertisement – story continues below

The man had come to his house with a $1,200 donation for Zanis to do to his work for the latest victims.

“At first, when he told me what happened, I didn’t believe him,” Zanis told the Beacon-News. “And then I just cried.”

Each of the crosses are white, come with a read heart, and carry the name of and a pictures of the victims, according to WGN9. He even makes stars of David for Jewish victims.

Advertisement – story continues below

Zanis’ mission is to highlight the severity of what happened that night in Las Vegas.

“I’m trying to bring a face to this,” he said according to LittleThings. “When you see these lined up for 250 feet, it’s going to show the severity of what happened over there.”

He wants that space to be as close to the physical location of the shooting as possible. The official death toll from the Las Vegas massacre stands at 59, but Zanis created 65 crosses, according to the Beacon-News. He always makes a few extra, in case the death toll rises.

He also expects family members of the victims to request duplicates of the crosses for their own memorials, and Zanis has every intention of honoring their requests.

“It gets complicated,” he told the Beacon-News. “But I do it for the families. This does not get easier. My heart is not made of wood.”

If you’d like to know what a real American hero looks like, take a look at Zanis and his mission.

A GoFundMe page has been established for anyone wishing to help. With a fundraising goal of $5,000, it had collected $2,460 as of Thursday afternoon.

What do you think about this story? Please share this on Facebook and Twitter and let us know!