Try as we might to have kind thoughts about public servants who seem to have a little water in their lube oil, we must also remember the words of the poet John Mellencamp who once said,

"Some people ain't no damned good."

The Hill Online

There is no reason to engage in discourse with Stacey Campfield. He's an utterly worthless politician, a demagogue, a poor man's Jesse Helms. Why oh why do people in Knox County vote for him? Can't he get a challenger - even in the primary?

If we're going to have better representation then we need to engage him because he will shoot himself in the foot. Not only has he proposed a tax initiative but he wants a tax that will infringe free speech.

On his blog, he has informed me that the U.S. Supreme Court case I cite above doesn't mean the tax is an infringement of free speech. He says:

That is Arkansas law but it still backs up what I said. That case was also about a small type (one or two papers) of publication. This type of tax has also been done and held up in court in Utah. Check with a real lawyer or at least read completely what you send.
The Rep | Homepage | 04.06.07 - 9:50 pm | #

How laughable is that? The U.S. Supreme Court rules in the Arkansas Writers Projec that:

Indeed, this case involves a more disturbing use of selective taxation than Minneapolis Star, because the basis on which Arkansas differentiates between magazines is particularly repugnant to First Amendment principles: a magazine's tax status depends entirely on its content. "[A]bove all else, the First Amendment means that government has no power to restrict expression because of its message, its ideas, its subject matter, or its content." Police Dept. of Chicago v. [481 U.S. 221, 230] Mosley, 408 U.S., at 95 . See also Carey v. Brown, 447 U.S., at 462 -463. "Regulations which permit the Government to discriminate on the basis of the content of the message cannot be tolerated under the First Amendment." Regan v. Time, Inc., 468 U.S. 641, 648 -649 (1984).

No one, conservative or liberal, wants tax initiatives against free speech. Let's challenge Campfield's ideas head on and he can be beaten.

Campfield doesn't run and hide. If you'll notice he has public meetings on the weekends in his district. One is next Saturday. Details in today's News Sentinel.

Campfield wins because he personally talks to each likely voter in his district 3-4 times during the campaign. Like him or not, you won't outwork him. Also remember, Campfield beat his last primary and general election opponents by substantial margins.