Republican’s blog causes stir at Capitol
NASHVILLE — A freshman Republican says his Web log marks the first time a Tennessee legislator has written an online diary of a General Assembly session.
But other lawmakers have been offended, saying Stacey Campfield’s blog is unfair, full of malicious attacks on Democrats and a violation of the decorum required of lawmakers.
Campfield, who represents Knoxville, has used his online journal to poke fun at Democratic Senate Speaker John Wilder, among others, and calls gay adoption and abortion “the new face of the Democrat Party.”
Campfield said his trips before House committees these days focus more on his blogging than on his legislation.
But he says he won’t stop, promising “to keep pulling back the curtain” on the way things are done in Nashville. The blog has been quickly linked by other conservative bloggers.
“A lot of people are just scared that what they don’t want exposed will be exposed,” he said.
In a recent Calendar and Rules hearing, generally a fairly procedural affair, discussion on one of Campfield’s bills turned into a heated discussion about the blog.
“You are impugning the character of everybody down here that happens to be a little bit different than you,” said Rep. Jere Hargrove, D-Cookeville. “Do you really believe what you put in this thing?
“If I provide you with material as scandalous and scurrilous as this, that attacks friends of yours, will you put that in your blog?” he said.
“I might — I’d have to see what it is,” Campfield said. “Maybe it’s not blog-worthy.”
“Well, let me tell you, this isn’t outhouse-worthy,” Hargrove replied.
Afterward, at the prompting of House Speaker Jimmy Naifeh, Campfeidl’s bill was redirected to a committee it might never make it out of. Hargrove said later that Campfield should have realized that might happen.
“We do live by freedom of speech, but with freedom comes responsibility,” he said. “Clearly what he’s doing is not responsible.”
The most contentious part of the blog is a reposting of an e-mail from another young Republican who has had run-ins with Naifeh this session, Rep. Chris Clem of Lookout Mountain.
Under the title, “15 Ways to know if you are a Democrat in the Tennessee Legislature,” it offers such quips as “You define ‘capitalism’ as selling your vote for $237,000” — a reference to brewing ethics allegations against Sen. John Ford of Memphis.
One comment that set Hargrove off said, “You believe that the gender roles are artificial but being homosexual is natural.”
Hargrove said the broad-brush characterization is not only wrong, but has no place in the Legislature. Even during campaign season, such tactics wouldn’t be tolerated, he said.
“Supposedly it was written in humor, but it wasn’t funny,” he said. “I am a Democrat, but I am a human being, too.”
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On the Net:
See Rep. Stacy Campfield’s blog at http://lastcar.blogspot.com/