TN: Rep. Joe stands by his man...insists UT removes satire of POTUS mints...

UT Knoxville's bookstore has been known to carry other satirical products especially when Bush was in office but  some liberals are pretty thin skinned.  Rep. Joe Armstrong (D) Knoxville heard about these mints and took it upon himself to go and see for himself. He then complained to the manager and asked for them to be removed. Not everyone applauded his stand by his man approach.

"Let me make very clear, there is no candy exception to the First Amendment," said Glenn Reynolds, who teaches constitutional law at UT. "Free speech is free speech. If you make fun of the president in a mint, it is just as much free speech as it is if you make fun of the president in a political cartoon."

What is interesting is that this satire is from the hard left who are plenty disappointed in POTUS. Poor guy can't get any love even from the left. Joe Armstrong to the rescue. The resulting publicity will probably help the online store with more business.The company that sells the mints, Unemployed Philosopher's Guild, sells more than 25 different varieties of mints on their website, including ones that poke fun of Sarah Palin and Bush.

While citizens have the right to express disapproval of a message on a tin can of breath mints, that opinion has more heft when it's coming from a government official, Reynolds said, calling it "a species of censorship."
"The other thing I have to say is, I just think it's really quite odd to hear of a state legislator to take it upon himself to have something removed from a bookstore. It's the kind of thing people make fun of Mississippi for," Reynolds added.

Way to go Joe!