State Sen. Stacey Campfield is having a blast at the Republican National Convention and keeping his fans updated on his blog. So far with the festivities just getting under way, he's managed to offend women, African Americans and residents of virtually the entire Gulf Coast.

Under the headline, "Akin wrong? Not so fast ..." Campfield has linked to the commentary of a Knoxville anti-abortion activist who defends Rep. Todd Akin by writing "it has long been believed that stress can interfere with normal reproductive processes. Certainly rape is stressful."

In another post, Campfield revealed "I couldn't give a rat's ass" is the catchphrase of the Tennessee delegation.

"It is all a reference to Sen. Jim Summervilles comments on what he thinks the black caucus can do with their input into a legislative hearing on higher ed. ... If I only had a dollar for every time I have heard "I loved it. He is so right....Of course we cant say it out loud!"

And that little storm out there that's freaking out all those Gulf Coast sissies? Campfield scoffs. "All I can say is if this is a hurricane then East Tennessee has one about every other week. Seriously. It's not that bad. Some minor wind and intermittent light to medium rain. Nothing bad at all yet."

Congressman Todd Akin’s unfortunate remarks about rape and pregnancy have produced an image-shaping PR bonanza for at least one Republican. That lucky guy is state Sen. Stacey Campfield, whose own unusual sex theories are popping up everywhere now in the flood of big-picture commentaries about GOP imbecility.

Of all the stupid things Campfield has said, the one about AIDS seems to hold the most fascination for students of ignorance. You know the one. AIDS originated with “one guy screwing a monkey,” Campfield says, and it’s "virtually impossible" for heterosexuals to contract HIV through sex.

Campfield is becoming renowned all over the World Wide Web as a cutting-edge dimwit. Google Campfield and you will find his thoughts on display right there with those of such GOP luminaries as Rick Santorum, who said pregnant "rape victims should make the best of a bad situation" by regarding their pregnancy as "a gift in a very broken way, the gift of human life, and accept what God has given to you." There also are the weird beliefs of many lesser-known Republicans such as Arizona state Rep. Kimberly Yee who thinks women get pregnant two weeks before sex.

So glad you asked. Jeff Woods checks the collective blood pressure of the Volunteer State — and measures the costs of thumbing our nose at the Affordable Care act — in this week's Scene cover story:

If Tennessee opts out, preventive care remains unaffordable for the state's citizens who are still uninsured, so emergency room visits don't decrease and everyone's premiums don't go down. What's more, Tennesseans still help pay for the program through our federal income taxes — only for every other American to enjoy.

And it's all to try to save $300 million in state dollars annually — a cost Republicans say the state can't afford, but which we probably will incur anyway no matter what we do.

Those conclusions are mostly derived from a cost-benefit study conducted earlier this year by the University of Memphis. Assessing the economic impact of the health care law, the study found that an additional $7.5 billion in federal money would be spent in Tennessee in the law's first five years. In 2014 — the first year alone —the study estimated an extra $454 million in federal spending would create 7,573 new jobs, growing to 29,440 jobs in 2019.

Had the agent of this good fortune been something other than the dreaded "ObamaCare" — say, the opening of a new industrial plant somewhere — the study might have ignited a wild statewide celebration. Instead, the study has been little noticed and hardly mentioned since its release in March, at the height of the maelstrom over the health care system overhaul.

Read the entire story here or find a Scene box, take two and call us maybe?

You know, I know this has been a slow news week. And going out and interviewing the people of Jamestown, Tenn., about their great pride in being the place where Mark Twain was conceived is one way to fill time.

But I feel like this news report raises more questions than it answers. Is celebrating the literary-history-changing fuck completed by Mr. and Mrs. Clemens promoting gateway sexual activity? Can a town really claim a fetus? I mean, I roll my eyes when Indiana is all, "Abraham Lincoln lived here," as if it counts and Abraham Lincoln actually lived there.

And most of all, have the people of Jamestown actually read any Twain?

Stacey Campfield has taken to his blog to expound on the Trayvon Martin situation and to answer questions about whether we have a similar Stand Your Ground law.

I have goten a few questions on if Tennessee has a "Stand your ground" policy. As I recall I am pretty sure we do have it in Tennessee.

As Say Uncle points out, we do have such a law. Stacey Campfield, in fact, sponsored it. I guess it didn't make much of an impression.

You'd think that Campfield would have some sympathy for a dead kid. But apparently not.

I am sorry but people wearing pulled up hoodies do apear ominous and I don't care what color the person is. If I saw a person in A pulled up hoodie (expecially in the summer in Florida) I would fear the person was trying to concele their identity for some nefarious reason. Seldom a good thing.

Wow, so Campfield is nervous about people who cover their heads in the rain, in the "summer" of February. So, covering your head is concealing your identity, possibly for some nefarious reason, but covering your whole face with a luchador mask before you go to a football game is all in good fun?

Or is this Campfield's way of admitting that he is up to nefarious things and we should rightly fear his ominous presence?

Update: The principal has resigned.
"Haywood County School District's swift action makes it clear that they do not condone the type of harassment and targeted discrimination that was taking place at the high school," the ACLU's Weinberg said. "We applaud the Haywood County School District for affirming students' right to be who they are and to be free from bullying by school leadership."

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The ACLU is demanding that school officials rebuke Haywood County principal Dorothy Bond for harassing gay children and threatening to expel them for showing affection for each other. At an assembly in February, Bond said gay students are "not on God's path," according to parents. She also said gay people are “ruining their lives.” While Bond was at it, she threw down on pregnant girls, telling them their "life is over."

“Students should never be made to feel like they are unwelcome at their own school, especially by school leadership,” said Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the ACLU of Tennessee. “We expect school officials to clearly state that they do not condone this type of harassment and targeted discrimination, and to take action to ensure that it does not happen again.”

Carrying the great American tradition of baseless xenophobia to new lows is Tennessee state Rep. Rick Womick, who had these kind words for Think Progress at Friday's "Preserving Freedom Conference" — on Veterans' Day, no less:

Personally, I don't trust one Muslim in our military, because they're commanded to lie to us through the term called taqiyya. And if they truly are a devout Muslim and follow the Koran and the Sunnah, then I feel threatened because they're commanded to kill me.

Womick is far from the first person to advocate purging Muslims from the U.S. military: Two years ago, the American Family Association's "Director of Issue Analysis" Bryan Fischer capitalized on the tragic shooting at Fort Hood to proclaim:

[T]he more devout a Muslim is, the more of a threat he is to national security. Devout Muslims, who accept the teachings of the Prophet as divinely inspired, believe it is their duty to kill infidels. Yesterday's massacre is living proof. And yesterday's incident is not the first fragging incident involving a Muslim taking out his fellow U.S. soldiers.

Most recently, GOP Presidential candidate (and allegeged serial harasser) Herman "9-9-9" Cain has warned that Islamic law will eventually corrupt our judicial system, and he invites you to call him crazy for it.

While Tennessee is certainly no stranger to uneducated and politically motivated attacks on Muslims by fundamentalist Christians, Womick's comments most certainly put him in the running for a big fat Boner Award all his own.

So, BREAKING NEWS, EVERYONE: The pastor who said that stupid-ass prayer at a NASCAR race in Nashville this weekend has "defended" his use of the term "smokin' hot" to describe his wife. That was closure I really, really needed. I mean, I can't think of a SINGLE REASON why media dudes are fixated on the "smokin' hot wife" part of this steamin' pile of a "prayer," but bless 'em. Joe Nelms has truly entered the pantheon of sporty dudes we barely cared about before they mentioned their hot-ass wives — like an older, schlubbier Kris Benson! And goodness knows everybody loves a modded Ricky Bobby quote. (Also: Great job taking a caricature of Southern imbecility and making it not seem like a caricature at all!)

But now let's get past how smokin' hot Joe Nelms' wife is (apparently) and imagining her in a smokin' hot checkered-flag bikini, rubbing ice on her neck while moaning about gapping her plugs. Let's get to the part of this prayer that is actually offensive, which is most of it! (I've redacted the product placements — always appropriate when invoking God's boy — so as not to give them any more free press. Unedited version is embedded below.) "Thank you for the [brand names] and the [brand names]. Thank you for the [brand names], and most of all we thank you for [brand name] and [brand name] partnering to give us the power that we see before us tonight. Thank you for [brand name] performance technology and the [trademark name] engines. Thank you for [brand name] racing fuel and [brand name] tires that bring performance and power to the track."

Yeah. Hey, on second thought, I guess this is exactly how baby Jesus of NASCAR-eth would want it. God bless America!