Crossposted from FreakOutNation with permission, because Anomaly a really good friend and extremely cool person who knows how behind I am today:

State Rep. Stacey Campfield (R-TN) on Thursday withdrew his highly criticized bill which would tie welfare assistance for needy families to their children’s grades. Even Campfield’s Republican colleagues refused to support it.

Think Progress reports, “As Campfield walked to the Senate chambers, he was presented with a petition of more than 2500 signatures collected by Clergy for Justice to protest the bill. The deliverer of the petition was an 8-year-old girl, Aamira Fetuga, whose mother, Rasheedat Fetuga, is the founder of a local child advocacy group. 

As Aamira prepared to explain to Campfield why she was worried about his bill, Campfield dismissed her as a “prop” and hurried away, repeating over and over again, “Using children as props is shameful” as Aamira and her mother tried to talk to him.”

Normally I’d call someone out if they used a child as a ‘prop’ but since this bill affects them greatly, while putting undue stress on a little kid, then it’s appropriate. Again, she’s only 8 years-old and hardly has a notebook full of ‘gotcha’ questions’.

Toward the end of the video, one of Campfield’s constituents tried to talk to him about his disapproval for the bill, only to be dismissed as a “union thug” by the state senator.

Campfield acts so pompous and condescending toward his constituents. There is something very disturbing about this man. Who in the hell calls one of their constituents a union thug?

My two cents: Stacey Campfield is not only pompous and condescending, he’s a bully. He got in the face of a little girl, put on his syrupy voice, and called her a prop… to her face. He spoke to her mother as if she were dirt, as he did to the “union thug” who dared to tell this smug little bottom feeder that he was ashamed of him.

It was easy to see why he was trying to run away.

Hey Stace, I love it when state officials use children as photo opps to show their true, slimy, disdainful, ugly colors.