Stacey Gets The Boot

[Oh Shoot]

Bistro at the Bijou owner boots, bans state Sen. Stacey Campfield for AIDS remarks » Knoxville News Sentinel

We make all the best news over here.

Makes me think of a couple of famous lines:

"I been kicked out of better places than this!"

"I wouldn't join any club that would have me as a member!"

- OS

[mikegideon]

I saw that. We've made a good shot or two at the Stupid State Award, but there's lots of competition. I don't think we're ever gonna win it. If we do, I'm gonna get drunk and shoot my AR in the air. :-) (damn smileycons never work when you need 'em).

[Oh Shoot]

... :-) (damn smileycons never work when you need 'em).

Leave out the nose.

- OS

[Garufa]

I really like the Bistro. Haven't been there in a long time but it's a great little place. I really can't stand Campfield.

I smiled reading that article this afternoon.

[leroy]

I think it's great. Stacey should have known better. Looks like another case of poor situational awareness and poorer judgement on ole Stacey's part. It adds some credence to the theory that polititians may be the "dimmest among us".

I "self banned" myself from the bistro (...at nite, at least....), along with some friends of ours probably 25 or so years ago one saturday nite about 9 or so pm. We were looking for a "quaint" place to have a quiet drink before something were goin to downtown. We decided on the bisro and tootled on in. The hostess was quite nice and seated us, but things just didnt seem right to me. Once we were were seated i realized what the deal was. It was confirmed (...terribly, to me at least...) when i looked around and noticed that none of the five or six men at the bar were admiring the old time 1880's era life sized painting of a winsome, delightful reclining nude that graced the wall for about 5 or 6 feet long behind the bar. The men were all moon gazing eachother.

When our sever arrived at our table and took our drink order; i ordered some pickeled pig knuckles, some pickeled eggs, and a mug of ale. He was appoplexic --- he sputtered that they "had no such items" as appetizers. I chastized him a bit, and opined that some schooling was in order for those who did the ordering of supplies at the bistro. He dissappeared to round up our drinks and evidently pointed us out as potential troublemakers to the management.

Quick as a flash, the manager (...a woman...) brought our drinks, gave me a stern look, and asked if everything was alright. I opined and groused a bit about the lack of "bar staples", but let her know that the beer was ok. She looked flustered and left; whereupon the wife chastized me (...quietly, of course....) and we shortly left (...after i finished my beer, all at a leisurely pace....). I wuz the only one in our party who noticed the clientle; which i had a big time describing to our friends who finally put two and two together. All in all, it was a great nite and a great experience.

What is really funny about the Campfield thing is the layout of his district. Take a look at it on the district maps. It runs basically from the tennessee river bridge downtown near the bistro, thru the UT campus, out kingston pike to deep west. There is no way the "downtown yahoos" can override the west knoxville family type folks. Looks like another cruel joke by the mean republicans to me. HEHEHE.

Remember, real bistos have pickeled pig knuckles and pickeld eggs on the bar!! The faux ones dont know what they are, and the "men" dont appreciate the female form!!

(...formerly...) libating leroy the bistro conneseur

Edited January 31, 2012 by leroy

[R_Bert]

Stacey listens to his electorate, and basically runs unopposed ( I know the guy that last ran against him). He has been in hot water before, and will get there again. If anything, he will get a bump in the polls of his voters just because of his "balls". Every state needs one of him to balance out the kook on the other side.

[Oh Shoot]

Stacey listens to his electorate, and basically runs unopposed ( I know the guy that last ran against him). He has been in hot water before, and will get there again. If anything, he will get a bump in the polls of his voters just because of his "balls". Every state needs one of him to balance out the kook on the other side.

Oh, I can't help but like him just because he's such a loon, voted for him and probably will again, even opposed.

He's sort of a selective libertarian, with veins of misguided if not actually bigoted Apple Pie, as per this current issue. Super pro gun, too, although he hasn't done us a lick of good regarding that as far as I can tell, beyond his vote itself.

---------------

edit: Ah, found it, here's our MetroPulse with a feature story on him back in Sept. 2010, pretty good hoot of a read:

What the Heck is Wrong With Stacey Campfield? A conversation with Knoxville’s weirdest politician

http://www.metropulse.com/news/2010/sep/29/what-heck-wrong-stacey-campfield/

- OS

Edited January 31, 2012 by OhShoot

[daddyo]

The liberal wackos are all about "teaching other people a lesson", aren't they?

[Guest bkelm18]

The man is a Grade A doofus, that's for sure. I'd probably kick him out too.

[quietguy]

Oh, I can't help but like him just because he's such a loon, voted for him and probably will again, even opposed.

He's sort of a selective libertarian, with veins of misguided if not actually bigoted Apple Pie, as per this current issue. Super pro gun, too, although he hasn't done us a lick of good regarding that as far as I can tell, beyond his vote itself.

Since I don't live in his district, I respect those of you who keep sending him to Nashville. I don't understand it, but I respect it.

[Guest lostpass]

The rough thing for Stacey is that if you asked me my beliefs I'm sure they'd get me kicked out of somewhere. That said, he's a public figure so he gets to deal with the consequences. I'm fine with him getting the boot but a little introspection makes me realize that there are a lot of places I'd be booted from if I were as well known as Stacey.

Plus his name is stacey.

[peejman]

My wife showed me that last night. At first, I wondered how someone so blatantly ignorant could be elected, but I quickly resolved that.

[leroy]

All. Check this mornin's knoxnews; its gettin hotter and hotter.

This is good stuff.

leroy

[JAB]

I think Campfield is a loon. I don't live in Knoxville so have no say in voting for him. All that said, I will here paraphrase my comment on the story in the News-Sentinel:

The Bistro is in Downtown Knoxville where the customer base is already limited. There is plenty of competition in the restaurant business in Knoxville as a whole as well as specifically in the downtown area. The real outcome of this whole debacle is that the restaurant owner has driven off at least one customer out of an already limited customer base. As for the would-be customer, he will now be 'forced' to take his dining money to any one of hundreds of other restaurants in Knoxville. Yeah, that'll show him!

[daddyo]

Maybe I'm missing something, but in this economy, I find it extremely STUPID for a business owner to ban someone from their establishment because of an ideology. I guess she figures that Campfield's money doesn't spend like everyone else's.

Idiot.

[mikegideon]

That depends on how many customers may stop going there because THEY are offended by his presence. They may not be idiots at all.

[strickj]

That depends on how many customers may stop going there because THEY are offended by his presence. They may not be idiots at all.

I'd say this probably gained her lots of new business.

[Garufa]

I'd say this probably gained her lots of new business.

It has.

Walked by there at lunch today and the specials board outside listed "Monkey Burgers"

[RobertNashville]

If it's okay to demand a person leave because of his remarks/beliefs about "gays" and "aids" is it equally okay if I own a restaurant and I demand that someone leave because they are "gay"? I wonder how the "gay community" would like that???

On a side note, I hate that homosexuals have co opted the word "gay" and completely changed the meaning.

[daddyo]

That depends on how many customers may stop going there because THEY are offended by his presence. They may not be idiots at all.

They would have to complain to her in order for her to know that. If she's going to run her business based on unfounded assumptions of nameless people being offended (most of them probably wouldn't know Campfield if they saw him), then it's a matter of time before she closes her doors for good.

[Guest bkelm18]

My opinion is if you're going to believe something, get your facts straight first before spouting off a bunch of ignorant bull, and completely misrepresenting a disease and its origin and its connections to a segment of the population. AIDS and its connection to homosexuals aside, Mr. Campfield only proved that he was a complete and utter moron in that radio interview. I would have no problem kicking him out of my business either. I am open and accepting to all viewpoints, however willful ignorance is something that I simply won't abide.

[daddyo]

Would it be a smart business decision for me to start kicking people out of my establishment just because I didn't like what they were saying about the Christian faith, or anything else that I disagreed with?

[mikegideon]

Would it be a smart business decision for me to start kicking people out of my establishment just because I didn't like what they were saying about the Christian faith, or anything else that I disagreed with?

Probably not, unless it was a public figure with well known views. Would you kick Sarah Brady out of your establishment? I sure would.

[Will H]

Personally I have no use for the Senator or the business owner. Yeah, I think his remarks are pig headed, arrogant, misinformed, and a little like the Crusades from the days of old, you know "believe like me or I will make you." I also do not like her turning him out because he does not share her beliefs.

Then again I am a total libertarian. I don't care if people are gay or not. the choices of others have nothing to do with my faith in the lord or the life I choose to lead. We cannot legislate morality, and both sides seem to be doing that.

[leroy]

Folks, this is political grandstanding by a homosexual activist pure and simple. Ya may not like Campfield, and i can understand that; but the idea that he somehow "offends" some powerful elite clientele that the bistro has is laughable. Robert and DaddyO are exactly right.

Downtown knoxville is on life support for the most part because of the discussion that is going on now. It's populated in large part by wierdos, winos, and vagarants; along with a more upscale assortment of "city dwellers" of various stripes. The greatest downtown landmark in Knoxville was the Regas Restaurant. It's gone now because of a combination (...in my opinion, anyway...) of the slow death of downtown due to vagarants, weirdos from the "old city", and general urban decay because the buildings that once housed viable businesses are empty and fallin down. The truth is that Knoxville has been in decline for over 50 or so years now.

People with families and kids who are in the least familiar with this area are goin to avoid it like the plague; especially after dark; unless there is some civic function goin on, and they seem to be getting fewer and fewer in number. Goin down the hill away from the bistro toward the river, there is Calhouns, Ruth Cris Steakhouse, and the UT campus; is a bit better and it may survive. It is disconnected from the uptown area along Gay Street. Ya cant walk from the bistro down the hill very easily because of the street layout and the general lay of the land; so most folks commute into that area. The Womens Basketball Hall of Fame is in receivership; it is right next to the Ruth Cris Steakhouse on the river.

The bistro area is alive (...barely, i think...) only because of the close proximity to the knoxville court house, a couple of large office buildings, and the occasional nite time venue at the Bijou Theatre next door. My guess is that the bulk of the dollars for operating these places is coming from some sort of small business or urban rehabilitation grant dollars scheme. I simply cant believe they are completely paying their way; much less making any dollars to speak of.

There is an interesting battle goin on in the downtown of Knoxville (...again, in my opinion...) between the various stripes of political outliers (...take a look at the knoxville city council; for the most part, it looks like the star wars bar scene -- read the bios of some of these clowns...), the University of Tennessee, the real estate developers (...uptown building renovation into condos for some old buildings...), and the weirdo business developers (...beanerys and bars....) that haunt the "Old City". They have evidently fought to a standstill, possibly because of the poor economy; but in large part because of who they are in general. To top things off, we have a new mayor who is an ex-community activist, a urban planner, and a republican to boot (...which i think is hilarious...). The good news is that the mayor appears to be the hand picked servant of our governor; and as such, can be depended on to do what she is told. At least there is a bit of adult supervision there.

The downtown knoxville business coalition wants desparately to make the downtown of knoxville more attractive and very similar to the chattanooga downtown area down toward the river; but they cant do it because of who they are, the general topography north of the river, and because they have no money to speak of. Not to mention that knoxville is off the beaten path so to speak. Its simply on the way to the smokies and the home of the UT football stadium. There is no real reason to be "in knoxville"; there are plenty of reasons to 'pass thru". The UT area helps a bit because of the "captive audience" thing, but the campus is eight or ten blocks away from the bistro area (...thankfully....).

The only thing that is keeping downtown knoxville alive today in the bistro area (...again, in my opinion...) is the uptown office business, the court house, and UT. Since the uptown is no longer prosperous, it has been handed over to the likes of the proprieter of the bistro; who it appears would rather make a futile political statement than harvest the dollars of a political enemy. I find that all very amusing; ----I say: "....keep up the good work and you'll finally finsh off the whole uptown area....".

It's time to end this little epistle, but im still like Robert and DaddyO; i believe that the propritoress of the bistro would do well to stick with running a restaurant and watering hole for a captive audience, and stay out of the business of makin political statements. For ever wierdo that haunts the uptown scene, there are probably 8 to 10 folks who like campfield and dont like the idea of knoxville being known as a leader in the fight for homosexual and AIDs awareness; and they all will vote for campfield again.

That's tonites political commentary from a bit north of the bistro.

leroy

Edited January 31, 2012 by leroy