Tennessee's own Bill Bennett

While Bill Bennett's recent comments have drawn a great deal of deserved attention, the state of Tennessee has been dealing with our very own Bill Bennett-in-training, State Rep. Stacey Campfield.

His initial notoriety came from posting what some might call half-cocked opinions on his blog, but in recent weeks he has picked a fight with the Tennessee Legislative Black Caucus. As a private group, the Caucus' finances are not subject to public disclosure.

Campfield requested a copy of the group's bylaws in March and was denied. He then attempted to become a member of the Caucus in order to gain access to the records. His membership was rejected, based on the fact the was seeking to join only to discredit the group in the first place.

In his reaction to not being allowed to join the group, Campfield made the following comparison:

The furor reignited last week when Campfield, talking about the caucus bylaws, said, "My understanding is that the KKK doesn't even ban members by race" and that the KKK "has less racist bylaws" than the black lawmakers group.

Whether it's whites calling the existence of a black group "racism" or conservative Christians claiming to be oppressed in modern America, there is a trend towards radicals within majority groups adopting the position of the minority, no matter how much it flies in the face of logic. In this case, it's landed Campfield on Fox News, to the surprise of few.

Southern progressives face a Sisyphian task in fighting issues like these in a region so defined by racial struggles. With Tennessee's own Bill Bennett, though, you can be sure the fireworks have only begun.