Public university forced to pull boxes of Obama 'disappoint-mints' after complaints







A University bookstore was forced to pull boxes of mints from its shelves after a state legislator complained that it satirised President Obama.

The red and blue box of mints - which were on sale for $2.99 at the University of Tennessee - bear a picture of the President with the words 'This is change? Disappoint-Mints' underneath.

Officials were forced to pull the product after Democratic state Rep Joe Armstrong visited the bookstore and told the manager he found the mints offensive.

The University of Tennessee pulled the disappoint-mints from shelves after local legislator Joe Armstrong told store officials he was offended

Mr Armstrong told The Knoxville News Sentinel that UT uses federal and state funds and should be sensitive to what he called 'politically specific products'.

Local politician Joe Armstrong was not happy that a publicly-funded university was selling the mints

He said: 'If it was a private entity or corporation or store, that's different, but this is a state university. We certainly don't want in any way to put the university in a bad light by having those political (products), particularly aimed at defaming the president.'

It was drawn to his attention by a student who was bothered about the mints and the message they carried.

Bookstore director David Kent said the bookstore previously carried mints that satirized former President George W. Bush and said no offence was intended.

But Mr Kent, who has run the bookstore since 2009, took the 30 or so boxes off the shelves without question.

He said: 'We've never had any complaints before and we've carried them for years. But someone saw it and they were offended by it, brought it to the attention of a state representative, and I said "no problem, we'll remove them".'

Senator Armstrong also said that since the mints were not educational material, there was no breech of the First Amendment.

Bookstore director David Kent said the bookstore previously carried mints that satirized George W. Bush and no offence was intended to President Obama, seen here with fans in Chicago Wednesday night

He told the Sentinel: 'With a book or something of that nature, then fine, but that (the mints) is sort of a discretionary product they have. It wasn't viewpoint neutral. Very specifically insulting to the president.'



Glenn Reynolds, who teaches constitutional law at the University, said: 'Let me make very clear, there is no candy exception to the First Amendment.

'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.

'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.'

