If the Law Isn't the Line, Where Is the Line?

The campaign of Republican candidate for sheriff Tom Ash is finding out something Democrats in Livingston County learned a long time ago.

Republican incumbents in Livingston County never break campaign finance laws. It's impossible.

Whether it's a candidate who failed to file campaign finance reports for years or a township that failed to take steps to make sure campaign signs were not put on public property, no Republican officeholder in this county has ever done anything wrong. It's always the law that's wrong. And anyone who points out any potential infraction will be publicly ridiculed.

Ash's campaign complained that incumbent Sheriff Bob Bezotte drove his taxpayer-funded vehicle to a spot where he was campaigning, carrying in it campaign tee-shirts. Not a problem, a lawyer that has represented the county says, because, I don't know, the sheriff's personal car was close by, I guess. Or maybe it was because the vehicle wasn't plastered with campaign signs.

So, if the law that says vehicles furnished by taxpayers can't be used for campaigning is not really the law that is going to be followed here, what is the law? If Bezotte can carry campaign tee-shirts to a campaign event, can he haul campaign yard-signs to a supporters'  houses and drop them off? If not, exactly why is one allowed and not the other?

If Bezotte isn't going to follow the law, what rule is he going to follow?And how does the Livingston County Commission feel about this use of a vehicle they paid for with tax dollars? Are they good with it? I'd just like to know.