On the plus side, the daily paper has begun publishing letters stating the obvious: What in tarnation was the State Journal-Register thinking when it hired Ted Nugent to appear at an outdoor expo set for Sept. 21 at the Bank of Springfield Center? In an advertisement disguized as a news story announcing Nugent's upcoming appearance, SJ-R general manager Eugene Jackson used the term "role model." Not for a lot of folks. Nugent, who’s boasted about flying a Confederate flag at his home, has worn a shirt featuring the stars-and-bars onstage and used the term “bullshit” to describe the removal of the flag from the South Carolina Statehouse. He’s also called Barack Obama a “subhuman mongrel” and a “piece of shit.” He’s delighted in telling how he avoided the draft during the Vietnam era. He’s labeled Hillary Clinton a “toxic cunt” and a “worthless bitch.” He doesn’t come to Springfield for free. Just ask Sangamon County Republicans, who paid Nugent $15,000 to give a speech in 2012. That money, we think, could be better spent on reporters, of which the SJ-R is running short. “Our daily newspaper is so important,” Doug Kamholz wrote in a recent letter to the paper. “Please cancel this foulmouthed fool’s invitation.” Amen, Mr. Kamholz.