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This week's column.

As an incurable Green Bay Packers fan, I don’t know what to make of quarterback Brett Favre’s messy flirtation with a comeback after announcing his retirement several months ago.
On the one hand, I believe Favre has earned the right to have second thoughts about walking away from a game he loves so much, gave so much to and still is able to play so well.

Then again, I also understand why Packers management feels jerked around.

Favre has retired and unretired before. He contacted the Packers, saying he wanted to come back in March. The team was scheduled to join him in a public announcement.
Then he said never mind. He wasn’t coming back after all.

Now he’s reversed field again.

And I’ve changed my mind about him changing his mind.

At first I considered him fickle and selfish and indecisive.

Now I’m beginning to understand how it’s so hard to walk away, especially given the remarkable condition of this 38-year-old man’s body.

He has meant so much to the game and especially to the Packers — playing hurt ... winning almost through sheer will ... bringing a boyish playfulness to pro football even as more and more gray hairs sprouted on his head and chin ... not missing a start for a gazillion games — that I’ll cut him some slack.

Then — as in five days ago, I said he was a jerk. Now I say a man is entitled to change his mind. Unless, I guess, he’s a politician.

If an elected official dares to change his mind, he might as well curse God and country. Or, even worse, not wear a flag pin.

Positions are made, at least in politics, to be kept. Forever.

Or we’ll make you pay.

Continue reading "In defense of flip-flopping" »

Two things I'll definitely do this weekend: Go to the Dudley High School Consolidated Reunion and see the new Batman movie (with apparently everybody else).

The Dudley reunion is a sight to behold, and attracts Panther alumni from the 1930s to the 21st century.
It also is unique. It happens every year, in addition to individual class reunions during the more typical milestone years.

I was at the Koury Center earlier today. I'll be back tonight. If you're in the neighborhood, drop by our Class of '73 room (1696).

One other note about the Class of '73: It unofficially also includes students who began at Dudley but were redistricted during desegregation to other schools. So Smith, Page and Grimsley should be well-represented.

As for "The Dark Knight," I appreciate the respectful, adult approach to a comics icon.

The first movie rooted the idea of a man in a bat outfit in plausibility and explains, for a change, where all those wonderful Bat toys come from. (I thought some of the action was bland and unintelligible, though).

The sequel is supposed to be much darker. Good.

I grew up with comics. But in the interest of full disclosure, I'm a Marvel guy. Still, I've always had a soft spot for Batman, a DC character, because he's always been a darker, more tortured soul than a lot of the DC heroes. That's a Marvel hallmark.

A commenter blamed the liberal bent of the media for not making more hay over Jesse Jackson's hypocrital utterance of the N-word.

But, interestingly, it was Fox's Bill O'Reilly who chose to hold back on the revelation.

"It was not relevant to the subject at hand," O'Reilly told Fox News' Shepard Smith in an interview earlier this week, "one civil rights leader disparaging another over policy. It did not advance the story."

Jackson said of Barack Obama: "Barack . . . he's talking down to black people . . . telling n—s how to behave."

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Republican Mike Huckabee weighs in on Fox News Channel’s “Hannity & Colmes”:

“A whole lot of people who don’t bother to do anything other than just look at the image. Believe me, I’ve been a candidate, I’m telling you that there are a whole lot of people that don’t get beyond the surface.”

I agree. As if to confirm my misgivings, this letter came in the e-mail today:

"To me it does not matter what color the skin is of our new president. But do we want a President that takes his oath on the Islamic 'Koran,' instead of God's words 'The Bible'? When Obama became US Senator he would not take the oath on our Bible, he had to have his Koran. Do we want a President who will not pledge allegiance to the US Flag, when it is said?"

Obviously, the writer is mininformed. The Koran myth keeps getting repeated anyway. The Internet is rife with this stuff. And polls still indicate that a sizeable number of people think Obama is a Muslim.

My problem is not merely some people's inability to "get" satire. It's their inability to get -- and understand --the facts.

As Huckabee notes, many people who will never, ever turn a page of The New Yorker will see that cover.

Jefff Danziger (above) and a few other cartoonists have mused on how a McCain cover would look, but I think it's too tame.

The most insidious (false) rumor put out about McCain was that he had fathered a black child, a dirty untruth insinuated into the 2000 race by the Bush campaign.

Would that be fair game for satire?

In defense of Sidney Lowe II, who was sentenced Tuesday to 15 months at the Guilford County Prison Farm Tuesday for his involvement in two armed robberies, his lawyers painted an unflattering and unfair picture of N.C. A&T.

Lowe’s father, N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe, and other relatives, essentially blamed A&T, where Lowe II had been a student, for turning his son to crime and drugs.

Lowe said A&T wasn’t his first choice as a college for his son.

Added his uncle, Winston-Salem attorney Michael Grace:

“He wanted to dumb down and thug up when he went to school. He wanted to be accepted. He wanted to drop his britches around his butt and show his underwear.”

In the interest of full disclosure, I have taught at A&T part time for the better part of 18 years.

And I have seen little to support a culture of crime and drugs that sucks students into armed robberies.

Ironically, the judge in the case, Henry Frye Jr., is the son of an A&T alumnus, a former Supreme Court chief justice.

And the blame placed on A&T hardly accounts for the younger Lowe’s troubles with the law before enrolling at A&T.

He was charged with assault in 2002.

Greensboro wants a new aquatics center. Wake County has one.

The Triangle Aquatic Center, which opened in Cary last year, cost $25 million, and spans 72,000 square feet. Among its other amenities, reports The News & Observer:

-- a pro shop
-- an electronic timing system and scoreboard
-- concession stands

For more details, check out this Web site.

And it was buiilt strictly with private money. No, really.

No matter what you might think about their politics, you’ve got to admire how deeply four former City Council candidates have immersed themselves in civic affairs.

Rarely have I gone to a public event around here recently without seeing Marikay Abuzuaiter (at-large), Cyndy Hayworth (District 3), Joel Landau (at-large) or Donna Riechmann (at-large) there.

Or all of the above.

And not just for show. They were actively engaged .. i.e., actually working, not shaking hands and kissing babies.

All lost in their bids for public office in 2007 but all have stayed committed to public service. Some may run again. Hayworth told me last week she probably will.

It’s impressive to see them walking the campaign talk rather than waiting till the next filing period (for those who may file) to pop out the woodwork.

Richard Prince reports on the stir created by the current cover of The New Yorker magazine (to which I subscribe).

The editors say the cartoon depictions of Barack and Michelle Obama as a Muslim and a gun-toting, Afro-wearing black militant, respectively, were an attempt to satirize the ridiculousness of persistent reports that Obama is indeed a Muslim. Or even a sleeper terrorist, a la “The Manchurian Candidate.”

For added effect, an American flag burns in the fireplace and a portrait of Osama bin Laden hangs on the wall.

But satire can be a dangerous thing and even can backfire by actually solidifying the myth it intends to lampoon.

We editorial writers know that all too well. I recall an editorial we published about former pro wrestler Ric Flair considering a run for governor some years ago. We supported the notion, tongue in cheek. But a number of readers took us at our word.

Some were amazed that we would support Flair for governor. Others were delighted.

We discussed the double edges of satire in a staff writers workshop a few summers ago conducted by syndicated columnist Rick Horowitz.

We concluded that good satire is hard to pull off. But, even when it works, some people won’t get it.

The New Yorker does irony and satire better than most, especially on its covers and in its famous cartoons. Not in this case.

Too many theoretically rational voters still believe the silly Internet rumors about Obama, and have even said so in various polls.

The New Yorker may have wanted to poke fun at their prejudice/ignorance, but it may only have fanned the flames of misinformation.

Back to Rick Horowitz: As part of his seminars, he shares examples from other papers. One, from The Washington Post, left no margin for misinterpretation. Emblazoned over the headline of the piece, in large letters, was the label “Satire.”

Just in case anyone was wondering.

As an incorrigible Green Bay Packer fan, I don't know what to make of quarterback Brett Favre's messy flirtation with a comeback after announcing his retirement several months ago.

A man is entitled to change his mind. Unless, I guess he's a politician. But that's another story.

Favre especially has earned the right to have second thoughts about walking away from a game he loves so much and still is able to play so well.

Then again, I understand why Packers management feels jerked around.

Favre has retired and unretired before, according to published reports.

He contacted the Packers, saying he wanted to come back in March, those reports say. The team was scheduled to join him in his public announcement.

Then he said never mind. He wasn't coming back after all.

So the Packers decided to look to the future and prepare the Packers' young backup quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, to succeed Favre.

Now, he's changed his mind again.

The Packers say that's his call, but they've made it clear they've moved on. Rodgers is their man and they've planned the season around him. Favre could come back, but not as the starter.

Now Favre wants to be released by the Packers so he can play elsewhere. The Packers say no; he's still under contract to them, if he comes back.

Oh, the drama.

I personally believe the Packers have an infinitely better opportunity to make to the Super Bowl this season with Favre as QB.

But he has tarnished his legacy, at least a little bit, with his indecisiveness. It is selfish and inconsiderate.

More positive proof that our editorial cartoons aren't considered all that funny by a number of our readers, this came in yesterdays' e-mail:

HAVE YOU NO SHAME?

The Idiotorial cartoon showing St Peter wearing the Barack Hussein Obama tee shirt was offensive to:

1 Senator Helms' memory, family and supporters.

2 Christians of all orders.

3 The basic notion that Church and state are separate. Remember " Render unto Caesar that which is Caesar's, and unto God that which is God's?"

The Sunday guest editorial by Marc Thiessen was a more fitting tribute to a Senator elected by the People of North Carolina five times despite the massive attacks waged against him and the national funding campaigns by Dummycrats to deny North Carolina voters ther choice in the Senate.He defeated "Saint James" along the way.

I will miss our Senator "Know."