The "I'm Not Sayin', I'm Just Sayin'" of the year

From today's Charleston Daily Mail:

State education official says his "redneck" remarks were taken out of context

by Justin D. Anderson
Capitol Reporter

A top state education official acknowledged that he used the phrase "four-wheel riding, dope-smoking, alcoholic rednecks" to describe a lifestyle that impedes student progress.

But Kenna Seal, who heads up the state Office of Education Performance Audits, said he was not talking about Lincoln County.

"I used those words, but I didn't call the people in Lincoln County that," Seal said. "I used those words to describe a lifestyle that I have noticed in places across the country and even in West Virginia."

Members of the Lincoln school board contend that Seal was harshly criticizing the county and have asked him to apologize.

Here's the thing -- he's not altogether wrong. And what they taught me at that fancy journalism school is that the best defense against libel is the truth.

He certainly doesn't get any style points on this one, and to be honest, it's not just Lincoln County. He should spend some quality time in Logan, Mingo, McDowell ... Wirt, Ritchie, Doddridge ... I mean, it's pretty much the whole state.

That's sure to piss off most West Virginians, but you know what? Prove him wrong. Because from where I sit, I can't see that he's saying anything that's patently false.