Right before saying no, hell no to former speaker Jim Black’s generous offer, The Meck Deck’s Jeff Taylor has a little fun with a Charlotte Observer “howler” praising Black for his goodly deeds:

Perhaps the saddest thing about Mr. Black’s flawed stewardship of the House is that his policy instincts were in line with our state’s most pressing priorities. He focused on education, jobs and other human needs. He was an uncommonly effective spokesman for the interests of this region.

If you think that one’s funny, get a load of the N&R’s Doug Clark:

I’m no fan of Jim Black, who’s done plenty of damage to the reputation of state government. However, because state government obviously enjoyed a better reputation than it deserved, Black may be due some thanks for exposing how rotten things had gotten in Raleigh.

….Black did bad things, but making him spend most or all of the rest of his life in prison accomplishes nothing. He’ll be punished plenty with the personal disgrace he’s experienced, by spending six months behind bars and having to rat out his political friends, if in fact any of them also broke the law.

Clark often writes tongue-in-cheek, but often I’m not smart enough to catch it. Somebody please tell me I’m missing it here. Please.