Howard Dean, the Democratic front-runner for president, repeatedly talked about attracting to his party the guys “in the South who drive pickup trucks with Confederate flag decals on the back.” When the other candidates eventually noticed the problem with this thinking, he first defended his comment, then backtracked before apologizing this week, saying, “I deeply regret the pain that I may have caused” and that he would lead the nation in a “difficult and painful discussion” on the issue of race. There goes the Confederate-flag-decal vote.

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Don’t look for consistency, foolish or otherwise, in the minds of Bangor voters who this week imposed nine-year term limits on its school committee while re-electing a 21-year committee leader and backed casinos near racetracks while opposing one next to a hotel in Sanford. Could the slogan “The Oxymoron City” become a marketing device?

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Worst product of the week: The mobile infrared transmitter, MIRT, is used by fire and police departments to override traffic light patterns and clear intersections quickly. Now versions are available for average motorists who don’t like to wait at red lights. For a mere $300 they change red lights to green in seconds and allow motorists to drive into an intersection knowing they are risking thousands of dollars of damage to their cars through collision with drivers from the crossing streets. Perhaps they even risk injury to the drivers’ MIRT-using hands.

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Recent headline in your favorite newspaper: “SAD 70 merges basketball teams, solves mold issue.” Who knew it was so easy?

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Aggrieved conservative academics took their complaint to the federal government recently, telling Senate Republicans that they didn’t feel comfortable enough on college campuses where they might encounter diversity training and suffer from political correctness. The government, which conservatives know is not the answer to their problems but is the problem, said it would look for answers.