Temporary insanity. That line of defense is made for times like these. Davie commission chairman Carl Humphrey should use it. In a moment of political insanity, he apparently said something stupid, inflaming veterans.
Nobody in his right mind would insult veterans. Thus, temporary insanity.
In a private conversation, Humphrey is accused of making a disparaging remark about the veterans who want the county to continue to fund a veterans service officer to help with filing claims for federal benefits.
The county tried to cut the full-time position to save money.
Humphrey has been an elected official for a mere 15 months, not long enough to learn to speak diplomatically at all times. He may have figured it out by now.
He managed to insult a warrior class that no longer turns the other cheek: Vietnam veterans. When they came home from war four decades ago, they were disparaged and abused by anti-war hippies and others who dishonored their service to America. Vietnam vets endured it then, but no more, as Humphrey will testify.
 The county board’s attempts to trim spending are off to a rocky start. After paying for an expensive study on how to cut costs, the board tried to ax the veterans service officer but ignored a recommendation to consolidate its legal services and save $100,000.
The board might have saved the price of the study if it was going to cherry pick the recommendations most pleasing to themselves. This is another expensive study bound for a dusty shelf in the county manager’s office.
Veterans gathered at the county commission meeting last week, some demanding that Humphrey resign.  In full retreat, the board unanimously restored the veterans service officer as a full-time position, but the hostilities remain. Lest the vets keep coming back month after month, the board chairman would do well to offer an unambiguous apology and wave a white flag.

Movie Crew Returns
To Farmington Barn

Little Joe’s son came back to Farmington last week with his film crew. Michael Landon Jr. is filming another Hallmark TV movie “The Confession,” a sequel to “The Shunning” which aired last year.
The film crew jumped around the area using settings in Winston-Salem and, last week, the Sparks family farm on Spillman …