I will always give the benefit of the doubt because if you don't, even if you are dead right, you will be branded a reactionary. However, you and I held the same suspicions.
Here is the total of his reply to my e-mail:
"Thankfully I believe the kids who read my article, even perhaps the home schoolers in this very competition, realize that my article is a complete joke. Part of humor is coming to conclusions that don’t often make sense. I hope you can appreciate that.
Darren:
LOL!!! The "I'm just kidding" defense
LOL. I too will give the benefit of the doubt, as I usually do, even if our suspicions are true.
I knew he meant the article in general as a joke when I read it, and I have no trouble with jokes that poke harmless fun. I just felt his homeschooler remark smacked of stereotypes and spoke some volumes on his real thoughts about homeschoolers. Sometimes people use humor as a way to mask hurtful things under the guise that they're just kidding.