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WAS IT REALLY AN APOLOGY? Rep. Larry Pittman issued a letter of apology to House Speaker Thom Tillis. But did he apologize for what he said -- that the potential Republican candidate for U.S. Senate is thwarting gun legislation and other "constitutional conservative" measures -- or just the way he said it? Read it again: "While we do still have some disagreement about process, I have done damage to his reputation in a manner in which I did not consider at the time," Pittman wrote.

TODAY AT THE STATEHOUSE: Two major education bills in the legislature today: the House will consider a bill to limit pre-K enrollment and the Senate will hear a measure to overhaul how charter schools are regulated. The calendars are full of other measures, touching on everything from the environment to insurance.Gov. Pat McCrory will attend a National Day of Prayer service in Greenville at 12:15 p.m. and then tour the downtown Main Street minutes later. He also plans to attend the N.C. Sports Hall of Fame gala at 7 p.m.

***Thanks for reading the Dome Morning Memo. Keep reading below for more on the questions surrounding Mel Watt's confirmation and other North Carolina political news and analysis.***

A post on BlueNC, a liberal blog, sparked a confusing moment in Gov. Pat McCrory's press conference this morning.

James Protzman authored what he calls a "Blue Onion" post, a reference to the satirical, fake news sites The Onion, with a headline that read, "Breaking: McCrory to shut down all college athletics programs."

It's clearly a spoof -- but one TV reporter from an unknown outlet didn't get the joke. "Governor, could you please explain your position on doing away with athletics programs at UNC campuses?" the reporter asked McCrory.

"My position on doing away with ... I don't know what," McCrory said, clearly confused -- like the rest of the reporters and staff in the room.

James Protzman, a prominent Chapel Hill blogger, will hold a fundraiser for Democratic Senate candidate Elaine Marshall on Monday.

Protzman and his spouse, Jane Brown, a UNC-Chapel Hill professor, will hold the fundraiser in their Chapel Hill home. The price of admission ranges from $100 to $2,000, reports Rob Christensen.

Among those sponsoring the event at different levels are Ann and Lex Alexander, Jan Allen, Art Benavie and Marcy Lansman, Stan and Roberta Black, Eliska Chanlett, Joan and Ward Cates, JoAnne and Shelley Earp, Peter Filene and Erica Rothman, Tracey Fine, Ron and Cindy Geary, Rhonda Gibson, David Hsich and Priscilla Ching.

Also, Paul and Caroline Lindsay, John McGowan and Jane Danielewicz, Andy and Eliana Perrin, Barry Popkin, Maggie Scarborough, Jim and Yasmine White.

One of the state's most prolific bloggers has gone old-school.

Liberal blogger James Protzman, one of the founders of the influential progressive group blog BlueNC, has written a novel called "Jesus Swept."

The book focuses on the boundary between religion and politics in American life, something that Chapel Hill resident has often written about in a more sharp-tongued manner on his blog.

In a press release, Protzman said the novel is a response to the growth of cultural power among religious conservatives and a "challenge to those who believe their ideas about what is right and good are morally superior."

Drawing on the works of goofball rabble-rousers Kurt Vonnegut and Tom Robbins, the novel centers on a 19-year-old who becomes "a new Jesus" after finding a silver bracelet at Myrtle Beach.

It is published through Kitsune Books of Florida and available at Amazon.com. Protzman says he is at work at a second novel, to be called "Plaid."

No, he won't be called "First Dude."

Bob Eaves, husband of Gov.-elect Beverly Perdue, is honored and excited about his new role as the governor's spouse. He will not, however, assume the title chosen by Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's husband, Todd.

Perdue lightheartedly suggested a contest on the Internet to determine the title, Mark Johnson reports.

Dome would like to kickstart that contest right here. Readers, what should his title be?

The official title for now will continue to be "First Gentleman." A shorter version — "First Man" — has also been thrown around, as have the more casual "First Fella" and "First Guy." Brits (especially tabloid editors) might favor "First Lad," but that seems a bit odd here.

What about "First Bob"?

Update: BlueNC blogger James Protzman suggests "First Mate." Given Eastern North Carolina's nautical history, that has some nice historical resonance...

While the move today to bar illegal immigrants from North Carolina community colleges won praise from groups like Americans for Legal Immigration PAC, it drew a rebuke from the left for Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue.

Perdue, the Democratic nominee for governor, made the motion to ban illegal immigrants from community colleges while a study is being done on the issue.

The motion, approved by the State Board of Community Colleges, was a reversal from Thursday, when officials indicated they were inclined to admit illegal immigrants pending the outcome of the study.

That drew the following response to Perdue from James Protzman at BlueNC:

I'm sure you and your staff agonized about whether to sell out poor brown people for political advantage, but agony or not, you came down on the wrong side of an important moral issue. Which makes your campaign irrelevant to me. Don't bother calling. Don't bother writing. Don't bother me at all. You don't need progressives, and progressives don't need you. I'm heading for Mike Munger.

John Livingston stopped blogging when he began studying for the bar.

As a third-year law student, Livingston and classmate Lance McCord started BlueNC with James Protzman. His inspiration was George W. Bush's win in 2004.

A native of Florida, Livingston, 27, said he spent the first few months getting up to speed on North Caorlina politics. One of his major issues was the creation of large landfills in the southern part of the state, where he has a few relatives and friends.

He posted under the screen name TarGator, a reference to his time in Florida and at UNC-Chapel Hill.

By the summer of 2006, Livingston said he didn't have time to blog between studying for the bar and starting a new job as a real estate attorney for Kilpatrick Stockton in Raleigh — coincidentally, the same firm where McCord now works.

"I wasn't able to be involved in it day to day, and there were other people who were more knowledgeable," he said.

He still has front-page privileges, but he rarely uses them and he hasn't written in months. Still, Livingston said he reads the site every day and occasionally adds his two cents in the comments thread.

Robert Peterson considers himself an old-fashioned blogger.

A life sciences researcher in Chapel Hill, Peterson started out blogging for The Daily Kos, where he first learned about BlueNC in 2005 when he saw a piece crossposted by James Protzman. 

"At the time, I thought it was this well-established Web site," he said. "It wasn't until some time later that I found out that I was user No. 14."

Peterson, 37, started out writing about health care, something he knew about from a stint as vice president of Health Care for All's North Carolina chapter. As a volunteer for John Edwards, he also wrote a lot about that campaign.

When that ended, Peterson became interested in the race for the Democratic nomination for lieutenant governor.

He says that the main contributors to BlueNC agree on a few basic principles: They support increasing health care coverage for the uninsured; they think No Child Left Behind should be changed or scrapped; and they opposed the proposed landing field in Eastern North Carolina.

The one area where they disagree: Which candidates to support.

Lance McCord helped start BlueNC, but he's no longer active.

As a second-year law student at UNC-Chapel Hill, McCord was inspired to start a political blog by reading Crooked Timber, a blog run by a group of academics.

He asked his friends who might be a good partner, and James Protzman's name came up. Along with fellow law student John Livingston, the three started BlueNC in March of 2006 after a single face-to-face meeting at a coffee shop in Research Triangle Park.

McCord, who blogged as Lance, was originally interested in national politics, but he said his interest shifted because of BlueNC's relentless focus on state politics.

"I had a realization that the politics that mattered in most peoples lives were local," he said.

After graduating in 2007, McCord took a job as a corporate attorney with Kilpatrick Stockton in Atlanta. After the birth of his daughter last year, he stopped blogging entirely.

"New job, new town, new baby," he said. "Something had to go, and BlueNC was it."

James Protzman says he has toned down the rhetoric of BlueNC.

The former marketing consultant told Dome that the site intentionally adopted a harsh tone in its early days — alternating criticism with praise — as a way to gain attention in a crowded media market.

"Our early strategy was attack, attack, pat on the back," he said.

A few of Protzman's targets: George W. Bush, Blackwater, Art Pope, N&O columnist Rick Martinez, U.S. Rep. Walter Jones and Robin Hayes, right-wing commenters on Dome, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole and the UNC-Chapel Hill school of journalism.

Aside from markeitng, Protzman said he also blogs on issues that made him angry, spurring him to use strong language. He said that he is now trying to "dial back" on the curse words and offer more measured criticism of reporters and politicians.

"I regret every rant, "he said.  "It's easy to be angry about a lot of things. Sometimes out here in the blogosphere, blowing off steam is the only way to stay sane, but it often creates problems and I'm aware of that."