Thanks again to James Taranto

The following two items were reported by my idol, James Taranto. The first definitely falls under the heading "slow news day", while the second makes me wonder what the heck they put in the water in Olympia.

The online news site SFGate.com has this hot item on the contents of (as Dave Barry says, "I'm not making this up") Karl Rove's garage:

Click here for story.

And the following letter to the editor appeared in the Olympia, Washington Olympian:

Martial law could follow plan to fight Asian bird flu

I read with trepidation the news article regarding Bush's plans to combat possible Asian bird flu by calling in the troops. His comments brought to mind 1930s Germany, with the Gestapo (Homeland Security) and storm troopers (Rumsfeld's Pentagon) in the wings.

I wonder, could a sitting president, twice elected, and supposedly the epitome of patriotic manhood, consider consolidating his ebbing power by bringing an epidemic to his own people?

Would he use this ploy to institute martial law?

If he would give funds to Halliburton to organize the hurricane recovery in the South -- the same Halliburton that scammed millions of dollars in Iraq -- then I suppose, with the enthusiastic support of his moneyed power base, he would.

The fact that Congress voted funds, not for public health but for Homeland Security, strengthens this suspicion.

This is a sad day for our United States of America.

Peg Davidson, Olympia

Yes, Peg. It is a sad day. But not for the reason you think. The fact that a reputable newspaper in the state capital of one of our fifty states would print such drivel is what's really sad.