After James's rant I was well reminded of why we must do better in 2006 and 2008, but I also needed something to break the tension. I found the comic relief I needed in a reactionary conservative essay on the topic of elementary school classroom supplies that, in fewer than 1,000 words, invokes Al Gore, Terri Schiavo, the Supreme Court's decision in Kelo v. New London, bolshevism, and brainwashing. The author manages to slip some advocacy of violence against teachers in there as well.

None of those things are funny, of course. But to think that a person sees them all implicated by some schools' policy on little kids sharing markers is just too much. I might have thought the essay was parody—maybe a tryout for the Onion—if I hadn't found it on the rabidly conservative website NCRumors.com. The author, Frederick Meekins, is also the author of:

• "Makes You Almost Think Some Women Get What They Deserve" (an editorial about a woman who remains with her abusive lover);
• "Society Collapses Before Our Eyes Without The Ten Commandments" (about how the bungled Katrina aftermath portends the tyrrany of secular humanism);
• "A Woman That Knows Her Place & Likes It" (linking to a story about women choosing to be housewives); and
• "Even With Humor, Women Nitpick & Ramble On Incessantly" (I'm not even sure what this one is about).

Fred, thanks for lighting up an otherwise dull Saturday afternoon.