Inside the Beltway

Royal flush

We certainly opened the floodgates yesterday when observing that Al Gore hopped aboard a dry toilet.

Of the dozens contacting us, few were in favor of ushering in waterless urinals (seen as one answer to the international water crisis). Mr. Gore has joined a water-free technology board promoting dry toilets, from which resulting matter is collected and used as crop fertilizer.

“Your column brought back memories of my childhood in rural northwest Kansas,” writes Irvin Lamb of Berkeley, Calif. “In the early 1930s, we had very effective dry toilets. In fact, we enjoyed tipping them over every Halloween.”

Mike West of Crandall, Texas, recalls, “My grandparents and great-grandparents all had waterless toilets. I don’t know why Al Gore thinks having an indoor, waterless toilet is such a great idea. Here in Texas, we always had our outhouses outside.”

Loretta Werres of Ocean View, Del., asks, “I’ve got an idea to make that dry toilet less labor-intensive: Instead of having to empty the dry toilet every day, why don’t we just build a little house in the backyard where we can go and do our duty?”

Lastly, Andy Eckhardt says, “Tell Al Gore thanks, but I spent too many years trying to get off a farm with four rooms and a path to enjoy a waterless toilet.”

Treason’s cousin

Because news outlets like to remind President Bush how many American servicemen have died since he declared an “end” to major combat in Iraq, a new military and intelligence-themed Internet site spells out reasons for the current U.S. deployment.

“America is at war,” reminds IntelMemo.com. “We are at war against the network of international terrorists who committed the mass murders of September 11th. We are at war against the survivors of Saddam Hussein’s regime and against the remnants of the Taliban in Afghanistan. Americans have died and continue to die in this struggle.”

As for the other “war” declared by the Democratic leadership against President Bush, the site contains a quote from Sen. Zell Miller, Georgia Democrat, who has grown disenchanted with his party’s Bush-bashing: “If what has happened here is not treason, it is its first cousin.”

All but American

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