As a young reporter on my first newspapers I used to chase stories
eagerly, hoping against hope one was true. God, what a scoop I'd have!
Alas, the conspiracies lived only in the addled brains of the cranks
themselves. As years went by I'd still check reports if they seemed even
slightly credible, but invariable they turned out to be baseless.
The Internet means that some of those poor souls you see muttering on
street corners are now on-line. So instead of hurrying by them without eye
contact, you need a different means of avoiding them. You know the names,
just delete their messages unread. It works fine.
And it's all you can do, because you're not going to get rid of them. This
latest one, the lady who has generated some controversy, is here for good,
I'd guess, and trying to get her to make sense will get you nowhere at
all.. Was it not obvious from her initial inchoherent surrealistic
narrative that she's not wrapped too tight?
It might be interesting to introduce her to Cliff Wassem, the area's
ultra-Bircher. She could tell him about Moscow's corruption and he could
tell her about the Jewish Tri-laterists. My own theory is that she's the
reincarnation of D.B.Hughes, Latah County's legendary crank of yore. Or
does that idea sound paranoid?
John Francis, 311 East 6th St., #2, Moscow, ID 83843