The emcee at the White House Correspondents dinner cracked jokes linking Rush Limbaugh and 9/11. The president of the United States joined in the laughter. A White House press spokesman subsequently said 9/11 was not a subject for mirth. A television golf analyst cracked a joke whose punch line had Nancy Pelosi being shot by two bullets in an elevator.

Dear Parents . . . Dear Parents . . . The hope, energy, and laughter that Terry generates when he’s out on the campaign trail is contagious.—Start of an e-mail message from the gubernatorial campaign of Terry McAuliffe.

. . . Dear Parents, We are writing to inform you of a health issue that has arisen in several schools throughout the Central Virginia area. A number of school systems in the region—including Richmond, Henrico, Hanover, Powhatan, Goochland, and Chesterfield—have reported cases of students coming down with a form of mild hysteria.

When you cross the border into Maryland on Route 15, a sign welcomes you to the state and informs you that a guy by the name of Gov. Martin O’Malley runs the place. It seems like a bit of a waste, doesn’t it? The people who live in Maryland already know; if they don’t know, then they don’t care; and the people who don’t live in Maryland probably don’t care, either.