And another thing …

Maine and Vermont are arguing about which state can claim ownership of the old “You can’t get there from here” joke. Vermont says it told it first. Maine says it told it best. There’s a lot to be said for telling it least.

The Pittsfield Town Council faced a tough decision — to become full, paying partners in a regional industrial park or to let neighboring communities pick up the tab, to reap the benefits of investment by others, to become, as one supporter put it, freeloaders. “I have no problem being a freeloader,” said Town Manager D. Dwight Dogherty, speaking in opposition. It’s that “can-do” attitude that made this country what it is today.

First Lady Hillary Clinton went just a tad hyperbolic in announcing the opening of a new Smithsonian exhibit on the Vikings. Not content merely to praise the seamanship and courage of those intrepid explorers of yore, Mrs. Clinton said the ancient Norse were pioneers in equal rights for women; she called their wide-ranging vessels “the Internet of the first millenium.” We hear they had a crackerjack universal health-care system, too.

With their property-tax method declared unconstitutional, New Hampshire lawmakers are searching for a way to pay for public education without actually paying for it. School closures are imminent, teachers are fleeing, the bond rating is in collapse — the very future of the state hangs in the balance and the hunt for the painless gimmick continues. Perhaps they ought to change the motto to “Live Free and Die.”

Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji opened his visit to Washington last week by complaining that the United States “is so anti-China.” Americans are a happy-go-lucky people, but they can get a bit testy about having their own nuclear warheads aimed at them.

Rep. Henry Joy’s ideas are often good, always interesting. Here’s his latest: term limits has damaged the Legislature’s ability to make informed decisions; the remedy is to prohibit employees of state agencies from offering informed opinions at public hearings. When working in the dark, be sure to wear a blindfold.