Sheryl Crow is taking the path of least resistance and declaring her toilet paper manifesto to be a joke. I think that’s a wise move on her part, though the damage to her rep has already been done. Part of the problem is that zealots tend not to have a wild-‘n’-crazy madcap, whacky sense of humor. (See also: Gore, Al. I don’t recall Rachel Carlson or Paul Ehrlich being a big hit at the Improv or the Café Wah in the 1960s, either.)

Lileks declared her Friday cri-de-Cottonelle a satire, but anyone who’s uttered a quote such as this one isn’t, in all likelihood, the second coming of Terry Southern. As Malcolm Muggeridge noted as far back as the early 1960s, real life is becoming increasingly hard to satirize, and Crow’s remarks certainly dovetail nicely with earlier comments from her partner in eco-zealotry, the high-flying Laurie David.

Like I said yesterday, Crow’s timing was wonderful, even if her humor was so subtle it flew under many people’s radars. And fortunately, it’s done inestimable harm to the anti-toilet paper movement (and oh how these people must hate her right now).

And to that, we can only give thanks.

Update: More from the "is it a parody or isn't it" file: Remember kids, "Ham is not a toy, and that there are consequences for being nonchalant about where you put your sandwich".