TODAY'S LESSON IN TRADITIONAL VALUES FROM THE HEARTLAND

Here's a fine, upstanding public servant from Idaho:

An email that compares Michelle Obama to a black widow spider is circulating the Internet.

CBS 2 received a copy of the email from a concerned viewer. The email was forwarded by Canyon County commissioner Steve Rule.

"The female has a very wide backside, is Black, and has a red hour glass shaped marking on her belly," the email says.

The email continues, "You can find this spider in Closets, Wood piles, Under beds, And soon... THE WHITE HOUSE!!!!!!

Following the comments is a photograph of Michelle Obama wearing a red and black dress....

Commissioner Rule issued an apology that was weak even by comparison with the I'm-sorry-I-got-caught mea culpas that usually follows an incident of this kind:

"I found the red markings on the dress shown in the email very similar to that of the spider and that made it humorous to me. If that has offended anyone I sincerely apologize, and all concerned parties can be assured that in the future, I will not use a county computer to forward emails that are not directly related to county business."

The full text of the e-mail can be found here.

Rule, when he's not circulating hateful e-mails, is a sponsor of the God and Country Festival of the Treasure Valley, a celebration of "the precepts on which our country was founded: individual rights, belief in God, a representative form of government guided by an assemblage of laws created by elected individuals, sanctity of human life, and all other rights outlined in the Constitution and its supporting documents ... an evangelistic event that tells people the good news of God's love and salvation with a purpose of honoring our military and public servants (ie., police, fire and rescue) as well as honoring our country."