Doug Clark : Worms get reasons to squirm this week

It sure has been the week for worms – both human and albino varieties.

“Arlin Jordin was sent wriggling back to jail after a judge ruled that the rapist had violated the terms of a release that made the Spokane County justice system look even more boneheaded than usual.

Following his 2006 guilty verdict for drugging and taking indecent liberties with a woman, Jordin was allowed to stay out on bond to basically rub the public’s nose in his presence.

(A long line of women say Jordin did the same thing to them.)

I caught the Arlin Jordin Traveling Show twice during the vermin’s 14-month appeal-pending vacation.

The first time he was driving next to me in a fancy car. The second time we happened to be shopping at the same store.

While studying him, I was struck with how amazingly content he looked for a lowlife sex predator.

A pal of mine told me she crossed paths with Jordin one day in a different establishment. She said she read him the riot act right in the middle of an aisle.

The Jordin bravado evaporated Tuesday. Handcuffs and the prospect of a free bus ride to a state correctional facility will do that. A judge decided Jordin had blown his release by offering alcohol to a young woman who told the police he tried to drug her.

In a front-page story, S-R reporter Karen Dorn Steele wrote:

“Jordin scowled as he was led away in his courtroom attire of suit and tie, telling the media he had nothing to say.”

What a wonderfully lyrical sentence.

I lingered over those words while sipping coffee Wednesday morning.

And I smirked – just the way Arlin used to.

“Oh, the inhumanity. The mysterious and legendary giant Palouse earthworm lost its bid with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to become an endangered species.

Going the Arlin route, an appeal is likely.

To be honest, Mr. Big didn’t present much of a case.

Or even show up, which was part of the problem.

See, the Palouse earthworm is a bit of a recluse. OK. He makes bin Laden look like an exhibitionist.

Although eyewitnesses are in short supply, legend has it that this worm can grow to the approximate size of George Steinbrenner. The creature was last seen in 2005, when a graduate student inadvertently chopped him in half with a shovel.

Er, the worm – not Steinbrenner.

Anyway, since that rude howdy-do, the poor pale Palouse inhabitant has stayed on the down-low.

Who can blame him?

So I say we leave him alone and stop this madness until he holds a press conference or publishes a memoir.

Endangered species? Don’t make me laugh.

Creepy crawlers like Arlin Jordin and this oversized grub are good for one thing only:

Bait.

“Speaking of which, Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, will worm his way into the state’s Hall of Fame on Friday.

This is the second honor for Craig this year. Last June during a layover, the senator was ensconced in the Minneapolis Airport’s Stall of Flame.

In Idaho’s defense, the decision to honor Larry was made before everyone from Jay Leno to your pet goldfish learned that the aforementioned “R” following Craig’s senatorial title stands for “restroom.”

Or “reach-around.”

Life sure can be strange. But you know what they say:

That’s the way the worms turn.