Perata's folly

"Asking California voters to weigh in on military policy is like asking Congress to give advice on filling potholes." Robert Greene of the LAT, on Senate leader Don Perata's proposed Feb. 5 plebiscite demanding an immediate withdrawal from Iraq.

"Voters already have serious doubts about elections, as declining turnouts indicate. Asking them to mark ballots on a measure that by definition won't actually do anything simply underscores what many voters have come to see as the pointlessness of elections. Remember the 2005 special election, in which outraged voters rejected every single measure sent their way?"

Here's my favorite, probably-not-true conspiracy theory circulating around the Capitol: If the U.S. Attorney ever indicts Perata for his legislative and political maneuvers, he can claim the Bush administration is just harassing him for his principled stand against the Iraq war. Insert usual denials here.

(Photo:  Diana Diroy/Oakland Tribune via AP)