In case anyone needed any further proof that State Senate Don Perata is a jerk, they need look no further than today’s Sacramento Bee.  There, ace reporter (and FR friend) Shane Goldmacher has penned a story showing that, in essence, Perata is behind the efforts to recall Republican State Senator Jeff Denham. 
 
What is Denham’s egregious malfeasance in office or traitorous act, warranting this extreme action?

Senator Denham, along with thirteen of his Senate Republican colleagues, refrained from voting out the big, fat, bloated state budget for California until they could get some commitments on spending reductions (in the big picture, a relativelely small amount of cuts, we might add) and reigning in an out-of-control State Attorney General who wants to sue every local government in California who authorizes development, on the grounds that battling global warming should be a higher priority than people having a place to live or work.
 
The point being that a disagreement on policy grounds of this nature is hardly the appropriate use of the recall mechanism.  That being said, a political committee that is headed up by a Perata flack, and which is funded primarily by money raised by Perata (pictured to the right), is paying the freight to put this recall on the ballot.
 
It’s more likely that this crassly political effort is a result of (1) SOUR GRAPES — an attept to go back to last year’s elections where Perata was MIA in recruiting and funding an effective candidate against Denham who was easily reelected, and (2) BEING A JERK — Perata, instead of agreeing to disagree on policy, wants to personalize the affairs of the State Senate.
 
Well, no one is questioning Perata’s legal right to go down this path, though prudently he probably should save up all of the money he can raise to finance his legal defense against all of the nagging federal investigations surrounding his use of campaign funds to enhance his personal standard of living.
 
That said, I hope that Perata’s petty, personal attack on Denham (pictured to the left) gets a lot of play in the media.  It is just one more example as to why voters should reject the efforts by Perata, and his partner-in-incumbancy Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez, to end-run California term-limits this February with a deceptive ballot measure that allows them to keep their lofty leadership posts for another four and six years, respectively.

The Golden Pig, is a jerk, too.  Go figure.

In the meantime, FR readers should aim their browsers over to the website that Denham has set up to fend off this recall.  There you can volunteer your time, or open your wallet, to show your support.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007 at 12:00 am and is filed under Blog Posts.