FR friend Jim Boren, the very opinionated Editorial Page Editor over at the Fresno Bee just penned a new column in which he talks about the big challenge that Governor Brown will have trying to achieve his budget deal (especially the part about asking the voters to tax themselves) given the political morass (my words) that is Sacramento. Here is an excerpt from the piece…
The state is in crisis, but it’s also business as usual at the state Capitol. That’s why it’s difficult to believe that budget negotiations are going to be different this time. There are too many reminders of the old ways of doing things at the state Capitol.
So as Brown tries to match state expenditures with state income, he will have a battle on his hands because too many insiders benefit from a system that caters to them at the expense of Californians who pay the bills.
Boren is so correct. Why should voters put any trust in the "best" that Capitol politicians will put in 
front of them? Boren closed out his piece with a startling observation having to do with this most naked political act of commuting by over half the prison sentence (for manslaughter) of Esteban Nunez, the son of former Assembly Speaker Fabian Nunez…
They saw Schwarzenegger taking care of a political pal simply as a political deal. The dead student or his family weren’t part of the political equation.
When I read that, I put on my thinking cap… As someone who reads a LOT of political stories for my day job as publisher of this site — I think Jim may be right. Could that really be the case? I have seen editorials and columns heaping criticism (from every place on the ideological spectrum, I might add). I’ve heard radio talk show hosts pan Schwarzenegger’s decision — and bloggers. Even the ever-diplomatic District Attorney of San Diego County, Bonnie Dumanis, has been publicly critical.
But what about the 120 Senators and Assemblymembers? Or our new State Constitutional Officers? If you’ve already put out a formal statement on the commutation, send it my way. If you’ve been quoted in a news story with some opinion on it, send it my way. Or if this blog post inspires you to some public opining on it, send that to me. Whatever I receive I will put up on the FlashReport (if you are some big-government liberal reading this, maybe our friends at the California Progress Report will print your statement if you don’t want to be seen on this Paleolibertarian playground).
Don’t feel obliged to speak out. But don’t say you didn’t get asked…
UPDATE: Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher spoke on air with Chris Reed on KOGO radio in San Diego and one of the topics was the Nunez sentence commutation. You can listen to it here, but you’d have to be patient as the part of the interview on the commutation is well into the interview. To summarize Fletcher’s statements: "There is no way you can defend the rationale or basis for doing that. No one is above the law. Justice applies to everything. The law is the law. I think it was awful. My heart goes out to the family. It’s everything that everyone hates about politics and about politicians. I think Governor Schwarzenegger…really left office on a bad note."