Former Legislator: It's Ungovernable

Hannah-Beth Jackson, the former Assemblywoman from Santa Barbara, is widely admired in progressive circles. She's a strong Democrat who was very critical of the current, Republican governor.

But she, like many Californians, has realized that it's the system, not the governor, that is broken in this state. In a very smart piece at the California Progress Report, she writes:

"I'm no fan of Queen Meg, Meg Whitless, or whatever other cute and probably accurate nicknames are out there which describe her cluelessness and imperial notion of governance. She is clearly unqualified to try to govern the largest state in the nation. But even if she were qualified, had voted over the last 20-plus years (which horrorfyingly she has not), the state is simply ungovernable in its present configuration. Period."

Jackson is right. Under our current system, it doesn't matter all that much who the next governor is. Still, it's pretty rare to hear an elected official, or former elected official, say so plainly that the state can't be governed. The rest of us should pay attention.

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