From the L.A. Times:
Even the state's most loyal protectors -- well-practiced at reminding critics that California has the world's fifth-largest economy, as well as its most advanced multicultural society -- seem shaken.
"I have defended California in season and out, but I'm throwing in the towel this time," says Kevin Starr, the state librarian and author of several California history books.
"We sort of deserve it this time, don't we? You've got a leading candidate deciding or not deciding on Leno. This is a society melting down into deliberate self-parody."
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A movie star entered the governor's race on the show of a TV comedian, upsetting the plans of former L.A. Mayor Riordan -- a lawyer who made a fortune and has spent much of it turning himself into a well-known politician -- who might otherwise have been a candidate.
Perhaps, some suggest, California's image troubles result not from an epidemic of insanity but from a contagious preoccupation:
Vanity.
And your point is...?
