Bankrupt candidate

I am not a genius. I possess few marketable skills and little management experience. I don’t speak a bunch of languages or pile awards on my desk. But I’m smarter than Carly Fiorina, and that really bothers me.

I’ve known for some time, for example, that states — unlike cities or counties — cannot declare bankruptcy. Fiorina apparently just learned this, because yesterday the Republican who wants to toss Democrat Barbara Boxer out of the U.S. Senate said California should do exactly that:

“I think it should always be considered. Whether that is the right approach now, I don’t know. I think bankruptcy, as a possibility, at the very least focuses the mind on what has to be done to salvage a situation.”

Sigh. Fiorina’s spokeswoman then made matters worse, shoveling the following condescending dreck onto a Los Angeles Times reporter:

“Carly knows that legally declaring bankruptcy isn’t an option for the state of California like it is for local governments. Her point is that the concept of the state not being able to pay its bills and meet its obligations — and the fact that people are using the word ‘bankrupt’ to describe California’s financial situation — should focus the mind on just how bad the state’s financial situation really is.”

Seriously, this frightens me. I’m not qualified to be a U.S. Senator, and yet I would never make this error. Doesn’t that scare people?

-Anthony Pignataro