Posts From Anthony Pignataro
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Anthony Pignataro
Why does Whiman want to be guv?
March 24, 2010 In all seriousness, will someone please tell me why Meg Whitman wants to be governor of California? She’s spending money on the race like she just won the lottery, and yet she’s behaving like someone who just
Read MoreIs high speed rail unstoppable?
Mar. 12, 2010 Sometimes, being a legislator can be a very lonely job. Just ask Assembly member Diane Harkey, R-Dana Point. She’s taking on the proposed California High Speed Rail project, and she doesn’t have a lot of help or
Read MoreBrown scandal resurfacing?
Mar. 9, 2010 Sacramento Bee columnist Dan Walters has been covering California politics since 1975. No one writing about our beloved state government has more experience or authority. But Walters did a curious thing in his March 3 column, titled
Read MoreCapitol field trip!
Feb. 24, 2010 Most people probably get the impression that I spend my days at the state Capitol, prowling the hallways for story leads. Actually I get over to the Capitol very little, but lately I’ve been visiting more often,
Read MoreKeeping California safe and strong
Feb. 16, 2010 Been seeing a lot of commercials for the National Guard lately, especially in movie theaters. They’re big ads, too – full of dramatic music and slow-motion shots of helicopters and pugilistic fighting in the mud. In fact,
Read MoreThey don't say
Feb. 5, 2010 The best press conference I ever covered featured a crooked Republican city councilman in Orange County who had a round belly and a big mouth but little actual thought of how to save his own skin. Surrounded
Read MoreThe enemy of clear language
Jan. 26, 2010 Sometimes I really feel sorry for reporters who cover the Capitol. Their job is to follow around our esteemed elected officials, hauling their notebooks, laptops, cameras and recording equipment to all manner of photo ops and press
Read MoreUsing soldiers as props
Jan. 15, 2010 By now most people are probably tired of hearing about Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Jan. 6 State of the State Address. And who could blame them? You can only subject someone to arcane budget discussions and phrases like
Read MoreSavoring a target-rich environment
Jan. 5, 2010: Then there was the time I swiped a local city councilman’s trash. Another reporter and I were investigating him for all manner of crookedness (he was eventually convicted of felony corruption and banned for life from ever
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