On September 3rd, I wondered why there was no report or commentary whatsoever in the San Francisco Chronicle on the reprehensible scammery of Carole Migden. She's the California State Senator (D-San Francisco) who sneakily pressed the automated "yes" vote button of a Guy Houston, a Republican state HOUSE member away from the floor when a House tally was called on her (Migden's) Senate bill to require tougher labelling of carcinogens in cosmetics. I noted at the time that the Sacamento Bee had given the ugly story front-page local section play, and rightly so. I wrote:

Her colleagues should mount an effort to officially censure Migden for her reprehensible act of political fraud and hooliganism. The entitlement mentality of urban Democrats has never been more nakedly evident. The San Francisco Chronicle, scrupulously balanced on its op-ed pages, but far less so in its Left-leaning regular news coverage, has yet to pick up on the Migden debacle. The same day The Bee reported on Migden's shady "ghost vote," The Chron had her crowing over the partisan Borking of an insufficiently Green gubernatorial air pollution control official. The Chron did report on her cosmetics bill clearing the House (end of this item) but made no mention of her impersonating a Republican legislator. (Ed. note: The Sept. 8 LA Times takes the same approach, in reporting on the bill at the end of this piece - it's as if Migden's being caught in the act had never happened).

The Chron's avoidance of Migden's appalling lapse wouldn't be because she's an "out" lesbian who continues to champion gay marriage legislation that would override a state initiative which defined marriage as between a man and woman, and calling attention to her broken ethical compass would infuriate the paper's large gay and lesbian readership, would it?

Nah.

What I might have also observed is that the Chron's editorial page sometimes shows flashes of independence from the city's prevailing political winds, which I've blogged about before, as in this post on the paper's editorial supporting a Home Depot in SF's Bayview neighborhood.

That independence is again thankfully evident. On September 7th, the Chron editorial page - and this may be a total coinky-dink - echoes my call four days earlier for her colleagues to censure Migden's on-floor vote fraud. In an unsigned editorial feature labelled "Political Watch," and titled, "Migden Crosses the Line," the Chron opines:

Upshot: A public sanction against Migden is warranted. "Ghost voting" has no place in the California Legislature. The importance of SB484 -- which we supported -- does not justify underhanded tactics. One possibility would be to ban Migden from the Assembly floor for a certain period. The question is whether Democratic leaders, who control both houses, will have the courage to take action against one of their own.

Bravo, dudes. Interestingly, the Chron's dead-on commentary opens with the phrase "News Flash" and then immediately describes the basic facts. underscoring the lamentable lack of timely coverage of the Migden ethical debacle in the paper's, ah, NEWS section. Actually, this Google News search of "Carole Migden" (at least when run early Thursday, Sept. 8) returns lots of items, but still no NEWS pieces in the Chron on her "ghost vote."

Oh, one other thing. A day before The Chron's editorial, The Daily Independent of Ridgecrest, California ran a guest commentary on Migden's chicanery, also labelled "Our View," and written by State Assemblyman Bill Maze (R-Visalia).

Ms. Migden's actions were outrageous and inexcusable. She owes a public apology to Houston and to Republican and Democrat Leadership in both houses. If not, she deserves a very public sanctioning. Yet, this incident is only a piece of a larger, more troubling picture. Her actions, and her party's defense of her actions, are indicative of the majority party's arrogance in the California Legislature.

Maze is potentially too forgiving in proposing that a public apology should suffice. This late in the game, it's for show only. Will Democratic majority leaders in the California General Assembly tolerate corruption in their ranks, or sign on to a formal censure of one of their own, who so richly deserves it? Go on, surprise us, Ds.

TECHNORATI TAGS: CAROLE MIGDEN, GHOST VOTE, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

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Posted by Matt Rosenberg at September 8, 2005 12:51 AM