George Skelton

I know, I know. I expect way too much of journalism these days. Of course, my disappointment is the rationale for the existence of this column, so I’m not going to complain too much. Let me just point out that the news media are fiddling while the Golden State’s economic condition – an estimated $16 billion deficit – is burning like a Malibu hillside sparked by a fresh Santa Ana.

Yes, there are transcendent and competing distractions. Lindsay Lohan was or wasn’t having sex on tape and, sure, some of the nation’s best and brightest contract workers played voyeur with the passports of the major presidential candidates, but I’m going to state unequivocally: The California budget is the most important California story of the year.