So Mom pointed out a typo in the previous entry (thanks Ma!) Anyway, while I was looking over that entry, I realized that I had mischaracterized the power crisis. The entry mentioned hooking up Enron employees to little turbines “in order to repay Californians for the mess they caused last year,” but now I realize that the “they” was a bit glib. Clearly, we Californians played our own part in causing the mess. As SJ Merc columnist Dan Gilmor points out (sorry, Nancy, I still read Gilmor every once in a while):

If you go on vacation, leave your back door unlocked and put up a sign that says “No one’s home,” you should not be surprised when other folks take advantage of your stupidity and rob you blind. Unhappy, yes, but not surprised.

Yet everyone is shocked, shocked that the energy wheeler-dealers at Enron took advantage of California’s lame attempt at electricity deregulation. Imagine that: The sharpies manipulated prices after the state all but issued an engraved invitation.

Frankly, I blame myself. After all, I was a voter back in the mid-90s, when Gov. Wilson and his cabal of state legislators were concocting this deal. Imagine if, in 1994, I had attended one of those “townhall meetings” that were all the rage back then:

Me: Excuse me, Ms. Candidate?

Ms. Candidate: Yes, young man?

Me: Do you promise not to wait patiently until the electorate is distracted with sexy political issues like Prop. 187… and then meet in a backroom with a select group of energy industry lobbyists in order to craft some extraordinarily stupid legislation that will screw your constituents for years to come?

Ms. Candidate: I promise not to do that.

Me: Well, alrighty then.

Hey Dan — where were all these pithy comments about “leaving the door unlocked” back when it counted, in 1995? Sure, there was heat and noise on both sides (“Deregulation sux!!” “No, deregulation rulez!!!”). But I don’t recall anybody taking the time to analyze the bill and say, “You know, we could deregulate our power market… but this bill happens to be a really stupid way to do it, and here’s why.” Is anyone aware of any pre-2000 newspaper article or editorial that carefully analyzed the bill and spotted its flaws? Send them to me. (Please note: articles that are simply hysterical anti-deregulation screeds do not count.)