Arnold wags the dog

So says the Sacramento Bee, who sees Arnold's poorly thought out endorsement of a poorly thought out bill as mere grandstanding in an attempt to clear stories of marital infidelity off the front pages.

They also come down quite harshly on the bill itself:

Among other things, the bill would require some sex offenders to wear global positioning devices for life. (If the criminal couldn't pay for it, state taxpayers would.) The bill also would bar offenders from living within 2,000 feet of a school. Current law provides for a mere quarter-mile buffer, barring sex offenders from living within 1,320 feet of schools.

Even though California has the harshest penalties for sex offenders in the country, overcrowded prisons and soaring prison costs, the bill also would lengthen sentences.

Early estimates place the cost of the tracking system alone at $500 million a year for a state already swimming in debt.

As I mentioned the other day, all of these bills have been before the legislature in one form or another previously. Arnold's stance then?

Silence. It was golden then. Too bad the shine has worn off.