Moron of the month
When Assemblyman Michael D. Duvall, R-Orange County, gleefully bragged to a colleague about his sexual adventures with a female lobbyist, his boast was picked up by an open microphone, enabling others, including legislative leaders, to hear.
It was the sort of macho braggadocio we could have done without. But Duvall's infidelity -- he's a married man -- and his tasteless attention to detail were not the worst parts of this sordid affair. It's what the whole thing says about Sacramento.
Until he resigned from the Assembly on Wednesday, Duvall, the father of two and an outspoken family values proponent, served on the Assembly Rules Committee, which oversees members' ethics. And the woman Duvall boasted about is a lobbyist for a major utility company doing business before Duvall's other powerful committee, Utilities and Commerce.
If a microphone hadn't caught Duvall boasting about what others already knew, the matter likely would have been swept under the rug and kept private, as similar transgressions often have been treated before.
But even now legislators don't seem to get it. Duvall apologized for his choice of words. Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, a Democrat, and Assembly Republican Leader Sam Blakeslee slammed Duvall for his "inappropriate and unacceptable" comments.
This is what's reprehensible: Duvall was doing sexual business with a woman who had official business before his committee. So who are the victims here? Taxpayers. Again.
