I can think of few examples that better demonstrate the rule that children shouldn’t play with fire than the recent Measure K fiasco. An intelligent politician knows than to float a trial balloon made of lead, lest credulous folk (e.g., the people who think Michael Moore makes serious documentaries and that Al Gore invented the Internet) get onboard. But then, unlike credulous voters, intelligent politicians are in short supply. Perhaps this explains why it seems that the only qualification (beyond residency) which one must demonstrate these days to run for local office is a passion for telling one’s neighbors where and what they can, or can’t, build.