SEE HOW THEY RUN

SEE HOW THEY RUN: Try to pull a con-job on a New Yorker and it's likely his- or her- response will be a sneering "what am I- a freakin' idiot?".

But when one examines the ingestion and regurgitation of mindless claptrap that passes for the cranial contents of some of these vapid tea-party-addled denizens of the fly-over states, you just know that an honest response to that same query, would be "indubitably."

But mainlanders have no monopoly on helpfully doling out "two tens for a five" upon request if a story in this morning's Honolulu newspaper is any indication.

The headline "State may sell buildings, then pay developers rent" doesn't even tell the whole story.

Apparently the Brainiacs at the capitol have passed legislation allowing the fiscally-challenged gang at state Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS) to "sell buildings under its ownership to developers with an agreement by which the developer pays for upgrades and the state pays to rent the improved facilities."

Of course as long as you don't think too much- or at all- about it it sounds like a great deal. But, as the article notes in one of those passive-aggressive passages reporters have designed to give credence to even the most harebrained of ideas:

Concerns have been raised that the law... could end up making it more expensive in the long range to own and maintain buildings, given that developers will need to earn a return on their investment through charging the state rent.

Gee, ya think?

Where exactly do we find one of these saps who think that instead of fixing his broken-down car it would be cheaper to sell it to you and then buy it back for the price you paid plus the amount of the repair bill and then throw in 10% for YOUR trouble?

Well apparently you find at least 49 of these Lady Madonnas in the state house and 25 of them in the senate- and of course one more on the fifth floor- who do indeed think that money is heaven sent.

So who's the real idiot? Well, in New York they say to look all around the room and if you can't find the mark it's because you don't have a mirror handy.