Dan Walters: Jerry Brown puts his contradictions on display

Jerry Brown devoted much of Wednesday's State of the State speech to dissing "declinists" who portray California as failing because they don't understand that "California is turbulent, less predictable and, well, different."

He could have been speaking of himself and his odd way – little changed from his first governorship three decades ago – of simultaneously embracing positions that would seem to be self-contradictory, at least to lesser beings than himself.

The 20-minute address was full of them.

Early on, Brown the penny-pincher was on full display, praising legislators for cutting spending last year to close the budget deficit and urging more this year.

Citing Europe's financial crisis, Brown admonished lawmakers that "digging ourselves into a deep financial hole – to do good – is a bad idea. In this time of uncertainty, prudence and paying down debt is the best policy."

But a few paragraphs later, the penny-pincher turned into big spender as he urged those same legislators to put the state more deeply into debt by authorizing billions of dollars to begin construction on a much-troubled north-south bullet train system.

He termed it "a wise investment." However, a panel of transportation experts commissioned by the state says the project is half-baked, doesn't have the complete financial or operational plan, and "represents an immense financial risk on the part of the State of California."

That sounds very much like the "deep financial hole" in the guise of doing good that Brown told the Legislature is a "bad idea."

The speech was, in other words, vintage Brown.

He may be reflecting the contradictory state he attempts to govern. But he's also seeking a better place in the state's history books than he earned during his first governorship – a reign that was dominated by ceaseless campaigning for re-election, the presidency or the U.S. Senate, rather than governing.

The bullet train, renewable energy and other elements of the so-called "green economy" have become Brown's bid for posterity, just as the State Water Project and other public works are the legacy associated with his father.

"In the beginning of the computer industry, jobs were numbered in the thousands," Brown said. "Now they are in the millions. The same thing will happen with green jobs. And California is positioned perfectly to reap the economic benefits that will inevitably flow."

It's an immense gamble, not only for Brown, but for the state because, unlike the computer industry's history, Brown wants California taxpayers, businesses and utility ratepayers to divert countless billions of dollars from more conventional private and public purposes into green development.

If he pulls it off, he'll go down as a visionary. If it fails, he'll go down as a narcissistic daydreamer.