After witnessing the stunning ease with which Jerry Brown returned to the Governor's Office last year, Sacramento insiders couldn't help but be impressed. After his waltz back to power, these journalists, politicians and lobbyists resurrected the image of Brown as a masterful Zen triangulator, playing political chess while others struggled with checkers.

This presumption yields odd conversations in which insiders contemplate what the governor has publicly proposed and touted in speeches and appearances -- and then speculate on what it is that Brown actually wants.

For one example, I talked with a Democratic official who dismisses Brown's seemingly firm support for the high-speed rail boondoggle as posturing to please the Obama administration, which is desperate to have construction begin in California next year to help the president's re-election bid.

For another example, I know a Republican lawmaker who believes Brown secretly supports "paycheck