The politics of LA burning

It's impossible to turn on the news or log in online without seeing hellish images and videos of the fires consuming Los Angeles. Behind the obvious and immediate human tragedy is also an American one: The parts of the city most impacted represent old California — 1920s-Hollywood-American-dream California. The grand, sunny optimism that built this California is as dead as the builders themselves. But it wasn’t old age that killed the spirit. It was politicians. California has effectively been looted by Democrats. Sure, California’s climate has changed over the century since the grand buildings and mansions of the Palisades were erected, but we all knew that. We knew the risks and had the money to contain and mitigate them, but certain players made conscious decisions to spend it elsewhere, including on the city’s dangerous and growing homeless population and on illegal immigrants. It’s true that Americans have an incredibly short political memory, but the political repercussions really haven’t even begun. State and city politicians are always quick to blame distant forces for their misdeeds and misfortunes, but the real problems are clearly visible. Dry brush that could easily have been cleared provides easy kindling, but Democrats didn’t clear it. Landowners were restricted by Democrats from cutting down dead, dried-out trees that serve as habitats for local critters and food for fires. Millions of dollars were diverted by Democrats from firefighting toward programs for the perennially homeless and for illegal immigrants. Democrats overseeing the fire department stressed “diversity, equity, and inclusion” over skill and qualifications. Rigid restrictions against watering lawns were still enforced by Democrats despite years having passed since the last major drought. Even if — even if — you begin with the assumption that climate change contributed to the blaze, there’s no shortage of reports on the subject, knowledge of fire-prevention methods, and money to have prepared for the danger. Los Angeles has the third-largest budget of any city in the country behind New York City and Chicago. You can say “global warming ate my homework” all day, but that’s not why the city’s water pressure couldn’t keep up and the fire hoses stopped working. The sad reality is a mob of incompetent local politicians and environmental activists plundered the Los Angeles budget and in the process turned the Palisades into a tinderbox. And now no one wants to talk about it. Democratic Mayor Karen Bass was literally on a taxpayer-funded trip to Ghana. She wasn’t taking any questions. She could not have more perfectly encapsulated the looting of Los Angeles if she’d been a character in a Hollywood movie. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) was next, passing questions about the incredible inefficiencies of California Democrats on to “local folks.” A local mother chased him down in the street to demand answers for the lack of relief. Joe Biden, who is actually still president, did a press conference in Santa Barbara, during which he happily bragged to reporters about his first great-grandchild — a wonderful accomplishment far removed from the desperate needs of those Americans just 90 miles to his south. Remember when George W. Bush toured the ravages of Hurricane Katrina from the air to avoid diverting on-the-ground resources toward presidential security? He was crucified for his thoughtfulness. Thoughts of resource diversion, or even the fires, do not appear to have crossed Biden’s mind. It’s true that Americans have an incredibly short political memory, but the political repercussions really haven’t even begun. It will take weeks to count the damage and years to rebuild — if that’s even possible. Rebuilding itself may be more politically hazardous than the flames, given the incredible control nature-first environmentalists and their lawyers have over California law. If the burning of Notre Dame taught us anything, it’s that we can rebuild beautiful things — if we will it. The Sunshine State does not will it. Specifically, she doesn’t even allow it. The permitting alone will be a disaster. Basic projects take years and costs needlessly balloon under bureaucratic pressure. Look no farther than the high-speed rail fiasco. The mayor is already done here. If Newsom doesn’t waive these restrictions nearly completely, his own ambitions will suffer dearly. Then there’s insurance. Private companies largely pulled out of insuring homes in fire-prone areas (including those affected) after Democrats restricted rising rates. As a result, some residents dropped insurance altogether while others bought on the state’s market — an insurer that warned in early 2024 that it was financially unstable and would be unable to meet needs should a major disaster strike. “Global warming” and “Donald Trump” have served as useful boogeymen for years now. A sad reality is that society only wakes to the weakness, political lies, and looting when a disaste

Jan 10, 2025 - 08:28
 0  1
The politics of LA burning


It's impossible to turn on the news or log in online without seeing hellish images and videos of the fires consuming Los Angeles. Behind the obvious and immediate human tragedy is also an American one: The parts of the city most impacted represent old California — 1920s-Hollywood-American-dream California. The grand, sunny optimism that built this California is as dead as the builders themselves. But it wasn’t old age that killed the spirit. It was politicians.

California has effectively been looted by Democrats. Sure, California’s climate has changed over the century since the grand buildings and mansions of the Palisades were erected, but we all knew that. We knew the risks and had the money to contain and mitigate them, but certain players made conscious decisions to spend it elsewhere, including on the city’s dangerous and growing homeless population and on illegal immigrants.

It’s true that Americans have an incredibly short political memory, but the political repercussions really haven’t even begun.

State and city politicians are always quick to blame distant forces for their misdeeds and misfortunes, but the real problems are clearly visible. Dry brush that could easily have been cleared provides easy kindling, but Democrats didn’t clear it. Landowners were restricted by Democrats from cutting down dead, dried-out trees that serve as habitats for local critters and food for fires. Millions of dollars were diverted by Democrats from firefighting toward programs for the perennially homeless and for illegal immigrants. Democrats overseeing the fire department stressed “diversity, equity, and inclusion” over skill and qualifications. Rigid restrictions against watering lawns were still enforced by Democrats despite years having passed since the last major drought.

Even if — even if — you begin with the assumption that climate change contributed to the blaze, there’s no shortage of reports on the subject, knowledge of fire-prevention methods, and money to have prepared for the danger. Los Angeles has the third-largest budget of any city in the country behind New York City and Chicago.

You can say “global warming ate my homework” all day, but that’s not why the city’s water pressure couldn’t keep up and the fire hoses stopped working. The sad reality is a mob of incompetent local politicians and environmental activists plundered the Los Angeles budget and in the process turned the Palisades into a tinderbox. And now no one wants to talk about it.

Democratic Mayor Karen Bass was literally on a taxpayer-funded trip to Ghana. She wasn’t taking any questions. She could not have more perfectly encapsulated the looting of Los Angeles if she’d been a character in a Hollywood movie.

Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) was next, passing questions about the incredible inefficiencies of California Democrats on to “local folks.” A local mother chased him down in the street to demand answers for the lack of relief.

Joe Biden, who is actually still president, did a press conference in Santa Barbara, during which he happily bragged to reporters about his first great-grandchild — a wonderful accomplishment far removed from the desperate needs of those Americans just 90 miles to his south. Remember when George W. Bush toured the ravages of Hurricane Katrina from the air to avoid diverting on-the-ground resources toward presidential security? He was crucified for his thoughtfulness. Thoughts of resource diversion, or even the fires, do not appear to have crossed Biden’s mind.

It’s true that Americans have an incredibly short political memory, but the political repercussions really haven’t even begun. It will take weeks to count the damage and years to rebuild — if that’s even possible. Rebuilding itself may be more politically hazardous than the flames, given the incredible control nature-first environmentalists and their lawyers have over California law.

If the burning of Notre Dame taught us anything, it’s that we can rebuild beautiful things — if we will it. The Sunshine State does not will it. Specifically, she doesn’t even allow it. The permitting alone will be a disaster. Basic projects take years and costs needlessly balloon under bureaucratic pressure. Look no farther than the high-speed rail fiasco. The mayor is already done here. If Newsom doesn’t waive these restrictions nearly completely, his own ambitions will suffer dearly.

Then there’s insurance. Private companies largely pulled out of insuring homes in fire-prone areas (including those affected) after Democrats restricted rising rates. As a result, some residents dropped insurance altogether while others bought on the state’s market — an insurer that warned in early 2024 that it was financially unstable and would be unable to meet needs should a major disaster strike.

“Global warming” and “Donald Trump” have served as useful boogeymen for years now. A sad reality is that society only wakes to the weakness, political lies, and looting when a disaster or enemy is at the gates and we see just how atrophied we’ve become. It’s why disasters like COVID may have been worth the pain. You can’t treat the disease until you know what caused it — or who is poisoning you.

When lockdowns lifted, Americans, like a drunk leaving his barstool for the first time in the night to wobble toward the restroom, were suddenly aware of the state we're in. The fires are the moment after, when we lean on the counter staring at our reflection in the bathroom mirror.

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The fire rises

Pillar: How Sharia law saved a child British hospitals condemned to death

British decline is in full view. Few stories encapsulate the dystopian death panels ruling the country better than the awful cases of Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans — infant children condemned to die by the government over the strident objection of tortured parents and despite pledges by outside countries to fly them to (and pay for) continued treatment abroad. But then a strange thing just happened: A Muslim child was allowed to leave, flown by the Vatican, to receive continued treatment in Italian hospitals, where she’s already shown small but important improvements. How did this happen? Edward Condon reports:

One of the stories that caught my attention over Christmas, and which I would have given a full analytical treatment had I not sworn firm that I wouldn’t work over the holiday, was a new twist in the case of Tafida Raqeeb, a seven-year-old girl who has spent years on life support following a traumatic brain injury when she was four.

In 2019, Tafida’s doctors in the U.K. went to court to have her treatment withdrawn, deeming her a hopeless case and asking the court to “let her die,” over the strenuous objections of her parents. Similar petitions have been famously lodged by U.K. doctors in recent years, as was the case for Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans, both of whose parents were ordered by the courts to watch their children die.

As was also the case for Charlie and Alfie, the Vatican offered Tafida an airlift to an Italian hospital, where her treatment could continue. But, unlike with Charlie and Alfie, she was allowed to go, with a judge ruling her parents were to be allowed to take their own child to seek life-sustaining medical care elsewhere, and avoiding an effective death sentence in the U.K.

She has been there for some three years, in a Vatican-owned hospital in Genoa, and is apparently breathing on her own — something her U.K. doctors insisted could never happen.

Anyway, at the time it was all a bit of a mystery to me what made her case different — other than the vagueries of judicial discretion — though the judge did cite the “sanctity of life” in his ruling, a consideration notably absent from the Charlie Gard and Alfie Evans cases.

Over Christmas, however, I read that the judge in Tafida’s case apparently weighed a ruling from a U.K. Islamic sharia court in his thinking ...

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Fibis I am just an average American. My teen years were in the late 70s and I participated in all that that decade offered. Started working young, too young. Then I joined the Army before I graduated High School. I spent 25 years in, mostly in Infantry units. Since then I've worked in information technology positions all at small family owned companies. At this rate I'll never be a tech millionaire. When I was young I rode horses as much as I could. I do believe I should have been a cowboy. I'm getting in the saddle again by taking riding lessons and see where it goes.