Trump wrote on Truth Social 3 hours ago (that is to say, in the middle of the night).
And, here, the NYT got a guy to write a whole article about it in the middle of the night: "Trump Calls Officials Handling Los Angeles Wildfires ‘Incompetent’/Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles County authorities have invited President-elect Donald J. Trump to tour the devastation, but he has not publicly responded."
Published at 4:37 a.m. Ah, but I clicked on the reporter's name — Mike Ives — and I see he's "based in Seoul." It was 6:37 p.m. — Korea Standard Time. A normal work day. The NYT didn't roust some reporter in the middle of the night to make an article out of the most recent Trump truthing.
"Mr. Trump’s comments indicated that the fires, and officials’ response to them, will likely occupy a prominent place on his domestic political agenda when he takes office on Jan. 20. He has renewed a longstanding feud with California’s governor, Gavin Newsom, who in turn has accused Mr. Trump of politicizing the fires."
Is it wrong to "politicize" the fires? Isn't fire fighting one of the top services we demand from government? I can see saying, don't distract us with recriminations while we're right in the middle of an epic struggle against fire, but that only means, don't politicize yet. But are they fighting the fire right now or are they helpless? And if they are helpless, are we supposed to refrain from asking why are they helpless?
ADDED: I wondered if there are earlier examples of anyone ever saying "There is death all over the place." I only found one thing, at Internet Public Library, from what looks like a sample answer to a predicable high-school essay test question: "Similarities Between Death Of A Salesman And Hamlet": "In Hamlet there is death all over the place...."
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Adam Carolla gives his firsthand account into his so called "white privilege" in CA. "It's all fluff until the fires start"
https://truthsocial.com/@realamericasvoice/posts/113799972545527940
This must be torture for the Times--trying to find a way to channel their readers' anger and anxiety over what is happening in LA into the comforting groove of Trump hatred. As for whether this will "occupy a prominent place" on his political agenda, it is likely to join two dozen other topics; at the moment, however, reporter Ives just made that up.
It’s probably not in either ones dna to ignore the other one right now. Newsom has the critical task though and he should focus on demonstrating any leadership skills he has if he wants to keep his job.
The most frustrating thing for me is not getting enough data on the status of the fires and the numbers of air and ground firefighters, where they’re from, where they are deployed, status of water etc. Those pressers are filled with accolades for all the people doing the work, which of course is good to do, but give more data and less of that until it’s over.
Politicize disasters? Projection. If Trump didn't politicize he'd be at odds with everything Biden and Obama and Clinton ever did. It's central to politics...
See the recent FEMA avoidance of "MAGA houses" with the flooding. See how the left has tagged every single weather event as "human-induced climate change." They are so very saturated in disaster politicization that they don't even notice.
https://www.westernjournal.com/10-failed-global-warming-predictions/
Al Gore saying that the North Pole would be ice free in 5 to 7 years, in a 2009 story:
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2009/12/al_gore_trips_on_artic_ice_mis.html
PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: It’s astounding what’s happening…with only one piece of good news. My son lives out here and his wife. They’re–They got a notification yesterday that their home was probably burned to the ground. Today, it appears that it may be still standing. They’re not sure. But the good news is I’m a great grandfather as of today…
GUTFELD: Way to read the room, you callous corpse. Sorry your city is burning, but I brought cigars. Anyone got a match? I’m going to be a great granddaddy. ****, what a clown. I guess we can be grateful he didn’t ask Jimmy Carter to stand up at the eulogy.
https://youtu.be/w5XjOucGglk
And of course, Mad Maxine is blaming RICH people for not paying their fair share. WHEN will she pay HER fair share??
https://x.com/EricAbbenante/status/1878214261714956735
CA needs to go into some form of receivership. Didn’t the Feds put someone more competent than the mayor in charge of NOLA for a while? Russell Honore? He kept talking about being “stuck on stupid,” a phrase that once again seems apropos.
Trump and Althouse keep the same schedule.
Is it wrong to "politicize" the fires?
Did not Newsom attempt to try to blame Trump while the fire was just a day or two old? Don’t start fights you’re going to lose.
Isn't fire fighting one of the top services we demand from government?
Yes. Along with police protection and infrastructure building and maintenance, which gets us back to maintaining the Santa Agnes reservoir.
I can see saying, don't distract us with recriminations while we're right in the middle of an epic struggle against fire, but that only means, don't politicize yet.
But are they fighting the fire right now or are they helpless?
No to both questions. For instance the Oregon State Fire Marshal sent 300 firefighters and 60 or 75 pieces of firefighting equipment to LA to help out. (I’ve seen both numbers reported,) That equipmen is tied up in red tape in Sacramento, 400 miles north of shere it’s needed. Could not Newsom cut through that red tape and hurry the equipment south?
And if they are helpless, are we supposed to refrain from asking why are they helpless?
Hell no!
I particularly like the use of quotes around the word incompetent on the headline. Does the reader see them as a direct quotation—which is unnecessary—or as scare quotes to undermine Trump’s accusations?
It's just another version of a "Republicans pounce" article.
What MM said.
Chicago fire, San Francisco fire.
Rich people pay a staggering amount of taxes, especially in California, but it’s never enough for the Democrat locusts.
The people who are getting criticized asking that we not politicize something is a form of civility bullshit. Same concept.
I wondered if there are earlier examples of anyone ever saying "There is death all over the place."
I don't know if there is another example of that specific wording but there is Shelley's poem, "Death":
1.
Death is here and death is there,
Death is busy everywhere,
All around, within, beneath,
Above is death - and we are death.
Mayor Bass cut the Fire Dept's budget. That's just spectacularly wrong. It would be like FDR cutting the Defense Dept budget after Pearl Harbor. And there are other examples just as egregious. The top three management positions in the Los Angeles Fire Dept. are all filled by lesbians. I can understand how a lesbian could have had the drive and ambition to become a top person and outmatched the competition. But what are the odds that all three were the best available choices?......The media will talk about Climate Change, the courage of the firefighters, and the tragedy of the people who have lost their homes, but they can't dodge the fact that this was mismanaged.
Maybe there's a sports team (soccer, lacrosse, hockey, whatever) named the Los Angeles Fire or something like that so make of that what you will.
My question to the people of California. Is it bad enough yet? Your state’s legislature had a special session, not about the wildfires but how to Trump proof your state. Thousands of people have had nearly everything they own destroyed because of the ineptitude of the people you put in office. Do you think it might be a time for a change?
Is it bad enough yet?
The Mayor spent 11 hours on a military plane, doing--we don't know what. She gets off the plane and has nothing to say. In 11 hours, she couldn't manage to come up with a single thought, and no prepared remarks. Then, she holds a formal Press Conference, but now is not the time to talk about what she was doing for 11 hours on that plane, or why she was even on a plane out of the Country etc. There are no deaths (relatively) and the only property threatened is rich people's homes (mostly). The Fire Dept. has already conceded that nothing can be done because there's no water, and they're simply going to let the fire burn, while everybody sits around and waits. It would seem there's nothing else to do but talk. Yet, the Mayor and CA Gov insists now is simply not the time to talk about such issues.
As a long time…and reluctant…resident of Los Angeles, I am slightly heartened to see some dug-in backlash to those for whom the citizens have been voting. Some.
However, I doubt that will translate to any serious change in elected scumbags in the future. California is a political cesspool.
- Krumhorn
I have read somewhere, most likely in a comments section that in Pacific Palisades in particular, that many of the homes that are burning are the "wealth" of those people as they have owned those homes for many years and that the appreciation through the years constitutes the bulk of their wealth. Many of those people have recently lost their insurance and so they will have lost their wealth. If this is true then many of the homes being burned don't belong to people who are genuinely rich. They were only going to be rich once they sold their homes and moved to where they could buy a home for a fraction of the cost and have the leftover as wealth.
I early this morning I watched live coverage of the fires in the canyons just north of Hollywood Blvd and west of La Brea. I saw four helicopters drop water on a new outbreak. The outbreak only grew. Darkness and terrain made it difficult for the copters to get low and close. I just checked back and the small outbreak has now connected with the larger area the initial sparks came from. With the massive amounts of fuel in those canyons and houses backing up right to them, it's an impossible task. It's like trying to extinguish a house fire with a squirt gun.
All of a sudden the homeless population in LA has greatly increased. Where are all these people going to live? How will they be fed? Will there be enough tents?
Althouse said...
The NYT didn't roust some reporter in the middle of the night to make an article out of the most recent Trump truthing... I wondered if there are earlier examples of anyone ever saying "There is death all over the place."
Hour of the Wolf News?
"This is the Hour of the Wolf News. Big light in sky slated to appear in East. Sonic booms scare minority groups in Sector B.
And there's hamburger all over the highway in Mystic Connecticut."
Sacramento (350 miles south of me) is just petty bureaucracy at its best. Adhere to the stupid regulations and rules, no matter what the circumstances. Idiots.
Raging fires in dire need of assistance. Too bad...we have to check the air pressure in your tires and make sure you past California's "carb control standards". Can't have your fire trucks putting CO2 into the air...while the entire area of LA is spewing the same and worse into the air.
THIS idiocy is the reason that shit like this happens. I would hope that this will wake people up to the gross mismanagement by Democrats/Libtards.....but...not likely to happen.
State of Jefferson couldn't happen soon enough. (also not likely)
If you ignore the MSM in favor of new media, it is clear that the incompetence is palpable. Once the fires are out it will be covered up.
You put them out by not letting them start with fuel accumulation for years. At the moment it's a burn itself out situation, with opportunistic chances to save this or that if enough people are put on it.
Looting is a result of fuel, not depravity.
Nothing is more hilarious than hearing a liberal/left Democrat accusing some of "politicizing" something. Everything to Newsome, and people of his ilk, is "Political". But again, notice the typical Liberal/left tactic of NEVER playing defense. If a Conservative and/or Republican "Pounces" the liberal/left never explains, and never apologizes. They counter-attack. They leave explainations and the apologies to the Republicans.
The absolute primary justification for property taxes is to pay the local government to protect the residents and their property from fire and other natural disasters. The governments of California and LA have broken the social contract. They clearly had other priorities for spending the taxpayers' money.
Personally, I find this type of fire and the coverage incredibly boring. Yeah, its a fire. Its burning things. They are throwing water/foam/whatever on it. California has them every year. Eventually, it will go out. This isn't like Maui where PEOPLE were burning to death.
But people seem fascinated by endless shots of fire and reporters saying "Its raging out of control".
The Times is not accepting comments. Big surprise. The story is the incompetence, not the accuracy of Trump's response. Politicians are generally perceived to be bullshitters. The leftmediaswine still think the public is too stupid to look past the bullshit at the reality. Except for diehard Democrats, they are mistaken. Empty reservoir, dry hydrants, houses built in Santa Ana fire tunnels amongst the underbrush, LAFD budget cuts, DEI hires. Incompetence! Who cares what Trump says or if he visits?
Finally, I no sympathy for people in SoCal. Yeah, you elected a bunch of liberal/left Democrats. And you'll keep electing them. Well, you got what you voted for. Its like people in NYC or SF complaining about crime and then voting for the same people over and over again.
hombre said...
Once the fires are out it will be covered up.
A lot of influential California Democrats were affected. Like Glenn Close as the jilted one-time lover in Fatal Attraction, they will not accept being "ignored."
disembolden.
disembolden—try2.
Checked with Google Maps and it is only 280 miles from my house to Sac. Seems longer because of the winding mountain roads 😏
Liberal - Justine Bateman - she nails it. All should watch.
I’m surprised at how little death there is…
https://elizabethnickson.substack.com/p/the-la-fires-karma-retribution-or
The crisis of competence is clear for all to see.
Even if this turned out to be terrorism, it wouldn't save the Dems because they've brought in so many unvetted illegal aliens.
I can honestly say I did not have "Democrats burn down their own State to troll Trump," on my bingo card this year, but you have to give them credit for their novelty.
Anyone check on Inga lately?
I believe she said she resided in CA, and Hell hath no fury than a leftist self-identifying she/her/they/grrr who doesn't get their way.
Maybe she decided to fight fire with...fire...
Has she has access to a box of matches lately...?
Enigma,
Algore said the arctic would be ice free by 1998 in his 1991 book Earth in the balance.
The arctic will alway be ice free in 10 years. In 2050 people will be telling us it will be ice free inby 2060.
In 21p0,ice free by 2010
I haven’t read comments to see if this has already been posted, but Michael Shellenberger really lays this out…
https://x.com/shellenberger/status/1877757377597862370?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1877757377597862370%7Ctwgr%5E538429895e5bfd0781ade108c7c338576963c153%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Finstapundit.com%2F695595%2F
Yep- nailed it, Money Manger.
No one has yet had the time to sift the rubble for the scorched bones.
Vicky is who you are thinking of- Pasadena, so far, has escaped damage (probably too much concrete for the fire to jump.)
Ten people have died so far in this fire.
Look, if any home on my residential block burned down to its foundations, leaving only a chimney and smoking debris, and no fire-fighters and fire apparatus ever arrived, I'd be furious too. LA has failed to provide the basic fire and life-safety services to its residents; its homeowners' real estate tax dollars fund services that failed to materialize, for a fire-disaster administrators failed to plan for, for a municipal water-service utterly ill-prepared for anything bigger than a 10-alarm fire in one location.
Michael Shellenberger's substack post on LA wildfire disaster is entirely accurate. Sadly, there are few objective responses to this major calamity.
There are many "woke" LA-wildfire posts by other self-righteous and seriously deluded substack writers, still spewing "climate change caused wildfires" misinformation, somehow putting full blame on Trump, MAGA, racism, and "white privilege".
Maxine Waters, normally a media hound, absent from media coverage so far.
Everything is politics.
Excellent summation!! Thanks for posting the link!
"and the only property threatened is rich people's homes (mostly)."
Otherwise known as "taxpayers". Some day, they might start wondering what they're paying those taxes for.
"DEI" policies are used to warrant promotion of people who are ill-equipped and unqualified for the administrative responsibilities assigned to their job position. Nothing in Karen Bass's resume would confirm capability to capably manage 2nd largest US city; she's literally suitable only to be figurehead, a person to cut ribbons, attend galas, and be sent to Ghana to attend its president's inauguration festivities. Likewise, nothing in Brandon Johnson's resume would confirm capability to manage US's 3rd largest city, Chicago. Their only qualification frankly is their DEI qualifications, as affirmation of the progressive-liberal values of their voter-constituencies. Neither could manage operations of a simple coffee shop, or a storefront family restaurant.
The magnitude of property loss due to LA wildfire disaster will ripple throughout entire US economy. Who do you think will pay for enormous federal aid sent to Los Angeles County in coming months, and for many years? Who will feel impact of building supply shortages, increases in property insurance rates, etc? Practically speaking, most Americans will feel some negative financial impacts from this catastrophe; it's certainly not limited to Californians alone.
"Trump Calls Officials Handling Los Angeles Wildfires ‘Incompetent’"
Granted, there are many others that would equally apply but "Incompetent" is a perfectly cromulent word to use to describe the response of LA/CA officials to the fire.
Republicans pounce on Democrat's incompetence.
Read yesterday that Saturday's newer fires are fueled by 50-years accumulated brush, burning in areas which have never previously experienced wildfires.
Also read yesterday that State Farm Insurance complained that its rates were fixed by California law, and risk mitigation stymied by California laws which prohibit or severely restrict brush clearance and storm-water reservoir collection, compelling it to exit California insurance market. No Federal law requires companies to operate at a loss to fulfill market demand, cessation of business is allowed.
Most LA homes are wood frame structures with little to no fire resistant building materials used, basically "tinder boxes". LA homeowners mostly ignore fire preventive landscaping guidelines, so enabling maximum wildfire-kindling conditions for their homes, and rapid fire spread from home to home to home. Worst-case scenario writ large.
Trump needs to keep it presidential if he is able. There are people who need compassion and firefighters who need support.
Western NC should get priority attention.
Oh please.
I've lived in SoCal for about 20Y now and previously was in NoCal for a significant time.
The State or Government has a few well-defined functions that makes the State legitimate to the extent that it carries out these functions competently. There is one function (education) that really should not be in its purview but the cat's out of the bag on that one.
1) Physical safety (Police)
2) Natural disaster management/safety (Fire/emergency services)
3) Ensuring reliable water
4) Ensuring reliable energy (electricity, gas)
5) Transportation (Roads)
6) Justice system/level playing field for free markets
7) Education - this should not be under their control but it's too late for that
As regards every single necessary function, the government fails completely on all but fire. Fire management - fighting fires, not managing forests (preemptively) has always been something SoCal has been good at. As much as we blame the government for failing in all its legitimate functions, to be fair, fire fighting has been the one good thing it does. Again to be fair, the fire department is probably doing a very good job, limited by the limitations forced upon it by the government (failed water supply, DEI requirements).
As regards the government's functions above:
1) Police: No one in Los Angeles expects the police to stop and solve crime. The last few years I think has made even the liberals agree on that.
2) Fire/emergency - they really are going a great job I think, given the limitations imposed on it by the government.
3) Water - we have the world's largest reservoir in the Pacific ocean swell as constant water shortages; the government decided they will not invest in desalination while investing in encouraging illegal aliens and other nonsense. We have flood every year but have built no new water collection systems in decades and so the water every year goes to the ocean. News stories complain about the floods every year and then the droughts six months later.
4) Electricity - we are told every summer that we cannot use our AC in the 100 degree heat or at least must keep our homes warm not cool bec there is not enough electricity and we will start having blackouts. And by the way don't charge your car, they say. Not enough electricity. Oh, and no gas cars in ten years. Only electric, they say. So how will we charge them when there's no electricity?
5) Transportation/roads. They intentionally starve the roads to make driving hellish to encourage people to use public transportation or just don't go anywhere bec it's bad for the environment and global warming.
6) Education - come on. We spend nearly the most per student in LAUSD and yet have nearly the worst outcomes. The government gave them a BILLION dollars ten years ago not to improve teaching but to buy electronics. They bought tons of iPads and paid tons to consultants to manage it. They assured us the iPads could only be used for education and were locked out from being used for nonsense. And because of that no one would steal them bec they could only be used for education. Not only were they all stolen, but it turns out the consultants were in relationships with the grant makers.
So the CA government in all ways completely fails, with the one exception of fire fighting. The firefighters are doing the best they can.
"2) Fire/emergency - they really are going a great job I think, given the limitations imposed on it by the government."
"Fire/emergency" *is*, for all practical purposes, the government. The government is doing a great job given the limitations the government has placed on itself?
Speaking of Hamlet, by the end of the play:
Polonius and both his children are dead (Ophelia offstage)
Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern are dead (both offstage)
Hamlet’s mother and stepfather Claudius are dead, as is Hamlet himself
That’s eight corpses, five onstage as the curtain falls. Yes, death is all around.
“The incompetent pols have no idea how to put [the fires] out,” Trump wrote
Trump and many (if not all) of his officials lack the capacity to reach a reasoned understanding of the complexities of a world now undergoing a rapid rate of change — away from the cherished Americana of their imaginations that existed from 1945-2020.
Trump and his administration do not understand the message that Los Angeles is sending out to the United States and much of the rest of the world. This time really is different.
American society needs governance that can adapt itself to the conditions the world is rapidly imposing on all who exist upon it. What one can foresee is that future progress is going to be built around the public policy failures of 2025-2029.
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