As the California wildfires continued to consume large swaths of land, destroy homes, gut businesses, and take lives, a Democratic Congresswoman from the state went on television and offered up a galaxy-brain scapegoat. Maxine Waters once famously urged her supporters to angrily confront Trump administration officials out in public. She instructed them to "create a crowd" to "push back" in order to send a message that such people are "not welcome anymore, anywhere." Mob tactics. Fast forward to recent days, and she's taken to reciting a stale, partisan, irrelevant talking point as her party's leadership failures in her home state have grown increasingly undeniable. After saying she doesn't want to assign blame earlier in the interview, she immediately started blaming...wealthy people for not paying their "fair taxes" because "services cost money:"
CA Rep Maxine Waters takes umbrage with criticism of Democrats' handling of LA Wildfires:
— Eric Abbenante (@EricAbbenante) January 11, 2025
Maxine Waters: "nstead of talking about Democrats and Republicans. Get the information up on the screens."
Chris Cuomo: "However, it can also be seen that you don't want to talk about the… pic.twitter.com/4wpu0jyGuz
Unbelievable. Californians, especially in the bluest parts of a deep blue state, pay through the nose in taxes, financing some of the most expensive government operations anywhere in the world, and certainly the country. Rich people have been demonized and soaked by politicians for many years, under one-party rule, driving many people to flee the oppressive tax and regulatory environment. Republicans are powerless at the state level, and have been for quite some time. The notion that the failed wildfire response is a product of insufficiently high taxation on rich people, in a place that is entirely dominated by tax-and-spend zealots, is ludicrous. But that's Waters' take-away, which is emblematic of the problem. Far too many of her ideological ilk literally cannot govern competently. They crave and seek power, as if power if the ultimate end. But when it's time for them to use the power in order to achieve basic functions of government in crisis situations, they're stumped. This goes to an important point about their deployment of another go-to political talking point:
"I just say this to the deniers out there: You may not believe in science. But you have to believe your own eyes. Mother Nature is just chemistry, biology, and physics."
— Howard Mortman (@HowardMortman) January 10, 2025
- California Governor Gavin Newsom during White House briefing on wildfires pic.twitter.com/vs26DFk5mU
"He's preaching about non-believers when there are people who just need services and it doesn't matter what they believe," writes Mary Katharine Ham. "This environmental priesthood act is his ticket out of accountability, but he's not a spiritual leader, he's a governor. If he believes that climate change is making his state more dangerous, it is even more important for him to plan practical ways to mitigate instead of doing sermons. It should be even more embarrassing to Newsom that DeSantis, who has been reviled for deemphasizing climate change in policy, is nonetheless better at protecting his people from extreme weather." The point is also made eloquently in this piece:
California’s progressive leadership has positioned itself at the forefront of climate change policy, championing emissions reductions and denouncing climate scepticism. Yet when faced with the practical requirements of climate change preparedness, whether conducting controlled burns, maintaining water infrastructure, or restricting development in fire-prone areas—they have proven to be inept. They appear more comfortable with grand pronouncements about global challenges than with the unglamorous work of preparing their own communities for climate realities they themselves warn about...it takes an average of 3.6 years to begin a mechanical forest thinning project and 4.7 years to implement a controlled burn in the US. For large projects requiring environmental impact statements, the timeline extends even further—averaging 5.3 years for mechanical treatments and 7.2 years for controlled burns. These delays kill people.
This full, thoughtful, balanced essay is worth your time. If politicians truly see climate change as man-caused and existential, they should be highly motivated to adjust and prepare accordingly. They have even fewer viable excuses for being incompetent and unprepared -- unless, of course, "grand pronouncements" and the resulting wealth redistribution and power-accrual schemes are actually the priority. Images like this have nothing to do with the climate, and everything to do with governance:
“This was supposed to be the water to put out the Palisades fire.”
— The Free Press (@TheFP) January 11, 2025
The FP’s Austyn Jeffs visits the Santa Ynez Reservoir that has reportedly been empty since February 2024. pic.twitter.com/DwO5OrYhWk
California emergency "drought" restrictions on one side. 20,000 cubic feet of water pouring into the ocean per second on the other. pic.twitter.com/BF0vhSyZJe
— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) March 23, 2023
A reporter in Sacramento had the temerity to ask California's Assembly Speaker why they're undertaking a special session to 'Trump proof' the state amid the unfolding disaster. His answer was remarkable:
Robert Rivas (D), speaker of the California State Assembly, fumbles through his response after getting blasted by a reporter for holding a special legislative session to fight Trump while fires rage through the state.
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 10, 2025
Total incompetencepic.twitter.com/c3LdSQOlaG
The Speaker doesn't want to talk about the political posturing of the special session. He wants to talk about the fires. But the session is not about the fires, which is the whole point of the question. 'Don't ask me about the political stunt we're pulling. There's a disaster underway. Our stunt has nothing to do with the disaster, but it's not a convenient time to talk about what we're doing, or what we're prioritizing.' Speaking of priorities, as Mayor Karen Bass dissembles about her fire department budget cuts, and Gavin Newsom spins and lies about his defunding decisions and ineptitude, the list of California leaders' misplaced priorities is virtually endless. This is a classic example or stunning waste and mismanagement. And another, very recent, prioritization choice feels like an object lesson:
Truly amazing what this abject failure prioritizes. https://t.co/lqfQcxe9Vy pic.twitter.com/OSL8Xi6Sv8
— John Ekdahl (@JohnEkdahl) January 12, 2025
He continues to make overtly political choices aimed at personal damage control:
Wild that he’s doing this before all the fires are even contained.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) January 12, 2025
Imagine if Ron DeSantis put up a website doing political damage control while a hurricane was still hitting.
The press freak-out would be other-worldly. https://t.co/RrKUyB8Mtf
Southern California has burned to the ground and Gavin Newsom went on a podcast to pass blame. Absolutely incredible https://t.co/eZ1vqWUkpW
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) January 11, 2025
Again, the donation link on this page that goes to the "fires" is actually his "Campaign for Democracy" page and powered by ActBlue with the promise he will give it to fire relief. https://t.co/XhTMt6KOJ3
— Brittany (@bccover) January 12, 2025
Gavin Newsom doesn't want to make this response political so he went on the most political podcast imaginable to deflect blame for the poor response. That podcast then tried to raise "relief" funds through a political organization via a partisan fundraising platform.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) January 11, 2025
Again, the word 'priorities' comes to mind:
LA's $750,000-a-year water chief who allegedly oversaw the emptying of the Santa Ynez Reservoir, previously said the "number one" thing she cared about in her role was "equity."
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) January 11, 2025
No wonder why LA is burning. Every leader is a DEI hire.
During a recent podcast, Janisse Quiñones,… pic.twitter.com/dr9lWFS4a9
Finally, with the city's overwhelmed mayor out of the country during a crucial period in the crisis, who was running the city in its hours of extreme need? Not this man, it seems. Unbelievable:
LA deputy mayor placed on leave after FBI raids home for allegedly making bomb threat. This happened in December. His portfolio included the fire department and public safety in general. https://t.co/FHpM21Ey6r
— Jason Chaffetz (@jasoninthehouse) January 10, 2025
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