The Alarming Symptoms of a Society Gone Mad
Victor Davis Hanson on the Los Angeles fires:
It's something like a DEI Green New Deal hydrogen bomb — the alarming symptoms of a society gone mad.
It was a total systems collapse from the idea of not spending money on irrigation, storage, water, fire prevention and forest management, a viable insurance industry, a DEI hierarchy, you put it all together and it's something like a DEI Green New Deal hydrogen bomb.
Gavin Newsom was fiddling, he's almost Nero Newsom. And this has been something that is just unimaginable.
The systems breakdown. And to finish, what we're seeing in California is a state with 40 million people. And yet the people who run it feel that it should return to a 19th century pastoral condition. They are de-civilizing the state and de-industrializing the state and de-farming the state. But they're not telling the 40 million people that their lifestyles will have to revert back to the 19th century, when you had no protection from fire.
You didn't have enough water in California. You didn't have enough power. You didn't pump oil. So we are deliberately making these decisions not to develop energy, not to develop a timber industry, not to protect the insurance industry, not to protect houses and property. And we're doing it in almost a purely nihilistic fashion.
And Karen Bass should resign. She came to the airport back from Africa. She had nothing to say. She was confronted at the airport. Why were you in Africa? Why did you cut the fire department? They cut the fire department by almost $18 million. They gave fire protective equipment to Ukraine's first responders. And she had nothing to say. She had nothing to say because she couldn't say anything.
I don't want to be too pessimistic or bleak tonight, but this is one of the most alarming symptoms of a society gone mad.
And if this continues, and if this were to spread to other states, we would become a third world country if we're not in parts already.
Here is the full 7 minute video: Victor Davis Hanson: California's Catastrophic Wildfires Are 'A DEI, Green New Deal Disaster':
Los Angeles Times, 8 January 2025:
Scores of fire hydrants in Pacific Palisades had little to no water flowing out.
“The hydrants are down,” said one firefighter in internal radio communications.
“Water supply just dropped,” said another.
By 3 a.m. Wednesday, all water storage tanks in the Palisades area “went dry,” diminishing the flow of water from hydrants in higher elevations... Before the fire, all 114 tanks that supply the city water infrastructure were completely filled....
If Californians Don’t Fire Newsom, He’ll Burn What’s Left Of Their Home To The Ground, by Jennifer Galardi, The Federalist, 10 January 2025:
Gov. Gavin Newsom failed to prepare California for fires; L.A.’s fire chief was focused on making the fire department ‘more diverse.’...
This man has single-handedly destroyed the state with his Green New Deal policies and emphasis on “environmental, social, and governance” (ESG), diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and any other acronym initiative you can think of. He has wasted billions of taxpayer dollars on useless, ineffective projects - from a train that no one wants to alphabet soup education - instead of doing what he should have to ensure this fire didn’t inflict the damage it did...
What happened a week into 2025 is not unique. What is unique is the leadership of the state. Newsom has failed to manage the conditions properly. Brush should have been consistently cleared. Controlled burns should have been initiated to clear floor areas. For crying out loud, a sufficient supply of water should have been available in fire hydrants! Everyone who lives here knows this. Many constituents voted for this. In 2014, Californians approved the Proposition 1 Water Storage Investment Program (WSIP), which allocated $2.7 billion for water storage projects. Those projects have largely gone unrealized..
Yet Newsom, along with the mayor of Los Angeles, Karen Bass, failed to listen. Rather, L.A.’s fire chief was focused on inclusivity and making the fire department “more diverse.”...
It’s time to remove Newsom for all of those who love California. If we don’t stop him, we won’t have to wait for untenable economics to drive citizens out of the state — he will continue to burn what’s left of it to the ground. ;
A firefighter spoke to Joe Rogan and predicted the LA fires to the nth detail back in July of 2024 This has been a well-known vulnerability for some time, and California politicians did nothing:
A firefighter spoke to Joe Rogan and predicted the LA fires to the inth detail back in July of 2024.
This has been a well-known vulnerability for some time, and California politicians did nothing. pic.twitter.com/6p3NFRyX6L
— Brandon Morse (@TheBrandonMorse) January 9, 2025
LAFD Laid Off 113 Firefighters From Duty Due To Covid mRNA Shot Mandate, 6 December 2021.
Empty Reservoirs and Budget Cuts, Washington Free Beacon, 10 January 2025:
A 117-million gallon Los Angeles reservoir was empty when the disastrous fires struck the City of Angels because city leaders scheduled it for maintenance—during fire season. And just a week before the firestorm exploded, Mayor Karen Bass called for nearly $50 million in cuts to the Los Angeles Fire Department - after its chief had already warned that a $7 million reduction to the overtime budget "severely limited" its response to wildfires...
... water tanks and about 200 hydrants in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood went dry early in the fight...
... Bass threatened $49 million in additional cuts to the fire department the week before the fires broke out, which would have added $17 million she had already slashed...
Gavin Newsom Cut $100 Million from Fire Prevention Budget in 2024, Breitbart, 11 January 2025.
L.A. Picked an ‘Actual Communist’ for Mayor Over the Former Water Commissioner Because He Wasn’t an ‘Overweight BIPOC Lesbian’, Breitbart, 11 January 2025.
Gavin Newsom wiggles with glee that speculators will be buying up burned out homes, 13 January 2024:
Why is Gavin wiggle dancing when he says:
“Speculators buying up properties…”
After the fires destroyed everything…
Aunt Pelosi gonna make more money or something?
pic.twitter.com/X1UcQwoGoK— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) January 13, 2025
NewNeo, 9 January 2025:
California is a state with too many people for its water supply, some special geological and climate challenges which present the possibility of disasters, environmentalists eager to block most potential solutions, and one-party Democrat rule. It’s a situation rife with possibilities for incompetence and corruption.