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Home Front: Politix

My house almost burned down in the Palisades fire. Alleged arsonist is not who I blame

2025-10-13

Absolutely legit. Had the long established systems worked as they ought the first fire would have been put out quickly and the second would never have sprung up.

[FoxNews] The Trump administration’s Department of Justice and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) announced they had determined the cause of the Pacific Palisades fire and arrested an alleged arsonist. Previously, local officials had said the cause was unknown but may have been caused by fireworks.

As a Palisades resident whose home was damaged but survived the fire, I hope whoever is guilty goes to jail for a long time. However, let there be no mistake, he was not the one responsible for the town of Pacific Palisades burning to the ground. The brunt of that responsibility lies with California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass.

Newsom has failed to properly manage the state’s forests, leaving them dangerously overgrown with the brush that fuels the fires. Rather than taking swift action to clear them, Newsom seems to relish in blaming climate change after each devastating fire. After the Palisades fire, he said, "The hots are getting a lot hotter. Dries are getting a lot drier. The wets are getting a lot wetter. That’s climate change."

Bass has shown her utter disregard of her duties as mayor. During her campaign, she said if elected, "I would not travel internationally. The only places I would go would be DC, Sacramento, San Francisco and New York in relation to LA." Yet, she left the country five times, including her now infamous trip to Ghana while LA was under a Fire Weather Watch from the National Weather Service (which quickly became a Red Flag Warning the next day) in order to attend the inauguration of the president of Ghana. She was at a cocktail party when she learned of the fire.

It is bad enough to violate a campaign pledge, but to do so at a dangerous time, and for something that has absolutely nothing to do with her job as mayor, is inexcusable. She is the mayor of the second-largest city in the U.S., but does not seem to appreciate the responsibility that comes with the job. (This was her second inauguration party outside the country; she also attended the Mexican president’s inauguration.)

Bass is also to blame because her DEI hiring practices put less qualified people into critical positions in charge of protecting the safety of city residents. These positions included the deputy mayor of public safety, the fire chief, and the head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), all of whom let down the city. She proudly states on her website her commitment "to make sure our administration truly reflects the full diversity of the people of Los Angeles," rather than a commitment to hire the best and brightest.

Posted by:Skidmark

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