Late yesterday, L.A. Mayor Karen Bass finally got back into town.  I lived through the Northridge quake and watched then mayor Dick Riordan and Governor Pete Wilson work miracles to get the region back on its feet.  Within hours things were happening.  As Bass finally showed up one would hope that she’d take hold, start barking orders and making things happen – ala Riordan.  But such was far from the case.

As she exited the aircraft she was confronted by media and refused to answer their questions, – not even knowing where to go – looking remarkably like President Feeble, er Biden.  Ah, but then a short tour and briefing later she held a presser, (perhaps now with information in hand she would start getting things working) and only enhanced the Biden comparisons as she fumbled her script reading “U.R.L.” instead of actually giving the web address for resources citizens needed.

I tried to watch the presser but only lasted a few minutes.  Bass and a couple of County Supervisors stood up and talked about their sympathy, emoted largely, shed a crocodile tear and said absolutely nothing of substance pledging, “we will rebuild” – never indicating how they will get that job done.  I found it actually repulsive.  People had died, some might still die; at least a thousand homes gone; hundreds if not thousands of businesses evaporated, and they were “sympathetic.”

I have written and written about how their policies have made this disaster so much more disastrous and now the response is proving to be equally feckless.  I just loved when they talked about how President Biden had promised whatever resources were needed.  Think about that for just a minute – even if he were capable of forming an actual full sentence – he has a little less than two weeks left in office!  How much can his assurances mean?  These hacks are so partisan that they could not bother to mention where the incoming president is on the matter.  (For the record – Trump is using the current situation to illustrate how useless California government is and Newsom has decided to return “fire“, but I have no doubt that amidst his rhetoric Trump will do what is needed.)

This is not a time for politics – partisan or otherwise.  This is a time for action.  I hate having to discuss it here, but they have most certainly put it front and center.  The first thing Riordan and Wilson did was pledge to remove the “red tape” that would stand in the way of a rapid rebuild after that earthquake.  Well, it’s been about thirty years since that disaster, and the “red tape” has turned into a monstrosity, having grown exponentially.  The cost of rebuilding a single building will easily be double what it would be anyplace else just to clear the bureaucratic thresholds, and the time required will see a lot of the people trying to rebuild dead of old age before the job is done.   You would think this bunch of buffoons, as they pledge to rebuild, would at least borrow a page from Riordan/Wilson and pledge to tame the bureaucratic monster.

But no – all they have for us is words – poorly read from a prepared script.

There you have it – California in a nutshell.

ADDENDUM (a few hours later): Well, I guess I was wrong.  It turns out Karen Bass has done something – slashed the Fire Department budget by $18 million.  Idiot!

An hour or so later: One of the more interesting developments in this mess is that my wife and I in East Tennessee have evolved in the last 48 hours into an information hub for old friends in SoCal.  You see, while hundreds of thousands are affected directly by the fires, millions and millions are without power.  Why?  Well, the utilities are the latest, and hardest hit, scapegoats and misdirection targets of the incompetent government so they have turned off the power preemptively under the guise of “public safety.”  So, while we can watch local LA TV here in Knoxville TN, they cannot.  All they have are their phones and they can use them only sparingly as they have no ability to charge them.  (Not to mention no power, no wifi, and the wireless network is severely compromised by towers lost to the fires.)  What about their cars you may ask?  Well, gas pumps don’t work when the power is out so that has limitations as well. This leaves us watching TV for them and texting them anything that seems important.  We don’t dare speak as that consumes a lot more phone power.  And who has a battery-powered radio anymore?

This is a service we are happy to render to those we care about so much, that’s not the point.  The point is that government policy in SoCal had tied a gordian knot that does nothing but make bad problems worse, worse problems catastrophic and life untenable.

Moving forward another couple of hours:  This, dear friends, is rich:

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is facing major backlash for being in Ghana while her city battled devastating wildfires. Now, a 2021 tweet in which she criticized Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for going to Cancun, Mexico, with his family as his state dealt with a severe winter storm.

Gee. ya think?  Don’t let anyone tell you differently – she knew this was possibly coming.

And be sure and read the producer’s latest at HotAir – “Lessons, Painful At Times, Are Only Lessons If They’re Eventually Learned.” Amen.

Last update of the day, roughly 9PM eastern:  Maybe we don’t want them doing anything after all.  It was government action that made the mess this bad, and now in the middle of this mess:

The emergency alert was sent to LA county residents telling them: ‘NEW: This is an emergency message from the Los Angeles County Fire Department. [ed note – that is ALL LA County residents]

‘An EVACUATION WARNING has been issued in your area. Remain vigilant of any threats and be ready to evacuate. Gather loved ones, pets, and supplies.

‘Continue to monitor local weather, news, and the webpage alertla.org for more information,’ it read.

About 22 minutes later, a second notification came through telling residents: ‘Disregard last EVACUATION WARNING. It was for Kenneth Fire Only. AlertLA.org for more information.’

There is an old adage about what this group could mess up that is far too profane for this blog.

They have screwed up the preface – they are screwing up the disaster proper.  I mean fire hydrants running dry is really about a planning failure – this is a just a plain old failure.  And as I contemplate what will come after the crisis, I can only see more screw-ups.  It would be funny were it not so immensely consequential.

Well, tomorrow is another day – What screw-ups will we behold then?