Boy, this doesn’t remind me at all of Hillary and Kamala and ANY NUMBER of competent and capable women sabotaged by bullshit narratives in mainstream media.
I don’t understand why you’re not cutting throats and blowing shit up, ladies, I really don’t.
Stupid people don't want good leadership, they want entertainment! That's why Trump beat Biden, Biden's boring because he's bad at TV and too busy working. Trump's never working, always on TV and he says the craziest shit! The dimwits that like Trump also like professional wrestling, they know it's at least partly fake but they don't care, it's a spectacle that's fun to watch. When the show's over it has no further meaning to them.
> I want her to show some emotion, that she’s tapping into the fear and anxiety that so many people feel, and not reflect this soft brand of optimism that she’s been known for.
Oh. Really. And would they say that a male politician needed to "show some emotion"? Yeah, that's exceeded my outrage quota for the day.
Also: Dems on the national stage? Do more of this. Get on the independent/Democratic-aligned podcasts and videos. It can make a dent in at least getting information out there, though again the rightwing media human centipede is vast and powerful.
I am an Oregonian, and it makes me sick to see the way the right are talking about Cali. We know they would pile on Oregon too, and Washington, because we are just a bunch of squishy left-coast libs.
Sadly, one of humankind’s failings is our need to blame someone for every bad thing and punish them for it. It’s not limited to conservatives, but people lacking in thinking skills often revert to it. Blaming a person or group of people and demanding bad things happen to them is primitive, thirst-quenching behavior. But the world is often far more complicated than that. Most conservatives are also cruel opportunists, and are only attacking CA because the fire occurred there. Had this been Florida, you’d hear very few, if any, criticisms of DeSantis or Florida leaders. Some in the GOP are even sinister and heartless enough to use this as leverage to get policy changes in exchange for desperately needed aid.
The fires were hard enough to battle on their own, which isn’t a new problem for CA. But add to that 100 mph winds and it was a climate catastrophe that no amount of water, funding, or straight, white men could stop. Not everything that goes wrong is due to another person, but tragedies like this sure do bring out the best and the worst in people.
The LAFD budget was increased! That number was recovered and added on to later because at the time of the budget setup salaries were not finalized. Don't fall for the misinformation!
Secondly a very large portion of the fires are in Los Angeles County, which is a separate fire department!
Thirdly water and staffing are not the issue here. It's the Category 2 hurricane-force winds in a dry environment, creating essentially fire rain!
I have mentioned this before but I ran across a YouTube channel that pointed out something I never thought of before. While LA may be able to handle a dozen or so house fires spread across the city on.any given day, a thousand houses burning along with miles of ground is beyond the water capacity. The point was made that this is made worse by the fact for decades water lines in houses and apartments are usually plastic. So unless someone shuts off the water at the street, the fire melts the pipes and water gushes out constantly. Multiply this by a thousand houses, plus people with hoses trying to wet down their house and yard, and you can quickly exceed the capacity of any water system before the fire department kicks into high gear.
Apparently San Francisco learned from the devastating fires after the earthquake in 1906 and built a separate water system using pumped seawater, providing water even if the primary fresh water system is threatened. But it's something no other major cities have done due to cost.
I wondered about that, but because most of us are critical thinkers and don’t just jump to emotional conclusions, I suspected the option of using pumped seawater was complicated. No doubt plenty of reactionary people saw photos of the ocean crashing on the beach mere yards from burning homes and immediately believed this entire tragedy was easily avoidable. Surely, no fire, police, sewer or sanitation experts have ever pondered using the ocean to fight fires. Unfortunately the only way that sea water could be harnessed to the degree necessary to overcome that fire was with a perfectly timed tsunami.
Also I am certain if you salt the terrain with seawater, you'll kill the vegetation which is critical to the structural integrity of the hillslopes. And then it's mudslide time! Already because of this fire there's going to be increased mudslide risk.
Not to mention the ecological disaster that would result, but Republicans (or Republican-aligned cranks) don't care about ecology.
"While LA may be able to handle a dozen or so house fires spread across the city on any given day, a thousand houses burning along with miles of ground is beyond the water capacity."
I think I heard the governor make that very point
As well as some other people pointing out that the city water infrastructure was built for very different demands than the level of wind-exacerbated fires NEVER BEFORE SEEN PRIOR TO THIS DEGREE OF CLIMATE CHANGE that we're all seeing now
we had a guy down here who went to the fire front, wanting to be seen shaking hands with exhausted fire fighters - it did not go well for him when they refused (ok he wasn't the mayor, he was the prime minister, but still) - i'd rather the leader of the situation be focussed on the situation and the 'we will rebuild' while standing in the ashes of someone's home (tacky suggestion from idiot reporter above) be done when the fire is actually out
Boy, this doesn’t remind me at all of Hillary and Kamala and ANY NUMBER of competent and capable women sabotaged by bullshit narratives in mainstream media.
I don’t understand why you’re not cutting throats and blowing shit up, ladies, I really don’t.
Ffs trump and Reagan have proved that acting works, and if it helps people feel better in an emergency, why not use it?
Stupid people don't want good leadership, they want entertainment! That's why Trump beat Biden, Biden's boring because he's bad at TV and too busy working. Trump's never working, always on TV and he says the craziest shit! The dimwits that like Trump also like professional wrestling, they know it's at least partly fake but they don't care, it's a spectacle that's fun to watch. When the show's over it has no further meaning to them.
> I want her to show some emotion, that she’s tapping into the fear and anxiety that so many people feel, and not reflect this soft brand of optimism that she’s been known for.
Oh. Really. And would they say that a male politician needed to "show some emotion"? Yeah, that's exceeded my outrage quota for the day.
Also: Dems on the national stage? Do more of this. Get on the independent/Democratic-aligned podcasts and videos. It can make a dent in at least getting information out there, though again the rightwing media human centipede is vast and powerful.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FVdt4P30_Q
Follow Rep. Crockett's lead too.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBg_t7ZFsLo
Politico to California- "Stop Hitting Yourself!"
same old, same old.
I am an Oregonian, and it makes me sick to see the way the right are talking about Cali. We know they would pile on Oregon too, and Washington, because we are just a bunch of squishy left-coast libs.
These fucking guys.
Sadly, one of humankind’s failings is our need to blame someone for every bad thing and punish them for it. It’s not limited to conservatives, but people lacking in thinking skills often revert to it. Blaming a person or group of people and demanding bad things happen to them is primitive, thirst-quenching behavior. But the world is often far more complicated than that. Most conservatives are also cruel opportunists, and are only attacking CA because the fire occurred there. Had this been Florida, you’d hear very few, if any, criticisms of DeSantis or Florida leaders. Some in the GOP are even sinister and heartless enough to use this as leverage to get policy changes in exchange for desperately needed aid.
The fires were hard enough to battle on their own, which isn’t a new problem for CA. But add to that 100 mph winds and it was a climate catastrophe that no amount of water, funding, or straight, white men could stop. Not everything that goes wrong is due to another person, but tragedies like this sure do bring out the best and the worst in people.
Because slashing the LA fire dept budget by $17m has had absolutely no effect on its ability to fight fires, none. 🙄
The LAFD budget was increased! That number was recovered and added on to later because at the time of the budget setup salaries were not finalized. Don't fall for the misinformation!
Secondly a very large portion of the fires are in Los Angeles County, which is a separate fire department!
Thirdly water and staffing are not the issue here. It's the Category 2 hurricane-force winds in a dry environment, creating essentially fire rain!
I have the recurrent notion that maybe unnamed Democratic consultants should STFU for a decade or two.
Fuck you unnamed Democratic consultant, Rudi was the 9/11 media hero, and we all see how that shit turned out.
Ta, Dok. Great piece. I'm not going to click any links to Tiger Beat on the Potomac (h/t Charlie Pierce), and I think Karen Bass is terrific.
BREAKING:
Sir is scheduled to throw paper towels at LA fire victims.
Alcohol-soaked paper towels. This is going to be for television after all.
Whew. I was afraid you’d say blood-soaked…
I have mentioned this before but I ran across a YouTube channel that pointed out something I never thought of before. While LA may be able to handle a dozen or so house fires spread across the city on.any given day, a thousand houses burning along with miles of ground is beyond the water capacity. The point was made that this is made worse by the fact for decades water lines in houses and apartments are usually plastic. So unless someone shuts off the water at the street, the fire melts the pipes and water gushes out constantly. Multiply this by a thousand houses, plus people with hoses trying to wet down their house and yard, and you can quickly exceed the capacity of any water system before the fire department kicks into high gear.
Apparently San Francisco learned from the devastating fires after the earthquake in 1906 and built a separate water system using pumped seawater, providing water even if the primary fresh water system is threatened. But it's something no other major cities have done due to cost.
I wondered about that, but because most of us are critical thinkers and don’t just jump to emotional conclusions, I suspected the option of using pumped seawater was complicated. No doubt plenty of reactionary people saw photos of the ocean crashing on the beach mere yards from burning homes and immediately believed this entire tragedy was easily avoidable. Surely, no fire, police, sewer or sanitation experts have ever pondered using the ocean to fight fires. Unfortunately the only way that sea water could be harnessed to the degree necessary to overcome that fire was with a perfectly timed tsunami.
Also I am certain if you salt the terrain with seawater, you'll kill the vegetation which is critical to the structural integrity of the hillslopes. And then it's mudslide time! Already because of this fire there's going to be increased mudslide risk.
Not to mention the ecological disaster that would result, but Republicans (or Republican-aligned cranks) don't care about ecology.
I've also heard fire fighters say that seawater corrodes the equipment and would be extremely costly. They can't just pump it straight from the ocean.
Even with seawater in a non-corrosive system, this fire was literally a tornado and little could have been done to stop it.
"While LA may be able to handle a dozen or so house fires spread across the city on any given day, a thousand houses burning along with miles of ground is beyond the water capacity."
I think I heard the governor make that very point
As well as some other people pointing out that the city water infrastructure was built for very different demands than the level of wind-exacerbated fires NEVER BEFORE SEEN PRIOR TO THIS DEGREE OF CLIMATE CHANGE that we're all seeing now
I've heard all you need to establish heroic leadership is to raise a fist while a small drop of blood sits on your earlobe.
we had a guy down here who went to the fire front, wanting to be seen shaking hands with exhausted fire fighters - it did not go well for him when they refused (ok he wasn't the mayor, he was the prime minister, but still) - i'd rather the leader of the situation be focussed on the situation and the 'we will rebuild' while standing in the ashes of someone's home (tacky suggestion from idiot reporter above) be done when the fire is actually out