Right-Wingers Blame Los Angeles Fires on Diversity, Democrats
By: Nikki McCann Ramirez,Ryan Bort
when the water rises, use interlocking maga at the coast. when the wildfires threaten, use maga to smother the flames ...
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly accused Fire Chief Crowley and Mayor Karen Bass of prioritizing "DEI" over the city's fire management capabilities. "In recent years, LA's fire chief has made not filling the fire hydrants top priority, but diversity," Kelly raged on Wednesday. "Who gives a shit if the fire chief is gay. I'm sorry but who gives a flying fig about who she likes to sleep with, can you fight the fucking fires, madam? That's the relevant question."
There's no evidence that the fire department's push for diversity has any impact on its ability to fight fires. It's also not true that Mayor Bass cut the department's budget by $23 million, another claim that has spread throughout right-wing media.
Conservatives have also been pushing the false idea Gov. Gavin Newsom's water policies have prevented the city's ability to fight the fires. Trump has long been bashing Newsom over the policies, and has blamed him directly for the fires this week. "One of the best and most beautiful parts of the United States of America is burning down to the ground," the president-elect wrote on Thursday. "It's ashes, and Gavin Newscum should resign. This is all his fault!!!"
On Fox News, host Jesse Watters decided to blame Native Americans for the devastation, as well, claiming that Newsom has "been tearing down dams" because "Indians wanted some of the river back so they could catch salmon. Gavin didn't just knock down one dam for the Indians, he knocked down all four."
"And these dams were a go-to source for firefighters to pull water from to fight fires up north. Gavin's literally tearing down Western civilization for fish and Indians," Watters said, repeating the claim in another segment aired on Wednesday.
The fires currently destroying Los Angeles — as well as the fires that have increasingly been devastating the West Coast in recent years — are the result of hot, dry conditions caused by climate change. These conditions are inevitably going to lead to natural disasters that are going to overwhelm any infrastructure, regardless of the race and gender of the people running it. It's an inconvenient truth for conservatives, who would rather point their fingers at minorities than acknowledge the reality of the climate crisis.
Trolling, taunting, spamming, and off topic comments may be removed at the discretion of group mods. NT members that vote up their own comments, repeat comments, or continue to disrupt the conversation risk having all of their comments deleted. Please remember to quote the person(s) to whom you are replying to preserve continuity of this seed. Any use of the phrase "Trump Derangement Syndrome" or the TDS acronym in a comment will be deleted. Any use of the term "Brandon", "Traitor Joe", or any variations thereof, when referring to President Biden, will be deleted. Right wing trolls can expect to have their irrelevant questions and comments deleted. Posting debunked lies will be subject to deletion
Article is LOCKED by author/seeder
Tags
Who is online
37 visitors
let's see ...
looks like the 4th reich is coming together nicely ...
The other article on NT posted by a right winger is full of pure BS, partisan hack tribal warfare.
I'm avoiding logic, reason, and reality deniers this year ...
[✘]
Oh, look. Racist otherism from Fox News. Imagine that.
I doubt if any of those dimwits even know where the Klamath river is and why the 4 dams were torn down. It is easier for racists to run their mouth without having any idea of what they are talking about.
I believe most racists are extremely smug morons with high self-confidence in what they believe to be true regardless of actual facts which is why most of them tend to dismiss and even ridicule higher education, science, facts and reality. A higher education would have taught them their race isn't any more special than any other race on this planet, and they don't like to be told they're not all that special. And that's why I never expect a rightwing religious conservative bigot to have any idea what they're talking about and for their opinions to smell like shit since they're always talking straight out of their asses.
Yeah, I've noticed there's a whole lot of diversity down there in Pacific Palisades.
The right just wants to agitate lie and fight. That is the heart and soul of MAGA and even winning the election wont change that base of their personalities.
I would bet the farm that there are gay or "woke" firefighters, somewhere in America , who have saved peoples lives through their decisions and their expertise.
If Martians come down and incinerate Maralago the right will blame it on the woke gays.
even if it is martians, jewish space lasers will still get blamed ...
[✘] No year's weather is the same as the last.[✘]
Well gee whiz greg, hear one of your right wing nutter talk show hosts today scream that people asking for federal funds to rebuild their homes after the fires, are disgusting socialists... But somehow, when a hurricane flattens a MAGA house in Florida, and they ask for federal help, that's, "different"....
Can you explain that?
[✘]
2024 is now the hottest year on record according to NASA.
But hey, anthropogenic global warming is just a liberal hoax.
Did California neglect to rake the forest again?
I'm pretty sure it was those godless liberals who must have banned blue tarps in the LA area which were the ONLY thing the Jewish space lasers couldn't target and set on fire! It's the deep State trying to manufacture an emergency just before Trump is in office so they can have an excuse to steal billions in federal funds that would have gone to building more wall! /s
That statement is intended to be satire but based on what I've seen from rightwing conservative conspiracy theorists, it's likely not far from many of their actual beliefs.
aka morons ...
[✘]
I guess that they did, probably because Trumps tariff increase on the importation of rakes caused the price to be out of sight for our fire fighters.
Some years ago, the south of France suffered a series of wildfires. Multiple start-points. Eventually, a couple of arsonists were arrested.
Here we have multiple start-points... but I have seen nothing at all about the possibility of arson. Not a hint. I assume that fire-marshalls automatically look at the possibility...
Often, the winds wreak havoc with electric lines, tearing them off poles. Sparks from those lines, or exploding transformers start plenty of fires. Other times, it’s human carelessness.
My wife reminded me that electric lines have caused previous California fires.
My Comment was more about media reaction. In France, arson was a topic almost immediately. In the US, we get complaints about sexual orientation. Hmmmmmm.............
There is evidently extensive wind damage around Los Angeles. Lets start the countdown to when Trump will blame that on windmills.
That's cancer, John, not wind damage.
Trump is so full of shit bout the dams that was an agreement between the dam owner/power companies local ranchers and farmers and Indian tribes. The fucking produced next to 0 electrics and were due for multi million dollar improvements to be torn down. I suppose that dumb ass Trump want’s to blame the Indians for all the dams being removed in the US.
He is nothing but a stupid racists brainless idiot.
Political tribalism, ignorance, and prejudice feed each other. The need to blame someone on “the other side” in the midst of a crisis is sickening - especially when that blame is so wildly unwarranted.
Fire hydrants have nothing to do with it. For the benefit of those who don’t live in Southern California (I have lived here all my life), there are distinctive natural conditions here that are responsible for these fires. A fucking hydrant is literally and figuratively spitting into the wind.
To the north, we have a strong high pressure air mass. To the south, a cut off low. There is a strong pressure gradient between them that would create wind anywhere. But here, that air is forced from the high desert and mountains down into the narrow canyons and valleys of Southern California, accelerating it. This has raised the wind gusts to hurricane force.
When a fire starts - and they can start for a variety of reasons - the wind feeds oxygen to the fire, strengthening it. The wind further lifts embers and carries them - still burning - miles away.
So, a house burns and the fire department comes, right? Anywhere else, that would be the end of it. But in this situation, immediately, next door, across the street, a block away, or across town, more houses ignite. This happens in mere moments. No fire department or hydrants could keep up.
Add to this the complex topography of Southern California. People live in and around hills, down in canyons, and of course, in valleys. Neighborhoods like Pacific Palisades have very limited access by roads. That is because of the physical features of the land, not “woke” policy.
When fire breaks out like this, saving a structure is a dream. The primary concern is saving lives. As a resident, who has at times, been ordered to evacuate, I can tell you that you can go very quickly from “we’re alright, the fire is very far away” to “holy shit, we’re surrounded.”
Apparently today, highly partisan right wing assholes care a great deal. No one here who is living through this is thinking “gee, if only the fire chief weren’t gay, this wouldn’t be happening.”
My wife has cousins that are 4 blocks from the evacuation zone of the Palisades. They have go bags ready and found someone to stay with if they have to evac.
You are exactly right, Tacos most of those complaining about DEI, female fire chiefs etc have never in their life lived SC or experienced a wild fire, I lived in SC basin for 45 years and still own a home there. It is beyond sickening to listen to the ignorant tribal BS being expressed on NT.
PP had three million gallon reserves and went through it all and didn’t make a dent in the fire.
Growing up in a tiny Midwestern burg my dad was the volunteer fire chief and as a kid I insisted on going along for the ride (mom hated it). After awhile I knew as much about the engines and fighting fast moving prairie fires as anybody else.
Ended up spending a decade as a paramedic/firefighter. The money sucked but saving lives and delivering babies made up for risking my life every now and again.
Eventually had to retire with a blown out back but it was all worth it in the long run.
It truly is mind boggling so see this. As though if a fire chief were a white man those Santa Ana winds would just cease to be. The people stirring this pot, aside from having no idea what they are talking about, are just fucking idiots.
Thank-you for that clear explanation of the topography and the reason winds get to hurricane force.
Are you affected by these fires? Please stay safe
Thanks TG. A good sized fire popped up about 10 miles from here, but they got it under control pretty quickly. Of course, that success doesn’t make it into the internet finger-pointing frenzy.
[✘]
Cool, I’ll blame Trump and republicans for hurricanes in Florida.
Apparently, liberals control the hurricanes , though. Weirdly, though, no control over the wind or fire in California. I guess liberal weather genius is selective.
[✘]
[✘]
Perpetual blame and grievances, never offering help to fellow Americans or offer any solutions. The only right wing solution for anything is to blame Democrats. They never blamed the Republican governor of Texas for deaths from the failure of their electric grid or other disasters. Ted Cruz ran off to Mexico for a Cancun vacation rather than stay in Texas to help his own constituents. That kind of hypocrisy is how Republicans roll.
And it's how they troll, too.
MAGA is setting the stage right before our eyes to take California from the Democrats. This will be used in the 2026 governor's election cycle—bet. That alone with some of the ads about gas prices/taxation, electric bills increases, homelessness, and lack of affordable housing. . . to be fair 'we' all see the problems. . . but some conservatives are making the play that they ARE LISTENING TO THE PEOPLE in the state that are hurting. . .and democrats leading the state are tone-deaf.
Wake up, Democrats. You may win the matter of principle. . .but the NARRATIVE being set against you will win the MESSAGING 'war.' Case in point. The obvious lies told by Trump. He came immediately to a microphone and outright lied about some 'restoration' offer he supposedly gave Governor Newsom when he was president and I repeat lied that Newsome ignored it. Trump knows it a a lie. But it is EXPEDIENCY that he is after—so he will be be believed by 'many' because they want to see something-anything change from the pain they are experiencing 'now.'
That is how Trump/MAGA play populism. We are in a political war with our republican "frenemies" and they are in a word: Ruthless. (They smile in your face/all the time trying to take (democrat's) place, oh backstabbers - Ojays.)
Wake up, DNC-California. Get out of the damn 'bed' and get going on a NARRATIVE OFFENSIVE!
Yeah but 17.6 million was cut from the LAFD's budget ...? in addition to the 100 million that was cut from state funding of wildfires and forest resilience signed into law by Gavin Newsom in June of 2024 ...
Sadly, dangerous conditions were ignored .. and an urban fire was sparked through carelessness - this is not a wildfire raging - this is an urban fire raging [man-made fires are not wildfires ..] O'Leary's cow kicked over the lantern, and CA / LA does not have the resources i.e. water to fight it ..
Shout out to the men and women on the frontlines, THANK YOU / BE SAFE .. Montanans and many other state firefighter crews have gone to fight fires in CA. Keep them in your thoughts!
Peace!
The ocean is right there. I've been to LA many times.
[✘]
Whether they decide to use it or not is another matter .
as has been discussed elsewhere already its use is a trade off in my view . I have seen photos of aerial fire fighting air craft dipping from the ocean for this fire from Monterey bay , but where its used is a question .
dropping it in the residential areas might not be that bad , soil mitigation so that things can continue to grow can take place over time , Up in the hills where it could be more of a concern because those plants growing also stabilize the soil and help keep it from turning into mud slides during wet and rainy season , lot of factors i think are being delt with in its use .
100% spot on.
The problem being salt water destroys pumps.
Waves also make it hard to "scoop" ocean water.
Watch: Air tankers scoop ocean water to battle Palisades Fire
ktla
With proper maintenance and safety precautions , “seawater puts out fire just as well as fresh water,” Orange County Fire Capt. Larry Kurtz told the Orange County Register .
For example, firefighting boats already use saltwater, Kurtz added.
It's kind of funny, because I can see sea life being 'hijacked' and displaced from a cold sea into a hot "hell" . . . fish-fry anyone? (Not funny, sorry!)
It seems that the MAGA have a hate for DEI and any minority that has a decent position it wasn’t because they were qualified and worked their ass of to get there, but because we were handed the position because of our skin color.
Their position is about as fucking racist as one can get and I’m sure that they are well aware of it and that goes for some NT members. Do they think that being white makes them better than anyone that isn’t white? I include women in the minority that one can see by the attacks on the LA Fire Chief and if that women is a minority in skin color it’s even worse.
It isn’t minorities that are holding back the US from realizing its unlimited potential but the built in racism of part of our country, a sad reminder of the sordid parts of our past as a country.
I hear/see from them spouting the words of Dr, Martin Luther King and judging a person by their merit not the color of their skin, What a load of BS they are spouting, the whiny assholes are afraid that with an even playing field that they will be the losers, they are not seeing what losers they already are.
So according to them a person like myself that has been fair successful it was due to DEI not the fact that I worked my ass off for it and yes against one hell of a lot of prejudice, try growing up next to a sundown town or seeing signs that said ‘’No Indians allowed’’ on lawns, store fronts schools and stores.
So you cowardly POS you need to fall back on DEI or any other excuse is just that, an excuse because your afraid of losing your power position in white America,
My message to you is, Fuck you, stay in your small world of racism and gag on it, YOUR WELCOME,
Over the course of time, and it can be viewed as a short time or a long time depending on how you want to look at it, "whiteness" became a default condition for being a true American. In this view white Europeans (almost always males) founded and built this country, and thus deserve to always be at the top of the national pecking order. That belief worked without a lot of pushback for a long period of time, but the society evolved and the belief of the natural superiority of whiteness began to be eroded by reality. Now the country is faced with the inevitability that whites will become a numerical minority in a matter of just a couple decades, and many people just dont want to believe it.
Spent a few months in Jamaca. My white reggae band was loved at the Sun Splash festival.
Cal Fire and LAFD are two of the largest and best trained fire brigades in the country and the world for that matter. My son works for Cal Fire. He went down there yesterday to help. It was supposed to be for a week but I heard they've already extended it. BTW, My son is white, male, straight, blonde, blue eyed, well... You get it.
Great. Anybody capable can help! We're a COMMUNITY!
Your son is a hero to us as are all of his co-workers.
Three cheers! Hip hip Hooray! Hip hip Hooray! Hip hip Hooray!
[deleted][✘]
Firefighters from many countries will be showing up in LA.
That's what we do.
,
[✘]
Needs Context.
Records of the approved budget show that the LAFD's budget for the 2024-2025 fiscal year did decrease by about $17.6 million from the previous year , and the department's total annual budget was almost $820 million.
But according to Blumenfield's office, t he fire department saw a $53 million increase in funding from the previous year after the budget was updated in November .
Furthermore, the LAFD is not the only department responding to the wildfires. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection and the Los Angeles County Fire Department are among the agencies tackling the fires, and federal resources have also been deployed.
FACT CHECK BY Newsweek
(Information such as this will NOT be fact-checked by Zuckerberg's META.)
Their ground fuel management cuts were a bigger issue. Prescribed controlled burns and brush removal programs were almost eliminated for various economic and woke reasons.
Thereby making a bad situation much, much worse.
CAL FIRE Fuels Reduction Projects
(Numbers in this application are preliminary and subject to change.)
CAL FIRE engages in fuel reduction work and fire prevention activities throughout the year. Preventing uncontrolled wildfire spread in the State Responsibility Area (SRA) is central to CAL FIRE's mission. Fuels reduction projects reduce fire hazards and risks by creating a break in horizontal and vertical fuel continuity that can modify future wildfire behavior and improve community protection efforts. Statewide, fuels reduction projects are planned, developed and implemented in alignment with California’s Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan and the 2018 Strategic Fire Plan for California . Projects are identified at the Unit level and are updated annually in the Unit Fire Plans . These plans are developed in cooperation with local stakeholders.
Each year there are approximately 500 active fuels reduction projects that receive some level of treatment. As projects are completed, new projects are added, including maintenance of previously treated areas. To learn how CAL FIRE accomplishes fuels reduction projects see the Fuels Reduction Guide .
It is relevant to note that although it is important to continue to scale up the total number of acres treated annually to accomplish the State’s goals, solely comparing the acreage treated each year does not tell the whole story .
Some acres take more time and effort to treat than others for a variety of reasons including but not limited to: topography, access, environmental concerns, and proximity to communities. Many of these more difficult acres are also some of the most important to treat. CAL FIRE considers all of these factors as we select projects to undertake. Learn more about how these projects play a critical role in protecting communities against wildfire by viewing these Fuels Treatment Effectiveness Reports .
While fuels reduction is an important part of the strategy to create forest resilience and community preparedness, defensible space inspections, home hardening, emergency evacuation planning, fire prevention education, fire hazard severity mapping, landscape scale forest health treatments, and fire-related law enforcement activities are equally important in the effort to create wildfire prepared communities. To learn more about how individuals and families can prepare for wildfire, please visit www.readyforwildfre.org and follow CAL FIRE on social media.
The projects in this viewer only represent the effort by CAL FIRE.
However, the State has invested a significant amount of funding for fuels reduction work through other departments within the Natural Resources Agency, as well as grants from CAL FIRE to local and non-profit organizations. These projects will begin to be phased into the public viewer along with CAL FIRE’s projects.
[✘]
Thank your son for his hard work. Let's hope he stays safe
Thanks for your concern Trout. I think he's safe. He's not a front line firefighter. He's a mechanic. He's services and maintains the aircraft.
Close enough. One mistake and the plane. . . well, let's not go there. We, people everywhere, can be immeasurably thankful for his teamwork and service in our state's desperate time of need. Truly desperate. That type of flying is under great stress for machines and pilot(s). Please share that with him on our behalf!
By the way, finally. . .the worse of the storm is passing away. . . . Great love for people who help all of us! Great love!
This kind of tragedy pits humanity against the elements and it appears that some people are 'rooting' for the ELEMENTS to win for the sake of their personal and private worldviews! People we do not have time for all this: DISASTER POLITICS! It's squandering the time allotted 'us' to get our COLLECTIVE-TOGETHER S. .. tuff together! And, that includes the MEDIA with its soundbites and handicap of only having limited time and space to carry a GIGANTIC storyline to a PROPER set of conclusions (whatever that end may turn out to be)!
It may be that is up to Nature to bring this country back to the political middle. Burning 'everything' down to scorched Earth in the 'swanky' places gets the attention of the people who dwell there and Leadership. The expression: "CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?" comes to mind.
Of course there is the usual riff-raff stirring the NEGATIVE POLITICAL POT for a new diet of toxicity in politics. But let me state this: The two political poles, labeled left and right, will FLIP polarities before they ever touch. Because, between the two is—THE MIDDLE/MODERATE—to transverse.
Best get back to moderate politics and compromise where life and people can work together.
It’s always great to see the right wingers depend on lies to push their narrative, it’s classic and again this time they look like the partisan hacks that they are.
It is a shame that misinformation, deceptive information (disinformation), and outright lies are used to wage political warfare against good people. It is a shame before whatever "god" or 'God' is out there.
I don't think there's a river in the US long enough to throw 77 million suckers up on the banks ...
And this is the PROBLEM democrats have to ward against: Donald Trump did not lose any of his base but attracted disaffected liberals in the Middle-Moderate of politics—sketchy and loyal to democrats. It was a game of risk-taking and it played out to republicans (Presidency, house, and senate). Democrats have to protect their flanks against loss of their base when they focus too close on "perpetual" culture warring and forget that there are democrats and liberals alike in 'the movement' that are not AFFLICTED with culture war issues but have more MONDANE problems like raising their children, paying bills, educating children, keeping the same SAFE, and finally keeping a HOME.
Democrats need ("betta") listen to the "necessities" of winning while fighting for freedoms—simultaneously and in numerous ways!
I dunno...the Mississippi runs from Minnesota all the way to the Gulf....
... some of those suckers are pretty big.
Barges
fleshbergs ...
better
dead weight ...
As long as someone doesn’t fit the rights view of what they should be, in a country where freedom is highly valued even by the right they have to throw the ignorant, demeaning and racist comment ‘’A DEI hire’’ when they have no idea of the person ability, skill, work ethic or their knowledge of the position, only that they are the wrong skin color, sexual orientation, or possible religion…Seems damn racist to me and to anyone with a brain, in fact it is racist so I’m thrilled that they self identify on that.
I think it's racist/bigoted
one of the 4 cornerstones of the new maga party ...
It is racist/bigoted. Only a fool could say that people should not be allowed to enter the system in order to get experience (these people already have the time/service sufficient to qualify) to rise up. Indeed, it is clearly racism, sexism, and negative prejudice (AKA: "tribalism") to deny and 'otherize" citizens striving to break the cycle of poverty in their generations and communities.
MAGAs think they can just continuously NARRATE belittlement, name-calling, and mocking of appearances and SHUTDOWN truth. However, truth can't be shut down because it is truth—it will always break out and come back with a VENGEANCE!
As for the tech "geniuses" that want to shape this country in their image through the use of this president. I will watch to see who has got whom by the —. As for me, Elon Musk has loss favor, Zuckerberg was always on my crap-list (hate Facebook) and all his affiliated services, and Amazon. . . my 'dear' Amazon. . . while I can understand what Bezos is doing in order to compete in the space COMMUNITY against other 'titans' in the industry. . .I do have a love for "Alexa". . .Amazon is a real charitable community organization, I would walk away on principle so I hope the company treads lightly.
Some will say that these 'titans' are winners. . . but using RACISM/RACIST strategies and tactics to advance. . . is NEVER morally right. It is morally wrong! Take the long route 'home' to get to one's goal. (I hear 'COSTCO' is doing just that by maintaining its diversity, inclusion, and equity program. . .at least for now. Go Costco!)
Sometimes you just have to let the 'bandwagon' pass on by. . . and stand 'pat' for what is Right—if need be!
(God, if we know anything about God, is not a RACIST or given to hateful tendencies!)
It is moments like this that one can really see 'clearly' what people really believe in their heart about other people. Also, in this new administration. . .the 'billionaire class' should take stock that we will see them for what they really are too! Like it or lump it. Opinions will be formed and it just might stick to them like perfume or stench!