LA's Disastrous Response to Wildfires Is Latest Consequence of California's Obsession With DEI

[Leroy N. Soetoro]

https://www.dailysignal.com/2025/01/09/las-disastrous-response-wildfires-
is-latest-consequence-californias-obsession-dei/

California prioritizes fighting “toxic masculinity” and promoting DEI
instead of fighting wildfires.

I hate to appear flippant at a time when Los Angeles is going through an
apocalyptic natural disaster, but the people of California should be
outraged at state leaders. It is the California Democratic political
machine—not “climate change”—that has ensured the Golden State will suffer
through an endless cycle of cataclysmic fires.

Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., who has firefighting experience and has been a
vocal proponent of federal legislation to improve fire management, told
Fox News host Laura Ingraham on Wednesday night that the Pacific Palisades
fire is “a symbol of modern wildfire dysfunction.”

I have to agree.

For years, I’ve written about how poor land and water management is
creating the conditions for major fires in the West—and especially
California. Misguided environmentalist policies peddled by both federal
and state governments for generations have led to the current crisis. No
state has gone more all in on stopping climate change than California, and
yet it burns anyway.

Los Angeles was clearly unprepared for this disaster. Fire hydrants are
running out of water, they don’t have enough firefighters to man their
posts, and the whole situation is starting to look like last year’s
disaster in Maui, Hawaii—which was also the result of failed leadership.

Even if all that the Left says was true about climate change, there’s no
excuse for Democratic lawmakers not to make fire prevention a top
priority.

But instead of addressing the issue by prioritizing controlled burns,
building reservoirs, and investing in aggressive preventative measures,
California’s politicians continued to invest in useless “green” projects.
Worse, Gov. Gavin Newsom, when pressured by the previous Trump
administration to prioritize fire prevention, he instead turned to
#resistance.

Newsom made some token public attempts to change course, but they were
nothing more than a mirage.

“In 2019, Newsom issued an executive order to devote more than $1 billion
to wildfire prevention,” City Journal reported. “But a 2021 investigation
found that the governor had misled the public about the acreage of fuel-
reduction projects completed in the state: just 11,399 acres, versus his
claim of 90,000.”

Here’s the lord of ashes, standing in the rubble and complaining about how
Trump was trying to “politicize” the disaster while having no answers for
why large swaths of his state burn down every year. All he has to account
for the state’s failure is “climate change! Trump!”

Collin Rugg
@CollinRugg
·
Follow
NEW: CA Governor Gavin Newsom says he is so furious at Trump for blaming
him for the California fires that he won’t even respond.

Newsom, who has directed billions of gallons of water into the Pacific
Ocean, fumed that Trump would blame him.

“One can't even respond to it… This… Show more

https://twitter.com/i/status/1877166023151071710

Newsom was so happy back in 2021 to tell everyone how President Joe
Biden’s winning the presidency meant that California would be better able
to combat fires.


Citizen Free Press
@CitizenFreePres
·
Follow
GAVIN NEWSOM 2021 FLASHBACK ON WILDFIRES.

Newsom celebrates that Biden has won the election and promises that
California will now be better prepared to battle fires.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1877375872551776621

How’s that working out? Not well. The president was briefly awoken from
his slumbers to appear with Newsom to talk about the Los Angeles blaze,
but he somehow managed to make his incoherent ramblings about himself.

But blame for the response to the Los Angeles fires can’t just be laid at
the feet of Newsom. City officials bear responsibility, too.

As Los Angeles pumped money into various “diversity, equity, and
inclusion” efforts, they also decided to pull money out of the fire
department’s budget. A local Los Angeles ABC News affiliate reported that
L.A. reduced the fire department’s budget by $17.5 million just months
before fire season.

And what about Los Angeles fires besides the rank incompetence of Newsom
and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass—who was in Ghana while her city burned and stood
in silence as a reporter asked her basic questions about her non-handling
of the disaster—is the state’s total commitment to DEI initiatives over
everything else.

DEI isn’t the reason the Los Angeles area is burning. Southern California
is historically dry and arid, the Santa Ana winds are essentially a
natural, nuclear-level bellows, and the state and federal governments
failed to conduct proper land management long before DEI became the
totality of ruling class ideology.

But it’s hard to ignore the fact that California’s leaders, from the
governor’s mansion to the Los Angeles mayor’s office to the L.A. Fire
Department, put “diversity” and identitarianism over all other goals.
California by some measures has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on
DEI initiatives. Virtually every state and local bureaucracy prioritizes
DEI, too. That even infects fire departments.

Here’s Los Angeles Fire Department Assistant Chief Kristine Larson, who
runs the DEI bureau, talking about how her job is to root out racism and
sexism.


End Wokeness
@EndWokeness
·
Follow
LAFD recently created its 1st DEI Bureau. Assistant Chief Kristine Larson
rakes in $399,000+ by leading this bureau.

Her job? Root out bigoted firefighters.

She said in a promotional video that what people want is for firefighters
who show up to put fires out at your house to “look like you.”


Collin Rugg
@CollinRugg
·
Follow
Los Angeles Fire Department Assistant Chief Kristine Larson says when
people's houses are burning down, they want a firefighter to show up who
looks like them.

Hot take: People just want someone to show up who will stop their house
from burning down.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1877459877263528282

Yes, because when you are asphyxiating from smoke inhalation and see a man
with the wrong color skin coming to save you, your first thoughts are:
“Wrong race. Let me die.”

In some ways, this video gets worse when Larson says that if you complain
about female firefighters not being able to carry a man out of a fire, the
issue is that the man got himself in the wrong place.

It wasn’t just a woke assistant chief pushing this nonsense.

Here’s Los Angeles Fire Chief Kristin Crowley talking about her vision for
the department’s future, which included a “three-year strategic plan to
increase diversity.”


Robby Starbuck
@robbystarbuck
·
Follow
"Do you really think that DEI really made the damage from these fires
worse?"

Uh yeah, I do. DEI was the fire chief’s focus and the department + the
city spent money on DEI while dangerous brush hadn’t been cleared and fire
hydrants didn’t have water.

DEI IS ACTUALLY DEADLY.

https://twitter.com/i/status/1877223205036786164

She said that that would help attract the best and brightest for the job.

Yeah, right.

If they really cared about bringing in more talent maybe they wouldn’t
have removed 113 firefighters from duty in 2021 because they wouldn’t take
the COVID-19 vaccine.

This is the sort of ideological management that’s absolutely ruining my
home state.

The tragic fires in Los Angeles will leave a deep and permanent scar on
the city, much like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. They are also
becoming symbolic of California’s many, many failures under decades of
disastrous one-party rule.
--
November 5, 2024 - Congratulations President Donald Trump. We look
forward to America being great again.

The disease known as Kamala Harris has been effectively treated and
eradicated.

We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that
stupid people won't be offended.

Durham Report: The FBI has an integrity problem. It has none.

Thank you for cleaning up the disaster of the 2008-2017 Obama / Biden
fiasco, President Trump.

Under Barack Obama's leadership, the United States of America became the
The World According To Garp. Obama sold out heterosexuals for Hollywood
queer liberal democrat donors.

[Siri Cruise]

California prioritizes fighting “toxic masculinity” and promoting DEI
instead of fighting wildfires.

Ignorant arseholes do not know how central fire and water are to
California.

I hate to appear flippant at a time when Los Angeles is going through an
apocalyptic natural disaster, but the people of California should be
outraged at state leaders. It is the California Democratic political

That is what it is about for Republicans. We do not worship your
gilded god, and it makes you furious.

machine—not “climate change”—that has ensured the Golden State will suffer
through an endless cycle of cataclysmic fires.

Global warming disrupts Pacific storms coming ashore.

Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., who has firefighting experience and has been a

No. He has experience owning a business. And like all Republicans
he turns to politics to drive more business to himself to enrich
himself at public expense.

posts, and the whole situation is starting to look like last year’s
disaster in Maui, Hawaii—which was also the result of failed leadership.

Like Montana Maui has to do cope with hurricane desert winds.

Even if all that the Left says was true about climate change, there’s no
excuse for Democratic lawmakers not to make fire prevention a top
priority.

The fire started in suburb. What more fire prevention do you want?

But instead of addressing the issue by prioritizing controlled burns,

How do you do control burns in chaparral? Guess what happens if
you remove too many roots? Much of California is clay layers
tilted up with soil on that. Without roots rain goes to the clay
and then lubricate everything on that to slide downhill.

building reservoirs, and investing in aggressive preventative measures,

Los Angeles is already doing thanks to SGMA. Concrete rivers are
having some their bottoms exposed. They are also building
percolation ponds.

California’s politicians continued to invest in useless “green” projects.

The 'green' project specifically whined about is restoring salmon
populations.

Worse, Gov. Gavin Newsom, when pressured by the previous Trump
administration to prioritize fire prevention, he instead turned to
#resistance.

It really pisses you off we keep voting against your god and other
republicans.

“In 2019, Newsom issued an executive order to devote more than $1 billion
to wildfire prevention,” City Journal reported. “But a 2021 investigation
found that the governor had misled the public about the acreage of fuel-

You are too stupid to know the state has little control of forests
in the state. USDA owns most of them. The next biggest owner is
lumber companies.

Here’s the lord of ashes, standing in the rubble and complaining about how
Trump was trying to “politicize” the disaster while having no answers for

Like idjt you think you can punish California enough to vote
Republican.

why large swaths of his state burn down every year. All he has to account
for the state’s failure is “climate change! Trump!”

We know the answers why. You do not.

Newsom, who has directed billions of gallons of water into the Pacific
Ocean, fumed that Trump would blame him.

What are we to do? Fill water bottles and stack them in backyards?

With SGMA more water will be stored underground especially in
Central Valley where farmers have been pumping the ground dry and
destroying their houses and towns.

Newsom was so happy back in 2021 to tell everyone how President Joe
Biden’s winning the presidency meant that California would be better able
to combat fires.

Because idjt had denied California disaster relief until he
learned a few fools voted for him in Orange County.

As Los Angeles pumped money into various “diversity, equity, and
inclusion” efforts, they also decided to pull money out of the fire

Mayors are subject to recall. The money was spent as the people
wanted it. You are pissed off they do not worship your god of
Mammon, gold, and greed.

department’s budget. A local Los Angeles ABC News affiliate reported that
L.A. reduced the fire department’s budget by $17.5 million just months
before fire season.

Cite?

And what about Los Angeles fires besides the rank incompetence of Newsom
and L.A. Mayor Karen Bass—who was in Ghana while her city burned and stood
in silence as a reporter asked her basic questions about her non-handling
of the disaster—is the state’s total commitment to DEI initiatives over
everything else.

The city is getting help for Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Canada, and
Mexico. If nothing else, she has a well exercised dialing finger.

But it’s hard to ignore the fact that California’s leaders, from the
governor’s mansion to the Los Angeles mayor’s office to the L.A. Fire
Department, put “diversity” and identitarianism over all other goals.

It pisses you off we do not hate Mexicans; California is a border
state.

California by some measures has spent hundreds of millions of dollars on
DEI initiatives. Virtually every state and local bureaucracy prioritizes
DEI, too. That even infects fire departments.

idjt will withhold disaster relief until we help overturn civil
rights law.

runs the DEI bureau, talking about how her job is to root out racism and
sexism.

The movie Ragtime is way fire departments worked when America was
great.

Her job? Root out bigoted firefighters.
She said in a promotional video that what people want is for firefighters
who show up to put fires out at your house to “look like you.”

Everyone knows Those People are too shiftless to be professionals.

Hot take: People just want someone to show up who will stop their house
from burning down.

And you know only white dudes can be qualified.

If they really cared about bringing in more talent maybe they wouldn’t
have removed 113 firefighters from duty in 2021 because they wouldn’t take

Vax conspiracy? Still? Grow up.

The tragic fires in Los Angeles will leave a deep and permanent scar on
the city, much like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. They are also

It will not and did not. San Francisco rebuilt in a few years
because people wanted to live there. They improved firefighters
access to cisterns and bay water, but that is not a scar.

This is the weather of Los Angeles. People who cannot deal with it
will leave. The rest will rebuild because this is where they want
to live. Homes can go up in months not decades. Newsom is reducing
the regulations to speed up rebuild.

becoming symbolic of California’s many, many failures under decades of
disastrous one-party rule.

And it is shits like you that keep driving California away from
republicans.