I—and other pundits—have written extensively that progressives and Democrats have seemed hell-bent on destroying the formerly Golden State of California. They’ve made crime a career option, encouraged illegal aliens to come and stay for a while (or forever), they’ve watched as their cities have descended into dangerous, poop-filled zombie zones.
They’ve taxed and regulated a tired populace to the point where dozens of companies and hundreds of thousands of residents have fled the state, yet they continue to focus on DEI, radical gender theory, and “judicial reform” (aka encouraging crime). Gov. Gavin Newsom, former CA Attorney General Kamala Harris, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, former representative and now senator Adam Schiff, LA Mayor Karen Bass and so many others have overseen an unprecedented decline in the state that once was the symbol of the American dream.
Cali is home to the Beach Boys, Hollywood, surfing, El Capitan, the Golden Gate Bridge, and so much more. I grew up in the Midwest and later the East Coast and the word California was uttered with a sense of awe; it seemed magical to me.
Why California Matters—to YOU VIP
So I moved here in my 20s, and it was magical and beautiful. I met my wife in this land and raised my kids here.
I’m not sure when I first sensed it, however—the fact that many seemed hellbent on destroying it. Perhaps it was when I noticed the LA Times, which I used to read cover to cover if you can believe it, began to descend into a noxious wokefest that seemed to have nothing to do with the lives or interests of normal people. Perhaps it was when I realized the homeless population had slowly—and then very quickly—grown into an army, yet nobody seemed to care. Maybe it was when I realized that virtually every politician in the one-party state spent their time scolding us for everything from our gas-powered cars to our family values to our watering our lawns.
But now perhaps they’ve finally crossed the Rubicon with these tragic and horrendous fires. The damage is biblical:
SHOCKING: New drone footage shows the complete devastation and destruction from the Pacific Palisades Fire as @NBCLA reports at least one killed from the blaze
— Jacob Wheeler (@JWheelertv) January 9, 2025
Video: Matthew Heller pic.twitter.com/y3xYJSkvmS
Heartbreak: New Aerial Photos From Palisades Fire Show Unfathomable Devastation
But maybe, just maybe, it’s not California they’ve ruined—perhaps it’s themselves.
The staggering level of incompetence, the years of disastrous decisions and misplaced priorities—they’re all on display for everyone to see. It would seem impossible that America would vote the inept and divisive Gavin Newsom to higher office after he has been so thoroughly exposed as a fraud and a charlatan.
Even worse than Joe Biden?
WATCH: Desperate Wildfire Victim Accosts Gavin Newsom, and He Does the Most Embarrassing Thing Ever
Gavin Newsom Nukes His 2028 Presidential Chances With Insane Wildfire Deflection
Newsom can’t just say “mindful” over and over again and hope this one goes away. Trump will continue to remind him of that fact:
Governor Gavin Newscum should immediately go to Northern California and open up the water main, and let the water flow into his dry, starving, burning State, instead of having it go out into the Pacific Ocean. It ought to be done right now, NO MORE EXCUSES FROM THIS INCOMPETENT…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) January 9, 2025
NO MORE EXCUSES FROM THIS INCOMPETENT GOVERNOR. IT’S ALREADY FAR TOO LATE!
This disaster was seemingly caused by a perfect storm—freak winds and a dried-out landscape. But that’s far from the whole story: officials have known for years that something like this could—would—happen, but they did little or nothing to prevent it. In fact, they often seemed to go out of their way to make sure to ensure California’s decline—and these wildfires are just the icing on the cake.
If there’s anything good to come out of this tremendous tragedy, it’s that the whole world sees the emperor has no clothes. The Democrat Machine that has controlled the Golden State for far too long has been revealed to all Americans as a corrupt, ineffective, hateful cabal that doesn’t care about the lives of their citizens; they only care about their pet far-left causes that they want to cram down your throat.
How are all these fires starting? Well, we know at least some of them are sparked by arsonists, and others are doubtless initiated by homeless people. Is this a baseless claim that PolitiFact will ding me for? Am I just making this up? No, I live not too far from a freeway underpass (the 170), and the Citizen app informs me at least weekly of a new fire at the homeless encampment there.
Are the fires on purpose? Some, maybe; others probably caused by cooking and propane tanks. Last year, a dilapidated RV exploded nearby due to what was almost certainly a meth operation.
I Write About Lawlessness in America Because It's Happening Right Outside My Front Door
As bad as it’s been, could this finally be the mortal wound for the extremists? Could even Californians, who have voted for this madness for years with the power of the SEUI and teachers unions pushing them over the finish line, finally be waking up?
There are signs of hope. Los Angeles voted out criminal-loving, George Soros-backed district attorney George Gascon, and his replacement, Nathan Hochman, is sounding exactly the right tone about the looters taking advantage of the fires. Even Hollywood celebrities are turning on the ruling class and saying, what the hell is going on here?
Inevitably, when I write about California, people will say to me, “Forget you all! You voted for this. You deserve what you get.” To all of those folks, I say to you: did you vote for Joe Biden and the last four calamitous years? Do you take the blame for what the Biden-Harris regime did to America? Did you move to Canada or France? Of course you didn't, and there are millions of Californians who don’t deserve the blame for the zealots, and who have been fighting them tooth and nail.
Am I naïve enough to think that this can all be turned around quickly? Not hardly. It’s a corrupt, deep-state system that runs the Golden State, and the scourge will not be easily gotten rid of. That being said, I think these wildfires have revealed to the world just how deep the rot goes. America had already woken up to how far off the reservation the Democrats had wandered, and they delivered Trump a massive victory over Californian leftist Kamala Harris. I think these tragic events slam the point home even farther.
This woke mind virus that has perhaps terminally infected California must not be allowed to spread. The progressive class here has been thoroughly discredited in a way we haven’t seen before.
This awful situation has been tough to watch—many of our friends have lost their houses—but if anything good comes out of it, it would be that the world realizes Gavin Newsom, his cronies and the California Way are an utterly failed experiment.
