On Saturday, November 11th, a massive fire erupted under the 10 Freeway in Los Angeles, which caused massive amounts of damage to one of the city's major freeways. The fire, which was caused by arson, was centered in a major homeless encampment directly under the freeway overpass. The effects on LA city traffic were immediate and severe, as the 10 Freeway serves as one of the major traffic arteries in the city. On any given day, over 300,000 vehicles traverse the freeway, and residents were bracing for what looked like months of repairs at the very least. 

Then, Governor Newsom comes in with all the might of the government with him and saves the day. Or so people thought.

Newsom brought out all the bigwigs of politics, including Vice President Kamala Harris, on November 19th to hold a press conference on the 10 to announce that the freeway would open that following Monday, weeks and months ahead of schedule. Harris, Newsom, and Los Angeles City Mayor Karen Bass were all smiles and happy that it would reopen. The message was clear and resounding: Local, state, and federal governments all came together as one to get this job done, and everyone should be happy.

However, there was another message that was not talked about by Newsom and the other politicians in attendance. That message was about government failure. As mentioned earlier, the fire was caused by arson, which caught a massive pile of wooden pallets on fire. But they denied, or at least dodged, the knowledge of a massive homeless encampment located within the towers of wooden pallets, along with the very strong likelihood that it was a fire from the homeless camps. 

In every single Google Street view prior to May 2022 there was a homeless encampment next to the freeway overpass where the I-10 freeway fire occurred. The explanation requiring the least amount of assumptions is the homeless returned and set the fire. pic.twitter.com/Y4Va4bhQ9Y

— Michael K. Woods (@michael_k_woods) November 14, 2023

The government failed us on every measurable metric. They failed to eliminate the homeless encampments —a key issue on which Bass ran her election. Here is Candidate Bass, promising to declare a state of emergency on homelessness on day one of her term. 

The 10 Freeway fire is an example of what happens when people say anything to get elected. #10freeway
FLASHBACK: Karen Bass on Getting Elected Mayor of Los Angeles: One Day One, I Am Going To Declare A State of Emergency on Homelessness, October 7, 2022 pic.twitter.com/FNb4OVCx8g

— Alexandra Datig | Front Page Index 🇺🇸 (@alexdatig) November 13, 2023

But when Governor Newsom, Mayor Bass, and Vice President Harris are all smiles and bragging about government success, they also showed a glaring failure of government, albeit by omission. People were hoodwinked into thinking this was something to celebrate. When has the government moved heaven and earth to accomplish something that would have taken months to complete? The answer is always when a disaster strikes, but why do we have to wait for disaster to have the government work as efficiently and fast as they did?

Government, whether it be local, state, or federal, should never have to wait for disaster to strike to prove its worth. The only reason why it is the norm is because we have not held our elected leadership and the government they make up accountable. We always capitulate to them when they say it takes time for things to get done, especially if you need it done right. We always believe their lies. When asked about this issue, they dance around the question and give the most inept and idiotic response to the question in hopes that we will just give up. That is exactly what happened here in this video exchange between Newsom and Elex Michaelson from FOX 11 News in LA.

I asked @GavinNewsom whether the urgent, all hands on deck approach used to re-open the 10 freeway can be used to address other crises, like homelessness in California?

Here's how he responded: pic.twitter.com/Qsl8867lZ5

— Elex Michaelson (@Elex_Michaelson) November 19, 2023

Imagine if that question was fielded by Vice President Harris — the answers would have been comedic gold. But Newsom took the question, and his answer should be alarming to everyone because he completely avoided it. 

The government can work as fast and efficiently as it did to repair the freeway, but we never allow it to because we keep electing the same liars and cheats to office. The same people who will say anything to get elected and make promises to get things done as quickly as possible but fail to deliver those promises. In no uncertain terms, this recent example of the freeway getting repaired in record time was a failure. It was a failure because it showed what government action and function should be like at all times, not just when it's vitally important. Because every day is vitally important, and the government should function accordingly.