Earth, Water, Fire and Wind

The Los Angeles fires hadn’t been raging for even a day before Donald Trump issued blame on Truth Social.

“Governor Newscum (sic) refused to sign the water restoration declaration put before him that would have allowed millions of gallons of water, from excess rain and snow melt from the North, to flow daily into many parts of California…”

Newsom (sic) fired back through his office: “There is no such document as the water restoration declaration…The Governor is focused on protecting people, not playing politics…”

Nothing ended there. The rhetoric from all sides took on the same gale force winds that were propelling the fires.  The Chairman of the Ohio Republican party posted on Facebook that the fatal California wildfires are “God’s punishment” to the “liberal” state.

No sooner was that taken down after a firestorm of criticism for his “demented comments” when new memes appeared fingering Newsom (again) and Los Angeles Mayor, Karen Bass, for gross negligence for prioritizing their liberal agenda over giving firefighters more equipment, and, in fact, cutting their budget in order to fund programs in neglected areas and for marginalized population. The City of Los Angeles reduced the fire department budget by over 17 million dollars.

On the other side of the fault line were Democrats making it very clear that these atmospheric conditions, the severity of storms and the unusually dry landscape are the results of climate change that Republicans deny even exists.  Stepping further to the left are socialists decrying the lack of public service money that is the result of pandering to wealth in a Capitalist system gone off the rails.

In between each position are some people trying desperately to throw reason onto the fire by explaining that lack of water wasn’t the problem, but an over-burdened hydrant system that could not sustain, let alone even anticipate, 5 major fires breaking out all over the city within a few hours’ time.

And that the argument that Los Angeles is situated next to the Pacific Ocean was not a solution. They were using ocean water to fill tankers as has always been part of the strategy in major breakouts, but the reality of salt water is that it destroys the fertility of the land reducing the vegetation that will be crucial to controlling future fires.

Lastly, the systems to distribute salt water are not adaptable to the corrosion it causes. It has never been the plan, regardless of budgets, to overuse salt water.

Firefighters from all over the state quickly joined the effort and in the words of one out of town fire chief: “No effort we make regardless of equipment can overcome 100 mile an hour winds.”

Blame Mother Nature, Capitalism, Republican denial of climate change or the value of smelt to the eco-system, or Democrats failing to acknowledge the “water restoration” declaration (it was only a memo); fires do not reason, negotiate or give warning.  They jump for miles depending on capricious winds and velocity, and fuel themselves with every dry twig, branch or wood frame. They are an unbiased destroyer of landscape and treasures, where the victims are people, animals, and life-sustaining organisms and eco-systems.

People not only lost their homes and businesses, but cherished memories. What is the value of your child’s first drawing that is now nothing but charred dust? Or the value of your wedding or bar mitzvah photos, or your grandmother’s beloved vase? Those may just be “things” and compared to lives, insignificant, but we all measure ourselves by the memories we collect. When the tangible recollections are gone, a part of us is lost. That’s why we coined the term “invaluable.”

I even read a post where someone said: “Who cares?  They were all rich actors.”

They weren’t all rich actors, but even those who are wealthy and can rebuild the structures that were destroyed still suffer losses they didn’t deserve. Such a dismissal bespeaks only of misplaced humanity.

Insurance costs are prohibitive to most people living there. Let’s talk about that game if we are determined to find villainy today.  Would this be the time to make the case for paying more in taxes and less for insurance?  That aggregate pool model shows that we’d pay less in additional taxes than the exorbitant payments we make for insurance.  And in health care, too.

Instead, I’d like at this moment to table that discussion and every accusation, case for villainy, pointed finger and inciting meme, to collectively concentrate on ONE purpose: the help that other human beings, Americans, friends, neighbors, colleagues, firefighters, law enforcement, civil workers, even politicians, need at this time to overcome this devastation and to rebuild.

This isn’t isolated to Los Angeles either.  It is a call to quiet the noise that confounds and suspends compassion and help to every region in the world that has faced epic floods, tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and wildfires. Or layoffs.

I’m certain it isn’t God shaking His fist at liberals for trying to save the smelt He created or to offer assistance to His children who have been marginalized by the ignorance of His other children.

There are many good resources we can contribute to.  The Red Cross is always a good place to start.  Calling 1-800 RED CROSS will make an immediate donation.  WORLD CENTRAL KITCHEN is my go-to contribution.  Go to: www.wck.org   And donating directly to the Los Angeles Fire Department at lafd.org and scrolling down to “Support the LAFD.”

There are many others that an easy Google Search will provide.

Let’s clean up our conversations and move forward.