While the fire is ongoing, Joe Biden has already promised a blank check from the Feds to help. However, nothing drives California like its uber-control-freak agencies. Complacent Westside Democrats are going to get yet another wakeup call when they try to rebuild.

The responsibility for the abject malfeasance over this FUBAR lands squarely in the laps of Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass. All the woulda, coulda, shoulda doesn’t change the facts. Even as Newsom whined to Creepy Joe about “misinformation” … say what, Hairgel?

To help assess the credibility of these claims, I'll simply quote from a previous NPR story headlined: "Newsom Misled The Public About Wildfire Prevention Efforts Ahead Of Worst Fire Season On Record."

"An investigation from CapRadio and NPR’s California Newsroom found the… https://t.co/PUWX77IdML

— Kevin Kiley (@KevinKileyCA) January 11, 2025

When you’ve lost NPR …

Adam Carolla has thoughts ..

The longtime California resident has been a vocal critic of California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D). He ripped into both over the fires on his solo show. (snip)

Carolla, who worked construction for years before landing steady radio gigs, argued the intense regulations in Los Angeles and elsewhere will have people ripping their hair out, predicting it will take years for homes to be rebuilt due to local regulations, especially coastal homes. Thus far, the fires have claimed five lives and more than 2,000 buildings.

“You guys all voted for Karen Bass, the mayor of Los Angeles. You all voted for Gavin Newsom, and now you fucking get what you get, now that your house is on fire. So here’s what’s going to happen,” Carolla said. “All these people who are deep blue Democrats are now going to have to pull a permit to rebuild, and they’re going to get the 28-year-old bitch from the Coastal Commission telling them to go fuck off, and then they’re going to vote for Trump or whoever’s Trumpian next.”

Oh, I certainly believe the Coastal Commission (along with the AQMD and LA County Supervisors) will do everything they can to frustrate rebuilding while bleating in public about The Greater Good for the ‘health’ of the state. Legacy media will pivot from any sympathy for the families that have lost everything to portraying people wanting to rebuild their homes as greedy rich trying to skirt Common Sense regulations. Or not wanting to play ball with the sainted Coastal Commission who only want to guarantee the rights of the “public” to “public beaches”.

I’m not convinced it will result in a wave of red voting in Los Angeles. And while many like Adam or Dean Cain believes this may turn the political tides, there are even more reasons that it will not. Not the least of which is that, I predict, many of these neighborhoods will never be rebuilt. Especially not as the family-friendly, single-family homes as they were built in the 60s-70s. Not all people in those neighborhoods are celebrities or even filthy rich. There a lot of retirees who have lived in their homes for 50 or more years. Not only will delays of 3 or 5 or more years to rebuild drive them away, so will the elevated cost just to get back to where they started. Any new house built will have to be current code and the enviro-weenies in Sacramento have loaded up the requirements for any new residence building — from solar panels to all-electric homes. When building homes is more expensive than what the house will be worth when finished? Coupled with the death of R1 zoning (single-family homes)? Those neighborhoods are not coming back looking anything like they were.

And remember those pictures of the homes burnt to the ground on the land between Pacific Coast Highway and the ocean? Dollars to donuts, the Coastal Commission is already working on ways to seize that land one way or another so it can never be privately held again. The Coastal Commission’s sheer power over construction is enough to make the mafia envious.

The people who might move purple or even vote red are going to leave. The grifters, speculators and politically connected — Democrats’ natural constituency — will stay and maintain the status quo even as they take full advantage of the tragic loss of others.

California is deep blue. I really don’t believe it will change any time soon.

featured image, cropped, Adobe Stock standard license