1 00:00:04,879 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: What's going on. Thank you so much for listening to 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:09,640 this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon 3 00:00:09,679 --> 00:00:12,519 to three on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you 4 00:00:12,560 --> 00:00:16,719 want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, 5 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:19,239 my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, 6 00:00:19,320 --> 00:00:22,600 go to dpeakclendershow dot com. Make sure you hit the 7 00:00:22,640 --> 00:00:25,160 subscribe button. Get every episode for free right to your 8 00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:27,719 smartphone or tablet, And again, thank you so much for 9 00:00:27,760 --> 00:00:28,399 your support. 10 00:00:28,879 --> 00:00:29,519 Speaker 2: Last night I. 11 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:33,200 Speaker 1: Started seeing a lot of the stories coming out of California, 12 00:00:33,200 --> 00:00:41,079 Southern California and the wildfires that are just devastating the 13 00:00:41,200 --> 00:00:45,320 areas out there. And as I look, I am not 14 00:00:45,399 --> 00:00:50,240 an expert unlike you know, deep water submersibles and Ukrainian 15 00:00:50,359 --> 00:00:51,280 Russian history. 16 00:00:51,399 --> 00:00:52,799 Speaker 2: I'm not an expert on. 17 00:00:55,000 --> 00:01:00,479 Speaker 1: Southern California geography and environmental policy and and all of 18 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:03,840 the laws at the state and national and federal levels. 19 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:10,519 But I have been reading people who do know what's 20 00:01:10,560 --> 00:01:12,920 going on now, but also what has kind of led 21 00:01:13,000 --> 00:01:17,400 up to this. So I put these into buckets of 22 00:01:17,719 --> 00:01:24,200 bad policy, bad politics, and bad priorities, and they're not 23 00:01:24,840 --> 00:01:28,120 if I were to do sort of Kamala Harris approved 24 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:33,599 Ven diagram, there would be overlapping portions of these circles. Right, 25 00:01:34,239 --> 00:01:39,000 politics will often you know, influence not often, it always 26 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:40,359 influences the policy. 27 00:01:40,400 --> 00:01:42,359 Speaker 2: What can you get done? What can't you get done? 28 00:01:42,799 --> 00:01:47,200 Speaker 1: The priorities is informed by and informs the politics and 29 00:01:47,239 --> 00:01:50,159 the policy. So there's a lot of overlap sort of 30 00:01:50,200 --> 00:01:54,959 in the center of the ven diagram there but bad policy, 31 00:01:55,000 --> 00:02:00,079 bad politics, and bad priorities. So you got to a 32 00:02:00,159 --> 00:02:04,159 lot of different angles on this story. First off, let's 33 00:02:04,200 --> 00:02:07,599 start with sort of an overview as to what's happening 34 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:11,840 now is best I can surmise, and following the media reporting, 35 00:02:14,120 --> 00:02:17,080 one of the co owners of Trending Politics, a guy 36 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:23,120 by the name of Colin Rugg r Ugg shared a 37 00:02:23,240 --> 00:02:29,400 video from Liz Kreutz from Malibu where the beachfront homes 38 00:02:29,479 --> 00:02:35,039 in Malibu have been completely destroyed all along the coast. 39 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:40,599 The city of Malibu is urging all residents, even if 40 00:02:40,599 --> 00:02:46,039 they're not under mandatory evacuation orders. Malibu is urging everybody 41 00:02:46,080 --> 00:02:50,360 to get ready to leave if they haven't already. They're 42 00:02:50,400 --> 00:02:53,800 dealing with wind gusts up to one hundred miles per 43 00:02:53,879 --> 00:02:57,039 hour in the overnight hours. According to the Los Angeles 44 00:02:57,039 --> 00:03:03,879 Fire Department spokesperson Eric Scott. If you've ever been there, 45 00:03:03,960 --> 00:03:07,919 there was apparently a popular seafood restaurant called the Real 46 00:03:08,159 --> 00:03:09,879 Inn r ee l. 47 00:03:10,080 --> 00:03:12,280 Speaker 2: The Real In It is gone. 48 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:18,039 Speaker 1: It's been completely raised to the ground. At least thirty 49 00:03:18,080 --> 00:03:21,960 thousand residents in southern California were forced to evacuate due 50 00:03:22,000 --> 00:03:26,360 to multiple wildfires that have destroyed thousands of acres in 51 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:31,719 the area. The latest numbers that I saw was approaching 52 00:03:31,759 --> 00:03:35,000 three thousand acres, which is about four and a half 53 00:03:35,039 --> 00:03:41,360 to five square miles. That's in the Palisades fire. Then 54 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:44,000 there are two other fires. There are a total of three. 55 00:03:44,240 --> 00:03:46,520 I'm not sure everybody is aware of that. There are 56 00:03:46,599 --> 00:03:52,240 actually three wildfires. We don't know what caused any of 57 00:03:52,280 --> 00:03:57,680 these at this time. But you've got the Palisades which 58 00:03:57,719 --> 00:04:00,159 was the biggest. There's also one called the eat In 59 00:04:00,400 --> 00:04:03,879 Fire E A t O N. The Eating Fire and 60 00:04:03,919 --> 00:04:07,400 the Hearst Fire h u rst. So the Eating Fire 61 00:04:07,479 --> 00:04:12,719 and the Hearst fire they broke out. So the Eating 62 00:04:12,759 --> 00:04:17,399 Fire was first reported in the early evening, like around 63 00:04:17,439 --> 00:04:22,120 six six thirty near Pasadena, California. The Hearst Fire broke 64 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:27,480 out about four hours later. Near Silmar, California, and combined 65 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:34,360 those two have more than eleven hundred acres destroyed between 66 00:04:34,399 --> 00:04:36,279 the two of them. I think the Hurst Fire is 67 00:04:36,319 --> 00:04:42,000 actually bigger than the Eating Fire, but they're zero containment 68 00:04:42,720 --> 00:04:45,920 on these things at this point, and you're dealing with 69 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:48,120 these super strong winds. 70 00:04:47,800 --> 00:04:49,480 Speaker 2: As I mentioned, one hundred miles an hour. 71 00:04:49,879 --> 00:04:53,759 Speaker 1: They called them the Santa Anna winds, and I was 72 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:56,680 not aware of this, but apparently the Santa Anna wins 73 00:04:56,720 --> 00:05:01,160 come from east to west, where like the normal the 74 00:05:01,240 --> 00:05:05,439 prevailing westerlies, that's you know, the wind comes from the 75 00:05:05,639 --> 00:05:08,639 west and goes across the entire country, moving to the 76 00:05:08,680 --> 00:05:11,800 east coast where we are, and so apparently the Santa 77 00:05:11,800 --> 00:05:15,199 Ana wins are going the opposite direction and creates all 78 00:05:15,240 --> 00:05:18,600 of this turbulence, the strong winds. They've got low humidity 79 00:05:18,720 --> 00:05:23,720 in the areas that has contributed to the rapid spread 80 00:05:23,839 --> 00:05:28,199 of these fires, and the conditions are expected to get 81 00:05:28,279 --> 00:05:35,000 worse as we move into tomorrow. So they're not even 82 00:05:35,079 --> 00:05:37,199 they're not even at the worst part of this yet 83 00:05:37,240 --> 00:05:37,879 as they expect. 84 00:05:37,879 --> 00:05:41,519 Speaker 2: According to cal Fire, a state. 85 00:05:41,360 --> 00:05:45,959 Speaker 1: Of emergency has been declared by the Governor Gavin Newsom 86 00:05:46,519 --> 00:05:51,839 posted on Twitter California has applied deployed fourteen hundred firefighting 87 00:05:51,879 --> 00:05:57,360 personnel and hundreds of prepositioned assets to combat these unprecedented 88 00:05:57,399 --> 00:06:02,079 fires in Los Angeles. The first fire was the Pacific 89 00:06:02,199 --> 00:06:06,920 Palisades Fire. The Palisades Fire, the Pacific Palisades is apparently 90 00:06:06,959 --> 00:06:10,839 a neighborhood and it's got a lot of houses packed 91 00:06:10,879 --> 00:06:16,839 in pretty tight around these curvy mountainous roads. And that 92 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:22,680 one started yesterday morning at about ten thirty am. The 93 00:06:22,720 --> 00:06:28,000 winds and the unfavorable conditions caused that fire to spread 94 00:06:28,120 --> 00:06:31,720 very quickly and that's where it ravaged over like twenty 95 00:06:31,800 --> 00:06:37,759 nine hundred acres, still burning, still zero containment as of 96 00:06:38,199 --> 00:06:43,000 this morning. There are reports out of the area that 97 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:48,199 firefighters have been giving up on some areas that cannot 98 00:06:48,199 --> 00:06:51,120 be saved and so and I understand, like you're in 99 00:06:51,160 --> 00:06:54,639 a triage mode, right, so you can't you can't get 100 00:06:54,680 --> 00:07:00,160 to certain areas or most disturbingly, there's no water in 101 00:07:00,240 --> 00:07:04,199 the fire hydrants. They've run through all the water, so 102 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:06,399 they cannot put them out. Even if they can get 103 00:07:06,399 --> 00:07:09,279 to the area, they can't put them out. So they're 104 00:07:09,279 --> 00:07:15,199 relying on some of the aerial you know, fire suppression 105 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,600 dumps that occur with the planes and the helicopters and stuff. 106 00:07:19,959 --> 00:07:22,519 But on the ground, if they're trying to get to 107 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:24,600 an area, to a neighborhood or street and they want 108 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:28,680 to plug into the hookup into the fire hydrant, they're 109 00:07:28,720 --> 00:07:31,839 finding that there's not water coming out of the hydrants. 110 00:07:32,959 --> 00:07:37,439 Speaker 2: They are also dealing with power outages. 111 00:07:38,079 --> 00:07:42,879 Speaker 1: I was not aware, but apparently they shut down, they 112 00:07:42,879 --> 00:07:47,079 turn off people's power in these types of fire events, 113 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:52,600 they turn them off, They turn the power off, and 114 00:07:52,639 --> 00:07:54,800 I'll get to that. The AP reported on that as well, 115 00:07:54,839 --> 00:07:58,279 and because there's a fire hazard associated with that, so 116 00:07:58,879 --> 00:08:03,600 people are on a able to make contact with loved ones, 117 00:08:03,680 --> 00:08:07,439 much like we saw in western North Carolina where due 118 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:12,199 to the Hurricane Helene aftermath and the mud slides, rock slides, 119 00:08:12,279 --> 00:08:16,240 flooding and all that power was taken out. Cell phone 120 00:08:16,240 --> 00:08:19,920 communications were all taken out and that made it very 121 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:22,480 difficult not just to get in contact with people, but 122 00:08:22,519 --> 00:08:27,079 also to get emergency response to the areas where people 123 00:08:27,120 --> 00:08:27,720 needed help. 124 00:08:30,639 --> 00:08:32,840 Speaker 2: This is from to Do. 125 00:08:32,919 --> 00:08:35,519 Speaker 1: This is from k t l A, which, by the way, 126 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,480 if you are looking for news sources to see what's 127 00:08:39,519 --> 00:08:45,080 going on, go to the local news organizations. I'm not 128 00:08:45,120 --> 00:08:47,159 saying you should only go there. I always say get 129 00:08:47,200 --> 00:08:50,200 your news from multiple sources. But a lot of the 130 00:08:50,240 --> 00:08:54,240 local outlets are doing a lot of great work because 131 00:08:54,320 --> 00:08:56,639 they know the area, right, They know the people, they 132 00:08:56,639 --> 00:08:59,759 know the streets, they know who to talk to, and 133 00:09:00,240 --> 00:09:03,559 they and they have experience with this kind of you know, 134 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:07,279 these kinds of wildfires, because this happens, right, This happens 135 00:09:07,360 --> 00:09:11,639 in California for a number of reasons. Some of it 136 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:16,960 is environmental, yes, but a lot of it is bad policy, 137 00:09:17,840 --> 00:09:22,080 bad policy. And I don't know how many more of 138 00:09:22,120 --> 00:09:27,399 these types of catastrophes we have to see before people 139 00:09:27,600 --> 00:09:30,919 start waking up to the fact that what they have 140 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:34,440 been doing and what they have been advocating for is 141 00:09:34,480 --> 00:09:39,519 actually detrimental, is actually causing more loss of life, more 142 00:09:39,600 --> 00:09:45,720 loss of structures, more environmental damage. Right, because burning four 143 00:09:45,759 --> 00:09:50,960 thousand and five thousand acres of buildings and cars and such, 144 00:09:51,600 --> 00:09:54,840 that's not good for the environment, right, If you care 145 00:09:54,879 --> 00:09:58,720 about air quality, this is not a good thing. Here's 146 00:09:58,720 --> 00:10:01,159 a great idea. How about out making an escape to 147 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,679 a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina. 148 00:10:04,799 --> 00:10:06,960 Just a quick drive up the mountain and Cabins of 149 00:10:07,000 --> 00:10:11,360 Ashville is your connection. Whether you're celebrating an anniversary, a honeymoon, 150 00:10:11,399 --> 00:10:13,639 maybe you want to plan a memorable proposal, or get 151 00:10:13,639 --> 00:10:16,559 family and friends together for a big old reunion. Cabins 152 00:10:16,600 --> 00:10:19,320 of Asheville has the ideal spot for you where you 153 00:10:19,360 --> 00:10:21,960 can reconnect with your loved ones and the things that 154 00:10:22,039 --> 00:10:25,799 truly matter. Nestled within the breath taking fourteen thousand acres 155 00:10:25,799 --> 00:10:29,159 of the Pisga National Forest, their cabins offer a serene 156 00:10:29,279 --> 00:10:31,919 escape in the heart of the Blue Ridge Mountains. 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Call her text 165 00:11:03,080 --> 00:11:06,440 eight two, eight, three, six, seven seventy sixty eight or 166 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:09,320 check out all there is to offer at Cabinsofashville dot 167 00:11:09,360 --> 00:11:14,679 com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. The mayor 168 00:11:15,039 --> 00:11:19,480 of Los Angeles. Her name is Karen. 169 00:11:19,200 --> 00:11:22,120 Speaker 2: Bass or Bass but Bass. 170 00:11:22,240 --> 00:11:26,840 Speaker 1: She I believe was a congresswoman from California, and she's 171 00:11:26,879 --> 00:11:31,559 now the mayor of Los Angeles. And Jim Garretty, writing 172 00:11:31,600 --> 00:11:36,519 at National Review, posted up onto Twitter. Actually, he says, 173 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:40,879 in what must be the most unfortunately timed trip since 174 00:11:40,960 --> 00:11:44,519 Texas Senator Ted Cruz took his family on vacation in Aruba, 175 00:11:45,200 --> 00:11:49,080 Karen Bass was roughly seventy four hundred miles away from 176 00:11:49,080 --> 00:11:52,559 her city as the fires engulf did. She was honoring 177 00:11:52,600 --> 00:11:57,600 the inauguration of a man most Angelinos have never heard of, 178 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:00,519 in a place most of them could not find on 179 00:12:00,600 --> 00:12:08,159 a map. Mayor Bass is in Ghana for an inauguration 180 00:12:08,559 --> 00:12:10,759 of the president there. She is there as part of 181 00:12:10,799 --> 00:12:19,159 a presidential delegation of some kind. Very politically unfortunate. As 182 00:12:19,200 --> 00:12:23,480 Will Collier points out, she's probably gana regret that trip. 183 00:12:23,759 --> 00:12:25,600 Speaker 2: That's probably well. 184 00:12:25,639 --> 00:12:29,200 Speaker 1: I mean, look, obviously she could not have known right 185 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:31,600 that this was going to happen when she agreed to 186 00:12:31,720 --> 00:12:36,679 and then took the trip. But she I'm not sure 187 00:12:37,039 --> 00:12:40,519 she better be on a plane heading back, because she's 188 00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:44,679 the mayor of Los Angeles and that's where this is occurring. 189 00:12:44,720 --> 00:12:46,000 Speaker 2: This is La County. 190 00:12:47,159 --> 00:12:52,000 Speaker 1: Evacuations were ordered for the entire Palisades community down to 191 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:55,879 the Pacific Ocean, according to cal Fire. During a Tuesday 192 00:12:55,879 --> 00:12:58,919 afternoon press conference, officials said more than ten thousand homes 193 00:12:58,919 --> 00:13:03,000 in Pacific Palisade and Malibu were affected by the evacuation order, 194 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:09,679 and warnings also extended into areas of Santa Monica and Calabasas. 195 00:13:10,240 --> 00:13:13,679 If you have seen any of the you know, I 196 00:13:13,679 --> 00:13:19,559 don't know, the ten thousand foot elevation views, like the 197 00:13:19,600 --> 00:13:25,799 whole picture, if you will in your mind a you know, 198 00:13:25,919 --> 00:13:28,240 you got the Pacific Ocean on the left side there, 199 00:13:28,559 --> 00:13:33,039 and then you've got the city, you know, Pacific Palisades, Malibu. 200 00:13:33,120 --> 00:13:34,799 Speaker 2: You got all of that up against the water. 201 00:13:35,679 --> 00:13:39,120 Speaker 1: And then you've got this sort of crescent that runs 202 00:13:39,679 --> 00:13:46,080 from the top the northern part around the city, and 203 00:13:46,120 --> 00:13:49,720 it runs sort of in this crescent shape from the 204 00:13:49,759 --> 00:13:53,000 top left all the way around to like the midway 205 00:13:53,039 --> 00:13:55,360 through the right side, the eastern side, and that's a 206 00:13:55,399 --> 00:13:58,720 mountain chain that's right there. There's a bunch of mountains there, 207 00:13:58,960 --> 00:14:01,360 and so this area is in a bit of a valley, 208 00:14:01,440 --> 00:14:03,559 and then on the other side of the mountain there's 209 00:14:03,639 --> 00:14:05,759 more housing and that sort of stuff. And so the 210 00:14:05,919 --> 00:14:09,840 big fear now is that this fire is going to 211 00:14:10,279 --> 00:14:15,080 get across that mountain chain, across those mountains, and once 212 00:14:15,159 --> 00:14:18,639 that happens, it's going to spread through that whole area 213 00:14:18,799 --> 00:14:22,519 on the northern side as well. Pacific Palisades is about 214 00:14:22,559 --> 00:14:26,399 ten miles from Malibu, and both areas have been affected. 215 00:14:29,000 --> 00:14:33,600 Malibu is where the Franklin Fire burned more than four 216 00:14:33,679 --> 00:14:39,120 thousand acres and several homes when it erupted with windy 217 00:14:39,159 --> 00:14:43,759 conditions back in December. Okay, so again, this is not 218 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:50,200 a new thing for California. However, because it is not new, 219 00:14:50,440 --> 00:14:56,399 and because these conditions are persistent, they've existed before humans 220 00:14:56,440 --> 00:15:01,039 ever got there, there are things that humans can do 221 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:08,240 to mitigate the devastation when these conditions kind of converge 222 00:15:08,399 --> 00:15:11,639 into a wild fire. And however it was sparked, we 223 00:15:11,720 --> 00:15:13,720 don't know yet. It could have been like I saw 224 00:15:13,799 --> 00:15:19,480 one video a woman caught another woman lighting fires along 225 00:15:20,000 --> 00:15:23,039 just in like some desert scrubland area. She had just 226 00:15:23,639 --> 00:15:27,159 the woman I think is obviously mentally deranged in some manner, 227 00:15:27,399 --> 00:15:29,279 and she was just piling up a bunch of stuff 228 00:15:29,320 --> 00:15:32,080 and setting it on fire, saying that this was a 229 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:35,960 good thing to do. Yeah, there are a lot of 230 00:15:35,960 --> 00:15:38,279 crazy people out there that do crazy things, and so 231 00:15:38,759 --> 00:15:41,519 that may be how this started. Could have been you know, arson, 232 00:15:41,639 --> 00:15:44,600 it could have been accidental. There's also a problem with 233 00:15:44,919 --> 00:15:50,200 homeless encampments where people gather around, they're in RVs, or 234 00:15:50,240 --> 00:15:54,000 they're intense, and they set fires to you know, keep 235 00:15:54,039 --> 00:15:57,159 themselves warm at night, or to cook over, and then 236 00:15:57,240 --> 00:16:01,200 those fires get out of control. That's another part of 237 00:16:01,240 --> 00:16:04,960 this story. That's another angle. All right, I hope you 238 00:16:05,039 --> 00:16:07,759 had a happy holiday season. But tell me if something 239 00:16:07,840 --> 00:16:10,480 like this happened at your house. Your family and friends 240 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:12,799 are gathered around, maybe y'all are in the living room, 241 00:16:12,879 --> 00:16:17,480 you're laughing, swapping stories, reminiscing, and then somebody says, hey, Dad, 242 00:16:17,720 --> 00:16:21,120 remember those old VHS tapes? Did you ever get them transferred? 243 00:16:21,600 --> 00:16:24,200 And then the room gets all quiet. All eyes are 244 00:16:24,279 --> 00:16:27,000 on Dad, who says, oh, you know, well, I've been 245 00:16:27,039 --> 00:16:29,919 meaning to but I just having gotten around to it. Look, 246 00:16:29,960 --> 00:16:33,200 don't let those priceless memories sit in a box for 247 00:16:33,240 --> 00:16:36,039 another year. All right, Create a Video has been helping 248 00:16:36,039 --> 00:16:39,320 families in the Charlotte area preserve their history since nineteen 249 00:16:39,399 --> 00:16:42,639 ninety seven. Simply bring in your old camquarder tapes and 250 00:16:42,759 --> 00:16:46,440 Creative Video will transfer them to a USB flash drive 251 00:16:46,639 --> 00:16:48,759 for just fourteen ninety five per tape. You have a 252 00:16:48,759 --> 00:16:52,120 big collection, they've got a discount for you. And next year, 253 00:16:52,200 --> 00:16:56,480 instead of talking about those memories, imagine gathering the family 254 00:16:56,559 --> 00:16:59,679 to watch them together. Talk about a memorable gift. 255 00:17:00,039 --> 00:17:00,879 Speaker 2: So do what I did. 256 00:17:00,919 --> 00:17:04,759 Speaker 1: Trust the experts at Creative Video, conveniently located in mint 257 00:17:04,799 --> 00:17:07,640 Hill right off I four eighty five and online at 258 00:17:07,720 --> 00:17:11,640 create a Video dot com. So, about fifteen thousand utility 259 00:17:11,680 --> 00:17:15,759 customers in southern California had their power shut off to 260 00:17:15,880 --> 00:17:20,559 reduce the risk of equipment sparking another fire. Half a 261 00:17:20,559 --> 00:17:25,799 million customers total are at risk of losing power preemptively. Okay, 262 00:17:25,799 --> 00:17:27,920 so they're going to shut people's power off even though 263 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:33,319 they're not you know, they're not being affected directly yet 264 00:17:33,359 --> 00:17:35,240 by the wobfires there. 265 00:17:36,119 --> 00:17:38,160 Speaker 2: Now I mentioned. 266 00:17:37,759 --> 00:17:41,279 Speaker 1: You've got the politics, you've got the policy, and you've 267 00:17:41,279 --> 00:17:46,000 got priorities. And again they all sort of intersect in 268 00:17:46,079 --> 00:17:50,839 certain parts. So for example, there's a writer at RedState 269 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:55,440 dot com named Banchi and has he's posted a bunch 270 00:17:55,440 --> 00:18:01,119 of stuff regarding some of the policy that are informed 271 00:18:01,160 --> 00:18:05,640 by the politics and priorities California. He says, has been 272 00:18:05,759 --> 00:18:10,720 throttling or shutting off water to southern California for decades 273 00:18:11,319 --> 00:18:15,960 in a vain attempt to save a three inch long 274 00:18:16,599 --> 00:18:22,599 minnow like fish. This is tiny little minnow that they're 275 00:18:22,640 --> 00:18:26,079 trying to save, which is which makes sense because like, 276 00:18:26,359 --> 00:18:28,119 but I thought the minnow was only gone a three 277 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:30,799 hour tour. But it doesn't matter anyway. Trump tried to 278 00:18:31,000 --> 00:18:37,799 change that, and he was opposed, and he's got a 279 00:18:37,839 --> 00:18:40,519 series of headlines here. I'll just read them real quick. 280 00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:45,759 At San Francisco, Delta smelt that's the name of the 281 00:18:46,519 --> 00:18:49,400 It's a smelt fish. It's not like you know, Delta 282 00:18:49,480 --> 00:18:53,839 smelt it anyway, the tiny fish caught in California's war 283 00:18:53,880 --> 00:18:57,759 with Trump, harbingers of a diminishing ecosystem. The smelt are 284 00:18:57,799 --> 00:19:01,839 almost extinct now, forces then the Trump administration could usher 285 00:19:01,920 --> 00:19:09,119 them into oblivion. Or this one Delta pumps throttled back 286 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:14,599 despite rains, cutting California water deliveries in order to protect 287 00:19:14,799 --> 00:19:19,599 fish Delta smelt shuts down major water supply. That's the 288 00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:23,039 fish is shutting down the water supply, and the report 289 00:19:23,240 --> 00:19:27,079 is all it took was a sparse population of minnow 290 00:19:27,279 --> 00:19:30,839 like smelt and two days for state and federal water 291 00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:35,000 contractors to turn off the drinking and irrigation water spigots 292 00:19:35,000 --> 00:19:38,200 for twenty five million Californians and almost a million acres 293 00:19:38,240 --> 00:19:42,799 of farmland. The Department of Water Resources stopped pumping at 294 00:19:42,920 --> 00:19:46,480 state water project facilities in the Delta in late May 295 00:19:46,599 --> 00:19:50,400 to protect the Delta smelt. A day later, federal officials 296 00:19:50,480 --> 00:19:52,960 dramatically cut back the amount of water being pumped to 297 00:19:53,039 --> 00:19:57,079 farmers in southern California cities to the lowest level ever 298 00:19:57,599 --> 00:20:02,720 in an attempt to save the endane Delta smelt. That 299 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:07,519 was a story from two thousand and seven. Two thousand 300 00:20:07,559 --> 00:20:15,000 and seven. Why California has not built desalinization plants all 301 00:20:15,039 --> 00:20:18,319 over its coastline at this point is beyond me. I 302 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:26,359 do not understand. Once again, bad priorities, bad politics. While 303 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:30,000 California's water management is a big issue, Bonchi says, it 304 00:20:30,079 --> 00:20:34,160 is also true that these fires typically start on federal 305 00:20:34,279 --> 00:20:41,000 lands guests whose administration canceled controlled burns crucial controlled burns 306 00:20:41,519 --> 00:20:46,319 this past fall. Why Bonchi says, so they wouldn't look 307 00:20:46,359 --> 00:20:50,519 bad if something went wrong, Well, that would be Joseph 308 00:20:50,759 --> 00:20:56,720 Robinette Biden KQED reported Forest Service Holtz prescribed burns in California. 309 00:20:57,359 --> 00:21:00,359 Speaker 2: Is it worth the risk? And there's a quoted in. 310 00:21:00,319 --> 00:21:03,000 Speaker 1: There from an official who says, I think the Forest 311 00:21:03,039 --> 00:21:05,680 Service is worried about the risk of something bad happening 312 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:09,079 with a prescribed burn, and they're willing to trade that risk, 313 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,119 which they will be blamed for for increased. 314 00:21:12,720 --> 00:21:14,359 Speaker 2: Risks on wildfires. 315 00:21:14,680 --> 00:21:17,119 Speaker 1: In the event of a wildfire, if something bad happens, 316 00:21:17,319 --> 00:21:19,720 they're much less likely to be blamed because they can 317 00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:21,799 point the finger at Mother Nature. 318 00:21:22,720 --> 00:21:22,920 Speaker 2: Right. 319 00:21:23,400 --> 00:21:28,400 Speaker 1: Always try to look for the incentives that people are 320 00:21:28,759 --> 00:21:35,640 responding to, and this would have been in October October 321 00:21:35,680 --> 00:21:41,160 twenty twenty four. The federal government not wanting to risk 322 00:21:41,559 --> 00:21:44,640 things getting out of control with a prescribed burn and 323 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:49,400 negatively impacting Kamala Harris's chances of winning re election, they 324 00:21:49,400 --> 00:21:52,000 didn't want that on them, and so they just didn't 325 00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:55,559 do the burn. They delayed the burn, and then if 326 00:21:55,559 --> 00:21:59,400 something bad happens, if a burn does erupt, a wildfire 327 00:21:59,440 --> 00:22:02,119 does erupt, well, then they could just blame Gaya Earth. 328 00:22:02,279 --> 00:22:04,000 Speaker 2: And that's right. 329 00:22:05,119 --> 00:22:10,559 Speaker 1: Climate change. Climate change is the reason why. Supposedly, this 330 00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:14,319 is Bernie Sanders on Twitter. He says, eight months since 331 00:22:14,359 --> 00:22:17,079 the area has seen rain, the scale of damage and 332 00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:20,599 loss is unimaginable. Climate change is real, not a hoax. 333 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:23,720 Donald Trump must treat this like the existential crisis. It 334 00:22:23,839 --> 00:22:27,440 is right, it's not my best Bernie impression, that is true. 335 00:22:27,519 --> 00:22:32,400 But this is not climate change. Okay, this is not 336 00:22:32,480 --> 00:22:36,880 climate change. This is a failure of man. This is 337 00:22:37,000 --> 00:22:41,480 human failure. Bad priorities. Did you know that Los Angeles 338 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:44,119 County cut funding to the fire department last in this 339 00:22:44,200 --> 00:22:47,720 year's budget, Like I think it was like almost twenty 340 00:22:47,759 --> 00:22:50,759 million dollars they cut out of their budget. Right, these 341 00:22:50,799 --> 00:22:57,039 are priorities, These are policy decisions. Not building desalinization plants, 342 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:01,480 not doing prescribed burns, the controlled burns when you should 343 00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:03,279 be doing them. And why do you do that? Why 344 00:23:03,319 --> 00:23:05,519 do you do the prescribed burns, these controlled burns? 345 00:23:05,559 --> 00:23:06,319 Speaker 2: Why do you do them? 346 00:23:07,039 --> 00:23:11,200 Speaker 1: It's to clear out the underbrush in a small contained area, 347 00:23:11,839 --> 00:23:17,240 So this way you don't have fuel for these wildfires. Right, 348 00:23:17,279 --> 00:23:20,480 it's harder for a wildfire to spread if you don't 349 00:23:20,480 --> 00:23:24,359 have all of this underbrush. And you remember, Donald Trump 350 00:23:24,440 --> 00:23:28,079 made a comment about this, talking about raking leaves. Remember, 351 00:23:28,559 --> 00:23:32,119 and oh, it was so hilarious. He's so stupid. What 352 00:23:32,279 --> 00:23:34,759 is he talking about? And raking the leaves and all 353 00:23:34,799 --> 00:23:39,599 of this, this is what he's talking about. Maybe if 354 00:23:39,640 --> 00:23:46,519 people were to instead of automatically mocking and rejecting what 355 00:23:46,559 --> 00:23:49,559 Trump is saying, maybe if people were to listen a 356 00:23:49,559 --> 00:23:52,599 little bit to what it is that he's may I 357 00:23:52,680 --> 00:23:57,440 even say the term in artfully describing, right, because he 358 00:23:57,599 --> 00:24:00,000 was correct. There are leaves that need to be burned 359 00:24:00,119 --> 00:24:01,720 out of there, not raked up. You're not going to 360 00:24:01,799 --> 00:24:06,279 rake a forest, but that underbrush, that scrub that needs 361 00:24:06,279 --> 00:24:10,119 to be controlled. And that's why you do the controlled burns. 362 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:11,039 Speaker 2: But you don't. 363 00:24:12,200 --> 00:24:17,279 Speaker 1: These governments don't do it because the environmentalist wackos refuse 364 00:24:17,359 --> 00:24:19,000 to allow them to do it. And so now this 365 00:24:19,039 --> 00:24:24,119 has become an embedded article of faith inside the left 366 00:24:24,119 --> 00:24:28,119 and the Democrat Party that they can't do them. And 367 00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:30,720 this is what you see, This is what we get, 368 00:24:31,079 --> 00:24:32,880 all right, if you're listening to this show, you know, 369 00:24:32,960 --> 00:24:34,960 I try to keep up with all sorts of current events, 370 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,039 and I know you do too, and you've probably heard 371 00:24:37,079 --> 00:24:41,160 me say get your news from multiple sources. Why, Well, 372 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:43,880 because it's how you detect media bias, which is why 373 00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:47,119 I've been so impressed with ground News. It's an app 374 00:24:47,319 --> 00:24:50,559 and it's a website and it combines news from around 375 00:24:50,559 --> 00:24:53,000 the world in one place so you can compare coverage 376 00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:55,920 and verify information. You can check it out at check 377 00:24:56,160 --> 00:25:00,400 dot ground, dot news slash pete. I put the link 378 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:03,559 in the podcast description too. I started using ground News 379 00:25:03,559 --> 00:25:06,279 a few months ago and more recently chose to work 380 00:25:06,319 --> 00:25:08,359 with them as an affiliate because it lets me see 381 00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:12,200 clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind 382 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:15,039 spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the 383 00:25:15,119 --> 00:25:18,799 left and the right. See for yourself check dot ground, 384 00:25:19,039 --> 00:25:22,680 dot news slash pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll 385 00:25:22,680 --> 00:25:25,880 get fifteen percent off any subscription. I use the Vantage 386 00:25:25,920 --> 00:25:29,359 plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription 387 00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:32,119 then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports 388 00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:37,759 ground News as they make the media landscape more transparent. Banchie, 389 00:25:38,119 --> 00:25:42,000 a writer at RedState dot com, going over some of 390 00:25:42,039 --> 00:25:49,400 the recent history of California's complete garbage management of fire 391 00:25:50,000 --> 00:25:55,799 and forest land. During Donald Trump's first term, he tried 392 00:25:55,839 --> 00:26:00,000 to increase water diversions on federal land to help calif 393 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:03,920 Fifornia's water supply. The state of California and various environmental 394 00:26:03,920 --> 00:26:08,920 groups sued him and won. Once again, owning the Orange 395 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:16,599 Man took priority over protecting people. Joe Biden, he says, 396 00:26:16,599 --> 00:26:19,799 canceled planned controlled burns in October because he didn't want 397 00:26:19,799 --> 00:26:21,920 his administration to be blamed if a fire got out 398 00:26:21,960 --> 00:26:26,960 of hand. California has not built a new reservoir since 399 00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:31,640 nineteen seventy nine. Well it's a good thing. I mean 400 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:34,599 they're not growing or anything. Well they're actually not anymore. 401 00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:41,000 But this is part of the problem that they didn't 402 00:26:41,200 --> 00:26:46,240 fill the reservoirs. And the reason they didn't fill the 403 00:26:46,279 --> 00:26:52,880 reservoirs was related to these policies and politics that say 404 00:26:52,920 --> 00:26:54,319 you've got to protect. 405 00:26:53,920 --> 00:26:58,640 Speaker 2: This smelt minnow fish. Right. 406 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:03,440 Speaker 1: This is why so many like the environmentalist movement, like 407 00:27:03,480 --> 00:27:06,279 I call them watermelons, because they are, you know, green 408 00:27:06,319 --> 00:27:07,960 on the outside, red on the inside. 409 00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:10,920 Speaker 2: They're commis. They're not actually for progress. 410 00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,559 Speaker 1: Despite the fact that they like to call themselves progressives, 411 00:27:13,759 --> 00:27:18,079 they're actually not progressive. They don't want to progress. They 412 00:27:18,119 --> 00:27:20,920 want to actually regress, they want to go backwards. 413 00:27:20,960 --> 00:27:22,720 Speaker 2: They don't want people on this land. 414 00:27:22,720 --> 00:27:24,759 Speaker 1: I'm sure some of them are going to be perfectly fine, like, well, 415 00:27:24,799 --> 00:27:27,119 I guess we shouldn't build there anymore. Let's just leave 416 00:27:27,160 --> 00:27:30,559 it all up to let nature take it take it over. 417 00:27:30,799 --> 00:27:36,799 Speaker 2: You know. There is also a guy named Sam Stein. 418 00:27:37,519 --> 00:27:39,559 He is an MSNBC guy. 419 00:27:39,599 --> 00:27:43,599 Speaker 1: He also writes at the Bulwark and he says the 420 00:27:43,640 --> 00:27:46,960 swift devastation of the Palisades fire is horrible. And then 421 00:27:47,000 --> 00:27:49,720 it dawns on you that Trump, set to take office 422 00:27:49,759 --> 00:27:53,960 in thirteen days, has threatened publicly to cut wildfire aid 423 00:27:54,160 --> 00:27:59,519 to the state, and this prompted a response from a 424 00:27:59,559 --> 00:28:03,240 fellow on Twitter named Jarvis, who is well worth the 425 00:28:03,279 --> 00:28:09,119 follow Jarvis underscore best Jarvis best. He says, a lot 426 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,440 of people are you know, dunking on Sam Stein for 427 00:28:12,759 --> 00:28:16,720 this post that he made. He said, but let me explain. See, 428 00:28:17,160 --> 00:28:20,279 one of the rules of journalisming is that whenever something 429 00:28:20,319 --> 00:28:23,799 bad happens, you have to blame the bad thing on 430 00:28:24,240 --> 00:28:29,839 what's called the RICP, the RIICP, which stands for Republican 431 00:28:30,119 --> 00:28:35,240 in Closest Proximity the RIICP. So you find So if 432 00:28:35,240 --> 00:28:38,359 it happens in like a Democrat controlled city, then you 433 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:41,000 got to go to, say, the republican governor. Oh no, 434 00:28:41,119 --> 00:28:43,279 in California, they got a Democrat governor. Okay, so now 435 00:28:43,279 --> 00:28:45,759 we got to go to the president. Oh no, we 436 00:28:45,839 --> 00:28:49,839 have a Democrat president. So now like, if you are 437 00:28:50,200 --> 00:28:54,960 stuck with this Democrat mayor, Democrat governor Democrat president, then 438 00:28:54,960 --> 00:28:57,920 there's nobody to blame. There's no Republican in proximity for 439 00:28:57,960 --> 00:29:01,680 the bad thing, because there's there's no RIIC in those cases. 440 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:05,960 Then you have to pivot to what's called the h RIICP, 441 00:29:06,279 --> 00:29:10,880 which is the hypothetical Republican in closest proximity, right, And 442 00:29:10,920 --> 00:29:15,000 that's when you imagine how bad this would be if 443 00:29:15,039 --> 00:29:19,119 there was a Republican around, right, Because you can't blame 444 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:23,279 a Democrat mayor for the decisions about filling the reservoirs. 445 00:29:25,119 --> 00:29:28,359 You can't or cutting the funding for the firefighters and such, 446 00:29:28,400 --> 00:29:31,039 you can't blame them. You can't blame the governor for 447 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,079 diverting all of the snowfall that came in the mountains 448 00:29:34,119 --> 00:29:36,559 and sending it to the Pacific Ocean. You can't blame them. 449 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:38,680 So you got to then go to the president, but 450 00:29:38,720 --> 00:29:41,119 you can't blame him for not doing the controlled burns 451 00:29:41,599 --> 00:29:43,480 because he's a Democrat. So then you got to go 452 00:29:43,559 --> 00:29:46,880 to what would have been like had there been a 453 00:29:46,920 --> 00:29:50,240 Republican doing something, and that would have been way worse. 454 00:29:50,519 --> 00:29:54,200 Can you imagine how much worse the hellscape would be 455 00:29:54,319 --> 00:29:58,799 if a Republican had any kind of proximity to the 456 00:29:58,880 --> 00:30:02,960 levers of power. Luckily we have the babylon Bee with 457 00:30:03,000 --> 00:30:08,640 this headline that Governor Newsom has ordered all trees to 458 00:30:08,839 --> 00:30:12,039 wear masks to prevent the spread of the wildfires. 459 00:30:12,079 --> 00:30:16,440 Speaker 2: That's it's a national treasure, the Babylon Bee. 460 00:30:17,279 --> 00:30:24,559 Speaker 1: California has a huge population, not just because it's huge geographically, 461 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:32,160 but because for decades, according to Fisher King, it had 462 00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:35,400 a reputation for being a clean, fun and well governed state. 463 00:30:35,480 --> 00:30:39,759 It was actually a reliably GOP state in presidential elections 464 00:30:39,759 --> 00:30:42,559 all the way through nineteen ninety two. People wanted to 465 00:30:42,599 --> 00:30:44,640 live there. You got the sun, you got the beaches, 466 00:30:44,680 --> 00:30:47,720 you got the mountains. Right, it was a Tier one 467 00:30:47,880 --> 00:30:52,119 first World country. But you get the politics wrong, and 468 00:30:52,160 --> 00:30:56,000 you can do a real number on a place. And 469 00:30:56,079 --> 00:31:01,599 that's what California is reckoning. With Dave Rubin, host of 470 00:31:01,640 --> 00:31:07,119 The Ruben Report. Former liberal from California, now more of 471 00:31:07,160 --> 00:31:11,799 a libertarian conservatorian type of guy, does a podcast show. 472 00:31:12,599 --> 00:31:14,599 He said, a few weeks ago, he appeared on Piers 473 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:18,759 Morgan's show, and he got into this fight with Chank Uger, 474 00:31:19,359 --> 00:31:22,160 one of the founders of the Young Turks Right, and 475 00:31:22,400 --> 00:31:25,119 they were arguing over diversity, equity and inclusion, which, by 476 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:28,079 the way, good news. The chief of the fire department 477 00:31:28,119 --> 00:31:31,880 in Los Angeles is LGBTQ and has a focus on 478 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:35,200 diversity and inclusion, so thank god, that's going to help 479 00:31:35,240 --> 00:31:38,599 us fight the fires there. He points out that DEI 480 00:31:38,720 --> 00:31:42,079 isn't just wrong because it's repackaged racism. He says it's 481 00:31:42,119 --> 00:31:45,720 also wrong because once it enters a system, it takes 482 00:31:45,759 --> 00:31:51,160 attention and resources away from the actual mandate of the institution. 483 00:31:51,359 --> 00:31:55,559 There is finite time and manpower and funding, and if 484 00:31:55,599 --> 00:31:58,400 you choose to waste your time and your man power 485 00:31:58,440 --> 00:32:03,200 and your funding on DEI, your core competency will diminish. 486 00:32:03,319 --> 00:32:04,880 Speaker 2: It is as simple as that. 487 00:32:05,240 --> 00:32:07,559 Speaker 1: All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you 488 00:32:07,640 --> 00:32:09,640 so much for listening. I could not do the show 489 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:12,160 without your support and the support of the businesses. That 490 00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:15,319 advertise on the podcast, so if you'd like, please support 491 00:32:15,359 --> 00:32:17,039 them too and tell them you heard it here. You 492 00:32:17,039 --> 00:32:19,680 can also become a patron at my Patreon page or 493 00:32:19,759 --> 00:32:23,400 go to dpetecleanershow dot com. Again, thank you so much 494 00:32:23,400 --> 00:32:30,559 for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone.