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Matt Fleming: Wildfires unleash an endless stream of very bad takes

January 18, 2025

Gov. Gavin Newsom launched a webpage to combat “disinformation” about Los Angeles wildfires, but its usefulness is debatable.

Referencing a tweet alleging such, Newsom wrote: “FACT: No fire stemmed from a satanic ritual.”

Phew! I’m glad Newsom set the record straight there. Without his webpage, millions of Californians might still be wondering if satanists were behind the whole thing.

I’m kidding. That’s not something anyone serious was considering. What’s funny about this though is that it’s still unknown what caused the fire, meaning Newsom’s website is spreading disinformation itself.

Since the cause of the fire is not known, it’s factually incorrect to say “Fact” it wasn’t a satanic ritual.

Of course, I don’t believe it was from a satanic ritual — that’s ridiculous — but I can’t say that for sure, since, again, the cause is still unknown. Which highlights the broader point, which is that there is a lot of misinformation out there, as there usually is with most emergencies, but Newsom appears to be looking to score political points rather than actually trying to be helpful.

In fact, that Newsom’s disinformation page is hosted on his campaign website instead of his government website betrays his intentions because political speech is held to a much lower standard than government speech.

It’s also why Newsom’s soliciting charitable donations for The California Fire Foundation through his campaign page instead of simply directing traffic to the organization. He’s got to make sure he can collect data on people and hit them up later for campaign contributions.

IT’S CLIMATE CHANGE

“Just to be clear there have been 101 wildfires in California already this year. This is because of a rapidly changing climate. Period,” Assemblyman Isaac Bryan posted on X.

Period! I guess it’s settled. It doesn’t matter that that number of wildfires this year is entirely average for California and in fact is substantially fewer on average than in 1987, the furthest year back I could find (and also the nearly 40-year high). It also doesn’t matter that the U.S. Forest Service halted its wildfire prevention efforts last year.

I look forward to Newsom calling out this misinformer.

THERE’S LOTS OF WATER

Newsom has repeatedly tried pushing back on criticism that there was not enough water to fight the fires. There have been numerous problems with access to water, including a county-run reservoir being completely empty at the time of the fires, but Newsom, as chief of the misinformation police, wants people to know that the water problem is not a state problem.

“The reservoirs are completely full — the state reservoirs here in Southern California. That mis- and disinformation I don’t think advantages or aids any of us,” Newsom said on “Meet the Press,” according to the New York Post.

Governor, we get that you’re trying to cover your own butt, but there was a water problem. To suggest otherwise is, dare I say, misinformation.

SHOW VOTES ARE POLITICAL

Newsom was right about one thing though. Combining wildfire aid funding with the governor’s desire to boost funding for lawsuits against the federal government, to “Trump-proof” the state, is a bad idea, according to Politico California.

Apparently, lawmakers had been considering combining the two for reasons I can only assume were to force Republican lawmakers into a bad vote, to either support legal fights against Trump or to oppose wildfire aid funding.

Newsom was critical of those “politicizing this tragic moment,” according to The New York Times. But as usual, he was focusing on national Republicans, not Californians in his party. I’m sure he was forgetting he was collecting wildfire donor data for campaign purposes as well.

YOU SHOULDN’T BE IN A FIRE, DUMMY

Though of all the silly things people have said as part of the debate over the Los Angeles fires, my favorite was actually from 2019. In a video promoting the Los Angeles Fire Department’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion program, Deputy Chief Kristine Larson, who heads the program, defended the efforts as important in responding to emergencies.

“You want to see somebody that responds to your house, your emergency, whether it’s a medical call or a fire call, looks like you,” Larson said.

Of course that’s not true. No one with any sense would sit in an emergency situation hoping a person of their affinity group is coming to save them. Sure, there might be language issues that are important, but beyond that this statement is absurd on its face.

Larson also decried people expressing concerns that women firefighters might not be strong enough to pull adult men from burning buildings.

“He got himself in the wrong place if I have to carry him out of a fire,” Larson said with a smirk.

That’s exactly the attitude we need from first responders! You don’t want to be saved by a woman firefighter who may or may not be able to carry you out of a burning building, don’t be in a burning building in the first place.

Of course, I don’t know how Larson squares that attitude with the fact that most people do not set their houses on fire themselves, and if they do it’s usually an accident. (For the record, anyone, no matter how different from me, is allowed to save my life at the appropriate time. Thanks in advance.)

Fighting disinformation, staying apolitical in a crisis and promoting diversity are all great things. Unfortunately, the people entrusted with these roles are not taking their responsibilities seriously.

Follow Matt Fleming on X @FlemingWords

Orange County Register

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Matt Fleming: Wildfires unleash an endless stream of very bad takes

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