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Tragedies of Recent fires in Los Angeles are suffocating and impossible to wrap my mind around as a California born and raised mother who evacuated our forever home at 4am on January 8th.
I am heartbroken. I’m furious. I pray. It’s my fault that I got out unscathed (so far). I am vigilantly searching for answers as I prepare for the next round of “Extremely Dangerous Event” winds. My own children ask me terrifying questions, and I answer them with the fake “everyone’s going to be okay” confidence that only parents know.
How California’s leadership failed families so outrageous? They have traded the time-tested value of accountability for the empty “diversity, equality and inclusion” trends.
California Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Mayor Karen Bass (AP/Getty)
I don’t believe in politicizing tragedies – especially tragedies this magnitude – but unfortunately, some tragedies are exacerbated by political motives and actions (or rather inactions). With some estimates of over $250 billion in damage and 24 innocent people dead as of this writing, NOW is the time to be vigilant in asking questions and planning solutions for our children’s future.
CALIFORNIA POLITICIANS DID NOT START THE FIRE. THEY MADE THEM WORSE
I will summarize only a few California and Los Angeles‘ documented priorities for taxpayer citizens in the last few years:
- Putting tampons in boys’ bathrooms in K-12 schools in the name of “inclusion”
- Advertising “Drag Queen Story Times” for children in public libraries
- Prohibition of controlled burning and proven forest management for “wildlife protection”
- Termination of hundreds of competent firefighters and emergency responders who refused the COVID vaccine
- Cutting key law enforcement officers through “Defund the Police” initiatives.
- Diverting 95% of statewide record rainfall (2023-24) to flow into the ocean instead of being properly stored in reservoirs
- Prioritizing LGBT activism, sexuality and gender over merit when hiring for security chief positions
IN LA YOU CAN SMELL THE SMOKE AND FEEL THE ANGER. CALIFORNIA CAN CHANGE. IT STARTS NOW
Were the fires inevitable given the conditions? Of course. But the lack of accountability on the part of leaders in partnership with DEI-driven priorities has failed to mitigate the carnage – as it shamelessly demonstrated Governor Gavin NewsomLos Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and even the guy who allegedly oversaw the countywide emergency alert system when it repeatedly warned 10 million people to “Evacuate Now” by mistake. (“I’m sorry, I messed up,” I heard him say on the radio. At least he admitted it, unlike the others.)
My teenagers have a better sense of responsibility and impending consequences than our elected and appointed officials. According to credible reports, the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power previously drained the city’s second largest reservoir near Pacific Palisades and failed to notify the county or city fire departments.
Mayor Karen Bass left the city under her watch and traveled to Africa despite National Weather Service warnings of unprecedented and dangerous fire conditions on January 3rd.
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Years of budget cuts in priority areas—including Newsom reportedly cutting over $100 million for wildfire preparedness in 2024—continue to drain resources and exacerbate the potential decimation we’re experiencing now.
There are big fires not unexpected in California. By all evidence, our leaders at the top are making irresponsible decisions that are not based on hindsight, current events, or fact-based projections. As a mom who constantly reminds her kids to think ahead, I’m furious.
As parents, we can hold leaders accountable in public forums and call on our representatives to review and reverse failed policies. But more importantly, we must raise our children to understand the seriousness of responsibility, appreciate merit and fear consequences.
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The “no right or wrong” parenting mentality has to stop. The “you do yourself” philosophy in schools must stop. The obsession with abandoning merit-based standards and skills in education and the workplace—checking boxes based on sexuality, gender, and perceived inequalities—must die. Responsibility and accountability are fundamental to maintaining a free, functioning and safe society. (This is one of our core principles for creating PragerU Kids.)
California leadership failed families. Blatant irresponsibility and DEI-centered priorities are now proven complicit in the physical, mental, and spiritual destruction of hundreds of thousands—without end. Not in this California mom’s class. Teach your children before it’s too late.
