How Republicans exploit LA fires for political gain

I blame it on Rahm. Let the record show that it was Rahm Emanuel, the Machel Valley and former congressman, Obama, Chief of Staff and Chicago Mayor, who advised his fellow Democrats to never let a crisis go to waste, use it, exploit it. Emmanuel told them, just don’t waste it. Across the aisle, Republicans were apparently listening intently, and now they’re putting Emmanuel dark magic to work for themselves, as six different wildfires continue to ravage the outskirts of Los Angeles, killing at least 16 people, destroying more than 12,000 homes and businesses and scorching more than 40,000 acres, Republicans are taking Emanuel’s advice, instead of lending a hand, all they’re offering is snark and sarcasm and insult fueled by bias and prejudice. Those on the right are determined to milk the crisis of the California fires for all it’s worth, they’re using human suffering to advance their grievances and attack everything from environmentalism to dei diversity, equity and inclusion. Naturally, California, which represents the world’s fifth largest economy, is a blue state, and its dominance in most areas like tourism and tech. Well, that makes Republicans see red. Besides, conservatives weren’t about to blame climate change for the fires. How could they? Many of them don’t believe in it. It’s dirty and despicable, which is to say, it’s fair game in the dirty and despicable arena of politics. So when devastating wildfires break out in Los Angeles, Republicans across the country jump at the chance to push their favorite narrative that Democrats are terrible leaders with dangerous policies that threaten the lives of everyday Americans. Sure, the Republican rant was predictable, childish and insensitive. It made them look worse than the Californians who were under siege by the flames, but it was also short sighted. After all, disasters, both natural and man made, also occur in red states run by Republicans. In September 2024 hurricane Helene, a monster storm that killed more than 150 people, wrecked havoc on Northwestern Florida, then went on to damage parts of Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina. When Helene struck the first three states well, they were headed by Republican governors. The fourth was led by a Democrat governor during Helene, but it will be headed by a Republican during the cleanup. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA, has confirmed that in 2024 there were 24 major weather and climate disasters in the United States, major means inflicting at least a billion dollars in damages last year, weather related disasters included 17 severe storm events, four hurricanes, one wildfire outbreak and two winter storms also in 2024 three states, Illinois, Iowa and Missouri, Democrat governor, Republican governor, Republican Governor, each experienced more than 100 tornadoes across the country. According to NOAA, there were more than 1700 tornadoes total. The point is, political affiliation doesn’t cause natural disasters and natural disasters. They don’t care about political affiliation. Let’s be clear about what’s within the lines, as opposed to what’s out of bounds. If you want to criticize individual office holders for incompetence or dereliction of duty, that’s fine. Have at it. As a journalist, I do that all the time to elected officials in both political parties. That’s accountability. But what’s not fine, and in fact, what’s dishonest and unfair and harmful to national dialog, it’s when we extrapolate that criticism beyond a single individual politician or elected official to a sweeping indictment of an entire ideology or political party. See what happens when you elect fill in the blank that’s opportunism. Wanting to hold leaders accountable is one thing, but simply wanting to put each other down in order to feel superior, well, that’s quite another we count on Americans to be mature enough to know the difference. So let’s forget what Rahm said about not letting a crisis go to waste, and instead, let’s focus on not making a crisis worse.