"People Will be Held Accountable"

Few things could be more American than focusing on who to blame for a problem instead of solving the problem. Blaming is our nation’s true National Pastime. What unites Americans today is not a common enemy in the form of a dark actor in the World but rather their obsession with fixing blame instead of fixing problems.

I’ve been watching a cadre of “Public” officials participate in press conferences that are largely performative and provide little help of substance. In theory they are talking about the fires currently ravaging the greater Los Angeles area but in fact they are engaged in little more than telling us what the real heroes, the firefighters, and the victims are doing or can do. Thanks for nothing folks, maybe you should step aside and not worry about the ASL person signing on television despite the fact most televisions have closed captioning or introducing all of the people who entirely rely on input from fire crews and victims to have anything to say. Listening to senior fire or police officials or elected officials telling us how much THEY are doing to “help” is maddening at best. Even on-site media teams are giving vastly more information about what’s happening on the ground. The best advice I can give the talking heads is this - if you’re not offering meaningful help then please STFU! In the meantime if you need help I recommend calling 211.

When the Northridge earthquake hit, my father in law and I drove along back roads to bring my mother needed supplies. I found her sleeping in a small tent in Stevenson Ranch where her home had previously stood. I realized one thing people would need beyond food, water, medical care and temporary shelter was actual housing. I found out that the Relief Centers were placing stacks of classified ads on tables and when people started looking for actual housing they were told to look through the ads. I found this to be adding insult to injury. I then called Supervisor Mike Antonovich, one of the last true politicians who put his constituents first, and asked him what we could do to help people find a new place to live. His response will stay with me for the rest of my life, and I paraphrase, - maybe you can do something about it. So I started the Metropolitan Housing Bank. My cousin, now Judge Thomas Falls, helped me find a rent free office. My then employer, Home Savings, donated some working PCs the phone company offered us phones and lines, even Microsoft coughed up multiple copies of their database software and a call for volunteers brought me a number of warm bodies ready, willing and able, to make a difference. Ultimately the Bank was handed off to the predecessor of the 211 organization - InfoLine, and they were able to place thousands of families into long term housing.

. These fires have exposed not only the real danger of accelerating climate change but the inadequacy of current infrastructure to protect the people of California. What I’ve been seeing is a growing litany of calls asking “who is to blame.” My response is and remains - who cares? Trying to assign blame while fires still rage across the local geography is about as helpful as spitting on a burning gas blowout shooting flames 200 feet into the air. What the people of these communities really need are solutions. They need to find a place to shelter, they will need a place to live after the last flame is extinguished. They will need food, clean water and medical care. AFTER all those things have been provided we can ask why this disaster happened and then address its causes to make real plans to ensure it doesn’t happen again.