Gavin Newsom can't be trusted with billions in bail-out money for the torched neighborhoods of Los Angeles. That much is obvious to your humble West Coast, Messed Coast™ correspondent.
That's what you call a cold open to this week's West Coast, Messed Coast™, report where I've been keeping close track of the fire response. Gavin Newsom and his minions in public office — especially L.A. Mayor Karen Bass — can't be trusted to properly account for what will be a years-long effort to rebuild the charred parts of L.A. County.
The governor who lost or misspent BILLIONS OF DOLLARS in COVID funds and didn't bother to keep track of BILLIONS OF DOLLARS in homeless funds can't be trusted with billions more in federal government largesse.
Don't you do it, Trump.
I have a solution.
Trump should tell Newsom during his disaster visit that he won't give him one dime of federal funds unless it comes with a large pirate wearing a green eyeshade and armed with a rusty old hook. In other words, a special master. Newsom wants no strings attached on any of the money, but Trump's not that dumb. He can and should name his own special master to govern the disbursement of the taxpayer funds.
President Trump gets a first-hand view of the devastation and hears the stories of the people whose memories have been incinerated and who are hoping to rebuild their paradise with the least amount of government intrusion. Newsom is hoping to hijack Trump and manage him during this trip.
Related: An Architect Lays Out a Plan to Rebuild L.A., But Do California Democrats Have the Guts to Do It?
Four major fires remain burning in L.A., one large fire is 70% contained in Ventura County, two fires in Riverside County are 90% surrounded, and San Diego County has two wildfires, one mysteriously along the border.
This West Coast, Messed Coast™ reader gets it
And then God sent the rain
Southern California will receive the most welcome splash of rain from Saturday to Monday.
Happy to report that widespread rainfall is coming to South California over the next few days.
— Ryan Maue (@RyanMaue) January 24, 2025
At least 1-inch for areas affected by ongoing fires but locally up to 3-inches.
The precipitation will run-off quickly, but the landscape will get a good soaking. pic.twitter.com/WGTYfBBbAL
We were assured...
...that this sort of thing never happens.
The election integrity folks at the Public Interest Law Firm (PILF) have detailed in a new research brief how the motor voter system in Oregon allowed "alien residents becoming registered to vote in 2024."
That's right, Automatic Voter Registration — the latest iteration of motor voter — is responsible for putting at least 1,600 non-citizens on the Oregon voter rolls "in the week of the 2024 Election."
Related: West Coast, Messed Coast™ — Should Trump Bail Out the Fire Caltastrophe?
It's such a dysfunctional system that the unfortunately-named governor Tina Kotek, halted it, and while it was under an emergency suspension, those 1,600 illegal voters were added to the voter rolls. I know what you're thinking, isn't it wonderful that the Democrat governor is trying to keep the voter rolls clear of ineligible voters? If only that were true. Indeed, Ol' Tina was only concerned that legal harm may come to the illegal voters put on the voter rolls.
Here's PILF:
In the weeks ahead of the presidential election, the system was breaking down. Governor Tina Kotek was forced to order a suspension of AVR operations to protect more noncitizens from illegal registrations. [A]round September 13, the Oregon Secretary of State (ORSOS) disclosed that 306 foreign nationals had been registered since 2021 (or sooner) with limited explanations on causes beyond “human error and lax processes at the DMV.” About two weeks later, the suspected noncitizen figure mushroomed to 1,260. DMV personnel took the blame for incorrectly coding foreigners into a customer database as having U.S. passports or similar proofs of citizenship when they did not. [emphasis added]
Why would the Democrats of Oregon — a one-party rule state since soon after the introduction of mail-in voting — consider it a societal plus to put illegal voters on the registration rolls?
J. Christian Adams, a PJ Media colleague and the founder of PILF put the situation this way: “Automatic Voter Registration is a flawed policy that puts aliens on voter rolls. Policymakers should reject automatic voter registration. They cause chaos on the rolls and put immigrants in legal jeopardy.”
Most authentically dressed award goes to...
While I waxed rhapsodic at the fashionistas at the Trump and Vance inaugurations, Washington State GOP leader Jim Walsh drew my attention to a real jewel among the glitterati.
More early weekend reading.
— Jim Walsh (@JimWalshLD19) January 24, 2025
Great observation. So much was written and said about the fashions of women (and some men) at the Inauguration.
Vance's mother's presence spoke volumes. pic.twitter.com/pVZ1aYoujj
I wondered who this Kelly Marie Mason Loflin was. She's a nice lady on Facebook. Here's what she wrote:
This ….. To me, and probably only me, this was a pivotal moment in history. A poor boy taking the oath to the second highest position in the land but I don't want to talk about him, I want to talk about her, the woman in the red blouse and black slacks, an outfit you and I would have bought at Belk or Kohls and deemed it dressy apparel. A woman who stood amongst women clad in thousands of dollars worth of designer clothing, representing poor and lower middle class women around the world. The fact that she was her authentic self, the fact that he wanted her there in her authentic self. The fact that the entire world knows all the skeletons in her closet and she still stood proud of her boy, proud of his accomplishments, proud of the family he built and the place in life he made. And most of all I hope that this is a reminder to all the mama's out there who are struggling with addiction and alcoholism that it is NEVER too late to get it together and rebuild bridges you thought you burnt.
Well said.
They haven't ruined everything yet.
Christians who lost their homes in the California fires unwaveringly praise God by singing hymns. pic.twitter.com/1pilif3Yn8
— Anna Lulis (@annamlulis) January 11, 2025
Until next time, keep your head on a swivel.
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