I can see the flames from here

As I sit here in Santa Monica, the mountains to the north are engulfed in fire. The entire sky to the north and west is filled with so much white smoke you’d think it was cloud cover if you didn’t know better. I’ve never seen anything like it.

I’ve lived in the Los Angeles area for long enough to deal with plenty of forest fire scenarios. But they’re usually way off in the distance. These fires are three miles from me. I can see the orange of the flames with my naked eye. I’m not in an evacuation area, and I don’t expect to be in one. But I also don’t expect to be going outside for awhile, given how bad the air is about to become. Two thoughts come to mind.

First, thank goodness Joe Biden is still President for another two weeks. He’ll competently provide whatever federal response and assistance is needed for this disaster, which is already forcing mass evacuations and destroying homes.

Second, what will Donald Trump do once he’s in power? He keeps threatening to withhold disaster relief funds from blue states like California, simply because he knows we don’t like him. If this disaster recovery is still going on by the time he’s in office, will he really be stupid enough to withhold assistance? If he wants to play it that way, he’ll destroy his own approval rating in the process. Playing political games with disaster emergencies is a tried and true way to lose the support of Americans in the middle. Yet Trump is too far gone to understand that, and his babysitters are too brazen to care. We’ll see.

Bill Palmer

Bill Palmer is the publisher of the political news outlet Palmer Report

www.palmerreport.com