Celebrity Poker Pro Doubles Down on Blaming Democrats After Home Burns Down in CA Wildfires
Devastating the California wildfires were not about to stand in the way of actor and professional poker player James Woods attacks on Democrats. They've only grown louder since his own home burned down earlier in the week.
Woods has long been an ardent supporter of president-elect Donald Trump while criticize most things deemed to be "liberal".
"It took mere hours for the ineptitude of Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass to render the Pacific Palisades a scorched wasteland. To rebuild will be a gargantuan task. The first necessary step must be to recall these two worthless political hacks. #RecallGavinNewsom #RecallKarenBass"
It took mere hours for the ineptitude of Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass to render the Pacific Palisades a scorched wasteland. To rebuild will be a gargantuan task. The first necessary step must be to recall these two worthless political hacks. #RecallGavinNewsom #RecallKarenBass pic.twitter.com/V2XxpnOmd2
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) January 10, 2025
While there is likely to be plenty of blame to go around when all is said and done, not all of those participating in Woods social media feed were prepared to hold any one specific individual accountable.
Bill Heller writes:
"The vast majority of destroyed homes in LA are wood-framed with asphalt shingles, which are made from oil. Would LA have fared much better with concrete & stucco and either clay tile or steel roofs as in Florida? Maybe LA should rebuild Florida style."
Glyph tweeted:
"Shouldn't you be blaming yourself at least a little for thinking it was safe to have a home in an extremely high risk fire prone area? And now you're even planning to rebuild in the same exact spot with the help of politicians and taxpayer money? Do you not have any shame?"
With five confirmed deaths, over 130,000 residents evacuated and nearly 2,000 structures destroyed, tensions are running high in Southern California. The Pacific Palisades area, home to numerous celebrities, has been particularly affected by the fires.
An LA Times editorial began the blame game among local press on Friday morning.
"L.A. officials’ poor fire communication should have residents fuming" the headline blared.
Mary McNama writes:
"The images were horrific, but they offered no information beyond what had already been provided by many news outlets, including and especially The Times, as well as hundreds of residents posting on social media. The anchors made the appropriate comments of shock and grief while I writhed in my seat wondering where all the various fire lines actually were at that moment.
"Coverage was then interrupted by a press conference headed by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, ostensibly to provide updates on the various fires — including, presumably, Eaton. This crisis has not, by any measure, been Bass’ finest hour. She left the country despite warnings of upcoming high wind and fire risk conditions and returned to find the city ablaze. She has refused to answer questions and criticism about her departure, the city’s apparent lack of preparedness, reports of lag time between the eruption of the Palisades fire and a coordinated response and the clear under-staffing of the Los Angeles Fire Department.
"I did not expect her to address any of these things at this press conference — she was in a crisis situation and this was not the time for that. I did, however, expect her to provide updates. You know, to tell us exactly what was going on. Maybe pull out some maps that revealed not just evacuation areas but some sense of actual fire lines. Discuss how much water and fire retardant had been dropped when and where, and whether it was proving effective. Something.
"Instead, she blamed the wind. Not in a terribly informative way — no mention of potential shifts or increases and what they might mean for each fire. Just a dramatic reminder of how bad the winds had been (Um, Mayor? We were there) and how fast the Palisades fire moved (ditto). No mention, of course, of the Eaton fire, in which at least four people died."
McNamara concludes with this:
"If Bass and other leaders want to make up for being clearly caught short, they need to offer more, and clearer, information. When you’ve fled your home, you shouldn’t have to rely on Next Door to find out what’s actually happening."
Fellow poker pro Daniel Negreanu, whose political views differ widely from that of Woods, posted a video of an LA fireman accurately predicting this week's disaster just a few months ago while appearing on the Joe Rogan podcast.
Six months ago an LA fireman described exactly what is happening now.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) January 9, 2025
Crazy. https://t.co/RxTW22jL2a
Mr. Smith on Twitter wrote:
"It’s goes a lot further back than that. The problem is they ignored the dangers till it’s too late. It’s the we know there’s a problem, but it hasn’t happened to our area yet so why fix it mentality."
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