Democrats playing with wildfire

In a perfect world, political leaders would exercise common sense, be ruled by logic and approach serious situations with heartfelt concern and courage.

I think most of us realize we don’t live in that fantasy realm.

In the real world, we watch as Democrat politicians use the latest natural disaster, the wildfires that have displaced nearly a million Californians, to try to score cheap political points.

Sen. Barbara Boxer blames the fires on the war in Iraq, suggesting that the fires would be out now if we didn’t have National Guard troops fighting terrorism overseas.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid took the opportunity to blame the wildfires on global warming, meanwhile pushing the Democrats’ energy package. (Although he denied he had done so just six minutes later! Is that a record? Perhaps a personal best for Reid?)

California Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi missed the global warming angle but managed to squeeze off three rounds in rapid succession, demanding troops be redeployed from Iraq to fight the fires, deriding a presidential visit as a publicity stunt (J.G. should know), and blaming President Bush for Hurricane Katrina and the corruption of Louisiana’s government.

Speaking as someone who’s seen California wildfires firsthand, I can assure Boxer, Reid and Garamendi that they don’t have a clue what they’re talking about and they’re not gaining any approval points for acting like idiots.

California’s firefighters are, I believe, the finest in the world. If there is any chance to save a person or their property from a fire, they will lay their lives on the line to do it. The current fires are being whipped by near-hurricane winds, and no one short of God himself, not firefighters nor National Guardsmen nor Superman, could stop them.

Further, our state officials, with the exception of Lt. Gov. “Junior Grade,” are taking this seriously and doing a fine job of dealing with the emergency. This is not Louisiana, this is California, and we take care of ourselves and our neighbors in times of trouble. There are no lootings, riots or mass rapes going on, and we don’t need the Democrat godlings babying us.

The Democratic leadership lives in a bizarre fantasy world of dead hobbits and dying unicorns. In the face of real-world dangers like terrorism and natural disasters, they can’t seem to do anything except sputter like Gollum about how they’ve lost their precious ring of presidential power. But they’ll rally their armies with all seriousness against imaginary threats like global warming or the supposed tyranny of conservatism.

Real emergencies call for real leaders, not childish fantasists.