California Wildfires: Media Blame Another Natural Disaster on Bush

California Wildfires: Media Blame Another Natural Disaster on Bush

By Noel Sheppard (Bio | Archive)
October 24, 2007 - 13:49 ET

As wildfires rage throughout Southern California, media have predictably begun to blame this awful natural disaster on President George W. Bush much as they did almost exactly two years ago when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans.

On Tuesday evening, MSNBC's Dan Abrams set up an interview with California Congressman Duncan Hunter (R-Cal.) thusly:

But the fire storms in California`s raising tough questions about what the National Guard is extended too much to handle emergencies at home. Back in May, before the fire started, "The San Francisco Chronicle" reported that the California National Guard was down a billion dollars worth of equipment. Two hundred and nine vehicles in Iraq, including 110 humvees and 63 military trucks. According to report the California guard should have had 39 diesel generators on hand. They say it had none. The Kansas governor raised similar concerns earlier this year when she said the deployment of National Guard troops to Iraq hurt the emergency response to a deadly tornado in her state. The question -- is this another unanticipated cost of a prolonged and expensive war effort?

On Wednesday morning, CNN's John Roberts asked a similar question of FEMA Administrator David Paulison:

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Senator Barbara Boxer from California is complaining that because the National Guard from California is engaged in the war in Iraq, there were not enough members from the National Guard to respond to this fire. What do you say to that?

The MRC's Kyle Drennen reported Wednesday that CBS's Hannah Storm asked roughly the same question of Paulison on today's "Early Show."

Not to be outdone, the good folks at the New York Times are already making the Katrina connection in an article published Wednesday entitled "With Katrina Fresh, Bush Moves Quickly."

And, as NewsBuster Scott Whitlock transcribed Wednesday, ABC's Claire Shipman asked the following of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on "Good Morning America": So, you think the comparison to Katrina that everybody's making in the back of their mind these days is a good one in terms of state and federal."

Of course, the other way this will all get blamed on President Bush is by tying these fires to global warming as CNN, CBS, NBC, and others have already done.

Yet, the actual culprits for these fires conveniently getting little attention were reported in an Orange County Register editorial on Monday, namely, arson and downed power lines (emphasis added):

Our dismay is doubled, however, by the circumstances that authorities believe caused the fire that has burned at least 8.800 acres in Orange County. Almost all the other fires in the region have been tentatively attributed to natural causes, mostly power lines knocked over by the powerful Santa Ana "devil winds." (We know some people might call power lines unnatural.) But the fire that began near Santiago Canyon on the northern edge of Irvine is suspected arson.

Another article from the Register Monday, entitled "Modjeska Canyon residents evacuated: Arson suspected in Santiago Canyon Fire," was a tad more specific:

The blaze, which was moving steadily north into Silverado Canyon at nightfall after threatening Foothill Ranch and Portola Ranch, was triggered at three separate points near the intersection of Silverado Canyon Road and Santiago Canyon Road in an area called "Grumpy's" after a man who sells beef jerky there.
There was one point of origin on one side of the road and two more on the other side, said Kris Concepcion, a battalion chief with the Orange County Fire Authority.

"Whoever did this knew what they were doing," he said.

Yet, of the 148 television reports logged about these wildfires since Sunday, a LexisNexis search identified only two that addressed the possibility of arson: one done on Fox News's "On the Record" Monday, and; one filed on CNN's "Out in the Open" the same evening.

And, only eighteen discussed the downed power lines.

Another angle media seem to be ignoring is the terrorist one. In fact, the Department of Homeland Security's National Terror Alert website reported the OC Register's arson claims Monday as having a possible terrorist connection:

We are NOT implying that the California fires are an act of terrorism however; the threat of pyro-terrorist attacks pose a significant risk to the U.S. and the fires in California and in Greece earlier this year should be a wake-up call.
In 2003 an FBI memo alerted law enforcement agencies that an al-Qaeda terrorist being held in detention had talked of masterminding a plot to set a series of devastating forest fires around the western United States.
It was reported that the detainee, who was not identified, said the plan involved three or four people setting wildfires using timed devices in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming that would detonate in forests and grasslands after the operatives had left the country.

The Associated Press reported on this issue July 11, 2003 (emphasis added):

The FBI alerted law enforcement agencies last month that an al-Qaeda terrorist now in detention had talked of masterminding a plot to set a series of devastating forest fires around the western United States.
Rose Davis, a spokeswoman for the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, told The Associated Press that officials there took note of the warning but didn't see a need to act further on it.

With arson considered the cause of at least one of these fires, shouldn't investigative journalists be addressing this issue, as well as the real identified cause for many of the fires?

Or would that make it too difficult to blame this catastrophe on President Bush?

Of course, the good folks at CNN have another idea in mind: use the wildfires to push their global warming special "Planet in Peril."

Honestly, you can't make this stuff up!

—Noel Sheppard is the Associate Editor of NewsBusters. Follow him at Facebook and Twitter.

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Noel, I've got to believe

October 24, 2007 - 14:00 ET by Chris Norman

Noel, I've got to believe that this is the kind of ridiculous biased stretch that makes even people who want to believe the MSM recognize the political agenda that's going on. They're really overplaying their hand. They're isolating themselves on the far left end of the plank and busy sawing away.

CA Forest Fires - Democrat playbook

October 24, 2007 - 15:13 ET by underhill

During a live news conference on CNN today, California Democrat Lt. Governor John Garamendi slipped in a comment about the depleted California National Guard...

That was already shot

October 24, 2007 - 18:47 ET by motherbelt

That was already shot down...another reporter did some research...it turns out that there are 17,000 NG troops still in California; only 3000 in Iraq.

Liberal Theology

October 24, 2007 - 14:00 ET by exLib

If only we had "x" we could have prevented this.
X = More Money (taxes).
Liberals love to laugh at Chrisitans for believing in an almighty God that is in control of all things.
Yet, they believe in the Almighty GOVeRNEMENT. Which can handle all things. both natural disasters and man-made ones.
Of course all disasters are caused by conservatives/republicans and can only be truly solved by Liberal/Dems

The Secular Society has

October 24, 2007 - 14:03 ET by Chris Norman

The Secular Society has replaced God with Government as Creator and Protector. Instead of praying, they e-mail their senators. Instead of going to church, they go to protests.

Camp Pendleton

October 24, 2007 - 14:07 ET by allanf

Unless geography has changed, the huge Marine base, Camp Pendleton is right in the heart of the fires. Do they also lack diesel geneators and trucks? Has President Bush refused a request from Governor Schwarzenagger for Federal troops?

Pendleton Marines are

October 24, 2007 - 14:59 ET by Right2thePoint

Pendleton Marines are helping with all the evacuees at the football stadium from news reports.

One of these times

October 24, 2007 - 14:10 ET by voodoodaddy

as I roll my eyes in pure amazement at all the simple minded people who keep spewing this dribble I wonder if they will get stuck. Of course, if they do it would be Bush's fault...or since it is hot outside it could be Global Warming. I just can't make up my mind. Maybe if it gets just a little hotter outside I will blame it on Global Warming but if Bush does what needs to be done to Iran, then maybe I will blame it on him. Heck, I'll just say one eye was Bush's fault and the other Global Warming. That'll work!

Great report Noel. You

October 24, 2007 - 14:13 ET by bigtimer

Great report Noel.

You have summed up what a lot of us have posted here in various ways.

The msm are certifiable as far as I am concerned...along with the leftist politicians.

As far as not reporting about the possibility of arson it has been obvious that won't fit into any agenda for the msm or the leftist politicians now will it...that is why it is and will be ignored or barely mentioned, even when it is determined that it was arson.

I have watched/listened to the msm with all of this fire reporting since the beginning, but mainly since Sunday night...the people that are hurting are really tuned to the politics of this all.

Fox is reporting about the motorcyclist that was spotted from the air setting fire near Running Springs...I imagine that was a covert agent in disguise doing the work of Rove/Cheney Bush...yep had to be.

I do not speak for all Americans as the msm seems to insert in all they report, but what I do know is I have wondered if terrorists including eco-terrorists had anything to do with some of these fires, with the Devil Winds helping as they well know, and possibly had planned.

Speak of the devil...Boxer is having a Presser, Lord help us all.

Explain this to me..

October 24, 2007 - 14:24 ET by Killgrave

Is this primary mission of a state national guard is to be rescue rangers? To fill sandbags? To hand out water bottles? Are our reservists primarily trained to be relief workers?

Granted, I question why we're shipping over our territorial forces (um, shouldn't they be protecting the homeland?). But should our fine soldiers be relegated to doling out cookies and juice? GMAFB

Barbara Boxer is on the

October 24, 2007 - 14:25 ET by rx4music

Barbara Boxer is on the news right now. She is even admitting that the low humidity and the winds are responsible for the fires. Now she's bitching about the lack of National Guardsmen. Now she's praising them... Make up your mind woman!!! The commander of the Guard has apparently told her we have everything we need. She's impressed with the outpouring of generosity by the local public. I think she might even cry. She is saying they will be working with FEMA to get aid to the folks who need it. She's gonna be back in 10 days and they will be setting up one-stop shops for helping people. She says she's glad she could come here even for just a couple of hours to see for herself
what is happening. I think they were expecting the worse and hoping to be able to point fingers. They are humbled by the response. Now Congresswoman Susan Davis is speaking. She travelled from DC with Boxer. She is also impressed with the way things are being handled. She's gushing about how brave the firefighters are. Several have lost their homes as well and they are still on the frontlines fighting the fires. She says "We want San Diego to know we are here to help". Now David Paulison from FEMA is speaking. He is saying Bush has signed the preliminary paperwork allowing aid to be forthcoming in a hurry. This area is declared a national emergency area making it easier/faster for
aid to act on whatever needs to be done. He's also saying how impressed he is with the way the community is handling the current situation. He listed all the people who are here in town to assist from FEMA, Red Cross, etc... Now the county supervisor is saying they will be waiving fees for building permits to help the peopleget started re-building right away. Boxer is back at the mic. She's praising the firefighters and telling them how impressed her colleagues in Congress are with their grit and determination. Now she's pushing a bill in support of firefighters who are hurt in the line of duty. She says many of them don't have health coverage and she wants them to be covered long term. After this is over she wants to take a long look at the bill she is proposing. Now it's back to the local politicians...

Don't kid yourself. She

October 24, 2007 - 14:27 ET by Jimbo

Don't kid yourself. She will find a way....

To blame Bush.

Leon says "By the way, I'm not afraid of fat people, I'm repulsed"

Truth Monger Says - "Both are religions [Christianity & Islam], yes - with the same percentage of terrorists."

Other than Rush Limbaugh and

October 24, 2007 - 14:28 ET by Gat New York

Other than Rush Limbaugh and this organization, where are the Republicans who should be countering these outrageous charges and bold faced lies? Global warming has nothing at all to do with these fires which have been happening for generations and in these very areas. The difference is that developers have been buying up land and building homes in areas that have always been prone to brush fires and we see fires on different scales in these same areas every year. To use the War in Iraq as a far fetched reason why these fires are out of control is deplorable and for a news media shows a complete ignorance of fire fighting.

Most Republican office

October 24, 2007 - 14:52 ET by Chris Norman

Most Republican office holders can be found, cowering in their Capitol Hill offices, licking their wounds from last year, hoping they won't be noticed, this year.

Wrong!

October 24, 2007 - 16:35 ET by Chaitealover

Both Duncan Hunter [R, SD] & Brian Bilbray [R, SD] have been on the scene quite a lot in the past few days. In fact, I saw Bilbray [my congressman] denouncing Dingy Harry's pronouncement of AGW just a little while ago. And Hunter has arranged for the needed additional fixed-wing aircraft to fight the fires.

Like most Republicans, they get busy and do what needs to be done, they don't spend their time yakking for the cameras.

"Our people have shed more blood for the liberty and freedom of other peoples...than all the other countries put together. And I don't feel any need to apologize for the United States of America" - Fred Thompson

Chai... Exactly. I have

October 24, 2007 - 16:39 ET by bigtimer

Chai...

Exactly.

I have heard them both today...they get the job done, period!

After I got off active duty

October 24, 2007 - 14:51 ET by ricklail

After I got off active duty in the early 70's I joined the NCNG. I don't recall one piece of equipment, M113, M151A1, duece and a half, tankers, etc. having the State of NC on it anywhere. It all had US Army. Uncle Sam buys the equipment and pays to maintain it. It belongs to him. If he wants it sent to Slingshit Asia then it is OK. HE OWNS IT!

Southern by birth, Tarheel by the grace of God!

Arson,ARSON,arson,aRSOn, save the trees, for this,thankx EPA

October 24, 2007 - 14:54 ET by upcountrywater

I'M JUST WONDERING, what is the carbon foot print in ,for example in "carbon footprint units"

carbon foot print units / hour?

how much MASS does a carbon foot print OCCUPY, OR WEIGH?

HOW COMPRESSIBLE IS IT?

Ahh junk science, math, data free.

Entitlement over infrastructure every SINGLE time.

Fire trucks in Iraq???

October 24, 2007 - 15:25 ET by CapitalismRules

I had no idea we sent so many good firemen and fire equipment to Iraq. No wonder we were not doing well against the insurgency for awhile there- we were using water hoses and fire engines! And all the while our homes burn down here in the U.S.!!!

Can someone please. please stop the insanity on the news about this.

Let's add ABF to BDS

October 24, 2007 - 15:26 ET by exLib

(It's) All Bush's Fault

The MSM coverage of this

October 24, 2007 - 15:48 ET by AntiMedia

The MSM coverage of this event has been a disaster.

Lived Trough Several Epic Fire Seasons

October 24, 2007 - 15:58 ET by Junk Science Skeptic

I lived through several epic fire seasons in Southern California and never once did the Nat'l Guard get involved. Of course major evacuations were never needed back then because they used to do regular controlled burns in the exact same parts of San Diego that are now burning out of control.

We also took care of brush control around our home, not waiting for a taxpayer funded program to do it for us, so even when fires were right in the area, we didn't lose our house.

Of course back then, the state was decidedly more Republican, so the mentality was quite different than today.

Thompson/Giuliani 2008

Oh no...now it is racism

October 24, 2007 - 15:59 ET by bigtimer

Oh no...now it is racism being the difference of the quality of evacuations and such compared to Southern Ca. vs New Orleans...these people never stop.

This was just said on CNN by some black talking head for the dem side in a two minute debate...

OH Puhleeeeze! It is really time for us to build one gigantic looney bin for all these looney-toons....pronto!

Um....is it just barely

October 24, 2007 - 16:44 ET by motherbelt

Um....is it just barely possible that the difference in response is that California, and San Diego and other affected cities are not...um...how to say this?.......governed by MORONS?????

mb.... I am laughing out

October 24, 2007 - 16:50 ET by bigtimer

mb....

I am laughing out loud at this point, I just about posted the same thing to you in response to something you responded to me about...

It is time for me to take a break and get off of here...lol.

Like you said to me a few times...GMTA...(I remembered what the acronyms stand for finally...heheee)

Later

LMAO... I forgot it was you

October 24, 2007 - 18:50 ET by motherbelt

LMAO... I forgot it was you over here...in another thread I just told you I put this response here....we are both losing it!! Time to go and do some puzzles!!

Race is the difference in

October 24, 2007 - 23:22 ET by MikeB

Race is the difference in Katrina and this fire? I would like for that black talking head to explain this for me. Let me guess, the blacks in New Orleans weren't intelligent enough to evacuate an area that they knew for a few days in advance would be hard hit by the hurricane, but the whites in California are? Or, were the blacks in NO too lazy to evacuate, whereas the whites in SD managed to get the he** out of Dodge with only a few hours notice? I claim male bovine feces. Race had nothing to do with it. For one thing, it isn't just whites in San Diego. You have all races there, white, black, American Indian, Asian, latino, and they all managed to evacuate.

"A communist is someone who reads Marx. An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx." Ronald Reagan

Um, Mike

October 24, 2007 - 23:32 ET by Blonde

You are totally missing the point.

Hurricane Katrina was several days on the way in...as people chose to (or chose not to) evacuate. So...choose to live, choose to be a victim. You have three or four days to figure it out.

Now....these fires started Sunday. As I understand it....the people in California had about 3 hours to evacuate.

But it's very apparent....the local officials and state officials had a well formed disaster plan in place. From my perspective (living in a hurricane zone) the planning that must have gone on in California is TOTALLY impressive.

So the left's piteous attempt at equating the debacle of Hurricane Katrina to these fires is just beyond silly.

PLANS = SUCCESS (yes, people lose their homes, but that is the nature of an Act of God).

IGNORANCE = MISERY (Oh....f'it....a Category 5 hurricane is 24 hours out and I'll just hope for the best). Then, whine and moan and move to Houston, and panhandle! And moan some more.

These Californians have shown such strength of charactar....they're bucking up, as Americans should. I just hope they all had good fire policies...as I have windstorm, which costs me $5 grand a year.

David Gregory, do you know which damn network you lie for? ~ Uncle Jimbo, @Blackfive

looney-toons??

October 25, 2007 - 12:00 ET by ts88

Hi BT, please don't talk bad about looney-toons, they are far better then the cartoons the kids have today. Hehe

I posted this earlier on

October 24, 2007 - 16:28 ET by ahusser

I posted this earlier on another Ca wildfire blog.

I found this USGS website and took some quotes from the Phd who made the report:

"...One of the largest fires in Los Angeles County (60,000 acres) occurred in 1878, and the largest fire in Orange County’s history, in 1889, was over half a million acres. Collectively, the 1920s, 1940s, and 1970s were high decades for acreage burned, and the 1930s and 1960s were low. Explanations for these patterns are that they (1) result from decadal scale variation in climate, (2) are natural cycles resulting from fuel buildup, and (3) are driven by human demographic patterns. The scientists discussed in detail evidence for and against these in the book chapter.

Among their conclusions are the following: Throughout much of the shrubland landscape humans play a dominant role in promoting fires beyond what was likely the natural fire cycle. Future climate change is expected to have a minor role in altering fire regimes on shrubland landscapes relative to other global changes such as population growth and habitat fragmentation. Future fire management needs to take a strategic approach to prefire fuel manipulations and move beyond evaluating effectiveness strictly in terms of area treated. Fire management should consider designing strategies tailored to different regions as there are marked differences between the central coastal region and southern California in source of ignition, season of burning, and historical patterns of population growth and burning..."

Officers killed a man starting a fire

October 24, 2007 - 17:32 ET by bigtimer

I just heard on msnbc that officers in San Berdo shot and killed a man last night after he refused to stop and backed his car into (something, I didn't catch what) after they found him attempting to start a fire....he was from Arizona.

Anybody else hear of this? I bet the officers will have to be investigated...if this proves to be a fact.

How are they going to blame Bush for this?

BT, Lou Dobbs just reported that the largest fire might be arson

October 24, 2007 - 17:49 ET by RJ

...and that the FBI and other agencies are investigating.

So much for the silly liberals and the silly liberal websites that laughed at Fox & Friends for wondering about the possibility of arson.

Why do the libs think that

October 24, 2007 - 17:55 ET by Chris Norman

Why do the libs think that arson is far-fetched? It's not like it hasn't ever happened before. I guess it might get in the way of their Global Warming theories - like that isn't far fetched...

RJ... I heard about the

October 24, 2007 - 17:58 ET by bigtimer

RJ...

I heard about the FBI about three hours ago I guess now...you can be sure it won't just be one or two fires they look into either.

Whoever did this or somebodies, I hope they pay for it, sounds like one person already has, I haven't looked for links quite yet into the death of this guy, but I hope someone in the msm investigates him adn his background and connections if any ect.

Yeah silly people for suspecting arson....

NOT!

here's the story BT... thanks for the tip.

October 24, 2007 - 17:56 ET by rx4music

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-arson25oct25,0,1196901.story?coll=la-home-center

Hey rx.... Thanks, as you

October 24, 2007 - 18:00 ET by bigtimer

Hey rx....

Thanks, as you can see by post right above now that was what I was wondering about. I will read this as soon as possible...I am being rudely interrupted at the moment.

Thank you.