It is a provable truism that Democrat-run major cities experience markedly horrible governance and reduced standards across the board the longer they remain under one-party rule than those which have a chance to break free and shake off the chains that liberally (or socialist-progressively) bind them.

Invariably, it seems, it's so often a case of corruption, malfeasance, and cronyism that brings a Democrat administration down and takes the city with it, but that does a disservice to plain old incompetence.

In many, many cases, the elected officials just don't have that much on the ball to begin with.

Now, when you combine a decided lack of intellectual firepower and evil intentions - be it something like corruption, communism, or all of the above - the results are devastating.

Neglect can be as disastrous as targeted destruction, and these administrations have proven time and again that they are the masters of both.

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To paraphrase the late, great Henny Youngman's joke, 'take Chicago...PLEASE!'

Another prime example, festering away in the western sunshine, is Los Angeles, enduring the tender ministrations of one Karen 'Commie' Bass. The mayor, who is in a celebrity campaign death match with an even more ardent, clueless, and incompetent socialist city councilwoman to retain her perch, is still supposed to be running the city while she runs for reelection.

Under normal circumstances, this interim gives the incumbent the advantage to shine in action. It certainly should have Bass standing head and shoulders above Nithya Raman's doe-eyed, tone-deaf fluttering through the fall had Bass one iota of competency flowing in her veins.

Bass lacks this molecule.

If ever a mayor had a mandate, the Palisades and Eaton fires of two years ago and all the subsequent dirty laundry that emerged in their aftermath should have pointed a clear path for Bass to prove, blindfolded even, that she had absorbed, corrected, and acted. So it would be, 'Never again on my watch.' 

Los Angeles itself?

OOF

It looks rough.

In July, a 100-year-old water main burst and swept the sidewalks clean on fabled Sunset Boulevard.

Yes, it left an inconvenient, massive crater. But the hose job was appreciated by those Angelenos tired of trying to keep their shoes clean sidestepping what the homeless leave.

Water everywhere except where and when those folks need it.

Such is life in that city.

This seems to be a thing in Karen Bass's Los Angeles.

So perhaps she shouldn't run on infrastructure, right? That's always the most expensive part of city maintenance, and ergo always the most neglected.

What could she be selling the voters as proof they should keep her around and not turn the keys over to probably a far worse goofus?

And Raman is that goofus.

Welp.

Ooooh. Don't use this.

...we need leadership that delivers. I’m committed to building on this progress so our city is ready—and Angelenos see lasting benefits.

Four years and more than a billion taxpayer dollars later, homelessness in LA is increasing and all Bass has are lies

I hate to tell old girl, but she's getting Community Noted to hell and back on this one.

LAHSA official point-in-time counts show City of Los Angeles homelessness rose from 41,980 in 2022 to 45,194 in 2026 (with a 3.4% increase to 2026 after prior declines); veteran homelessness fell substantially but ~42% since 2023 per counts, not 50%.

Is Bass at least going to be in the city when the predicted Santa Ana winds pick up again this weekend?

Oh. Well, this looks marginally competent. Perhaps the mayor has finally learned something from doing nothing in preparation for fire season and letting her constituents pay the horrific price for it?

...All Angelenos should sign up for emergency alerts at http://NotifyLA.org and LAFD notifications at http://lafd.org/alerts.

It turns out she hasn't learned a single lesson. The sacrosanct homeless are still an albatross, endangering the lives and property of all citizens.

As of a couple weeks ago >12,000 homeless fires in LA city! Shouldn’t we be removing them (for good!) from all the hills with the dry brush? 

As it’s getting cooler at night, the homeless are lighting warning fires and they always light cooking fires & light up to smoke their drugs.

IF ANY OTHER SOURCE EXISTED BEHIND 12,000 FIRES IN 9 MONTHS, THAT SOURCE WOULD BE IMMEDIATELY ADDRESSED - UNLESS IT’S THEIR BELOVED “UNHOUSED NEIGHBORS.”

It’s unconscionable that we KNOW the cause of the vast majority of fires in LA but because they’re a sacred protected class, it’s not even OK to call for them to at least be removed permanently from high risk fire areas.

Something must change. 

And then the most unbelievable, unforgivable betrayal of all - the empty reservoir of the Palisades nightmare remains bone dry.

...Gusts were in the low 20's for the first 5 hours of the fire. Right now, we have both reservoirs still offline, 2 water mains just broke, and they let ALL the brush regrow around us, plus there are dozens of open timber-framed homes everywhere. Keep your head on a swivel, folks. LAPD and LASD should be doing round-the-clock patrols in the wildland urban areas to watch out for DSA street animals trying to start chaos over the next few days. Brentwood and Bel Air...BE CAREFUL.

Unbelievable.

Pacific Palisades is being told to 'conserve water' because, darn it - more busted mains mean there might not be enough to put out flames.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) responsible for those busted water mains... 

...as well as the six-mile-long rubber hose running through dry, flammable brush... 

...and not just one, but two empty reservoirs?

They're sorry 'the work' is taking so long. However, they didn't waste any time arranging a get-out-of-jail-free card for themselves from the governor in case, you know, someone actually needs water and can't get it in a fire.

...Meanwhile, up in Sacramento, LADWP managed to convince Gov. Gavin Newsom to sign a law, SB 1153, shielding the utility from liability for water shortages during wildfires.

And just this week, LADWP told Pacific Palisades residents to conserve water, because of two ruptured water mains.

Heckuva job, LADWP.

The LADWP is badly run. It is lawless. It needs a serious overhaul.

An apology is long overdue — and it’s not enough.

'Lawless' is a good word, but it doesn't begin to cover what Los Angeles is like with Karen 'Basura' in charge. 

What's terrifying is that the prospect of Nithya Raman winning is scaring people into voting on the basis of 'if you think things are bad now '.

Someone said 'it's a rock and a hard place' choice.

It came this close to being between a rock and the machine's worst nightmare.

Well, it was until midnight during the primary.

So weird how that happens only in Democrat cities, too.