Hello John,
This is not the time to point fingers and assign blame, but let’s face it—that is all the corporate media and the billionaire oligarchs are doing. This is a catastrophic emergency caused by Mother Nature, accelerated by mankind. My heart grieves for all the victims. As I sit in my home with my family, I can’t help but think about what would have happened to us. Our homes are our most prized material possessions. It’s where we live, where we create memories, and where we spend most of our time. Our children leave their markings on our homes. For example, my kids have scratched the hardwood floors, scraped all of the baseboards, and even colored on the walls. At the time, we were obviously very upset, but as time goes by, you look at those flaws and can’t help but smile as you watch them grow. My children are still thankfully very young—9 months, 4, and 6.
As we watch the destruction unfold in California, we need to remember the human emotions so many of our fellow citizens are enduring at the moment. Yes, these are only material possessions, but lives have been uprooted. Schools destroyed, places of worship, entire communities—gone. I have driven countless times on the Pacific Highway toward Malibu; it is one of the most breathtaking views you will ever see. Seeing it now fills me with sadness.
Unfortunately, it always comes down to politics, and I haven’t forgotten what my job is and what we have to do now. It’s ridiculous what the right is doing—trying to somehow equate this as a Democratic fire, as if we started it and helped it spread. The only thing spreading is hate, thanks to a group that only knows how to enrage and little else. They definitely don’t know how to govern, problem-solve, or work together to find solutions.
Just to be clear, I am not a Gavin Newsom cheerleader by any means, and as I’m sure you can tell by now from our previous messages, when we see fault with our party leaders, we are not afraid to call them out. Does he deserve some blame? Yes, I’m sure he does. Right now, though, let’s focus all our efforts on putting out these fires. There will be plenty of time to point fingers and play the blame game.
We are counting down the days until the Trump presidency becomes a reality, and we are gearing up for what that means for everyone. California is going to need federal resources to rebuild. How is Trump going to handle that? Elon Musk has a long, hate-filled relationship with California. How is he going to affect the rebuild? These are real questions we need to ask ourselves, and it is my job to figure out ways to call attention to the unconstitutional interference of this radical right-wing oligarch in our government.
We have a lot of work to do, and the challenges we are facing seem endless at the moment. But let’s not forget—we are Americans. When we come together, we can accomplish and get through anything. We are going to have to do that, and hopefully, we can have some conversations about how we got here and find holistic, organic solutions to grow and ensure we never reach this point again. I am doing this for the three little kids I mentioned, but we all have someone we are doing this for. That is the motivation we need to fight on.
In Solidarity,
Hassan Martini
