Governor Schwarzenegger toured the Corral Canyon neighborhood of Malibu getting a first hand look at a few of the 53 homes burned during the Corral Fire Saturday. Arnold brushed off the standard fire tragedy response speech and delivered it to the L.A. news media.
Governor Schwarzenegger has given the same response at least four times this year. He’s given the same “impromptu” speech at Lake Tahoe, San Diego, Big Bear and one other time in Malibu already this year.
He’s a good guy, doing what is expected from his office. This time however when I heard him say, “We will help these people get their feet back on the ground” as he ordered a state of emergency, I almost choked.
Don’t get me wrong, I feel for the victims of Saturday’s blaze. News accounts showed us once again how resilient California residents affected by wildfire are. We’ve seen it all year how time after time burned out homeowners buck up, strap on their boots and pull it together. Not one time have I heard someone say the government needs to help us.
The Governor needs to change his speech for fire victims of upscale neighborhoods.
He needs to change his venue for such speeches as well. He could begin by traveling 20 miles from Malibu into the South Central part of Los Angeles and apply the same quote from above to the victims of real tragedy that takes place there daily.
The L.A. Times Homicide Report Blog, (yes they have one) reports intensely sad stories daily of human tragedy like this one.
” Jose Luis Estrada, 40, a Latino man, was killed at 4202 Downing Ave. in Baldwin Park on Wednesday, Nov. 14, when he ran after the suspects who had just killed his 14-year-old son Pedro.
Police said two Latino men or youths came up to Pedro at about 8:30 p.m. at the family home in the 4100 block and shot him, then ran. Jose Luis Estrada ran outside when he heard the shots. He found Pedro dying on the ground, saw the fleeing suspects and ran after them for about a block. They turned and attacked him as well, shooting the grief-stricken father, and then making their escape. Father and son died within an hour of each other.”
Los Angeles first responders race to render assistance at these tragedies 24/7, 365 days a year. They could use a slap on the back by Arnold like the ones he gave to the responders to the Corral Fire just up the road.
It may be impractical to visit each family victimized by murderous thugs prowling the streets of Los Angeles and I really don’t know what his words would accomplish. At least it would serve to balance out the absurdity of the text of his fire victim’s speech.
