Trump was right about California wildfires

I’ll be the first to admit that President Trump’s tweet about forest management in the midst of a wildfire catastrophe was not the most artful thing to do. However, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s right. Governor Jerry Brown blames ‘climate deniers’ for the devastation. The truth is he had a chance to minimize the destruction, but he chose instead to bow to extreme environmentalists.

It’s instructive to understand what causes wildfires. It’s not spontaneous combustion because the earth is warming. An estimated 90 percent of wildfires are caused by humans. This includes campfires left unattended, cigarettes being tossed out of automobiles, and arson. The remaining ten percent are caused either by lightning or lava. The environmentalists will claim that wildfire devastation is exacerbated by drought. That’s certainly true, but California’s droughts these days are mere blips compared to historic droughts.

Scott Stine is a professor of geography and environmental studies at Cal State East Bay. He told the Mercury News, “We continue to run California as if the longest drought we are ever going to encounter is about seven years. We’re living in a dream world.” There have been multiple droughts over the last 1,000 years that have lasted 10 to 20 years. There was a drought around 850 AD that lasted 240 years. After a 50-year respite, another one lasted 180 years.

Contrary to what the alarmists tell you about this being the driest time in California’s history, Professor Stine says the past century has been among the wettest in the past 7,000 years.

Perspective is what so many knee-jerk environmentalists lack. They get locked in a world they can only remember, or a world that goes back to when the first records were kept. That’s a tiny world compared to the big picture. The longest droughts in recent California history occurred between 1928 and 1934, and another between 1987 and 1992. The problem is as more people overbuild California the property loss is naturally going to be greater.

Here’s why President Trump is right when he tweeted, “There is no reason for these massive, deadly and costly forest fires in California except that forest management is so poor.” The policy from the U.S. Forest Service used to be quite simple. When a forest became too difficult to walk through it was thinned. They cut out underbrush and made space between large trees. Strategic logging was employed that not only made the forests less prone to wildfires, it actually made the Forest Service profitable. This all began to change in the ‘70s and accelerated during the ‘90s under President Bill Clinton. The Rio Earth Summit was the big turning point where prevention of forest management kicked into high gear and war was declared on the timber industry.

The Roadless Area Conservation Policy directive put a stop to nearly all logging and roadbuilding, not to mention coal, gas, oil, and other mineral leasing on 58 million acres of land. President George W. Bush tried to reinstitute common sense forest management but was stymied by a federal judge.

Rep. Tom McClintock (R-CA) told Canada Free Press that the forest service used to auction off national forest timber. He said this not only saved the forests, it helped the local economy. That has “all but dried up,” he said.

And Jerry Brown vetoed a 2016 bill that passed unanimously in the California Assembly and Senate that would’ve given locals more say-so when it comes to fire prevention.

Liberal politicians continue to run California into the ground, and, in typical fashion, they always blame somebody else.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

Brace yourself for Reconquista

A reconquistador has been elected president of Mexico. Why should you be concerned that Andrés Manuel López Obrador is the next president of Mexico? Because his agenda will have a tremendous impact on the United States.

First, what is a reconquistador? You must first understand what the modern Reconquista movement is all about. Reconquista means reconquest. Many south of the border believe the American Southwest was stolen from them. They want it back. Mexico obviously doesn’t have the military might to do it so their plan is to flood as many people as they can into the region and vote it back to Mexico.

This all started after the Mexican-American War. To give you a better sense of the attitude, the Mexican-American War, or Mexican War, is known in Mexico as the American Intervention in Mexico. Texas had fought for its independence from Mexico and won it on April 21, 1836. Texas petitioned to become a state of the United States and did so on December 29, 1845.

Mexico had only gained its independence from Spain in 1821 so they were eager to hang on to every acre of land they could. In April of 1846 the Mexican army invaded the United States in the new state of Texas. We declared war on Mexico the following month and the Mexican-American War thus began.

We drove the Mexican army all the way back to Mexico City and in 1848 they were defeated. We agreed to pay them $15 million for the physical damage of the war and for the disputed territories. We also agreed to assume another $3.25 million in debt the Mexican government owed United States citizens. When the dust settled the Mexicans had lost over a third of the territory they had when they won their independence from Spain just 27 years prior. They were not happy.

To add insult to injury, just a year later, in 1849, something happened in California, a new territory we had just won and bought from Mexico. Gold was discovered. That really hacked them off. Thus was born the modern Reconquista movement.

Now, if you’re prone to believe this is just a conspiracy theory I invite you to do an Internet search and see for yourself. The stated goal of the reconquistadors is to take back the American Southwest for La Raza, the race. They mean the race of people in Mexico, which is not technically a race, but you get the picture. The plan is to flood the Southwest with enough people to take over the area politically and cede it back to Mexico. You may think this is far-fetched but it’s not. California is already 40 percent Hispanic. Same for Texas. 

That’s certainly not to say that every Hispanic is somehow suspect and not loyal to the United States. Frankly, it’s hard to know how many Hispanics are part of the Reconquista movement. We must simply take those who are at their word. Mario Obledo, a La Raza lawyer and Reconquista leader said, “California is going to be a Hispanic state. Anyone who doesn’t like it should leave.” A professor in LA suggested Latinos needed to speak in code so non-Latinos wouldn’t catch on.

Once you research the Reconquista movement you’ll see a lot about Aztlan. According to Aztec legend, that’s the rightful land of the indigenous peoples of Mexico. It includes the American Southwest. They refer to it as their “occupied homeland.”

Remember what you read here. When the next wave of illegal aliens hits the southern border you’ll know why. La Reconquista is on.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.