As a long-term resident here in the formerly great city of Los Angeles, I have been blessed that the flames have not come for me and mine in the flats of the Valley yet, but we know so many cherished friends who tonight are without a home—because their abodes have been burned to the ground.

You see the phrase bandied about in media that it looks like a “war zone,” especially in the Pacific Palisades, which has essentially been wiped off the earth in what looks like a Hollywood-produced, overly-CGI-reliant disaster movie. Sadly, for far too many, it’s not CGI, it’s reality.

SHOCKING: New drone footage shows the complete devastation and destruction from the Pacific Palisades Fire as @NBCLA reports at least one killed from the blaze

Video: Matthew Heller pic.twitter.com/y3xYJSkvmS

— Jacob Wheeler (@JWheelertv) January 9, 2025

Here’s the reality: it is a battle zone. An existential fight over the future of America. Is this massive progressive failure the norm that we should just accept as the new American reality, or are we going to look to a new way forward, one that focuses on excellence, competence and innovation over identity politics, a lowering of our standards, and an acceptance of mediocrity (or worse)?

Many including myself have been writing for years about the decline of the Golden State—and Democrat-run cities in general—but the progressive assault continues in Chicago, St. Louis, Oakland, Seattle, New York, San Francisco… the list goes on. Could this disaster be the wake-up call to America that their warped priorities and policies simply aren’t working?