Have you heard of the “Lindsay Snowstorm?” It will soon have a companion story called the “Newsom Fires.”
Republican John Lindsay was New York City’s mayor from 1966 to 1974. Lindsay, like Gavin Newsom, was tall, handsome and had great hair. Like Newsom, Lindsay often relied on his looks to compensate for what was lacking between his ears. And, like Newsom, Lindsay thought he would make a great president.
Until a blizzard hit the Big Apple.
On Sunday, February 9, 1969, New York City was expecting rain but was suddenly overwhelmed with a blizzard that brought 15 inches of snow. (Personal note: my childhood recollection was being thrilled schools would be closed for several days.) New Yorkers weren’t blaming Lindsay for the snowstorm, but they did blame him for what they saw as a lack of leadership in the aftermath of the storm.
The city that never sleeps was sleeping because there were few to no snowplows clearing the streets, highways, or bridges, as 15 inches of snow created snowbanks and icy roads. For three days and, in some instances, up to one week, the city was immobilized. People were stuck in airports. The New York Stock Exchange was closed. Grocery store shelves were empty as trucks couldn’t make deliveries, leaving people without food. Depending on the location, schools were closed from one to several days. The subways that went above ground weren’t moving, leaving some riders stuck underground. And the buses? Fuhgeddaboudit!
Without snowplows to clear the roads, highways, and bridges, no one could get around the city. That included ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks. With a slow mobilization, there were 42 deaths and 288 injuries.
As the city painfully dug its way out from under the huge snowbanks, Mayor Lindsay drove to Queens to meet with residents. His limousine had trouble driving on the streets that were still not adequately cleared or salted. Optics of people booing and screaming at Lindsay were on a par with Los Angelenos verbally assaulting Newsom.
Lindsay was criticized for the city’s lack of preparation. Blizzards are part of New York City’s winter weather, just as Santa Ana winds are part of southern California’s weather. Hizzoner’s lack of leadership in handling the situation eventually became known as the “Lindsay Snowstorm.” It created a political crisis for the tall, handsome guy with great hair who wanted to be president.
When re-election time came, he did not win the Republican primary, so he ran as a third-party candidate. The anti-Lindsay vote was split between the Democrat and Republican candidates. Lindsay won re-election and another four mediocre years in Gracie Mansion. However, the snowstorm and his perceived failures in handling the aftermath resulted in his Oval Office dream being snowplowed into oblivion.
the June 26, 2024, Los Angeles Times:
The 2024-25 budget plan salvages two programs that had been targeted for cuts. It maintains full funding for a project that provides free legal representation and other assistance to immigrant students, staff, faculty and their families at all 23 Cal State campuses. The plan also sustains in-home support for elderly, blind and disabled undocumented immigrants who qualify for Medi-Cal.
Even as fires were destroying neighborhoods, the woke Democrat super-majority legislature was meeting in Sacramento on ways to “Trump Proof” California!
The insane list of ridiculously wrong progressive expenditures goes on and on and on…
Newsom and his pro-Fidel Castro friend, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, had no problems promoting woke DEI programs while cutting police and fire department budgets, ignoring necessary forest maintenance, allowing rainwater to flow back into the Pacific Ocean, not building new reservoirs or desalination plants, and/or not maintaining firefighting equipment and infrastructure.
Newsom must think Delta smelt fish can vote!
Newsom failed to listen to Donald Trump’s repeated warnings about the importance of forest maintenance. In 2019, Trump posted on X (then Twitter):
The Governor of California, @GavinNewsom, has done a terrible job of forest management. I told him from the first day we met that he must ‘clean’ his forest floors regardless of what his bosses, the environmentalists, DEMAND of him. Must also do burns and cut fire stoppers.
Personally, I don’t care about someone’s sexual preferences if they can do the damn job! But the lesbian women running the Los Angeles Fire Department appeared more concerned with promoting the DEI agenda than making sure there’s water in fire hydrants and reservoirs.
James Woods, who came close to losing his Pacific Palisades home, said of Fire Chief Kristin Crowley:
Our new fire chief… she took over and she put on her bio that her priority, ‘my highest priority,’ is inclusion, diversity and equity… and somebody forgot to fill all the reservoirs, I guess, with water.
In another X post, Woods responded to the bogus claim that the fires were due to “climate change:”
This fire is not from ‘climate change,’ you ignorant asshole. It’s because liberal idiots like you elect liberal idiots like Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass. One doesn’t understand the first thing about fire management and the other can’t fill the water reservoirs.
In a video, the overweight Deputy Fire Chief Kristine Larson says the department’s priority is that residents in crisis are rescued by first responders who “look like” them. She also has no cares about whether, as a firefighter, she can carry a man out from a burning building. In the video, Larson says, “Am I able to carry your husband out of a fire? He got himself in the wrong place.”
Over at the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, CEO and Chief Engineer Janisse Quiñones saw her role “through the lens of equity…and social justice.” How does that maintain water and power?
Many people assume that all Californians are ridiculously insane liberals. Not true! The state moved to the right in the November election and has a large percentage of America First Patriots. There just aren’t enough of us, especially as many Republicans abandon California for red states.
Will the “Newsom Fires” open liberal eyes? Some think yes, as they learn more about state and local leadership failures that resulted in (so far) 25 deaths and 10,000+ structures burned to the ground with $150+ BILLION in damages. If that doesn’t convert some liberals, maybe the bureaucratic maze they suffer through trying to rebuild their homes will do it.
If you have four minutes, you can listen to the outstanding Pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills explain Democrat insanity in this state and why it should be stopped.
In John Lindsay’s case, a few weeks after the blizzard, everything in New York City was back to normal, but the people remained angry. With Newsom, his horrendous incompetence will be on front pages for years to come. “Lindsay’s Storm” kept John Lindsay out of the White House, and “Newsom’s Fires” should do the same for Gavin Newsom.
Robin M. Itzler, who lives in southern California but so far not near any fires, is a regular contributor to American Thinker. She is the founder and editor of Patriot Neighbors, a free weekly national newsletter. Robin can be reached at PatriotNeighbors@yahoo.com.
Jesus Christ is King
