We need to have more British reporters get in the faces of American politicians

every question he asked was asinine. no one with any sense would've answered them. this is the opposite of beautiful, it's obscene.

Americans are so cucked by the ruling class and R1 is living proof of that.

Every question he asked was right on.

He was doing his job as a reporter.

Karen Bass is an embarrassment.

R1 = Karen Bass

Hi troll! We went through this when you tried to pull this in the LA fires thread, but we can go through it again here:

This is a Sky News Australia Reporter. Sky News Australia is owned by Murdoch, unlike Sky UK which was forced to sell and it owned by Comcast. It was an attempt at a gotcha moment, and Karen Bass wasn't playing. Note the pushing of an Elon Musk claim as further evidence of biased reporting. Mayor Bass made a statement on how she handled things in the news conference at 5 PM PT yesterday. I'm sure you know this, though.

Like I did on r250 of the "Pacific Palisades burning Part 2" thread, I'll link directly to the Sky Australia "reporting" as a receipt. Bass's statement and wiki articles explaining who owns which Sky News is in there too if anyone wants to read further.

It's beyond valid to ask the fucking mayor why she didn't immediately return to LA from Ghana THE MINUTE a wildfire had started, nevermind what she was doing on a diplomatic trip to fucking Ghana in the first place.

You'll never convince me DL is brigaded by paid DNC trolls.

Corretion: *isn't

No citiznens of any countries in the world are as fervently protective of their politicians as Americans, save for maybe North Koreans who at least have the excuse of not having any choice. It's fucking bizarre.

It's not a Sky News Australia reporter [R4]. It's the Sky News (UK) senior Ireland correspondent David Blevins. He did a great job asking the kind of simple questions many ego-crazed American correspondents seem to consider beneath them.

No, Elmo and Murdoch's Sky News are bullying the fuck out of her when the fires started while she was on a planned official trip. She took military planes to get back ASAP, and gave a statement yesterday in her terms.

Here's her side of it:

Mayor Bass has just defended her absence when the wildfires broke out in the city on Tuesday - she was on a trip to Africa.

"I was on the phone almost every hour of the flight," Bass says.

"Although I was not physically here, I was in contact with many of the individuals standing here throughout the entire time," she said.

Bass left town on Saturday as part of a presidential delegation to Accra to celebrate the inauguration of Ghana President John Mahama.

She returned on Wednesday to find her city in flames.

The mayor has also been facing criticism amid reports she cut more than $17m from the fire department’s budget last summer.

[quote]It's not a Sky News Australia reporter [[R4]]. It's the Sky News (UK) senior Ireland correspondent David Blevins.

Well, it's not in the news cycle in the UK because it wasn't reported this way in the UK. It was reported as shows in the Sky News Australia link above in. Australia.

And while we're talking about Irish and British reporters getting in people's faces:

You know what I love? Mayor Bass, Fire Chief Crowley, and all the LA first responders and city officials still managed to save lives and save Hollywood last night despite the MASSIVE distraction caused by the Orange Menace, Elmo, Murdoch's Fox News and their many, many flying monkeys on the media on down to shittty chaos agents all over the Internet.

Makes you wonder who really cares about America — let alone their fellow Americans— and who cares about themselves doesn't it? Nothing that those assholes brought up couldn't wait until things were under control.

People want lower taxes, so when a politician makes a budget cut it is due to lower taxes demand. Then when a disaster happens they blame the person who was only doing what the people elected them to do. Everyone is finger pointing. The Water, the budget cuts. How about someone actually address the elephant in the room? Climate Change. Wildfires are normal in California. What has changed is the force of the winds. over 100 mph Santa Ana winds is blowing hot embers into areas never affected by wildfires before. Drought is limiting the water available, meanwhile, billionaires use thousands of gallons of water to keep their lawns green. But we can't talk about Climate changed because Magats don't believe I it.

Just as a related issue, I wonder how many of the critics work remotely and insist they can do so more effectively than if they were physically there?

“Beyond valid”. We’ve truly reached peak beyond.

So many Americans are fucked by severe deficits in critical thinking, and R2 is living proof of that.

The nonsense "diplomatic visit" will sink her quicker than the fire.

She's black and a woman so of course the knives came out immediately.

I don't know how things would have been better if she was in L.A. when the fire broke out but the optics are awful.

True or not: Black female mayor abroad on a bogus political mission while her city burns. And she cut the firefighters' budget.

She's all done.

R13 What the fuck did Bass do to save lives? She literally wasn't even on the fucking continent until hours ago.

Trollin' Trollin' Trollin'

Talks to self when trollin'

HOW DARE YOU ASK A MAYOR ABOUT THE DESTRUCTION OF HER CITY!

R14 Nice things cost money and Americans have been bamboozled by Republican politicians and uber wealthy people for decades into thinking they can pay little to no taxes but still receive all of these wonderful government services. James Woods being a perfect example.

For the propagandist troll at R4

NYTimes:

"Mayor’s Absence Is Considered a Sign L.A. Underestimated Fire Risks

"Some residents said Mayor Karen Bass should have canceled her trip to Ghana when weather warnings in Los Angeles grew increasingly dire."

"Ms. Bass, a former Democratic congresswoman who became mayor in late 2022, did not return to Los Angeles until Wednesday afternoon, by which point more than 1,000 homes had burned and 100,000 people across the region had been forced to flee from their homes."

"Ms. Bass, a former Democratic congresswoman who became mayor in late 2022, did not return to Los Angeles until Wednesday afternoon, by which point more than 1,000 homes had burned and 100,000 people across the region had been forced to flee from their homes."

"But Mayor Bass posted her first warning on X about the wind storm on Monday, when she was already in Ghana. Her office did not send out a news release about fire risk until nearly 11 a.m. on Tuesday morning, after the blaze in Pacific Palisades had already broken out."

"“This is a massive failure of epic proportions,” he said. “To know the storm was coming and then to leave, and not rush back. Leadership matters and the first thing is to be present.”

Some residents say lots of things, r23. Why do you want to continue to keep the focus on Mayor Karen Bass and take it away from people who are suffering right now and from the firefighters and other first responders who are working their asses off for us right now?

Unfortunately for the Sky News reporter, it's not true that the city cut its fire budget.

"Bass also took heat from far-left activists online, who accused the mayor of cutting the fire department’s budget in order to pay for a costly new contract with the city’s police. Also weighing in against her was Patrick Soon-Shiong, the politically idiosyncratic owner of the Los Angeles Times, who echoed the attack, posting on X that “the Mayor cut LA Fire Department’s budget by $23M.”

"That assertion is wrong. The city was in the process of negotiating a new contract with the fire department at the time the budget was being crafted, so additional funding for the department was set aside in a separate fund until that deal was finalized in November. In fact, the city’s fire budget increased more than $50 million year-over-year compared to the last budget cycle, according to Blumenfield’s office, although overall concerns about the department’s staffing level have persisted for a number of years."

That was a right wing gotcha-games attack dressed up as journalism. MAGA loves it of course but they are beyond dishonest: they would never ever EVER want a liberal reporter to corner and attack Trump 1:1 like this.

Unfortunately she seemed mute and cornered and weak in response. And her press appearances since have had problems.

Trolly McTrollerson knows she's wrong. She's just bumping this thread hoping people will just watch the video in the OP and believe all the lies.

[quote]Some residents say lots of things, [R23]. Why do you want to continue to keep the focus on Mayor Karen Bass and take it away from people who are suffering right now and from the firefighters and other first responders who are working their asses off for us right now?

Because you're an idiot you can't comprehend that that we can do both: hold the mayor accountable for her failings AND support the firefighters, first responders and those who have lost their homes.

No, you can't. It's taking airtime and you know it.

Considering the number of wildfires that California has experienced in the last 10 years why would you reduce the fire department's budget by some $17 million, and why haven't 'they' built a new reservoir in California in the last 10 years?

Fuck off with your right wing propaganda OP.

Does the UK media obsess over domestic issues of any other country. British people are just so bizarre. I can't imagine them bothering to do such interviews and reports about any other country.

[quote]It's taking airtime and you know it.

More bullshit.

We have a 24/7 non-stop news cycle that can handle it all.

And you know it.

Oh, fuck off. I'm busy watching Mayor Karen Bass, bright eyed and bushy tailed, give a news conference in unity with her GOP Supervisor who's talking right now.

Have the day you deserve, you racist cunt.

You know where the $17M she cut went to? Cops.

So she should have not increased the police budget?

You fucking children think we live in a fanstasyland of endless, free money.

Trump wants to completely end FEMA, but somehow Bass is the problem?

Weren't the Republicans screaming about LA and NYC being crime ridden hellscapes? Now they're upset the money went to the cops and not the firefighters.

[Quote] Does the UK media obsess over domestic issues of any other country. British people are just so bizarre. I can't imagine them bothering to do such interviews and reports about any other country.

R32 You don't think that the BBC covers news from Israel Palestine, Russia. Ukraine, Japan, China . . . ? . .

We're in an Ice Age, folks. Increase that budget all you want, we're doomed.

r36 make it make sense. But for a right wing troll it makes sense, it just will purposely lie. Sad thing is, it is not even being paid. It is sad and lonely.

Where exactly would she land, R5?

You think incoming flights weren’t cancelled yesterday???

r41 Facts will never get in the way of right wing manipulation of facts. And dems need to be impassioned about the counter to this inane argument. But no they rather spend more time playing petty racial politics, when some mentally ill junkie gets the short hand of a physical confrontation or when some dusty old stroke induced white man forgets how to be agile while holding a fucking cane.

How is that a party constantly talking about tax cuts, overspending, and a republican president who wants to cut FEMA and this is the stance they are on NOW? No. She cut the firefighter budget to give to cops. You know because crime is a way more important issue than a fluke natural disaster that no one could have foreseen.

*facepalm*

So even *very specific* criticism of a local Democratic politician is right wing propaganda now?

Y'all are fucking insane. Let the whole country burn I say. America is already cooked anyway.

I guess if one angle doesn't work, you try another one. Eh, troll?

R44 Stop liking your own comments, it's embarrassing.

I'd like to know - what special power and skills does she have to fight wildfires as the mayor, when there are entire emergency and fire and state crews and departments for this?

She didn't flee like Cruz because she didn't want to be inconvenienced - she was on the other side of the world when it started.

[quote]So even *very specific* criticism of a local Democratic politician is right wing propaganda now?

Um, what if it's wrong? (See R25.)

The problem, r43, is that Democratic politicians have a unique problem.

Democrats get shit from the right and the left.

Republicans get shit from the left only.

It makes leftists, or it should, gun-shy

What goes around, comes around!

r48 I agree but part of the reason is that some on the left are neurotic as fuck. They need to move to Cuba or something. Some on the left think it's cool, that people are stealing because a lot of these folks are upper echelon. You would be hard press to find right wing idiots who are working class and voted trump to agree with that stance. That is the left's version of populism. It's so fucking stupid.

why is it that these fires don’t happen in florida? any scientific explanation fot it?

r51 RAIN.

Just to point out. LA County: Includes 88 incorporated cities, each with its own city council. Bass is the mayor of the City of Los Angeles. Bass may have cut the budget for LA City fire but Malibu is it's own city, Pacific Palisades is in the City of Los Angeles, but has it's own city council. The budget cuts were mostly administrative jobs that went unfilled. Seven million was cut from flexible overtime which the fire chief had said was used for training on how to fight wildfires, The budget cuts were last year and had zero impact on the number of fire fighters or equipment.

r51 - because Florida is not a desert. California is a desert that grew green with piped in water. It has long periods of drought, which creates the perfect storm (if you will) for wildfires. Florida has it's own problems with Hurricanes and Trump living there.

R51 Florida is a humid swamp, that's why.

LA is not a desert. It’s arid, but not a desert.

r53 That is a very good point as well. People constantly get confused by the difference between Los Angeles county and Los Angeles the city.

r55 Its more complicated than that because Los Angeles county is huge, and certain parts of the county are indeed a desert. Los Angeles proper is not, just very arid.

Dude loses credibility when he cites Elon Musk’s opinion. He gives it all away in that moment.

R55

[quote]Los Angeles proper is not [a desert], just very arid.

…which is exactly what I said?

British men are the biggest cucks on earth. They're letting thousands of their children get gang raped by pakistanis and they are now completely subservient to a muslim minority. I hope they enjoy their dhimmitude. All accomplished without firing a shot.

r59, you are right, my fault.

Love the collective DL wisdom. If SEO leads some outsider to this thread, we've made sure OP was eviscerated good and proper.

And this is for you, lying r60.

Seems it never rains in Southern California

seems I've often heard that kind of talk before

it never rains in California, but girl don't they warn ya?

it pours, man. it pours

Southern California saw record rainfalls last year. If only they had the dams and reservoirs to store it!

Florida does have wildfires. Apparently they are getting ready for an exercise to help them Stay prepared to respond to wildfires.

r64 they do have the damn and reservoirs. Southern California is bigger than you might realize. Also for a geo-political place, the weather changes drastically over short distances. It is not like this in most of the country. Most of the ran last year hit San Diego county. It was like the fucking Bible. It rain for 40 days straight, culminating in one big down pour. I mean nonstop, and this is place not used top heavy rain. I thought it would never stop raining.

Stop, R63. The mass rape of English girls has been going on for well over well over a decade and the English were and are too cowardly to do anything to stop it. Enjoy your dhimmitude, sweety.

Also when Southern California has record breaking rain in a year, it merely mitigates things. It goes through YEARS of droughts. SD county actually resolved its drought problem with how much it rained last year. But make no mistake about it, consecutive years of the typical weather will put it back in a drought.

R66 But are they sufficient for a state that has had a record number of wildfires in the past 10 years. Apparently not as firefighters had to let houses burn because there was no water!

I'm not an expert on the details and I'm forgetting we are in 2025 now. The record breaking rain occurred in 2023 and I believe it mainly was San Diego county, not LA county. We don't share the same water reservoir, system whatever you want to call it. SD gets its water from the Colorado River and then the damns from rain, it's not connected to LA's system. I THINK.

[quote] [R13] What the fuck did Bass do to save lives? She literally wasn't even on the fucking continent until hours ago.

The right-wing hysteria is baffling. How can the MAYOR do something about a wildfire caused by climate change?! The city and county have longstanding operations intended to deal with crises.

“ The city and county have longstanding operations intended to deal with crises.”

Really?

Furthermore she is the mayor of LA. There is no fucking governor of Los Angeles county you dumb fucks. Thats exactly why FEMA should be strong and well funded when shit like this happens. There are multiple different municipalities and local governments at play here.

R70 you're clearly not an expert. The historic rainfall fell in Southern California less than a year ago in February of 2024

[quote] Really?

Yes, dear. The city of Los Angeles has a whole fire department, with support from other cities in Los Angeles county. When a fire starts you should not call the mayor's office, you should dial 911.

SHIRE DEPARTSHMENT

If you aren’t hate-watching Sky News, don’t watch the right wing drivel at all. They’re such opportunists. They won’t be interviewing real people, except the ones who fit their preconceived narrative of what they want to portray.

R75 too bad they don't have water! Can't fight fire without it!

She fucked up. And the reporter is an ass.

Being a loud and obnoxious ideological activist is not journalism, and the cringe factor of an entitled affluent white European dude demanding that the Black woman answer his questions and be accountable to him when he isn’t even a citizen is peak cringe.

Wasn't Sky News illegally wire tapping and hacking a few years back? Or was it one of the other Murdoch rags?

[quote]Being a loud and obnoxious ideological activist is not journalism, and the cringe factor of an entitled affluent white European dude demanding that the Black woman answer his questions and be accountable to him when he isn’t even a citizen is peak cringe.

Clearly this white reporter did not know that black female politicians are above criticism.

He was asking her questions as if (1) she had to answer him, and (2) she could have blown the fire out like a candle on a birthday cake. White people can be A LOT...

R82 No matter the questions, a competent politician doesn't just stand there with a blank look on their face.

Karen Bass is a moron.

An example:

But she didn't say any of that, did she r53? Shouldn't she have had those details baked into her skull as MAYOR?

The fact that she said NOTHING and stared blankly is the problem. She's unfit and seemingly a dumbass.

R84 you’re a dumb ass. She doesn’t need to answer to some foreign chaos agent. Fuck outta here. She is the mayor of LA and quickly returned as soon as she could. She is not the governor of California nor the director of FEMA. And even those individuals aren’t to blame here.

She should have had messages. A mayor of a major city and former member of Congress should have media training sufficient to get her through a bullshit game like that. In 2025 you don't just say nothing. Now that tape is out there. She looked feeble, addled and defensive.

From a comms perspective, she fucked it. There was a game to play. She didn't even try.

Saying nothing is showing great restraint. They want to goad you into exploding so they get their moment. If she said anything it would be sound bit and picked apart as fodder for Faux News for weeks. The best thing she could have done is say nothing.

R86 It seems like she is trying to watch some massage being delivered while Murdoch’s cunt is trolling her.

You really see restraint, R87? Sure, OK.

What do you see, r89?

R86 and she had a long trip from Ghana to LA with plenty of time to have come up with a statement to read to the press

As usual there is nothing on the DL like having a foreigner to blame.

What was that about white British men having no spine?

r38 They do but never as obsessively. Are you kidding. And generally only on issues that involved more than one country like conflict. They aren't debating German or Chinese politicians on parochial issues. There was a major flood in Spain a couple of weeks ago that was mismanaged and many Spaniards were upset. Yet you didn't see the gorilla style reporting by the UK press. Are you serious??

OP is an idiot MAGAt.

Journalism is not gotcha questioning during a catastrophe.

Fuck off.

Yes, R94 I'm serious

It is a lie that Los Angeles decrease the fire department budget. They actually increased it. And why would she feel bad for being outside of the country as if they could have predicted the fires. She didn't dilly dally coming back.

British people think ambushing and barking at people is good journalism--- it isn't. The LA fire department actually got a budget increase.

r91 She didn't have a response because the questions were loaded and false.

R99 She didn't have to answer his questions, but she had a 17-hour trip from Ghana, and she knew what she was coming home to. I said she should have had a statement prepared. She just stared at the guy which made her seem idiotic.

R90, I see frozen panic. Classic ambush. It is political malpractice a seasoned politician like Karen Bass couldn't talk around a classic tabloid ambush. And no, "dignified silence" isn't an option for a politician. Ever. Unless they want to look guilty.

There's a concept in media relations training called pivoting. You only answer the question if it suits you - the rest of the time you pivot and respond.

"Do you owe citizens an apology for being out of town while their homes were burning?"

"I've been working the phones throughout my flight home. It breaks my heart I wasn't on the ground. What's important now - the only thing I'm thinking about now - is..."

Media training has been around for fifty years. There's no excuse for a deer ion the headlights. None.

ABC NEWS 7 Los Angeles

"Los Angeles cut $17.5M from fire department budget months before deadly fires"

CBS NEWS - : January 10, 2025

"A month before fires, L.A. fire chief warned budget cuts were hampering emergency response"

"State to probe why Pacific Palisades reservoir was offline, empty when firestorm exploded"

r100 Uh, because she was ambushed. This wasn't a normal interview where she even had time to answer questions. Someone just barking at her. Are you serious.

r101 LA is on fire and you want media training. The reporter is a doofus.

We train them for ambushes, R105. (Though I doubt we could train you if you're actually this thick.) They aren't exactly unheard of, you know? The Sky guy didn't invent the ambush interview was Karen Bass stepped off the plane.

The lady's done nothing but politics since 2004. She fucked up. Big time.

R106, do you have a minder? She should have been media trained regularly over her twenty year career. Dildo. Jesus.

But it's the British reporter's fault for asking questions that she was not prepared to answer?

Those damned foreigners again!

r108 The disaster response is more important. Most US journalist don't ambush. Why would she prepared and why should she. Journalism is not about entertainment.

[quote]The disaster response is more important.

You are ridiculous.

We ALL KNOW the disaster response is more important, but in the meantime reporters will be asking questions. That's the way it is and the way it always has been.

[quote] Most US journalist don't ambush.

You are wrong and really pretty dumb.

Journalists, reporters, shout out questions or stop politicians in public all the time.

Thanks, R111. I can't deal with that level of stupid any longer.

The world, R110, is as it is, not as you think it should be. Now hush up.

All she had to do was say: "I'll be having a press conference at 4PM and all of your questions will be answered. Thank you"

[quote] I can't deal with that level of stupid any longer.

Oh, dear.

r111 the reporter lied and said that she cut the fire department budget. What was she supposed to say. It was a loaded question. She would have had to say, no that isn't true. But when on the spot and a journalist is lying with a loaded question-- it is just pointless. She looked bad, but it was a manipulative situation.

Actually, R115, she could have said "that's incorrect" or "that isn't true", dismissed the journalist and moved on to the next question.

“Pats, did you hear about the fires in LA? Who’s this Karen Bass? Maybe she needs good PR….” “Well Eds, we haven’t been to LA in year. We can go shopping and visit Beverly Hills! Maybe we can meet one of those…. Kardashians….”

The Mayor of Los Angeles is another DEI puppet.

And the MAGAT emergence on the DL continues.

omg. she was elected wasn't she. how is that dei?? r118

R119 And defend the rotten to the core Dems on DL because you want to live in a tight echo chamber where family and friends parrot back to you everything you say.

I’m truly curious if the people sniping about the mayor’s answer/non-answer would be this outraged if she were a white man. Los Angeles is in crisis and THIS is what is holding attention?!

Right R122 nobody but nobody is dragging Newscum through the mud.

Fuck off with your race baiting.

You need to unplug the Breitbart drip from you veins and join reality

R122... not sure you deserve a serious answer, I did comms for a living. So yes. She richly, royally, totally fucked up, in any skin tone. Worse than amateur. She didn't even try.