On one hand, Arnie and his staff apparently saw the fire season coming and cut red tape to get a DC10 tanker approved that has turned out to be a big part of the firefighting effort. [Note in the article however, that the Feds have been unwilling to give the issue any priority] But Arnie’s grandstanding roots quickly came to the fore. During a visit to an evacuation center he got snippy when asked by a reporter about the state refusing to use military helicopters to help on the fire due to bureaucratic rules. “All you have to do is look around here and see how happy people are,” he said. “No one is screaming. No one is complaining. Anyone who is complaining about the planes just wants to complain.” Ahh, so in other words, focus on my visit to the refugees, and don’t ask any impertinent questions about actually working on helping get the fires put out. Hat tip to Richard Rider in San Diego for point out thes and other interesting things about the fires.