Very timeshare sales associate-esque Iowa Congressman Zach Nunn bookended the line with the whole “strings attached” song-and-dance directed at the elected officials in California, but in the middle of it was a very distinct and unqualified admonition to the voters in Los Angeles: “We will certainly help those thousands of homes and families who have been devastated, but we also expect you to change bad behavior,” pretty plainly addressed to the victims themselves.

Texas Congressman Ronny “Dr Feelgood” Johnson Jackson did not go so far as to saying regular people’s suffering is their fault alone, but like Nunn and pretty much every Republican has this past week, he made it clear the MAGA Reich expects supplication in return for federal aid.

Actual Ron Johnson, the piece of shit he is, leaned on his instant expertise in fire ecology and hydrology in a Newsmax hit on Monday morning, rattling off tropes about brush clearing and water management to make it sound like he’s boned up on these issues.

What sticks out in all of these is that usually when Republicans go on right wing shows to bitch about border this or crime that they have actual stats – sometimes real, often misleading, frequently enough just outright bullshit – to back up their point. Even if it is fake it’s still something.

There’s none of that here, which leads to the actual problem that sooner or later these cocksuckers are going to be confronted with on their legislation: Their ransom note. At some point Republicans are going to have to say what it is they actually want elected officials in California and Los Angeles to do or commit to doing in exchange for aid, pretend they give a fuck about managing the flora of arid ecosystems and water infrastructure long enough to make trailer trash MAGA voters feel like those Hollywood libtards have been sufficiently brought to heel by this performative circlejerking.