You knew in your heart of hearts from the very beginning.

Even as you watched those first flames take the first houses and then leap up through the canyons and down through the hillsides, through the breaks, even jumping PCH to gobble up the houses tucked next to the highway itself - those uniquely SoCal structures sandwiched between the asphalt and that big, blue Pacific surf...you knew.

You knew would never see it again, for all the gargoyle grin assurances of the mayor who couldn't be bothered to be there when the flames broke out. For all the slickster, huckstering, faux promises of a governor faking phone calls as he skittered like a cockroach from angry, heartbroken residents who only wanted answers.

You knew.

You knew when comedian turned prophet Adam Corolla went on an epic rant from a hotel room desk, a fire refugee himself waiting on word whether he had a home or not, telling you then and there if your home was gone, it was gone for good.

Because Mayor Karen Bass, Governor Gavin Newsom, and the soul-crushing machinery of the State of California had the will and the power to ensure you would never rebuild, one way or the other....