This is TBSI on the world.

I'm John Batchel.

I welcome my colleague Thetis McCutter, former member of Congress from Michigan, now a columnist

at the American Greatness side, writing about the fires of Los Angeles these last weeks, the tragedy of it, the scale of it,

what is to be done. One thing is to achieve is sympathy for the people who had everything

destroyed, everything, gone. They had moments to get out of their houses. That's how bad it was.

And Thaddeus is giving us an anecdote from his days in Congress that inform what not to do when you're dealing with people who've lost their possessions for a lifetime. Thaddeus, a very good evening to you. As I understand the anecdote you tell in your column at American Greatness,

there was a presumption back in the day, and I imagine it might still be around, that because

of republicanism, there was no compassion. Is that how to interpret this anecdote? Good evening to you.

Good evening to you, John. Well, actually, it's about the difference between an ideology and a philosophy.

And it was the reason that I bring it up, it was brought up in the context of being asked by reporters and political opponents.

Does your ideology put you out of touch with your district?

And I would respond that I do not have an ideology.

I have a philosophy.

An ideology is where one tries to fit the world to one's mind,

whereas a philosophy you try to fit your mind to the world.

And when you look at what happened in California,

what you really need is a really philosophical,

practical, compassionate approach to the people.

And the reason I wrote the article is you'd hear some on the right

would argue that this was somehow deserved by people

for voting for Democratic elected officials

...