California lawmakers met in a special session this week — no surprise with wildfires raging around Los Angeles. What is surprising is that, while fire-relief was tacked-on to the session’s agenda, the original purpose was to authorize legal resources for a courtroom war with the incoming administration of President Donald Trump. The odd priorities of California’s politicians are now on display alongside their failures. People suffering the destruction of lives, homes, and businesses are victims of the fires, but California’s promise of an alternative governing model to Trump’s populism is also going up in smoke.