KRUISER’S MORNING BRIEFING: Karen Bass Exists to Make Gavin Newsom Look Competent. “Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has been getting all of the wrong kinds of press since fire destroyed Pacific Palisades and other areas of her city. We’ve seen public officials not handle crises well before, but Bass is going to need her own wing in the Mega FAIL Hall of Shame. Bass is the mayor of the second largest city in the country and has performed as if she couldn’t be trusted to keep fake houseplant alive.”