Snowpocalypse or Snowmageddon, All Politics is Weather

by Michelle Blackston

In a town where it's all politics, all the time, what happens when a snow storm freezes the debate?  Well, the political rhetoric just heats up! And politicians and reporters are throwing out weather metaphors by the (snow)shovel-full. 

Washington Post columnist Dana Milbank leaves no politico unscathed in his column, "Snow can't shut down the political parties' election machines:"

Rep. Eric Cantor (Va.), the No. 2 Republican in the House, mentioned that "Democrats are trying to do whatever they can politically and just can't seem to get the traction they want."

Ha! No traction -- get it?

Just a day earlier, President Obama expressed his view that Americans are "tired of every day being Election Day in Washington." He's right about that. But neither snow nor rain nor white-out on the Beltway stays the political parties from their appointed rounds.

And the self-described conservative voice, the Washington Times, calls global warming a "snow job" in their editorial:

Record snowfall illustrates the obvious: The global warming fraud is without equal in modern science.

Man-made global warming theory isn't backed up by science; it's a hoax. The fact that the world has been asked to spend tens of trillions of dollars on global warming solutions without being able to evaluate the data upon which the claims were made should have been the first warning that something was seriously wrong.

With the federal government mostly shut down and public transportation closed to commuters, the newspaper Politico says the snow effectively froze the Democrats agenda:

Back-to-back blizzards have not only paralyzed Washington but also put an already troubled Democratic agenda on ice for another week.

Virtually every hearing has been postponed by the snowstorms — including one on global warming — giving the usual warming skeptics a chance to make jokes about climate change.

So while many of us in the Washington area who remain shut-in for too long start to experience cabin fever, USA Today warns against being bored. It can kill you!

In a commentary to be published in the International Journal of Epidemiology in April, experts say there's a possibility that the more bored you are, the more likely you are to die early.

Yikes! I'd better get outside and start shoveling my driveway. Or I can read all of the political ramblings online. In any case, it will take more than a few days of sunshine to melt the icy conditions in Washington, DC. And there are more storms in the forecast.

Photo credit: Linda Davidson/the Washington Post

Comments

[Larry Barish]

An interesting postscript to Brenda's list of legislative explusions was a tragic incident which occurred during the February session of the 1842 Wisconsin Territorial Legislature. In what has to be the ultimate violation of legislative conduct, James Vineyard shot killed Charles Arndt on the council floor, effectively ending a bitter debate over the nomination of a county sheriff. By all accounts, the two council members had been close friends, even rooming together during the session. Vinyard was expelled and was indicted for manslaughter but was ultimately acquitted on the grounds of self defense. Vineyard followed the gold rush to California where the voters apparently did not hold his past against him and elected him to the Legislature.