Its official. President Obama has basically said we are a bunch of wimps. Why? Well, you just saw it in the video. the Washington area shuts down when it snows or ices. This phenomena has always been a subject for Washingtonians and its suburbanites to quarrel about.
All the kids in the region know the tricks. Sleep with your pjs inside out. Do a snow dance.
(Sorry about that commercial!)
Working parents have contingency plans for school being closed and schools going in late. Every school division has its different codes to alert folks as to who is expected to report for duty and who isn’t.
If things get real bad, the feds shut down. The new president is really going to roll his eyes over that when it happens. What part of it doesn’t he get? This is Washington, DC and we do love our snow days. We do not drive well in snow. We do not realize that an SUV does not make us immortal.
So what is it that we need to tell President Obama if fixing the economy, handling a 2 front war, the Gaza strip and the energy crisis start to bore him and he reads our blog? Why does Washington, DC shut down when it snows?
Are we wimps? Are Chicago folks just weather thugs? What’s the difference?
[Spellcheck let me down. Thanks to PWConservative who pointed out the error of my ways. I had misspelled ‘wimp’ in 2 out of the 3 places I used it. All fixed now.]
We came here from Alaska many years ago and I have to tell you, we couldn’t believe the excitement of the weather people on radio and TV if even a few flakes were going to fall. They just LOVED it (storm watch centers, etc.) Of course, this still goes on and they show us picture after picture of big trucks loaded with sand to assure us that they are ready for the worst.
However, the difference between snow here and in colder climes is that it tends to melt during the day and freeze at night making it very, very slippery. School buses have to drive on country roads and side streets, and I can certainly see that the school districts do not want to take any chanses with our children. The person who has to make the call – snow day or NOT a snow day – has a tough job. Wouldn’t want to be in his/her place, that’s for sure!
Obama should shut his mouth. He’s bragging on Chicago, a notoriously corrupt city which has given us quite a spectacle, including the Blogojovoch fiasco and media tour, and a Senator that supposedly nobody wanted to seat. I think some humility might be in order.
Rick, dear!
What does that have to do with schools being closed because of snow and Ice? (Got your 2 cents worth in, anyway.) Happy?
More evidence that human beings did not descend from apes but rather sheep.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z_08DO9DOtY
We ARE whimps.
But who cares?
I like snow days.
Come on now, Rick! This was a light-hearted moment. Are you so filled with bile that you can’t take a moment for what it is without resorting to some sort of snipe?
I didn’t like his comment. I find it arrogant.
I went to college with thousands of people from Chicago and generally found them to believe that the universe revolved around their city.
Washington could never be accused of such a big-headed belief! Shame on the Chicago-ans (Chicago-ites)! Well, Chicago does have something to its name: it was Sinatra’s “my kind of town”. Also, the Valentine”s Massacre and many more famous gangsters than Washington, at least known ones. Oh, and let’s not forget Hoffa! Washington is coming up short.
Know any songs about Washington? Winter or summer? – “The flowers that bloom in Dupont Circle”; “Love on a bench on the Mall while rust colored leaves start to fall”, etc.
P.S. How many of the thousands of people from Chicago did you actually know?
Hi guys 🙂
I wish I could have had Snowbabma 😉 riding with me into work on Tuesday. It took me over 2 hours to travel about 15 miles and I couldn’t imagine adding the bus traffic to it.I witnessed alot of spin outs, people stuck, sliding sideways, etc. My neck and arms acutally ached later that evening from being so tense driving. It was ICY.
This is beginning to sound like we are completely justified in our handling of snow/snow days/ice storms. Lions 6 Obama 0
I expect mid-westerners do think that the entire world revolves around Chicago. Probably with good reason as our contributors have pointed out! How about the Chicago slaughter houses? Chicago stock exchange was the main place for a long time. The Windy City–What’s Washington’s nickname?
“What’s Washington’s nickname?”
-Murder Capital Of The World
We will take that one into consideration…..
It WAS the murder capitol of the world. DC is doing better now on that score. I assume M-H was being cheeky here. In times like these, not EVERYTHING is a good reason to be angry at Obama. Rick, you’re joking right?
Shellyb, yes, I was being cheeky. Rick is going to be sorry when he doesn’t win the prize for best entry! He blew his chance. 😉 Sorry, mmake that Rod, not Rick. Falsely accused Rick.
I enjoyed Obama questioning our different outlook on snow. Hawaii to Chicago?? That has to make him a twisted sister in the snow department.
Thanks to everyone who took this thread in the spirit it was intended…some light-hearted fun that really was not at someone else’s expense. There are other blogs for that…that shall go unnamed.
Better to close school than to have kids hurt in Schoolbus accident’s, I had a friend who almost died that way last year, Her arm has trapped under the Bus and was crushed.
Are Sacha and Malia such brats that their parents get uptight when they have to spend an extra 7 hours a day with them?
BTW it’s Wimps not Whimps.
You are absolutely right PWConservative. And its school bus accidents. No possessive. I will fix mine and if I get a nod from you, I will go in and fix yours too.
I agree with you about the school buses. Better safe than sorry.
I didn’t think Obama was complaining. Chill! It was a light hearted moment. Thats all, nothing more, nothing less.
I think Palin should let Obama know what Winter is all about.
Look in the mirror, Barack Obama, Esq. Sharky lawyers close schools, not “wimpy” residents. Those sharks would circle the minute a bus skidded on the ice, and that superintendant would be out of a job.
You should do a post on Obama’s reaction to how Wall Street gave out 18 billion in bonuses. That’s where all our money is going.
Yes MH Im fine with you ponting out my typos and I thought I was being fairly lighthearted with the Bratty kids comment.
pwc-I turned mother lion over them. I think those are the cutest little girls.
I am going to miss former Governor Blagojevich … if he ever goes away.
After spending two days on a media tour, which I scrupulously ignored, I tuned in to see his comments following his impeachment. I thought I would enjoy seeing him humbled. But no indeed he was every bit as insufferable as ever.
I hope his trial lasts a year and we get 24-hour news coverage. How incredibly fortunate for the Republican party that one man has singlehandedly eclipsed the perception of a “culture of corruption” that accompanied the Bush years and the GOP-controlled Congress.
As for the topic, it was beneath Obama to employ such a tired cliché to establish rapport with fellow transplants. The Washington Post editorial board had some fun at his expense this morning. All of this is amusing, I suppose, but I’m actually surprised to see it getting this much play.
I think that Obama’s remark really established rapport with all of us. I enjoyed it. Any time a person of Obama’s stature goes for the mundane, it just is reassuring.
Gov Blago is never going away. Energizer bunny there. You are right, he was insufferable and I am facinated with his obnoxiousness.
Coming late to this, but I was surprised at Rick’s reaction. Obama would say the same thing if he were from Milwaukee, Boston, Buffalo, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, or any other major city where snow does not create such a tizzy. Rick, why didn’t the cold numb your trigger finger? 🙂 It was a gratuitous and irrelevant shot. And it’s Blagojevich not “Blogojovoch,” as you stated. If you are going to mention the corrupt Chicago-raised pol, you might as well get his Serbian name right. It’s only fair.
PWC Conservative, it’s Sasha not Sacha and there is every indication that her father and mother are very devoted to her and her sister and to spending time with them. I will take you at your word that you were being lighthearted even if it didn’t appear that way.
I’m not anti-Obama but the comment struck me as betraying a certain arrogance.
Perhaps, but if so it’s an arrogance “betrayed” as you say regularly by people in the DC Metro area who are from all those other cities I mentioned and many more. I don’t think it was arrogance. I think he was being playful. He said Sasha commented that this kind of snow wouldn’t even cancel recess in Chicago, much less school. I guess the 7 year old is in trouble with you too? Damn arrogant 7 year old! Come on now. None of this warranted your “Obama should shut his mouth” phrasing.
Attack the man all you want, for real things.
His 7-year old grew up in a culture of corruption, living in a house Mom and Dad were able to buy on the cheap because a crooked slumlord helped them with a quid-pro-quo deal not available to you or I. I just don’t want to hear about how tough and resiliant they all are in Chicago. Obama should be shamed by what happened with his Senate seat. Not bragging on Chicago.
Now I don’t see this as “attack” of our new President, who i want to succeed. But I see it as concern.
Real concerns?
He’s put in a group of crooks as his cabinet. Some of the worse choices dropped out – the ineffectual Bill Richardson for one. We have a Secretary of State who is not, in any way, a team player. We will have another Alberto Gonzalez (sic) type of suck-up Attorney General. Worst of all we have a tax criminal as our Secretary of Treasury and Obama asks us all to believe that the guy didn’t understand he was defrauding the government when he collected his “extra tax money stipend” and didn’t pay the taxes.
he and his Chief of Staff are clearly more devoted to playing politics than to dealing with real issues. E-verify? Put it on hold till May, we need to figure out whether US law is worth a darn. Health care costs? Let’s pretend that “electronic records” will have an effect. The real root cause of unemployment and health care costs, the burgeoing illegal alien population, is left unaddressed while he pretends he can fiddle around the edges.
Meanwhile the INS maintains a standing order not to arrest or detain any “high-profile” illegal immigrants without sign-offs by top management. Bush put this into effect in late October and it’s still in effect. Know why? Because Obama’s Aunt Zetuni is here illegally and was living in Section 8 Housing while she was here illegally, and it could be embarassing to him.
He’s a crook and his aunt is a crook. Now, I wish him luck. They’re all crooks, but some are effective Presidents. But let’s call it like it is, he looks awful so far. His one saving grace is – Bush was worse. When this guy comes out with a smirk on his face telling me his daughter is tougher than me, I just want to spew vomit all over his nice suit and maybe his daughter’s shoes. They are elitist crooks, have been living off the fat of the land, and the whole crooked system he Presides over needs dramatic change of a type he doesn’t seem to want to come anywhere near.
Thanks for drawing me out, I enjoyed that!
Wow. I still can’t understand why you need to say vile things in regard to the president’s daughter. You maybe want to vomit on her? That is kind of sick Rick. She’s 7. My god. You say Obama put a bunch of crooks in his cabinet, but only give only one example, the treasury secretary who apparently violated tax laws. How are the other two crooks? What specific laws have they admitted violating or have been proved in a court of law to have violated? I don’t agree with Clinton as Secretary of State either, by the way, but for actual policy reasons. As for the new AG, I guess we will have to wait and see how he does.
Obama has been president a little over a week, yet you seem to be quite sure that he will not address anything that concerns you. I don’t think the illegal alien population is the “root cause” of unemployment and spiraling health care costs, that is historically inaccurate, but in any case, I am willing to give the president a bit more time than exactly 9 days to have solved such things.
The INS doesn’t exist anymore, but that’s also a small point. An ICE spokeswoman says the order you mention was lifted by the end of November. It is not still in effect as you said. It was issued by the Bush admin and removed by the Bush admin. See, among lots of other sources:
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/first100days/2009/01/26/rule-require-special-permission-arrest-fugitive-aliens-force/
Why did you say the Bush order is still in effect? I believe Obama has commented on his aunt and said the law should be enforced. What else is he going to say? Although like all of his father’s family, and the father himself, she isn’t a relative who has been a close part of his life.
Finally another small point, but I am curious why you misspell the former Attorney General’s last name and then put a sic next to it? Is there some kind of claim that his name is not Gonzales? The family is Gonzales, every official record of the AG is Gonzales, why the sic after your error? Is this some conspiracy theory I’m not aware of?
Because I didn’t know how to spell it, did a quick google search, still wasn’t sure and said “who cares if I spell it right, it’s just a blog posting”. sic in this case meant i wasn’t sure.
Thanks for the correction on the ICE story. As you can see in that article, I wasn’t the only one confused. Thanks for the info.
I hedged and said “maybe” vomit on her nice shiny shoes bought with crooked money. Just a joke. Rest assured, i do not fantasize about vomiting on children’s shoes. At least not until they reach their 11th birthday and only if they are cute. (THAT’S A JOKE TOO). Obama’s the one putting his daughter into the mix.
I feel that unless we as Americans pressure Obama to do the right thing, it probably won’t get done. His campaign was mostly hot air.
If i could change that 11 to a 16 I would … I have a feeling my love of comedy that offends is going to offend a few people needlessly here.
Maybe I need to telegraph the jokes with a footnote (* – this is an attempt to be funny) or something …
Fine Rick, but please know that sic absolutely doesn’t mean “I’m not sure.” In fact it means the OPPOSITE. It what people use to assure the reader that the word was “thus written.” The word means “thus” in Latin. So if you put sic after something, you are saying this is intentional. It is a way of signaling the accuracy of something in a text that others might doubt.
sp? is good if you have uncertainty about a spelling.
Ok, it was a joke, but it was a really sick joke. And about a kid. I felt concern when you’ve said, more than once, that your daughter had been leered at. So I guess I would expect you would not even joke about doing something vile to someone’s 7 year old. Yes Obama mentioned her, but in a sweet way and it doesn’t open her to comments such as yours.
OK, thanks. I take your point. To be fair, i said (or meant) vomit on him and maybe some would get on her shoes. I still think it was funny but I take your point and am sure a female audience will find it less amusing than I do.
largely female audience I meant.
This is a bit late but they should have a 24×7 channel just devoted to Blagojevich. I don’t like reality TV but this would be the best reality TV yet in my opinion. It would be great if they broadcast his criminal trial – as I’m sure he’ll take the stand and it will be even more entertaining than his “closing argument” was yesterday! In any event, I’m sure we aren’t done hearing from him – he likes the spotlight and I’m sure now will more than ever want to make his case that he shouldn’t have been tossed out as governor.
Interesting question Rick. Is Anti a largely female audience. I admit I don’t know. I can certainly think of an awful lot of male regulars, as well as people I suspect are male but have non-gendered names or haven’t otherwise id’d themselves.
I would guess a more even split, with women only slightly in the majority. But truly I don’t know.
I honestly cannot stand to watch him (Blagojevich), I have the most visceral reaction to him that I’ve ever had to someone on television. i think I’ve become saturated with the toxins of modern-day media whores enjoying their 15 shameless minutes and my body is rebelling.
Rick, didn’t you vote for Obama? I would hate to see how you treat someone you didn’t vote for.
Most people thought Obama’s comments were cute. I guess he can’t please everyone. I think you spend too much time on the dark screen and it is making you grouchy.
Gainesville, he really is amazing isn’t he. I expect he will be hired by Hollywood for something to keep us entertained. I stopped disliking him several weeks ago. How do you hate someone like that. UFB.
I’d venture it’s maybe 2/3 female here? It’s a nice change. Usually it’s angry white males doing blogging.
I went on record saying I wouldn’t vote for him.
But, meanwhile I promised someone else that i would.
In the end I’m just not saying. If i do say, I’m going to get some grief.
MH – maybe they’ll give Blagojevich his own talk show. He is really amazing, I’ve never seen anyone quite like him.
Sociopathic crooks are a dime a dozen. And they’re scattered all through our government.
But hey who knows. Mark Fuhrman has parlayed use of the n-word and perjury into a cereer as a special consultant to FOX News. Anything can happen.
I second the call for a 24×7 channel just devoted to Blagojevich.
I don’t know about Rick, but one of the things that attracts me to this board is the impression I get that most of my correspondents are female. I think Rick is right that there is such thing as a “female” sense of humor. I also think there is such a thing as a “female” political sensibility, and I think we could use more of it. I’m glad that women are taking a larger role in government and in participation in the democratic process.
The one thing that is most striking about this blog is the absence of Napoleonic complex bullies that strike me as predominately male. The kind of loser that would attack someone for their appearance or their age or their religion is the kind of loser that was probably once the big boy on the playground, but then lost his ability to intimidate others when the boys all grew taller, and the girls learned how to cut him down to size. Men like Greg Leteicq and “Elvis” have been saving their bully instinct for decades, waiting for a chance to attack people in an environment where they will not be physically or personally confronted with a response.
That’s why most of these clowns restrict their bullying to Greg’s blog. There is no danger of a response. Often, they will read something HERE and then go and respond over there. Oh, the cowardice….
Female humor is generally less aggressive, less full of attempts to dominate or best others. To me, it takes some of the fun out of it.
Rick, I have always found male humor to be slap-stick in nature, similar to cavemen beating each other over the head with clubs. Never under-estimate female humor.
Barbed tongues, extended, sharpened nails and the over-powering urge to annihilate one’s perceived enemies lurk beneath much of that less aggressive female humor.
Perception isn’t always reality.
I am truly amazed at the results from an inoccuous remark about ice causing school closings.
ABSOLUTELY AMAZED!!!!!!
The most amazing is Rick Bentley’s expressed wish to vomit all over our President’s suit with some of it spilling over on his 7, SEVEN, year old daughter. Can this be considered NORMAL?
I’m not underestimating it … Tina Fey is a great comedy writer. The women have been the funniest people in the Saturday night Live cast for years – Kirsten Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Amy Poehler. I listen to Robin Quivers say very funny things each weekday morning. Catherine O’Hara on SCTV was a gigantic talent, performing and writing.
I’m personally more in the male slash-and-burn mode myself. Lenny Bruce, Michael O’Donoghue, Al Franken, Bill Maher, Monty Python. There’s a brutality in those places that most women don’t go to. When they do – as Fey does, as Quivers does – it’s as much adadpting to their surroundings as it is any natural drive within them that would emerge were they working primarily with women. I think.
Even when women are funny, vulgar, and halfway brutal – like Fey – they’re usually not quite as ANGRY as men. But sure they can be brilliant. Fey’s “Colonel Angus” sketch from SNL a few years ago is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.
Punchak, can it be considered a RHETORICAL FLOURISH????
http://snltranscripts.jt.org/02/02mangus.phtml
I cheated and watched the video. It was hilarious. I didn’t see anger. Just an hilarious play on words.