Many get half-day as Washington braces for blizzard
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The federal government sent many of its employees home early on Friday as the nation’s capital braced for as much as 28 inches of snow.
In a town where politicians are afraid to take a position and are fond of dodging questions with ‘on the one hand, and on the other hand,’ the specter of 2 feet of snow was enough to threaten chaos. It was the second major storm in less than two months.
As the snow began falling, airlines canceled flights across the region and school districts closed for the day ahead of the storm, which is expected to cut a wide swath through Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, southern New jersey and parts of Pennsylvania.
Cleanup was expected to be a problem even though local officials mobilized thousands of trucks and workers and tons of salt.
There are two great aphorisms that link snow and politics.
The first is, “There is no Republican or Democrat way to shovel snow” (or remove garbage, which is usually handled by the same municipal department of public works). This adage is trotted out by politicians who like to stress pragmatic solutions to problems, like President Obama has done in his recent speeches.
It is also used to explain the need for bipartisan cooperation, another Obama trope in recent days.
The other adage deals with the aftermath and disposal of the snow: “God put it there; let him take it away.”
This one is a staple of political machines all around and is usually used by irate officials seeking to push the blame for poor cleanup off on the nature of well, Nature, rather than their own incompetence (and in some cases corruption) in awarding snow removal contracts.
For more details on the winter wonderland and how Obama reacted in the past, see the Swamp.
-- Michael Muskal
