As snow piled up on the streets of the nation’s capital this past week, politicians and commentators and disappointed residents piled on the city government and Mayor Adrian Fenty.
Plows cleared some streets but ignored others.
Too many trucks were busted and out of service.
Cops ticketed cars parked along emergency routes.
Most of the above came from District residents. They are valid criticisms of city agencies and workers who had to try to clear perhaps the most snow ever dropped on the District, since George Washington made it the seat of the federal government around 1800. Chalk it up to the push and shove between the government and the governed.
But when I hear talking face Chris Matthews gripe about the city’s snow clearing capabilities, I’d like to shove a sock in his big mouth. Filling his MSNBC show with more nonsense than usual Wednesday night, Matthews called D.C. “a city that can’t plow its streets.”
The bloviator in chief continued:
“Why can’t a government town do a government job?” asked Matthews, his moon face coloring up like a pumpkin with hay scattered on top. “We had the weather of Buffalo with the snowplowing capability of Miami.”
Matthews sits at the front of the chattering class. He’s worked for politicians, crossed over to become a kind of journalist talking about politics, thought about being a politician. Will he run? Will he keep talking? He’s the Brett Favre of talking heads, minus the talent and grit.
My wife, who actually admires Matthews, says he “speaks from the cuff and isn’t always interested in all the facts.”
Like his comment Wednesday that everyone knew the snow was coming but the District was not prepared. “You see no planning,” he said with his sputtering delivery and startled eyes. “I see no planning.”
Facts are, Chris, District leaders have been planning for this second snowfall for days. Department of Public Works chief Bill Howland has been managing local government agencies longer than you have been yammering. He and transportation director Gabe Klein worked day and night, slept a few hours in the offices, and went back on the street so that you could drive in from Chevy Chase.
Perhaps that’s the problem: The snow made you disoriented. You started from your manse in Montgomery County, where the streets had not been plowed, and you didn’t know when you crossed into D.C., where the streets actually were clear.
If Fenty and his top aides — Howland and Klein — are guilty of anything, it’s over-promising. No one can fault them for failure to plan, or lack of attention to detail, or sheer effort. As I wrote in my last column, Fenty and his top snowmen knew D.C.’s fleet of trucks was in lousy shape, and they should have sought help or scaled back expectations.
We do need trucks, which cost big bucks. So here’s a suggestion for Chris Matthews: Rather than whine about snow removal, why not pay a toll every time you come into town, so we can buy some new rigs?
E-mail Harry Jaffe at [email protected].
