Obama to Washington: Toughen up

I live by the atlantic ocean here in NC. Obama is quite right about how we react to the snow down here. Yet on the other hand, I wonder how those tough guys up North would react to hurricanes? Quite frankly, I wonder what in the world is the matter with people who live up North. While you were suffering 3 degree weather.....I was out fishing on my boat filling it up with flounder and drum. Loosen up Northerners!

I forgot to mention on e thing....we have 1 snowplow in our county. I would suggest our budget for snow removal as large as your hurricane evacuation budget.

I can't stand this new "messiah", but you know what? He's right. People in the metro area are a bunch of wimps when it comes to snow.

bill r: I probably won't be the only one to tell you we have tornadoes, live on a fault, as well as ice and snow.

I just love this man. I mean look at that smile! And ya gotta laugh to keep from cryin' these days with all the bad news. He's right about DC, and NYC is the same. The whole city shuts down with a few inches of snow. Chicago winters will toughen you up!

But Bill...you live in North Carolina. The real world runs North of the Mason Dixon line.

TO BILL R

I’m pretty sure DC’s hurricane’s budget is similar to Chgo's, President Obama wasn’t talking about NC or any other southern state, but I’m assuming you can read, so you know he was talking about a city that gets very cold AND snow storms every year, one would think they would be used to it or have better preparation for it besides using sand instead of salt and shutting the city down.

Sort of a flip comment coming from a guy who works out of his home, doesn't have to shovel the sidewalks or driveway and gets driven everywhere he goes. Give the Prez a Chevy and let's see how well he does in DC traffic. Has he even drove a car since the Secret Service was assigned to him in the Primary?

But Bill...you live in North Carolina. The real world runs North of the Mason Dixon line.

Posted by: ExLaw | January 28, 2009 2:33 PM

Personally....you can keep the real world. It's 68 today...there is gas in the boat...and I'm grillin fresh flounder for dinner. It seems some missed my point.....it is all relative.

You tell em Malia!

The south, is, well, ......let me tell you a story:

I knew a contractor up here that was building chain hotels for a certain company. He had done about 10 of them up here, and had his expenses figured down to the penny on these cookie cutter projects. He was making very good money up here. He got a little big and decided to bid one off in NC (Sorry Bill), and of course use local labor. He lost his A$$ on the project, as his labor expense ended up being 50% more than what it was up here, and the project did not meet deadlines.

I couple that story, with the 2 years of experience I personally saw in MO, and well, the south really does need to shape up.

Sorry folks, it's the truth. Maybe all that snow shoveling at 4:00am before we go to work instills something. And where I live, the plows don't make it out until we get about 3" or more. Hell, most of the small roads have 2" of hardpack on them for much of the winter!

Washington needs to get to work, we have pressing things to fix. We need some jobs out here on mainstreet, or this generation will know what a great depression feels like.

vla, he drove and rode his bike before the secret service was assigned to him. Just because he is unable to drive himself for fear of his safety does not mean he does not know how.

I promise you via, that just 5 short years ago Obama was shoveling his own driveway in Chicago as a State Senator. After growing up in Chi-town,I lived in DC for 12 years and he is absolutely right. I didn't vote for this man but I am quickly realizing my mistake and like him more daily and wish him well.

Be careful when you tease the DC natives about snow:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2009/01/26/DI2009012601362.html

I'm proud to snark sometimes.

Posted by: Xcellentform | January 28, 2009 2:56 PM

I have to say I don't understand that at all. Labor cost are about half of what is up north. I believe they make more up north to pay for the incredible property taxes they pay. Many come here paying 10-18K a year while I pay 1500 for my 200 sqft waterfront home. People.... is there nothing we can discuss without such .....HMMMM...vigor?

That's 2000sqft home. Ah shucks....

vle - I believe the president has DRIVEN a car in Chicago during many winters. I'm sure he'd do it now, if they let him.

When our President makes a fun remark it seems everyone needs to weigh in with some heavy criticism. Lighten up, people. I grew up in Chicago and schools were seldom closed; also their traffic is extremely heavy.

When our President makes a fun remark it seems everyone needs to weigh in with some heavy criticism. Lighten up, people. I grew up in Chicago and schools were seldom closed; also their traffic is extremely heavy.

Yeah, but they say driving in DC is another animal - he's talking DC not Chicago.

When I lived in D.C. I was amazed at how the snow would shut down the city. And the previous poster was right: they get snow every year, usually at least one good storm. They've had sufficient practice.

I remember riding back from Williamsburg with a friend. We started to get flurries and she slowed down to 35 MPH on the highway. There was no snow on the ground yet; the flurries were melting the second they hit the windshield/road.

I also remember reading a story by a Detroit News reporter who compared his experience with his neighbor's upon waking up to a heavy snow. His neighbor got out the chains, sand or cat litter. The reporter got out the shovel, shoveled the driveway and was gone before his neighbor had even finished putting the chains on.

The President is right, everyone needs to man up over in D.C. We have been dealing with either ice, freezing rain, record snow, -30 degree weather or a combo of all of the above. We don't complain, wimper or panic, we roll up our sleeves and deal with it. Theres a Chicagoan in the White House now, he will be a tough image to live up to.

It's not just out in the East that they shut down. I grew up in Oak Lawn and now live in St. Louis, and they go into full blown armageddon mode for an inch of snow. Schools close, people are calling in sick to work, and the city doesn't even start to clean the streets till well after it's too late to start.

John said: "I promise you via, that just 5 short years ago Obama was shoveling his own driveway in Chicago as a State Senator."

I promise you that he did no such thing. Five years ago, Pres. Obama and his family lived in a condo on East View park, which didn't have a garage, much less a driveway! He parked on the street. Whether or not he ever claimed "dibs", though, I don't know.

Hyde Parkers tend to just leave their cars locked in snow until springtime rather than shovel and claim dibs. And dibs is contrary to the kumbaya spirit of Hyde Park. You can get downtown on the IC and walk to everything else in Hyde Park.

Bill,

Was that 200 sq. ft.....ah shacks!! I'm getting a Chris Farly flashback here.

No, I'm just having a bad day with government today. It really pisses me off that they take so many vacations and then they get to call a day off like this, which we would not even batt an eyelash at up here.

There really are some dire things they need to work on. And yes, my story was correct, save for a few percentage points either way on the labor increase. I would imagine that this contractor used northern wages in that story, but am not sure.

You think THAT'S wimpy, you should see how Hawaii--Obama's supposed home state-- handled expected high wind warnings here--they shut down all schools and all fed and government employees were told to stay home. On a Friday the weekend of Dr. Martin Luther King's day. Just for "wind"...

Parents had to eat sick days for kids forced to stay home, and govt workers got a 4 day weekend and wasted thousands in tax payer money for, you'll love this, what ended up being a partly sunny typical Hawaiian day.

It's 68 degrees here and everyone's complaining it's "cold". When it comes to toughness it's as Sean Connery said it in the Untouchables "That's how they do it the Chica'gah' way..."

The weather in Chicago has been brutal this year alternating between snow and sub zero temps(with the windchill) so President Obama actually is speaking from experience on this one. If a ten year old girl tells you that you need to toughen up odds are that you need to toughen up people.

I find this thread amazing. (Your all talking about the cold)
Facts, there is a cold freeze/snow in and around W. DC and sorry folks, Fmr. VP. Gore is inside spouting hot air.

The difficulty I have with "climate change" (which I believe in, not Global warming) is that "man" (or some of man) has the arrogance to believe we are responsible for "climate change".

Please keep talking about the cold/snow.

Posted by: Xcellentform | January 28, 2009 4:39 PM

The good thing about my 200sqft home is I can cook breakfast while I'm still in bed. LOL. I just found it hard to grasp as when I moved south 30 some years ago...I took a 50% pay cut to do the very same job. I guess like up north......there are different areas...say Michigan vs New York. My original point was just to say it is all relative....many don't like snow...many can't stand the heat...so on and so on. Anytime you want to come for a fishing get away...just let me know....there is a cooler and sometimes I even put fish in it....

The difficulty I have with "climate change" (which I believe in, not Global warming) is that "man" (or some of man) has the arrogance to believe we are responsible for "climate change".
Posted by: PG | January 28, 2009 4:49 PM

Spot on....some people even believe man is responsible for polution. Thankfully it is raining where you are or you might think it's noahs' flood.

PG -- "Arrogance" isn't believing that we are responsible -- "arrogance" is thinking that we aren't.

LOL Bill! Yeah, I'd love to take you up on the fishin, but right now money is so tight that I don't leave the house.

I think the reason this topic strikes my nerve so much, is that for those of us that are laid off, we find it more apauling than do the retired folks. I know people that are loosing their homes. I have a good friend that is a county deputy, and he could not get a part time job at Target! I've been laid off for so long now, that I'll have to redefine the term "working vacation".

This whole crappy pug rule was an interesting experiment for the last 8 years....them getting their way with everything, but now, it is really starting to get painful for myself and many others. We see it all around us and have to live with it.

Plus, if I can get this place sold, I'll be moving to QC.....maybe you'll have to come up to the great white north (gross blanc nord) and we can kill a few worms.

@SouthSideD - You were joking right.
PG -- "Arrogance" isn't believing that we are responsible -- "arrogance" is thinking that we aren't.
Posted by: SouthSideD | January 28, 2009 5:10 PM
ar·ro·gance
Pronunciation:
Function:
noun
Date:
14th century
: an attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions

-38 in eastern Idaho two nights ago. Obama is right, toughen up.

BHO,
DC is a Southern city.
Just forget the joking around; it's not what you or Joe are good at.
Just stay serious and do the job.

While I thought the same thing when I lived in northern VA for awhile, the truth is they have no snowplows or salt there. So a few inches of snow here gets plowed and salt gets laid down, there it becomes deadly ice. Ice is deadly, it doesn't have to be think, black ice is as thin as you can get.

"Toughen Up"....Funny coming from a wimpy looking president like Obama. That skinny little torso and those big ole ears. I have to agree, he is a cute one, but not a tough Chicago one. Chicago is nothing when compared to Alaska. -25 F in January temps. Obama is

It isn't just snow DC is squeamish about. It's rain. Light drizzle reduces I-66 to 40mph. As for hurricanes, that's purely theoretical, because it hasn't been hit by one in living memory.

What I remember was what happened when the superstorm of 1996 hit -- 26 inches at National Airport, 48 in the Shenandoah Valley. DC Metrorail fell apart. They eventually got going again by temporarily hiring some ringers, or in DC speak, "consultants", to show them the way. And where were those ringers from? The Chicago Transit Authority.

PG -- exactly -- ". . . or in presumptuous claims or assumptions" -- it is a presumptuous claim to say that humans are not responsible for climate change, when we are. It is an "attitude of superiority" to say "I couldn't possibly be responsible for something like climate change."

If arrogance is an attitude of superiority, then you are the one who used the word incorrectly. An "attitude of superiority" means you think yourself better than others. That's like saying "I'm far better than anyone else, so of course I caused climate change. I'm just that great." The real meaning and use of the word would be more like "I'm far better than anyone else, so of course I DIDN'T cause climate change. I'm so fabulous that I couldn't possibly be responsible."

24 dgrees in Chicago right now. When it hits 33 we are going to start planting the garden!! But I am fortunate enough to have a place in NC for retirement in a few years -of course it is probably worth 25% less than we paid for it. .. . . every year the cold and snow gets harder to take. But for the first time since he move here from northern California (3 years ago) my sweetie has figured out what they mean by a Chicago winter. I actually think it does make folks mentally tougher.

OK SouthSideD, I'll play.

I am so superior that I can change the weather.

I am so arrogant I can change the weather patterns.

Just let me know when you want to BBQ in the freezing cold, I can change that for you.

And fishing guy's, I can help. Just let me know when and where and I'll add more fish, (your selection) to the pond and and make the weather just as you wish.

LOL

He's perfectly right. I grew up in Israel, no snow at all, and still, living at NJ now I cant understand why everyone culd drive to the supermarket and to the mall yesterday, but not to the schools. No reason at all. It seems that the teachers here are just waiting for those "snow days" wich they'll get eventually by the end of the year, snow or no snow.