What is your opinion on cable news reporting : Federal Govt. closed for 3rd straight day !

Articles? Links?!

I thought it had been closed for 3 years!!!!

@Sonnerr Are U kidding ? Turn on CNN,HLN !!! you can’t miss it !!

It makes one wonder what George Washington, after his winter at Valley Forge, would make of these pikers.

Wtf?! Brb. I seriously didn’t know.

I’m confused as to if the question is for my opinion on the cable news channels reporting on it, or the fact that the government is closed for the 3rd straight day.

If it is for the cable news channels reporting on it, I think that each station puts its own spin on it. For example, Fox News would be criticizing the administration for not getting DC to clear the roads fast enough and CNN would be saying that it is wrong to make them work in dangerous conditions.

If it is for the fact that they aren’t working for the 3rd straight day, I think that DC should be working a little harder at getting the roads cleared out. I understand that this much snow is a pretty rare occurrence, but they really need to expect the unexpected. On the other hand, it’s not as if the country has shut down. Senators are still working and the President is still doing his thing—- they just aren’t technically in session.

Since I live in the general vicinity, I can tell you… we’ve never seen anything like this before in our area. We’re not just talking about the 1st storm (which dumped nearly 30 inches on us), but a second storm that contributed another 6 to 12 inches and is still ongoing. In addition to that we’re experiencing high winds, resulting in blizzard/white-out conditions. It is extremely dangerous to be out in this mess. In fact, the snow plows are at a dead stop due to very limited visibility. In my town, schools and many other places are closed for the rest of the week. I don’t have any negative opinion of DC’s handling of the snow thus far, or the federal government’s decision to close down in light of the conditions.

*Edit: There have been numerous roof collapses and rescues, too. This is some serious shit. :/

I am biased because I am in Massachusetts and we get a lot of snow every winter, so I made it seem as though I think every state should be as on top of their game as us in regards to snow plowing. I know I am wrong, so I apologize if anyone thinks I was being brash with my previous statement.

‘sokay, buckyboy. No harm.

In a major weather emergency, I expect all non-essential (essential = hospital, police, utility, snow removal, groceries) workers to stay home and work from at home, if they can. It reduces the opportunity for causing havoc.

Considering that the GOP used parliamentary procedure to effectively halt Congress and have been throwing the good of our nation in the shitter just to oppose Obama and the Dems, I don’t think that the snowstorm really makes a lick of difference. Until the GOP decides to do what is good for the nation instead of jacking themselves off, they may as well just shut the whole place down anyways.

As for covering snow, I come from a place where such storms are common enough that people just learn to drive (what a concept; learning to use technology competently!) and there was never any real news coverage of it. Hell, the news crews barely showed up when an entire town was wiped off the map in a flash flood that devastated most of the county. Accordingly, I don’t think that it’s worth putting on the news for more than a few minutes on one night.

However, there haven’t been any celebrity deaths in the last few days so they need some form of mindless drivel to fill the newscasts. You can’t have bread-and-circuses without some form of attention-grabbing drek to distract people from reality.

Like @augustlan said, this snowstorm is really out of the ordinary for the DC area. Usually we get an inch or two of snow at a time, tops. I heard on the news today that the local government was planning to ask Obama to declare a federal state of emergency so we could get some help with everything. In places further north, they have to plan for snowstorms like this because it happens every winter. Here, since we almost never get this much snow (I heard the last time was 1922) they just don’t budget to be prepared for something like this.

It’s really frustrating because even three days after the first snowstorm, only the main roads were clear and we had delayed metro service but no bus. Then the second storm hit only a day later. I’m pissed off because I’m still expected in at work, but metro has been closed for all but a day and I’m still expected in. Our response to this has really… sucked.

I’m confused about your question. Do you want to know what I think about how it’s being reported or that it’s happening at all?

It makes sense that the government is closed. How the hell are they supposed to get there? Pick up every congressman, senator, aide, janitor etc by helicopter and have them parachute in? Talk about a waste of money.

Besides, once they got there human nature would take over and they would all sit and talk about the weather.

As far as the cable news coverage- well they do like their ratings. They need to pay the bills so will stir up whatever is required to get ratings, even if it means sounding a false alarm.

Anything that prevents Congress from getting together saves money for all of us.

UPDATE: In the county my husband plows in, they woke up this morning to find that 70% of all roads in the county were closed due to 10 to 12 foot snow drifts. Not good. :(