Snow: another argument for an earlier inauguration

By Nancy Jane Moore

According to the latest DC alert email -- which I still get, even though I now live 1,500 miles away, because I can't figure out how to unsubscribe -- it's likely to snow at least an inch in Washington today, and the forecast for the Inauguration is mostly cloudy and temperatures of 26-30, with a wind chill of 17-19 degrees.

Of course, the risk of bad weather in January in Washington is pretty damn high. (The same can be said of July, from the other extreme.) However, there is a time of year when the weather in Washington is usually good: Fall, especially November.

If we'd held the inauguration of Barack Obama back in November, shortly after the election, we'd might have had the kind of crisp sunny day when it's a pleasure to be outside. Not to mention that we wouldn't have had to suffer through the last two and a half months of Bush, which, given the immense problems facing the country and the world, was a disaster of tragic proportions.

Anyway, we're less than 24 hours away from a sane, bright, and competent president. I just hope the country can recover from the Bush years and that we never again sink so low.