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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsJack Kingston's Campaign Co-Chair Tells 'Whining' Atlantans Affected By Storm To 'Be A Man'
WASHINGTON -- For the past few days, Atlanta has been trying to recover from a rare ice storm that stranded thousands of commuters and turned the city's highways into one giant, dangerous parking lot, as people were unable to drive home and many simply abandoned their cars. City and state officials were caught off-guard and were unprepared to respond. The freak storm, which hit much of the deep South, led to the deaths of at least 13 individuals.
But Phil Wilheit, Jr., the co-chairman of Rep. Jack Kingston's (R-Ga.) Senate campaign, is fed up with all the complaining. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports that Wilheit went on Facebook -- the post is not public -- and told residents of Atlanta to "quit whining":
Hey Atlanta! Quit whining about how inconvenient the last few days have been. Its called earth and weather and it does what it wants. On the west coast it make the ground shake and makes buildings and bridges fall on you. On the gulf coast the oceans swallows miles of land and blows trees homes to smithereens. In the Midwest funnels pick up cars, houses and people and rip them to pieces. In the north the snow is measured in meters and the temperatures make things like ears fall off. So stop complaining about your long commute home
.at least it was still there when you finally arrived.
He then said that if they weren't all such wusses, they'd be fine:
Sick of the whining. The men in Atlanta need to drink less cosmotinis and forget about ever getting another pedicure. Be a man like the guy who hiked 6 miles through the snow and ice to be with his daughter. Spend more time in nature and less time bitching about it. If more people had not panicked and bolted out of the office at noon we would not have gridlocked the highways and the DOT could have treated them. I left my office in Gainesville at 7:15pm. Checked traffic reports. Found a good route home and traveled 50 miles in 1.5 hours.
Kingston's office did not return a request for comment.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/31/jack-kingston-atlanta-storm_n_4702528.html?utm_source=concierge&utm_medium=onsite&utm_campaign=sailthru%2Bslider%2B
Dawgs
(14,755 posts)And from some northern DUers who openly admitted that they were laughing at Atlanta.
cordelia
(2,174 posts)and horse shit like that, when those photos were of people simply trying to get home, and were fortunate enough to find stores that would accommodate them for the night.
Or wondering why we can't drive on solid sheets of ice like they supposedly can in Minnesota or Chicago to name a couple.
Real knee-slappers.
idahoblue
(377 posts)I sort of agree with him. It's called nature. Sometimes you have to be patient and wait it out. Better in a warm office than sitting in you car. Whatever happened to common sense and survival mentality? Look at the fucking weather and road report. Duh!
Now I will wait for the snark and the screaming.
CatWoman
(79,295 posts)after living in Indianapolis for 8 years.
I had the same smug attitude as you when I first moved here.
Circumstances have a way of changing that.
This part of the country is not equipped to handle snow and ice as well as colder parts of the country.
Plus, our governor is a fucking idiot.
cordelia
(2,174 posts)Salt Lake City for a few years, I forgot about the ice we get in the South and the havoc it creates, and was a bit blase about winter driving when I moved back. Driving on snow is a totally different experience than - trying - to drive on ice.
Having read the fucking weather report, I and several hundreds of thousands of others, many of whom have relocated here from Northern climes, were not anticipating the gridlock that ensued when the snow did start to fall midday. Then melt and freeze on the roads. Fortunately for me, I was able to work from home that day so don't have a story to relate of spending the night in my car or a store or a stranger's home.
Granted, people did try to get to their homes, their children, their pets. They tried to get to ailing parents and hospitals.
So, they may not have taken the time to ponder your superior common sense and survival mentality as options at the time. They just wanted to get where they felt they needed to be.
Oh, and our governor is a fucking idiot.
PADemD
(4,482 posts)bluestate10
(10,942 posts)highways that ring the city leading to suburbs.