U.S. a 'nation of wusses'?
A plow moves upfield at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on Sunday. Credit: Getty Images
Jonathan Capehart is an editorial writer for The Washington Post.
Snow makes people cranky - and public officials probably crankier than most. Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell wins, hands down, for the best snowruption.
During a radio interview Monday, Rendell was beside himself that the Philadelphia Eagles game scheduled for Sunday was canceled due to the snow.
"It is an absolute joke. I was looking forward to this. This would have been a real experience. It's what football is all about. Good Lord, we're becoming a nation of wusses. The Chinese are kicking our butt in everything."
"A nation of wusses"?! Ouch!
But Rendell wasn't done. Riffing on the remarks of a Philadelphia Daily News blogger, he said: "If this was in China, do you think the Chinese would have called off the game? . . . The people would have been marching down to the stadium. They would
have walked, and they would have been doing calculus on their way down."
Rendell has a point. With our padded playgrounds and safety helmets, the next generation of Americans will perhaps never know the joys of and lessons learned from a skinned knee or an ill-advised trick on a bike. Or rollerblades, or skateboards.
But I take issue with Rendell's musings on the Chinese. Sure, the people would have been marching down to the stadium - by order of the state.
