Every year like clockwork, when the calendar shifts into the final phases of each season, Mother Nature almost always seems to deliver one last blast of whatever the current season happens to be.
That season is currently winter, and in the case of our Nebraska staffers, we've had more than enough of it. With several inches of new snow, and plenty of old snow still around, as well as ice underneath much of that white pile, winter doesn't look to be leaving anytime soon. Although we know we've had this feeling before, our comments today have little to do with the calendar.
Like the groundhog that doesn't see its shadow, there are some in politics and the media who seem ready to jump to what they would like the next phase of a particular story to be - even if the facts simply don't agree with their hypothesis.
We've been seeing that a lot lately.
In Egypt, following President Hosni Mubarak's non-resignation resignation speech late Tuesday afternoon, we had to ask others in the media, and even some Middle East experts: does he actually think the Egyptian people will allow him to stick around until September? Hasn't he seen the massive protests? Doesn't he get the message?
In a similar way, even though Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has now agreed to schedule a vote on the far-right wing Republican idea of eliminating the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, we're certain the vote won't make any difference. As we and a whole host of others have said before, the President of the United States won't veto his own signature bill.
For those in the conservative media who keep crowing about recent legal decisions against the health care insurance reform law as though they had won some great battle, again, we're unsure of why. So far, there have been an equal number of decisions upholding the law, as well as against it, even if the media haven't covered them equally. As more than one constitutional expert has said, the constitutionality of the law will be decided by the U.S. Supreme Court anyway, specifically, by Justice Kennedy.
We understand that folks would like to jump to the conclusion of uncomfortable situations. It's a natural reaction to want to get things settled that disturb us.
Just like the seasons, however, the reality is that neither life nor nature work on time schedules that are designed for our comfort and convenience.
Sure, it might be easier if major life events were decided by a furry rodent - especially if it's one that is already stuffed and mounted like Nebraska's Unadilla Bill.
As we've all discovered, though, year after year, season after season, life simply doesn't work that way.
