Inside the Beltway

GARDEN VARIETY

Post blizzard, New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg issued mighty mea culpas but got a frigid shoulder from press and people for his city’s tepid response to the polar blast. The mayor did manage to hire 1,900 extra “day laborers” to help with the cleanup, though. Meanwhile, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie caught cold criticism because he was on vacation in Florida when the storm dumped 30-plus inches of snow on the Garden State. But hey. His absence has political metaphor.

“Gov. Christie is one the nation’s few — but thankfully increasing in number — realistic pols who govern under the very obvious operational assumption that the government and those who populate it cannot do everything, be everywhere and do everything for everyone. That includes predicting the weather. Are you listening, global warming bureaucrats?” asks Seton Motley, founder of Lessgovernment.org, a political nonprofit association.

“Democrats — the party of ’everything government for everyone’ — are naturally frightened of and threatened by the less-government tea party movement that swept across the nation last month and shows no sign of abating. And they fear people like Christie who effectively articulate the less government message,” Mr. Motley continues. “They will lash out in often bizarre ways, including loudly chastising the New Jersey governor for not being a meteorologist.”

NAKED TRUTH

“All you folks who wanted shirtless pictures of the president: Forget it. … We are under explicit instructions that there will be no long lenses or other sneaky attempts to take pictures.”

From the White House press pool report from New York Times correspondent Sheryl Stolberg, advising journalists and photographers that pectoral reveals are officially not part of President Obama’s Hawaiian vacation.

“Finally. Some good news,” observes Wall Street Journal columnist James Taranto.

EARLY WARNING SYSTEM

“The lame-duck session of the 111th Congress proved one thing beyond a doubt: The Republican Party does not represent the interests of conservatives. Despite the midterm election tidal wave, congressional Republicans failed to leverage their victory into political clout and collapsed like a house of cards in the lame-duck session,” says American Thinker contributor Michael Filozof.

“Conservatives are going to have to learn to exploit national crises to advance their agenda. And surely these crises are coming — the national debt, currency valuation, inflation, Iranian nuclear weapons, illegal immigration, a day of reckoning in Afghanistan, and so on. Voters will demand alternatives to leftist policies when these crises appear. If the Republicans do not present conservative alternatives, conservatives will have to form a party of their own,” he continues.

“Voters in November voted against the Democrats, not for the Republicans. Nothing in the last two weeks indicates that the Republicans are ready to give the nation any real alternative when the 112th Congress is seated. If the Republican Party fails to do more than ape the Democratic Party, it will be finished, if it isn’t already.”

SIGN OF THE TIMES

It’s a fleeting bonanza, but Americans apparently needed a “Silver Bells” and “Silent Night” fix this year. Radio stations that switched to a seasonal “all-Christmas” format eclipsed even the mightiest all-news outlets; the stations were rated No. 1 in nine of the top 10 U.S. markets — including New York, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles, according to Arbitron numbers released Wednesday.

SCREEN GEMS

“Airplane!” (1980), “All the President’s Men” (1976) “The Bargain” (1914), “Cry of Jazz” (1959), “Electronic Labyrinth: THX 1138 4EB” (1967), “The Empire Strikes Back” (1980), “The Exorcist” (1973), The Front Page” (1931), “Grey Gardens” (1976), “I Am Joaquin” (1969), “It’s a Gift” (1934), “Let There Be Light” (1946), “Lonesome” (1928), “Make Way For Tomorrow” (1937), “Malcolm X” (1992), “McCabe and Mrs. Miller” (1971), “Newark Athlete” (1891), “Our Lady of the Sphere” (1969), “The Pink Panther” (1964), “Preservation of the Sign Language” (1913), “Saturday Night Fever” (1977), “Study of a River” (1996), “Tarantella” (1940), “A Tree Grows in Brooklyn” (1945), “A Trip Down Market Street” (1906).

The 25 films named this year to the National Film Registry that are “culturally, historically or aesthetically significant” and to be preserved for all time, chosen from a field of 2,112 films. Actors John Travolta, Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman should be tickled.

“As the nation’s repository of American creativity, the Library of Congress — with the support of the U.S. Congress — must ensure the preservation of America’s film patrimony,” observes Librarian of Congress James H. Billington.

POLL DU JOUR

• 78 percent of Americans say the Democratic Party should renominate President Obama to run in 2012.

• 67 percent of Republicans would be “very likely” or “somewhat likely” to vote for Mike Huckabee if he ran for president in 2012.

• 74 percent of conservatives and 72 percent of “tea party” supporters agree.

• 59 percent of Republicans would likely vote for Mitt Romney in the 2012 race.

• 62 percent of conservatives and 66 percent of tea party supporters agree.

• 49 percent of Republicans would likely vote for Sarah Palin in the 2012 race.

• 58 percent of conservatives and 62 percent of “tea party” supporters agree.

Source: A CNN/Opinion Research Poll of 1,008 adults conducted Dec. 17 to 19.

• Accolades, hisses, home movies to jharper@washingtontimes.com.