Groundhog Day just isn't the same in Sarah Palin's Alaska
| Washington
Punxsutawney Phil plus Sarah Palin, together in the same story. It鈥檚 a journalist鈥檚 dream.
OK, maybe not every journalist. But we鈥檙e not making this up: Punxsutawney鈥檚 predictive powers don鈥檛 extend to the Frozen Frontier, because last year then-Gov. Sarah Palin signed a bill to make Feb. 2 Marmot Day in Alaska.
Groundhogs 鈥� also known as 鈥渨histle-pigs鈥� and 鈥渓and beavers,鈥� in case you鈥檙e interested 鈥� aren鈥檛 common in Alaska. They are a lowland species. Cosmopolitan. Probably Democrats. You can hear their distinctive chirp
The Alaska marmot, on the other hand, is a specific species found in the scree slopes of the Brooks Range. They eat grass and flowering plants, and in captivity have expressed interest in local tea party groups.
That last point isn鈥檛 true, but you can listen to their call .
Hear the difference? Yeah, we couldn鈥檛 either.
The Marmot Day legislation was introduced by Alaska state Sen. Linda Menard, a Republican from Wasilla, ex-Governor Palin鈥檚 hometown.
Senator Menard says the move just made sense, due to the lack of local groundhogs. The legislation did not give the local marmots any weather-forecasting duties. (For other critters thought to foreknow the weather, click here.)
We鈥檇 say that 鈥渟ix more weeks of winter鈥� is a pretty good prediction for Alaska any day of the year, but that would be parochial. It鈥檚 not like Punxsutawney Phil is living in the British Virgin Islands, anyway.
And yes, Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow this year. In Washington, that means at least six more weeks of wrangling over healthcare reform.
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