Chris Matthews had knives out for Mayor Adrian M. Fenty on his MSNBC show tonight, calling D.C. “a city that can’t plow its streets.”

“Why can’t a government town do a government job?” he asked. “It looked like Siberia without the Siberian discipline. We had the weather of Buffalo with the snowplowing capability of Miami.”

He had as his guests Ward 5 Councilmember Harry Thomas Jr. and Jerry Phillips, a community affairs producer for WRC-TV—-both of whom happily joined in the lambasting. Thomas repeated his calls to bring in federal authorities; Phillips compared it to 9/11, with “a communication and a mobilization problem.”

Thomas went on about how councilmembers hadn’t been consulted, “the mayor should have coordinated with us,” bla bla bla. He found a willing listener in Matthews, who said, “I keep thinking, snow is predictable. We know it’s coming. It came last week. It came this week….You see no planning; I see no planning.”

“I’ve watched big cities where mayor lose their offices,” Matthews continued, before reciting the litany of mayors felled by snowflakes—-Chicago’s Michael Bilandic, New York’s John Lindsay, Marion Barry. “We’ve got a very sophisticated mayor this time, everybody liked him for a while. And I’m telling you, it’s time for a competition in the next primary round here. I think somebody’s gotta run. This city needs a little better effort right now. I’d like to see some action.”

Listen, Chris. You’re going to slam our local leadership for failing to clear the streets from the biggest snowstorm in 88 years within 48 hours. Fine. Then LL would like to see you and your Montgomery County neighbors start to pay tax on the income you’re earning here in the District. Then you get to bitch all you want. ‘Cause that money would buy some serious snowplows.