The Democratic Party is filled with people who claim to "believe the science" on climate change and everything else. Skipping over the ironies of using the word "believe" regarding the scientific method, I have one big question for any Democrat in elected office: Why are you guys the only ones shocked when "climate" happens?

Last week, Tennessee went through a massive ice storm, as did much of the South. It swept through portions of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, West Virginia, North Carolina, and Virginia - along with more. It was a massive storm. Meteorologists warned people for nearly a week that models indicated a large system was on the way.

If you watched any of the ensuing coverage, it's like watching places where a tornado or hurricane ripped through, except the damage is massive and spread across countries and states. All that destruction is compounded by it all getting covered in ice.

Focusing on Tennessee for a moment: the western and middle portions of the state were hit extremely hard. In terms of getting hammered the worst, Nashville took it on the chin, given the large number of people living there. In terms of actual ice accumulation, other countries and states got hit worse.

A week later, the place that's languishing the most in recovery is Nashville. The linemen who are doing incredible work are pushing through 14+ hour days to restore power to people. They are, frankly, the heroes of this entire event, along with first responders going out to help people who have been without power for nearly a week.

Now, on one level, I understand how and why this happened. This is not the first ice storm I've lived through in Tennessee, and I have vivid memories of being a child and going a week without power in rural Tennessee in 1994. But I also understood why that happened: we lived out in the country, and that was the last place touched by officials trying to get power back to people.

That's not true of Nashville. This is a massive concentration of people, and though the damage is extensive, Nashville wasn't the only place hit. The rest of the state is working harder and better to recover under the guidance of the governor and other local officials.

The locals are noticing.

And it's no secret who runs Nashville, and the Nashville Electric Service (NES). The group responsible for getting the city back up and running: Democrats. Tennessee is a deeply red state, but that's untrue of places like Nashville and Memphis. And it is Nashville that is acting as if an ice storm were some impossibility that they can't handle - unlike everyone else.

First, Democrats in the city started complaining about misinformation. This happened because union worker linemen began being turned away, which started as a social media rumor. Democrats blasted this as fake news. But later, local media confirmed it by receiving emails showing that linemen willing to help were being turned away.

Next, the communication problems just fell apart. And in fact, it's gotten so bad that NES and the Mayor's Office are now holding separate press conferences, as they try to shift blame.

The two sides splitting apart is mildly hilarious because the mayor is responsible for the board that runs NES. As The Tennessean newspaper wrily noted, "The five members of that board are appointed by the mayor's office and confirmed by the Metro Nashville Council. According to the board's member roster, three of the five current members were appointed to their five-year terms before [Mayor Freddie O'Connell] was elected mayor."

Who was the Nashville mayor before O'Connell? Democrat John Cooper, who is the brother of former Democrat Congressman Jim Cooper, who represented Nashville for years.

People run NES that the Tennessee Democratic Party wanted in that position. This is their creation, budget, and response effort. The rest of the state is rebuilding. No one knows what Nashville is doing. It's gotten so bad that sports talk personalities are going viral for blasting the city's response.

For those following national politics, this story should have a rhyme to it. The response and communication are no different from what happened in the Los Angeles wildfires or even the Hawaiian wildfires. There's another rhyme: the party involved with the response.

You can claim you believe in climate change all you want. That's great. Take a pin and put it on your shirt. Storms, winter or spring, are a part of the world. Disaster response is a critical part of political leadership. Ron DeSantis has become a legend for his hurricane response in Florida. Bill Lee has done the same in Tennessee with tornadoes, flooding, and the rest.

Democrats have one part of the state they claim responsibility for, and they can't even get that right. Why is it that Democrats are the only ones paralyzed when a "climate event" of any kind happens?

Natural disasters will happen under any political leader in any state. It's a given. The other important part is this: these are pass/fail political tests. Nashville Democrats need to realize something: just as Gavin Newsom and Karen Bass in California did, you've just failed the same test and responded similarly.

There are many reasons Democrats in Tennessee struggle to win state and federal elections. But the latest reason is that there's little evidence they care about the places they want to govern.

Aftyn Behn went viral in her Congressional race for saying she hated Nashville. Tennessee Democrats played that off. But you'd be hard-pressed to find proof that Democrats loved the city, because if they did, we might see a little more effort or care in trying to aid the literal definition of people in need.

Nashville doesn't need separate press conferences. Nashville needs leadership. Instead, the mayor's office is focused on blame shifting. The buck stops with anyone but a Democrat in power.