Hopefully, you're listening to the rain on your roof as you read this. If not, here's what you'll be hearing soon: Angry words. Accusations. Political backbiting and the results of backroom deals ... and, naturally, the rustle of dry, brown grass.

Some of that noise already has begun.

Rep. George Radanovich recently called environmentalists "eco-terrorists" for their demands of water to protect fish. Not a nice thing to say, but nicer than what one environmentalist recently spouted.

Dennis Cardoza is not one of Washington's hotheads. He doesn't call people names, indulge in exchanges of vitriol or get overly exercised in a crisis. That might explain why he's risen through the ranks to sit on the Rules committee and is a leader among the centrist Blue Dog Democrats.

Still, Cardoza got worked up this week. Who wouldn't, with the nation's finances in crisis, a politically paralyzed president, and the unmasked greed of some of our wealthiest citizens having undermined our economy. People here and in the halls of power are furious. There were shouting matches at a White House economic summit, verbal jousting in Congress and angry walkouts.

In such an atmosphere it's not surprising that Cardoza would give free rein to his temper.