On Monday (12/5/05) the Atlanta Journal-Constitution ran an op-ed on the "War on Christmas". Today my LTE in response was printed.
The column was written by Don Feder, a neocon and (like myself)a jew. His tripe regularly appears on WorldNetDaily, so you can appreciate what kind of wingnut he is. I am annoyed to no end by this phoney issue, and the use of a show-Jew as cover for such nonsense is particularly galling.
Feder's column is here: http://www.ajc.com/...
My letter is below the fold
My LTE, as edited by the AJC:
Christmas: Outrage has no basis in fact
It does a disservice to identify Don Feder as simply "a political consultant" ("Call Christmas what it is," @issue, Dec. 5). He says of himself on his Web site: "I'm to the right of Sharon on Zionism, to the right of Pat Buchanan on immigration and Americanism, to the right of Mother Angelica on abortion, to the right of Chuck Heston on Second Amendment rights, and generally make the legendary Attila look like a limousine liberal." Sounds like someone whose opinion should be taken with a grain of salt.
Feder, like Jerry Falwell, Bill O'Reilly and other far-right talking heads, wants us to believe that the powerful left --- steered by that favorite boogeyman, the American Civil Liberties Union --- has secretly commandeered the government to erase Christmas from the public square. Does this seem possible, given that self-identified Christians run the White House and comprise a majority in the U.S. Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court and every state legislature?
Think there's not enough Christmas in the culture? I searched the local TV listing for programs airing over the next two weeks with "Christmas" (not holiday) in the title and found 585 matches .
The faux outrage of the right is pathetic. The "war on Christmas" is a sham. Go to the mall and ask Santa if you're not convinced.
I worked hard not to refer the people who think that this is a real problem as idiots. And, due to space constraints, I refrained from discussing all the various reasons behind this foofery.
I think its important that we in the reality-based world make vocal responses to this non-issue. We need to reassure the gullible that they are not being trampled upon by the secular left. They seem to have a need to feel victimized, and the unsavory elements of the greedy right love to give throw out the chum to feed that need. The War on Christmas is another easy non-issue for the right to talk big and deliver nothing on an issue that threatens no harm. Just like flag burning, the pledge of allegiance and gay marriage.
A good friend of mine refers to the War on Christmas as his favorite issue to care nothing about. On the other end of the spectrum, James Wolcott recently wrote Today this nice saleslady handed me the blue Tiffany box she had tied with a ribbon just so and, with a twinkle in her smile, wished me a Merry Christmas. So I socked her.
I let it bother me. Maybe too much. I bug my friends and embarass my wife by a compulsive need to respond. Does it bother you? How do you respond?