How come you never hear anyone say "Happy Groundhog Day" anymore?
I’m willing to grant you that Groundhog Day had become too commercialized, but this political correctness has simply gone too far.
Why, I even heard that Wal-Mart, in an effort to foist "diversity" on us, has instructed all their employees not to wish anyone a "Happy Groundhog Day". Instead they’re now having their greeters wishing folks a "Happy Holiday Commemorating a Rodent of the Family Sciuridae, Belonging to the Genus of Large Ground Squirrels, Biologically Classified as Marmots."
The rage-aholics are at it again with the War on Christmas. The Oklahoma Attorney General is a bad man who beats up on far right-wing groups breaking the rules about petitions to amend the state constitution, and this may well be retaliation.
We get the initial post from the Washington Examiner a free paper owned by Philip Anshutz. He helps fund the Discovery Institute and George Bush from his fortune of nearly $8 B.
There has been some bantering about on some of the local blogs about a "war on Christmas" being undertaken by a large majority of unseen beings.....Those beings go by many names....liberal, conservative, Jews, atheist, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc,etc......
Forgive my aloofness, but I seem to be skeptical about this war....Christmas, at least from my perspective, seems to be alive and well....
The majority of my household are actually looking forwards to its coming.
I have been known to startle people who hardly know me, by stating that I still believe in Santa Claus.....This little bell I have still rings for me when I shake it, and legend persists that as long as one still believes in Santa, they too can hear it’s crystal clear tones......
Hopefully, after I explain how I rationalize this belief, you too perhaps may be persuaded to believe again in Santa Claus, no matter how jaded you think you are today........
Among diehard theocons, it's a well-known fact that every November or so, we libruls gather in our covens and plot the paganization of Christmas. In their Left Behind-style fantasies, we are the legions of Satan, come upon the Earth to foist secular ideas and Godless traditions upon the flock of the Lamb. To them, only the Bible stands in defense against the pernicious attacks of we and our heathen First Amendment, that we will not be satisfied until we have eradicated every trace of monotheism from our once-God-fearing civilization. Each year, the scarred veterans of the (self-)Right(eous) stir their zealots to action, and in public squares and mangers throughout the land, battles over the soul of American culture are waged.
In all wars, sometimes an enemy's gallantry on the field of battle impresses even a bitter foe – Napoleon, remarking on the Russian cavalry then crashing into his lines, said "Now these are Kossacks!". It's in this spirit that Brandon Friedman suggested we take a moment to cite the valor of our opposition. Others (links below) have done a great job "honoring" individual wingnut actions – now join me, if you will, in the Cave of the Moonbat, where we'll take a look at what, exactly, they're fighting for.
Just a brief post to show what I found splattered across several of the news groups today. Bill O's counterattack on the War on Christmas is going well, and the folks are zealously defending the birth date of the Savior and the Prince of Peace.
Bill O'Reilly and his fellow pundits love to talk about the War on Christmas, but they seem to miss the underlying problem. The real problem in December isn't about "Merry Christmas" versus "Happy Holidays", it's about the fact that culturally, America has three Christmas: one religious, one secular, one capitalist.
Ah, the joys of the season! When various groups celebrate Chanukah, Solstice, Eid ul-Adha, Kwanzaa, Christmas, or other holidays, you'd think it would be a more festive, peaceful time.
You'd think that. But you would be wrong. Perhaps I should start at the beginning.
My fiancee and I are moving soon from our comfortable home here in Madison, Wisconsin, so we decided to have some close friends over tomorrow, before we really start packing everything to ship to Boston. Of course, we needed a few things for the gathering, so I was sent on a little shopping trip. I suppose it was inevitable, then, that I would come across one of the Salvation Army pots with accompanying bell ringer, asking for a donation.
Cal Thomas, more often than not, turns my stomach. Most of the time I heartily disagree with every argument he sets forth and object to the smarmy way he trots out his obnoxious rhetoric. Still, I read him almost every day if only to know what the other half thinks. It was quite a surprise to me then, that I found much to agree with in his most recent column. Readers might wish to ignore the inevitable partisan swipe at the left while contemplating the overall message behind it.
For starters, I must give a hat tip to Brandon Friedman for coming up with that saying as we were going back and forth discussing sayings that we should be using this upcoming year.
But at this time of year, especially on Christmas time - a holiday where religion is now intertwined and nearly synonymous with a front running Presidential candidacy - we should celebrate some deserving yet underappreciated people. These battle tested, wounded and weary warriors whose crusade to engage, battle and fight with those "non-believers" and satan lovers (liberals too, no doubt) who are waging this War on Christmas.
How can we not take a moment to stop and thank those who stand tall and use every weapon at their disposal in order to fight a cataclysmic fight to the death against the godless souls who want to purge the world from celebrating the birth of the one who represents all "true Americans".
So this morning it just occurred to me. Due to this whole stupid right-wing "war on Christmas" BS, I'm noticing a lot of people very aggressively saying "MERRY CHRISTMAS" to me this year, making sure I understand they want me to know that they're not just saying "Happy Holidays" but specifically rubbing Christmas in my face.
I guess if I were Jewish I could at least, honestly, wish them Happy Chanukah (and hope that I don't get jumped), but I have a better solution.
I have decided that from now on, rather than giving them a dirty look, I'm going to respond with, "PEACE ON EARTH!!"
Here's a bad video of my Xmas lights from last year (which I kept up all year until they finally burned out last week). If anyone else has a "Peace" display, can you add a picture of it in the comments? I'd like to see other people with the same sentiments :)
Doesn't it just frost you, those of you who have some knowledge of history and religion pre-MegaChurch, when Bill the Grumpy Irishman says there is a war on Christmas? I mean, Christians have been warring on pagan holidays for thousands of years.
The actual birthday of Jesus was forgotten by the early Christian movement. in those days, various groups celebrated his birth on JAN-6, APR-21 and MAY-1. By the 4th century, the church selected the approximate time of the winter solstice as the date to recognize Jesus' birth. They picked up this date from Pagan sources. As luck would have it, the autumn equinox might have been a more accurate choice.
Can you believe this so called Christian just attacked our most precious Holiday Christmas by saying Happy Holidays? I demand Bill O'Rielly condem George W. Bush!!! We must jam fox news phone lines telling them we are Outrage just look at this!
During his end-of-year press conference this morning, President Bush joined with "secular progressives" in the right wing’s contrived War on Christmas, wishing reporters a "Happy Holidays." Watch it:
The man used Secular Language!! Bush is darksided!!!!! Doesn't he know we Holy God Warriors for Christ demand Merry Christmas!!
There is a Grinch in Green Bay, Wisconsin—and I am betting that he’s not green and doesn’t live on Mount crumpet with a dog named Max. I suspect when this grinch is caught, he’ll be found to be a disgruntled Christian right-winger.
The story is pretty simple. The mayor Jim Schmitt and the City Council President decided to put up a Nativity scene in front of city hall. To avoid getting caught up in a court battle over the legality of the crèche, they invited members of non-Christian religions to put up a symbol of their own for the holiday season. Six requested a chance to do so, and the Wiccans hung a wreath in the shape of a pentacle (the story did not say what the other religious group was).
Back in 1971 a very famous lapsed Catholic asked of us in musical inquiry, "So this is Christmas...and what have you done?" Well, when I look at self-appointed "cultural warrior" Bill O'Reilly his answer should be, "I managed to transform the jovial greeting -- Merry Christmas!" -- into a political litmus test, by repeating crackpot claims peddled by the some of the Religious Right's most factually challenged characters.
I have a quick update. I am taking Barnes & Nobel off of my own personal naughty list because they are selling my book at their stores. I can now announce than though Al Franken is still on the bad list, Satan's name has been removed. That's right. Now you may imagine that I would be against the Prince of Darkness and his worshipers on DailyKos.com. Well hell just froze over.
It turns out that Satan is handing out my latest book for free to every member of hell. Way to go, Satan. Finally, hell has something worth while to offer. Hey, wait a minute...
