Merry Christmas.

But I have a Christmas query:

If @realDonaldTrump had been elected mayor of Bethlehem in the year 1 B.C. on an anti-immigrant platform, would he have kept Joseph and Mary from having their #AnchorBaby in his town?

Xenophobia is the real #WarOnChristmas.

— True Blue Liberal (@TrueBlueLiberal) December 18, 2017

I have nothing to add to the "War On Christmas" question that I didn't already say when this blog was brand new in December 2004: "Put the X back in Xmas."

Another #WarOnChristmas Post

Fitting with the current commercial season, this War on Christmas post is of a totally mercenary nature. Here are new products for proud soldiers in our great liberal War on Christmas to display on their clothes and holiday trees:

• War On Christmas Snowflake Ornament
• War On Christmas Round Ornament

• Proud Soldier in the War On Christmas 1" button
• Proud Soldier in the War On Christmas 2.25" button
• Proud Soldier in the War On Christmas 3.5" button
• 10 Pack of 1" War On Christmas buttons
• 10 Pack of 2.25" War On Christmas buttons

Eric Idle's Theme Song for Our Annual Liberal #WarOnChristmas

Will we still be allowed to sing our favorite carol (or find it on YouTube) after our Christmas-absolutist President-Elect takes power next year?

Saluting the Four-Legged Foot Soldiers in Our Liberal War On Christmas

Bill O'Reilly and the other defenders of our annual midwinter marketing schlockfest don't stand a chance against these feline warriors!

And I'll say "Happy New Year" to You Even If You Insist on Living in the Past

Here's the bumper sticker of the day in the ongoing "War On Christmas" seen leaving Yankees Stadium after the Pinstripe Bowl on December 28:

This cheery red and green Comic Sans "Merry Christmas, whether it offends you or not!" bumper sticker was on the back of a dirty black Ford Raptor pickup truck with Connecticut plates that looked as if it might be Darth Vader's gas guzzler of choice.

Another possible theme song for our Liberal War on Xmas (from Miles Davis & Bob Dorough)

"Blue Xmas (To Whom It May Concern)" is certainly in the running for the official 2013 theme song for our Annual Liberal War on Christmas, but it may still be trailing a little behind Eric Idle's "Fuck Christmas", which is slightly more succinct and to the point.



And if you're looking for the chords and lyrics to sing and play "Fuck Christmas" around your own bare aluminum Festivus pole this year, try clicking here.

Cyber Monday Has Scrambled Amazon Dot Com's Brain

Why else would they be recommending that I buy books by Sarah Palin, Rush Limbaugh, and Glenn Beck? Amazon has obviously been spending more time developing its drone air force than perfecting its famous algorithms.

This is just one more reason to continue fighting our Annual Liberal War On Christmas by buying nothing.

Is it too early to start our Annual Liberal War on Christmas?

If not, Eric Idle's "Fuck Christmas" is a great carol to sing:

I'm generally a pacifist, but the 2013 Annual Liberal War On Christmas is officially started!

If Kmart can start running Christmas ads in early September, we're going to have to get our Annual Liberal War On Christmas (ALWOC) revved up earlier this year.

"... give all the toys to the little rich boys ..."

I'll be off the computer for a few days, but here are The Kinks to help you celebrate the winter holidays with "Father Christmas" (the British version of our American god, Santa Claus). The song's  from 1977, but it seems the most appropriate Christmas carol in 2011, this year of Occupation and its discussion of the 1%:

 

Have yourself a merry merry Christmas
Have yourself a good time
But remember the kids who got nothin'
While you're drinkin' down your wine 

Father Christmas, give us some money
We got no time for your silly toys
Father Christmas, please hand it over
We'll beat you up, so don't make us annoyed 

Father Christmas, give us some money
Don't mess around with those silly toys
We'll beat you up if you don't hand it over
We want your bread, so don't make us annoyed
Give all the toys to the little rich boys

Liberal War On Christmas Anagrams of the Day

Newt Gingrich = Grinch Twinge = Grinch Get Win!
Callista Gingrich = 'Tis Glacial Grinch

Inspired by this:

Happy Chanukah my true blue liberalites!

If I ever were to throw off my atheism for a set of beliefs in the irrational, I might very well choose to be led by Matisyahu.
If you don't know these two live versions of  "King Without a Crown," you're in for a treat (and I hope they lead you to look for others on YouTube).  These sure beat one more repetition of Adam Sandler's "Hanukkah Song".
Enjoy!

Like a King without his Crown 
You keep fallin' down 
You really want to live but can't get rid of your frown 
You're tryin' to reach unto the heights and wind up down on the ground 
Givin' up your pride - then ya heard a sound 
Out of night comes day, out of day comes light 
Nullified to the One like sunlight in a ray, 
Makin' room for his love for a fire gonna blaze,
Make room for his love and a fire gonna blaze. 

Happy Chanukah!
And to all my Christian brethren out there? Season's Greetings!

Christmas Week in the GOP Clown Circus

Be sure to wish "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" to your favorite conservative teabagger this week.  Chances are 95% or better that they'll respond to you with a "Merry Christmas" that has an edge to it.  But back to the clown circus  updates . . .

Michele Bachmann and her spouse disputed the Kinsey Report research on the percentage of gays in the American population because it doesn't agree with their views on the subject. Disagreeing with mainstream science is always a winning position when dealing with the GOP primary voters. (via Advocate.com)

Newt Gingrich has a novel solution for federal judges who would rule against mentions of religion in public school ceremonies: Arrest them.  (Wonkette)

Rick Perry chose to emphasize the dynastic nature of the North Korean leadership when he referred in a campaign email to the recently departed "Dear Leader" as Kim Jong II (the second) rather than Kim Jong Il (eye-el). Might seem a minor typo, until you realize that if he made such an error as "The Leader of the Free World" when referring to the unstable leader of a nuclear power ... well ... (via ThinkProgress)

Mitt Romney the flip-flopper has picked up a flip-flopping semi-endorsement from Ann Coulter. (via Fox Nation)

John Huntsman, who sometimes tries to appear moderate in this crowd of clowns, gave an interview to RedState today in which he parroted every right-wing talking point. When asked if he would veto any Federal budget that contained funding for Planned Parenthood, even if he agreed with all its other particulars, he answered with a resounding "Uh, yes I would." (via RedState)


Ron Paul wants to restore America's "right to drink raw milk anytime you like!” (via Bloomberg Businessweek)

And all the gods are lining up behind Rick Santorum, who just got the endorsement of Thor, a thriller writer named Brad Thor. (via Politico)

Wedge Issue Update: "Liberal Hollywood Using Class Warfare to Brainwash Our Kids!"

In an election year in which the right does not have the high ground on any issue that really affect Americans, winning a majority of voters will require the GOP to peel off enough voters from President Obama and his party with a combination of wedge issues. Here's one that I didn't include in my original list, but it's an old chestnut in the right-wing arsenal, since the pre-cable conservatives railed against the unfair Liberal Hollywood portrayals Mr. Henry Potter and the 1% of Bedford Falls in "It's a Wonderful Life." Liberal Hollywood is at it again with the Muppets' nemesis, oilman Tex Richman. And Fox Business News (courtesy of Media Matters for America) is all over Liberal Hollywood's crime.



Speaking about (or should I say "screeching" in honor of the tone of this video?) brainwashing, someone needs to talk about the constant brainwashing in which we've been bathed since birth in America. We have every mainstream voice telling us about nothing but the wonders of capitalist consumerism supported by patriotic militarism. And this time of year we expect the non-stop cries of "buy..buy..buy" to reach a crescendo (with a subtext that if you don't buy..buy..buy, you obviously don't love..love..love your family). But if I start complaining about that, I'm into another wedge issue, The Liberal War On Christmas.

I still think that the current front-running issue in the GOP Wedge-Issue Race is "Dirty Filthy Hippies", but there's no reason to think that the race between Republican wedge issues will be any less volatile than the one between their stellar cast of candidates (which is being led at this moment by Newt Gingrich?).

The "War on Christmas" explained by a Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan

Daisy, Bo, and Luke Duke's disreputable cousin David Duke explains who is really behind the Christian right's imaginary "War on Christmas".
The Jews.

I hope someone said Merry Christmas to these shoppers!

This seems to be fairly representative of the Black Friday videos from earlier today:
I guess America didn't get my message to boycott this traditional day of sanctioned rioting that begins the Christmas season, but the real question is, Were all these shoppers wished a very adamant "Merry Christmas" as they pushed the greeter to the ground on their way through the front door? If not, that was the real crime in the eyes of America's Christian Extremists.

If you find yourself being greeted with the anti-Christmas "Happy Holidays" or "Season's Greetings" or "Welcome" between now and December 25th, please report the store to the Christianist Christmas police (with details) to their email address at christmas@afa.net (but don't clog up their mailbox with your spam or your unchristian liberal thoughts). Your report of insufficient Christianity in the marketplace will then be used by the American Family Association to adjust the following Naughty and Nice list, which informs their fellow Christianists where they are allowed to shop during the holiday season:

Wedge Issue Update: The Liberal War On Christmas 2011

When Americans vote for President less than one year from now, there will be people voting on each side who have totally different pictures of the nation, the world, and the candidates based on which news sources they are consulting. As I write this, the mainstream NBC News is showing the President's wife and daughters welcoming the Clydesdale-driven 2011 Christmas tree at the front door of the White House, but in right-wing media outlets, there's a big story that none of us watching mainstream media or leftish blogs have heard about.
Murdoch's New York Post, Fox Nation, The Daily Caller and numerous conservative Tweeters, are reporting about the outrageous anti-Christmas agenda of President Obama's fundraising schedule. It seems that he has the audacity to hold his fundraisers in New York with LGBT supporters at the same time as the holy appearance of Justin Bieber at the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting. An accident of scheduling? Not according to the three most recent commenters on the Fox Nation article.

americanazalea

And? He seems to "pick" these days with increasing frequency. All planned across the board.

A_10_Thunderbolt_II_warthog

This Kenyan musIim executor dictatorship has no Christmas sprite

usafemale

Sounds like something a Anti-American potus would do...... block what he can of any American tradition... Sad lil man.... throwing sand in every bodies eyes in the American sand box..... Despicable indeed

Like my anti-American Kenyan muslim executor potus, I also find myself lacking in Christmas "sprite" this time of the year.

Black Friday Strike and Shop Local Saturday

I'm not even sure if I should be spreading this word, because it will be no skin off my nose. My office is closed and as a longtime foot soldier in the Liberal War On Christmas, there was no way that I'd be shopping with the hordes on the day after Thanksgiving. But I'm 100% behind these two drives.

1) Don't work, shop, or do anything else next Friday, the 25th. You can click here at Black Friday Blackout (or Adbusters' more traditional Buy Nothing Day) for more information or promotional materials.
2) When the Strike is over on Saturday the 26th (if you must shop), please shop locally, if the chains and online retailers haven't already driven all the local businesses off your Main Street. Do your own search for shop local Saturday in your own area, because there are a lot of local offers out there on the internet.

Our Annual Liberal War on Christmas (LWOC) will start early this year

The Liberal War on Christmas is not (like Iraq) an offensive war of choice.



It's entirely defensive when you walk into a store on October 2 and it's already filled with Santas and nutcrackers and ornaments and candy canes and monogrammed red
stockings and aluminum Christmas trees in multiple unnatural shades. These pictures were taken by my phone at a Kohl's in New York State, but I'm sure that the same premature display of Christmas commerce is taking place all over the country, long before the traditional start date of Halloween (and I'm old enough to remember when you didn't see any Christmas crap on public display before Thanksgiving).

We're going to be sick of hearing Jingle Bells by Halloween.

A Holiday Shopping Suggestion

This chart explains why I'm doing all my holiday shopping here or here.