War on Christmas : Keith Olberman called the Bushes the new “insurgents” in the Christmas wars. Yes, that’s right. Their Christmas cards do not mention Christmas:
“For over two millennia, Christmas has carried the message that God is with us,” President Bush said at the tree-lighting ceremony.
He is the most popular president among conservative Christians, but the greeting card he sent out this year was not Christian — or Christmasy — enough for some.
The card — with a photo of the family pets, a gold seal, and scripture from the Old Testament — reads “Best Wishes for the Holiday Season” and not “Merry Christmas.”
That infuriated William Donahue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.
“At a time when a lot of Christians today are very upset about the way our society is dumbing down Christmas,” he said, “they certainly don’t want to see the president of the United States chiming in. We know he is a man of courage, so why is he giving in to the forces of political correctness?”
It’s that secular “Happy Holidays” phrase Donohue’s and other groups can’t stand. They also can’t stand its generic twin “Seasons Greetings.” In recent years they’ve organized boycotts of stores like Macy’s and Target for failing to mention Christmas by name.
“Prior to Clinton,” Donahue said, “none of the presidents had a problem saying Christmas at Christmas time. Now Bush is pulling a Clinton. I expected more from this guy.”
Well that’s not quite right. Both Presidents Carter and Reagan sometimes sent cards that never said Christmas. In short, President Bush is not alone.
UPDATE: Pam’s House Blend has more quotes from the wingnutosphere. (I don’t know how Pam does it. I have no stomach for reading their crap!)
