The War on Good Manners

"This clearly demonstrates that the Bush administration has suffered a loss of will and that they have capitulated to the worst elements in our culture," said William A. Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights.

Yikes. What happened? What did Bushie do that was so terrible? Who are these nefarious "elements in our culture" that are powerful enough to force the President to capitulate?

Why, they said "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". Horror of horrors.

And why did they say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas"? Well, because there were 1.4 million of the cards sent out, and very likely some of them went to people who were maybe Jewish. Or Muslim. Or Buddhist. Or, God forbid, Atheists. And saying Merry Christmas to a Jewish person is like saying Good Morning to someone when it's actually afternoon. Yeah, they get the drift of what you are saying, but it's just a little awkward.

(By the way, I have a lot of Jewish friends and coworkers. Do I say Merry Christmas to someone I know is Jewish? Obviously not. Is it because I'm afraid I will offend them? No. It's because I'm not a jackass.)

[Update: On his TV show, Bill O'Reilly pointedly wished a "Merry Christmas" to John Stewart, who is Jewish. Bill O'Reilly is a jackass.]

So some people are actually saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", and it appears that the malevolent cause of this is because they want to be considerate. Damn them to hell. Onward Christian Soldiers.

Bill O'Reilly provides one of the most hilariously ironic points of this made up "War on Christmas". He actually said this on his show:

• Does "Merry Christmas" offend Non-Christians? O'Reilly: "I don't believe most people who aren't Christian are offended by the words 'Merry Christmas.' I think those people are nuts."
• Does "Happy Holidays" offend Christians? O'Reilly: "It absolutely does," he said. "And I know that for a fact."

Boy, Bill O'Reilly's Christians sure are easily offended. And apparently, according to O'Reilly, they are also 'nuts'. What a tool.

As an aside, think about this: How different are these people from fundamentalists like the Taliban if they really truly believe that saying "Happy Holidays" makes you a part of the "worst elements of our culture." I mean really.