Merry Christmas

Hope anybody who passes this way today has a wonderful day. Here's a favorite Christmas Carol. Well one of my favorites; how do I know if it's one of yours?

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet the words repeat,
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had roll'd along th' unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bow'd my head:
"There is no peace on earth," I said,
"For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men."

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men."

'Til ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

Ruining Christmas

I thought I would take a break from ruining people's Christmas to let you all know that you can prevent people just like me from ruining Christmas by signing a petition. Christmas Ruiners everywhere fear the long arm of the petition.

You would be fighting against such terrible people as Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, who called for his workers to use the phrase Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas. Mayor Hickenlooper changed the policy, however, after complaints. So I guess this petition won't stop that, as it's hard to stop something that's already stopped.

Macy's is having their employees say Happy Holidays rather than Merry Christmas. Ha ha ha. Nothing ruins a Christmas faster than those two corrosive words "Happy Holidays." They just suck the fun right out of Christmas.

In King County, WA, the libraries considered not allowing Christmas trees, but then the library board decided they were appropriate. Oops. This petition won't stop that either.

Target decided to not allow Salvation Army to solicit at their stores, on the grounds that they had a no-solicitation policy at their store, and making an exception for the Salvation Army was problematic. That might seem like a complicated issue to you--you might even feel some sympathy for Target's right, as a private company, to do what they feel best. Ha ha ha. Pitiful mortals, this is strictly another attempt by the evil liberal Target store to ruin Christmas.

By the way, did you know that the words Liberal and Evil are Synonyms? I didn't either, but it turns out they are. Ha Ha Ha!

This petition also cites the ACLU for suing over a Christmas Display. Oops, they lost the case. This petition won't help in that situation either. Also, although the ACLU files lawsuits in dozens of similar lawsuits each year, the only one this petition can find is one in which they lost. Still, remember this. Liberal Democrats are Christmas hating monsters.

Anyway hope you enjoyed this. I have to get back out there saying "Happy Holidays" to people and watching them cry.

Quick Note

I've had company the last several days, and it turns out my company was a lot more intresting and entertaining than the world of politics. But I'm back now. Well I will be tomorrow. Maybe.

More On Social Security

This is from an article by Molly Ivans from last week.

The Bushies don't want to mend it, they want to end it -- and they are quite upfront about it.

This is not some leftist conspiracy theory: Grover Norquist of The Club for Growth has been open about it for years. What we have here is a happy convergence of ideology (the Market Can Solve All Problems) and greed. The greed is from the financial industry, which stands to pick up an incalculable sum in profits -- and, of course, the financial industry contributes generously to Guess Who. Just the Bush plan of partial privatization would cost about $1.5 trillion in transition costs over 10 years, and Bush wants to borrow that money.

Interesting. Of course Norquist is famous for saying, "My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub." I guess eliminating social security might accomplish a lot of that.

On the Front Lines

Good editorial by Robert Herbert on how our troops are doing in the Middle East. Not the most upbeat of articles.

Troops approaching the end of their tours in Iraq are frequently dealt the emotional body blow of unexpected orders blocking their departure for home. "I've never seen so many grown men cry," said Paul Rieckhoff, a former infantry platoon leader who founded Operation Truth, an advocacy group for soldiers and veterans.

"Soldiers will do whatever you ask them to do," said Mr. Rieckhoff. "But when you tell them the finish line is here, and then you keep moving it back every time they get five meters away from it, it starts to really wear on them. It affects morale."

We don't have enough troops because we are fighting the war on the cheap. The Bush administration has refused to substantially expand the volunteer military and there is no public support for a draft. So the same troops head in and out of Iraq, and then back in again, as if through a revolving door. That naturally heightens their chances of being killed or wounded.

Herbert also notes the self evident troop that joining the National Guard is not as attractive as it once was.

Bush is reaping what he's sewn. Well have to see if he has the chutzpah to take on Iran, although my feeling is he probably won't.

Christmas Format

Or at least a vague approximation of one. And a new quote and a new Quotes Page.