How the Left Stole Christmas

For years, the left has attempted to portray Republicans and conservatives as puritans; comparing them to the pastor in “Footloose” who wanted to ban dancing.  They would argue that conservatives simply wanted to stand in the way of people living their lives, fearing that “someone, somewhere is having fun.” In the era of Trump, it seems like liberals have adopted the puritan tactics that they spent years of haranguing conservatives for embracing.Last year, I outlined how liberals’ obsession with political correctness has led them to declare war on Halloween and Christmas; specifically discussing their outrage over the President of the University of Louisville and some of his staff dressing up in Mexican attire and the decision of a school district in Massachusetts to cancel a Halloween parade.  I also mentioned how President emerged as an antidote in the war on Christmas, promising that “We’re going to start saying Merry Christmas again.”  I wondered whether or not President Trump’s presence in the oval office would ensure a conservative victory in the “War on Christmas.”  Based on some recent developments, I can answer that question with a declarative “no.”  

The “War on Christmas” comes as part of a broader Culture War orchestrated by the left, which has decided to target the few remaining events and institutions that actually unite Americans of all different backgrounds and political persuasions in the increasingly divided country.  The decision of a handful of SJW NFL football players to kneel during the national anthem turned football into a political debate while decisions of liberal Governors such as Rhode Island’s Former Governor Lincoln Chafee to declare war on the word “Christmas” by referring to the State House Christmas tree, essentially a secular symbol, as a “holiday tree,” have injected politics into what many Americans still consider “the most wonderful time of the year.”

For years, liberals have attempted to banish the phrase “Merry Christmas” from the English language, insisting on replacing it with the phrase “Happy Holidays” to incorporate Christmas, non-Christian holidays, New Years’, and sometimes Thanksgiving.  Unfortunately for liberals, they find themselves on the wrong side of public opinion on this issue.  According to a Marist poll released last year, 59 percent of Americans prefer to use the phrase “Merry Christmas” as opposed to 36 percent, who prefer to use the phrase “Happy Holidays.” So just like the kneeling during the national anthem, liberals find themselves tethered to a cause unpopular among many Americans. 

Liberals’ objections to the phrase “Merry Christmas” make absolutely no sense, considering the fact that more than 73 percent of Americans identify as Christian; according to the most recent Gallup survey. Liberals can point to the fact that the phrase “Merry Christmas” excludes Jews more often than not but in many cases, Hanukkah, the flagship Jewish holiday, and Christmas, do not even overlap. 

Nearly every single American, outside of those working in the medical profession and a handful of individuals in the media, will have Christmas off so even if they don’t practice Christianity on a regular basis, they should still relish the opportunity to spend time with friends and family, and of course, open presents.  The far left’s contempt for Christmas raises the question of whether or not they would prefer to go to work or school.

This year, the Christmas classic “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and the World War II era song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” find themselves in the cross-hairs of the left’s “War on Christmas.”  A video in the Huffington Post whines that the cartoon children’s special, which first aired in 1964, promotes bullying; with a tweet from the Huffington Post describing the cartoon as “seriously problematic.”  Apparently, liberals failed to notice the overarching message of the tale: everyone has their own niche.  While Rudolph faced bullying and harassment for his unconventional red nose, his red nose proved a vital asset when a nasty snowstorm caused Santa Claus to almost cancel Christmas.  On that “foggy Christmas Eve,” Santa famously asked Rudolph, with his “nose so bright,” to guide his sleigh through the snowstorm. The fellow reindeer who bullied Rudolph definitely did not illicit sympathy from the audience. As Twitter user Robby Stone pointed out, “the bigoted characters learn they were wrong. It teaches a lesson. It doesn’t endorse the problematic stuff.” The roughly hour-long Christmas special concludes with Santa finding homes for all of the residents on the “island of misfit toys,” who had previously faced rejection from the children of the world for their various “defects.”   

In addition to taking issue with the bullying in “Rudolph,” the geniuses at HuffPost also complained that Donner, Rudolph’s father, forbade his wife from joining him on his search for Rudolph.  Apparently, feminists missed the part of the story where she decided to disobey her husband and go search for Rudolph on her own.  I thought nothing thrilled feminists more than the idea of a woman disobeying her husband and/or charting her own path in life. 

As for “Baby, It’s Cold Outside,” a Cleveland radio station removed the song from its Christmas playlist after a caller complained that it promoted “rape culture” and taking advantage of women.  Well, if liberals want to start banning songs that promote taking advantage of women, they definitely have their work cut out for them.

Not surprisingly, it did not take long for liberals to scrutinize more Christmas songs under the feminist microscope.  When you give liberals an inch, they’ll take a mile.  Republicans should keep this in mind when they seek to “negotiate” with the Democrats in the 116^th Congress. Giving the PC police a victory on “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” opened the door for a “Good Morning America” producer to argue that the #metoo era demands a re-examination of other Christmas songs.  If Katie Kindelan, the author of the piece, had her way, then “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” and “Up On The Housetop” would soon because they do the unthinkable and rely on gender stereotypes when it comes to what types of gifts boys and girls like to play with.  She also took issue with “Santa Baby,” complaining that the song “is full of sexual undertones.”  Anyone who has bothered to listen to a radio in the past decade would realize that most songs that reach the top of the charts have lots of “sexual undertones,” yet songs such as “Blurred Lines,” which compares women to animals, have yet to face any pushback from the cultural Marxists who have spent the entire Christmas season thus far deconstructing Christmas songs. The final song on Kindelan’s “naughty list,” “All I Want for Christmas is You” focuses on “a woman wanting nothing but a man for Christmas, not the most empowering or evolved message for women.” 

When using an unprecedented amount of slander in criticizing President Reagan’s nomination of Robert Bork to the Supreme Court, the late Senator Ted Kennedy complained that in “Robert Bork’s America,” “writers and artists would be censored at the whim of government.”  Fast forward thirty years and it looks like Christmas songs, composed by a variety of writers and performed by a variety of artists, face censorship at the whim of the liberal mob, not the government. 

In addition to pop culture, the PC police have also infiltrated academia, even as far down as the elementary school level.  For an example of this look no further than Omaha, Nebraska, where a principal banned candy canes because they resemble the letter “J,” the first letter of the first name of the man who has become He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named in most public schools, Jesus Christ.  Manchester Elementary School Principal Jennifer Sinclair sent out a memo to teachers listing the “dos” and “don’ts” when it came to decorating their classrooms ahead of the “major holiday in December,” as sarcastically described by Tim Allen’s character in “The Santa Clause 2.”  While Sinclair correctly pointed out that “the red is for the blood of Christ, and the white is the symbol of his resurrection,” she did not mention that candy canes are supposed to resemble a shepherd’s hook, not a J.  In addition to declaring war on candy canes, Sinclair also forbade her teachers from using “decorations that included Santa, Christmas trees, reindeer, (and) green and red colored items.”  Based on Sinclair’s behavior, one could easily conclude that her school has the motto “Bah Humbug.”

 Generic, winter-themed symbols such as snowman, the character Olaf from Frozen, as well as scarves found themselves spared from Sinclair’s memo.  Based on the climate in Nebraska, not allowing the presence of scarves on school grounds would almost constitute child abuse.  The Weather Channel ranked Omaha as the 5^th coldest major U.S. city in the United States. 

While Sinclair’s memo might correlate perfectly with the ACLU’s wishlist, the memo directly contradicts the school district’s policy when it comes to holiday decorations.  According to the policy, “Christmas trees, Santa Claus, and Easter eggs and bunnies are considered to be secular, seasonal symbols and may be displayed as teaching aids provided they do not disrupt the instructional program for students.” In response to Sinclair’s decision to go rogue, the Elkhorn School District placed her on administrative leave.  If the district ever decides to cut her loose permanently, she has a seat waiting for her at the Freedom From Religion Foundation.  It looks like the leaders at the school district agree with nearly everyone else in America that Sinclair serves as the perfect example of another “generic, winter-themed” symbol: a snowflake.

While the left can attempt to wipe away the fun of Christmas all it wants, remember that even after the Grinch purged every house in Whoville of its Christmas presents in “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” the Whos down in Whoville still carried on in celebrating the holiday; effectively making the Grinch’s efforts to ruin Christmas null and void. Traditional Americans or even the remaining liberals who don’t find themselves offended by everything around them should learn a lesson from the Whos and not let the left succeed in their efforts to steal Christmas.

I would like to conclude by saying two things that will likely trigger many liberals across America: First off, today marks the patronal feast day in the United States of America, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception; which honors the conception of Mary, the mother of Jesus.  May she provide us with much-needed guidance as we attempt to nip the cultural revolution designed to abolish Christianity from the public square in the bud. Secondly, happy birthday to Ann Coulter, who has spent the last twenty years providing conservatives with a much-needed weekly dose of sarcasm and wisdom.