ANOTHER MEANINGLESS RIGHT-WING GESTURE……
SEASON’S GREETINGS, FOLKS, AND BELOW I INCLUDE MY RECENT RESPONSE TO AN E-MAIL POEM, GENERATED PERHAPS BY RUSH LIMBAUGH OR ANN COULTER, OR SOME SUCH.
MY RESPONSE COMES BEFORE THE POEM, SO GO DOWN AND READ THE POEM BEFORE THE RESPONSE.
COMMENTS, AS ALWAYS, WELCOME!
I must step up to the plate for this fat pitch (below)……first, if
anyone “stole” Christmas, it’s the corporate salespersonae for our
insatiable consumer culture. What does Christmas have to do with
shopping, which the president identifies as the major American
patriotic act at present? Christmas is an intensely personal, and
personally defined, iconic, faith-based institution. It has
nothing to do with Hallmark, egg nog, Macy’s parades, or last- minute,
frantic purchases that often leave one dissatisfied with
the entire concept of Christmas. Christmas is also one of many
intense moments of faith — the creator/redemption story is based
on myth — and the poem below makes the erroneous assumption that
all of us should be Christians who vote Republican and worship Wall
Street. This view is OK, quintessentially and parochially
American, and being so, very misleading. I suspect this year the
poem will serve as a warm blanket for some conservatives after an
election that appears to have undercut the major thrust of
evangelical Protestantism in politics. Time alone will tell if the
Democrats will be any wiser, or if the political system in the U.S.
will in fact begin to reach out and represent those of us who lack
material resources and often hope. So the poem is also an example
of blaming the wrong things for our impasse. Wed need to look more
closely at cause and effect, the things that we really value and
those things that we should value, and the type of people who lead
both parties. There are no heroes here; merely fallible humans —
people who make mistakes and who confuse ideology with
intelligence. The world stands at the brink now, of war, of a
global warming phenomenon that will undercut global security as
nothing before, and of a sort of uncharitable triage which will let
those who do not have what we have, in the words of Fleetwood Mac,
“go their own way”. Pity.
Let’s look at the poem itself–just a couple of comments.
1. Christians have been praying and praying. They pray for Bush,
and for peace, and for the rapture. And they bray too–yet lots
of Christians I know pray quietly.
2. PC police is a fun reference for the right, but the power said
police possess pales in front of the FBI, NSA, CIA, and city cops
who racial profile and shoot innocent people. The problem here —
I think — is the inability to distinguish Christians from lions.
In academia and many liberal church denominations, steps have been
taken in behalf of affirmative action, to confront the fact that
hate speech has consequences. Yet these people have little power.
And outside academia and the liberal church denominations, the
situation is reversed. So this argument strikes me as fatuous.
Indeed, the U.S. is big enough for all religions, creeds, faiths……
3. Kids are singing Christmas carols — “Christian” as well as
other — at the local schools here. And we are more PC than you are.
4. Yes, the poem capitalizes “Holiday,” which in effect underlines
its special character and flies in the face of the critical thrust
of the poem generally. Holiday = holy day. In effect the poem
capitalizes Christmas. As in great San Mateo High School pitcher,
Reggie Christmas. Remember him?
5. The second stanza says it all — it’s not the “left” or the
PC’s who are selling this stuff–it’s transnational corporate
capitalism, which with the evangelical base provides the right it’s
power in politics.
.
6. Jane Fonda was left at one time–she is very different now.
7. Al Sharpton is a man of the cloth, and to diss him as merely
“left” in secular terms misses a large part of his meaning for
black Americans.
8. Rather, Kerry, and Clinton are poor examples of “the left”. I
would ask for a definition that says something more than “Democrat
Party is Left”. Makes no sense whatsoever given policy wrangles of
past decade.
9. Wolf Blitzer a liberal leftist? PC? Wow, I guess the
political center in the U.S. has moved to the right!
10. Jesus lives in more advertising that I have ever seen, for
consumer goods, to help with bad habits, to make one feel good
about one’s possessions, or merely the bumper-sticker “Jesus
Saves!” followed by “and Esposito tips it in!” That’s a very old
reference and I apologize to those of you who did not follow hockey
in the days of Morris Mott and the SF Seals.
All this being said, Merry Christmas to you all! Happy Channukah to
you! Shalom to you! Salaam to you! Take a look at the big
picture and give thanks for what we have–no that’s not just a
Thanksgiving theme, it’s a Christmas theme too.
Warmest regards to all, far from a humbug…………..off to
work…………
Geoff Smith
AND, THE POEM IN QUESTION…..
HOW THE LEFT STOLE CHRISTMAS
Twas the month before Christmas
When all through our land,
Not a Christian was praying
Nor taking a stand.
See the PC Police had taken away,
The reason for Christmas - no one could say.
The children were told by their schools not to sing,
About Shepherds and Wise Men and Angels and things.
It might hurt people’s feelings, the teachers would say
December 25th is just a ” Holiday “.
Yet the shoppers were ready with cash, checks and credit
Pushing folks down to the floor just to get it!
CDs from Madonna, an X BOX, an I-pod
Something was changing, something quite odd!
Retailers promoted Ramadan and Kwanzaa
In hopes to sell books by Franken & Fonda.
As Target were hanging their trees upside down
At Lowe’s the word Christmas - was no where to be found.
At K-Mart and Staples and Penny’s and Sears
You won’t hear the word Christmas; it won’t touch your ears.
Inclusive, sensitive, Di-ver-si-ty
Are words that were used to intimidate me
Now Daschle, Now Darden, Now Sharpton, Wolf Blitzen
On Boxer, on Rather, on Kerry, on Clinton !
At the top of the Senate, there arose such a clatter
To eliminate Jesus, in all public matter.
And we spoke not a word, as they took away our faith
Forbidden to speak of salvation and grace.
The true Gift of Christmas was exchanged and discarded
The reason for the season, stopped before it started.
So as you celebrate “Winter Break” under your “Dream Tree”
Sipping your Starbucks, listen to me.
Choose your words carefully, choose what you say
Shout MERRY CHRISTMAS, not Happy Holiday.
COMMENTS ON MY RESPONSE TO THIS CLAPTRAP WELCOME……