National Review Declares War on Christmas
National Review long ago ran up the white flag in the War against Christmas. Now, it is joining the other side, with Kathryn Jean Lopez echoing a reader's complaint that Mike Huckabee's ad wishing everyone a Merry Christmas is "offensive."
It's hard to fathom the source of Lopez' outrage. There is absolutely nothing preventing all the candidates from running similar ads. In fact, Ron Paul has run a similar internet ad. Wishing someone "Merry Christmas" used to be as American as apple pie. Now it is suspect, and subject to endless second guessing and analysis. We will know the enemies of Christmas have been defeated when Americans, once again, wish each other "Merry Christmas" as a matter of course, with no one questioning their motives or claiming to be "offended."
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Kathryn Jean Lopez has written nothing of importance in her several years at National Review. I think she was hired to provide cover for Natinal Review's immigration views due to her ethnic background.
As for religion and National Review, the youngsters of modern NR are irreligious for the most part and, having New York/neo-conservative dispositions, are probably a little embarassed by religious conservatives. Don't expect National Review to hire a modern day Malachi Martin as a religious writer like William F. Buckley did many years ago.
Christmas or no Christmas, what is such a big deal? Christianity is the international branch of Judaism anyway.
National Review has become the "right-wing" front in the PC war. I think they are battling with Front Page Mag for title of chief PC enforcer on the right.
This whole Romney and his Mormonism and "the speech" and the Huckabee surge have really brought it out of them.
I think Huckabee has MANY problems, but as I said on the other thread, he is managing to make the right enemies.
Dr. Phillips is right. Huckabee is indeed managing to make the right enemies. Which is not a surprise since, like Buchanan, he is running as a social conservative and has sounded some populist themes, even though Pat's program was far more intelletually rigorous and coherent, in my view.
The most underrepresented group in American politics is not the "fiscally conservative, socially moderate" voters we hear so much about--this is basically the Establishment--but the socially conservative, economically populist bloc.
It is unsurprising that Huckabee, despite all his problems, an authentic Christian, would upset the Trotskyite sensibilities of the neocons.
Phillips is right: National Review and FrontPageMag seem to be battling over who can outdo the other in their enforcement of political correctness. Just read Ben Johnson's new hit piece on Buchanan at FrontPage.
To be honest, I had many reservations about Huckabee from the beginning. In short, he seemed to be a shill for globalism. If Giuliani and McCain agreed with the neocons 99% of the time, and Romney 96% of the time, then Huckabee probably agreed with them about 92% of the time. Much of Huckabee's rhetoric involved the invoking of universal human rights to condemn authentic traditionalists and conservatives, dismissing patriots as "racists" who want to curb the Third World invasion of their ancestral lands.
More recently, however, Huckabee is sounding more like Buchanan, especially on trade and immigration. He allegedly had a "conversion" on immigration, and now is running Tancredoesque ads. Is Huckabee attempting to play the "Middle America card"?
Lopez, apparently a proud CUA graduate, should know better, but alas she's a shrill for PC/cultural marxism. Not that she should be taken seriously anyway...sad, very sad, the insidious nature of such a dis-ease as self hatred.
As the character Nick , in Whit Stillman's comedy of manners, Metropolitan, expresses in the following exchange:
Nick Smith: The titled aristocracy are the scum of the earth.
Sally Fowler: You always say "titled" aristocrats. What about "untitled" aristocrats?
Nick Smith: Well, I could hardly despise them, could I? That would be self-hatred. And, self-hatred is an ugly thing...
Her self-hatred is an ugly thing indeed! And, it iwould be a wonderful Christmas gift if folks like Lopez et al would recognize the ugliness of their self-hatred -- and that such reflexive tolerance and PCism is a form of self-loathing, which needs to be recognized and cured...
Until recently I worked at a well known private research laboratory in New England.
Every December they would put up a large decorated pine tree in their large atrium, lights and all - but no mention of Christmas - no Christian symbols of any kind.
However, the tree had stars of David and was surrounded by several "Menorahs", though the company itself was not "Jewish". My guess was that this was in "politically correct" "deference" to some pushy "influential" members of technical staff.
While I am not particularly religious (though I do come from a Christian family), I found the situation very distressing. Each year my impulse was to go to the HR department and complain, but would stop short of doing that, simply fearing of loosing my job. I am sure the majority of my colleagues felt the same way, but this was never, never discussed.
Apparently, the War against Christmas is not new. It has been quite widespread and going on for some time already.
Christophobia is rampant in this culture, especially in the neoconservative precincts for obvious reasons. Who would have thought that wishing people Merry Christmas, and using the word 'Christ', would bring on the spasms of paranoia and loathing and dark mutterings of fascism that it has.
re#7 While I am not particularly religious (though I do come from a Christian family),
You and so many other westerners, This is the entire problem! You live life as though your values and ethics came out of thin air. You are offended at the lack of "Christmas" but are so comfortable living in a world that real Christians made for you that you see no need to embrace your God given faith as a way of life. I deal with this additude daily. If you truly found the situation distressing you should have left your high paying job and comfortable living and worked the land and provided your family with a truly modest but Christ centered life. You would have gained eternal happiness instead of momentary earthly comfort.
Jeffrey:
Thanks for the anecdote. Very interesting.
Bede:
Huckabee is attempting to play the Middle America card, as this article makes clear: http://nymag.com/news/politics/powergrid/42083/
How successful he will be depends on whether he can come up with an intellectually coherent program, as opposed to the "Fair Tax" he is peddling. His past record on immigration is truly appalling as well--he would have to convincingly put that behind him.
With Lopez it is the treason is fashionable excuse.
DOOMSDAY/S -
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shamireaders/message/1032
forget so much about who banished xMas
welcome: Dooms Day
No, the Rockefellers hail from moderately intelligent fantastically ambitious idiots who felt that it wasn't enough to win - Everyone else had to lose... even Jews do that same sort of schtick - at least in behalf (yet) of their group - so they have served rockefellers if it served 'them' in some narrow yet larger than a single family sense - now we Must break with rockefellers - for the sake of us all and the larger community - the vorld. (questions?)
kissinger a lickspittle would disagree but keep in mind the very court he set up to try war criminals indicted him - then he withdrew... funny -