Twitter’s algorithm has a sense of humor. Today the first things I saw in my feed were John Lewis, Adam Schiff, and Barack Obama telling us to have a merry or happy Christmas.
Wishing everyone a happy and safe Christmas holiday.
— John Lewis (@repjohnlewis) December 25, 2017
Here’s hoping that you and your family have a very Merry Christmas! Wishing you all a joyful, peaceful day.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) December 25, 2017
On behalf of the Obama family, Merry Christmas! We wish you joy and peace this holiday season. pic.twitter.com/CNFUZrhrBj
— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) December 25, 2017
So then naturally I had to check out what the current “president” has been up to.
People are proud to be saying Merry Christmas again. I am proud to have led the charge against the assault of our cherished and beautiful phrase. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 25, 2017
So much aggression for what purports to be a defense of a benevolent sentiment. He might as well be shouting “Merry fucking Christmas you nigger-loving pussy-whipped atheist scum!!”
Steve Silberman has an eloquent riposte:
Psst, can we talk? I promise to be mostly positive on this day of all days. But there’s something DEEPLY CREEPY about Trump taking credit for people wishing each other “Merry Christmas.” It’s not just that it’s a ridiculous lie and Obama said it all the time. It’s not just, “Oh there he goes again.” It’s not just that it ridicules people for trying not to exclude their Jewish and Muslim neighbors. Trump is trying to steal our basic goodness and courtesy as a nation. Some people are good Christians, and some people are bad Christians, but Trump is *the opposite of a Christian.* He brags about stuff he didn’t do, blames others for stuff he did, and attacks those who have less than he does. This “War on Christmas” nonsense is a microcosm of the spiritual sickness he has brought to this country.
Granted, the eloquence rests on the assumption that “Christian” stands for decent qualities that Trump defies and attacks, but that doesn’t really matter here. The important part is that Trump is the opposite of a decent human being, and that he performs that opposition all day every day while being the head of state.
So yeah happy holidays and everything.
Comments
14 responses to “Proud to have led the charge”
Merry Christmas, Ophelia! And have a happy New Year, too.
Anyway, what war on Christmas? Even my USAian relatives have been wishing one another and us (via Skype) “Merry Christmas!”, and had the same greeting returned; even though we’re atheists and they’re Muslims!
Same to you tigger!
Hahaha right? I just wished a group of Muslim and ex-Muslim friends Happy atheist Christmas.
tiggerthewing, my Muslim co-worker was just as excited about Christmas as any of the Christians on faculty. He said he believes in celebrating everything. He celebrates everyone’s holidays, because he feels that celebration is important (and fun).
Most atheists I know who do not celebrate anything mostly stay away from the holiday, they do not go around quoting Ebenezer Scrooge – “every idiot who goes around with Merry Christmas on his lips should be boiled in his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart”. I have always been able to say “Merry Christmas” to my Christian friends, colleagues, and students, because even if I am not myself a Christian, I am wishing them happiness on their holiday. By the same token, I am willing to say Happy Holidays to anyone that prefers. I am willing to say nothing at all for those who prefer that. If I don’t know which group they’re in, I could just growl, but I smile and say something non-committal.
And funny thing, I, a committed atheist, was saying “Merry Christmas” to my Christian friends even during the Obama years. I probably should have been locked up, but fortunately, no one turned me in for the treasonous citizen I was until Trump freed me to say words that everyone has been saying for years and years and years (at least 57 years by my own personal experience; longer than that, of course, but I have no direct witness prior to my own birth).
“Our cherished and beautiful phrase.”
God damn but he has a way with words.
Never quite understood the aversion of some atheists to calling the holiday by its name. Sure, Happy Solstice makes a cute in-joke, but calling the day Christmas doesn’t mean I’m honoring Jesus any more than calling the fifth day of the week Thursday means I worship Thor. It’s just the convention. So I liberally dispense Christmas greetings to all.
But I also sometimes wear a novelty plush red and white Bah Humbug hat too. Usually gets a grin. It’s also very warm.
Should have prefaced my post ‘on the other side of the coin’ or the like. But I’m in an impaired state following the annual family Christmas brunch. ‘Gluttonmas’ might be a good name for the day too.
Snow isn’t very common in Seattle, is it? Enjoy. Got about 6″ or more here overnight. Occasional snow squalls and 20 mph wind now.
I do have friends who wish me a happy Sir Isaac Newton’s birthday, because they know that’s what I celebrate.
Snow is very uncommon here, though of course it’s common as muck in the nearby mountains. But it hasn’t properly snowed here in several years, to my considerable disappointment. It started snowing yesterday just before sunset and kept on going; it was gorgeous.
No snow in the Pennines this year! I had the doors open today and was walking around in my shirtsleeves.
iknklast, my Muslim brother-in-law wouldn’t come into camera range until he had his Christmas jumper on. It’s a ver festive one, with all sorts of Christmas paraphernalia and glitter on it. Apparently it was a big hit at work, where his employees are of all religions and none.
It was mild here today, too. Snow is rare here, but when it does snow heavily enough to settle, it looks gorgeous – and sometimes lasts for hours!
The Obamas are a beautiful family. How depressing to compare and contrast with the dysfunctional caricature of a family currently disgracing and debasing America.
Hell, I miss Obama and I’m British; God knows how you intelligent Americans are feeling.
Anyway, Merry Christmas to all, I’m off to get around the outside of a mince pie or two.
Obama was by no means perfect. But he was educated, intelligent, serious, interested in the world, knowledgeable about American history and law, decent, and honorable.
Bruce, my bah humbug hat is plush black with white trim. My very Christmassy colleagues gave it to me last year. Goes well with my slightly curmudgeonly persona (which is of course an act). Well, mostly it’s an act. A bit anyway. Sigh. I’ll just sit in this corner and wear my bah humbug hat.
At a bus stop a couple of days back, I heard a fellow saying ‘happy holidays’ to everyone who passed by. It did have a grating artificiality about it.