More Radical Right Wingnuttery

Remember that silly vote condemning Rush Limbaugh? The one that resulted from that silly vote to condemn Move On? Here we go again.

The Christmas measure was approved 372-9 on Tuesday night. ......"I think there's an anti-Christian bias," said Rep. Steve King, who sponsored the resolution. "I would not have thought that five or 10 years ago that we'd need to make a statement" affirming the importance of Christmas and Christianity.
King's resolution stated that Christianity was the predominant faith in the United States and contributed greatly to the development of the country and Western civilization.

What the hell!? First of all the congress should not be involved in our personal religious rituals at all. Be it Ramadan or Christianity or whatever. That said, to think the religion that, by majority , totally dominates our life and culture is a victim of somekind is just childish. Steve King is apparently is looking to build up brownie points or wants to be honored as an authoritarian hero or something. Well I won't be worshiping Steve King anytime soon. His guilt trip(which this measure obviously is) doesn't work on me. I will retain my right as an citizen of the United States to address people with happy holidays if I want. I will celebrate the season as Christmas or winter solstice or not at all as I choose. THAT is what Real America is about.

The authoritarians are turning to the ridiculous and are about to get a big slap down. It will be a shock to their chest thumping ego to realize that people see them as little more than a goof cult. It will be good for them though because they are much more comfortable in the minority. The entire last 25 years of conservative rule has been framed as some kind of minority struggle against the liberal media and all the other contrived enemies they can find. They have no idea how to act as a majority or a leader, even when they are in that position. They are always the victim of horrible forces that are trying to bring them down.

For his part, Rep. Gary Ackerman (D-NY) delivered a bemused but impassioned plea, stating "I really do not understand what we are doing today. I do not understand why we need to set up a straw man just to knock it down, to protect the symbols of Christmas as if they were under attack . Did something happen when I was not looking? Did somebody mug Santa Claus? Is somebody engaging in elf tossing?"
Ackerman"s more serious comments highlighted the hypocrisy underlying the "symbolic" Republican resolution saying that:
"If you wanted to protect the message of Christmas, come to the floor with real bills with substance. Where is your bill to house the homeless? Where is your bill to feed the needy? Where is your bill to clothe the naked? Where is your bill to protect senior citizens who will not be able to heat their homes this winter? Where is the substance? Why are we engaging, in this terrible time in which we are in, in symbolism? We can be doing something meaningful. Where is the bill for real health care? Where is the bill to educate the children that we really are leaving behind? We are not doing any of those things. I think we could be doing so much more instead of feeding the flames that divide us instead of bringing us together. . . .

Congressman Dingell (D-MI) expressed his with a poem excerpted here:

'Twas the week before Christmas and all through the House, no bills were passed `bout which Fox News could grouse.
Tax cuts for the wealthy were passed with great cheer so vacations in St. Barts soon should be near
Katrina kids were all nestled snug in motel beds while visions of school and home danced in their heads.
In Iraq, our soldiers need supplies and a plan,and nuclear weapons are being built in Iran.
Gas prices shot up, consumer confidence fell.Americans feared we were in a fast track to ..... well.
Wait, we need a distraction, something divisive and wily, a fabrication straight from the mouth of O'Reilly.
We will pretend Christmas is under attack,hold a vote to save it, then pat ourselves on the back. . . .
What we have is an attempt to divide and destroy when this is the season to unite us with joy.
At Christmastime, we're taught to unite.We don't need a made-up reason to fight.