Talking "furrin lengwidge" is now illegal in Kansas?

[Happy Monkey]

Happy Holidays

Originally Posted by Congressman John D. Dingell

‘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 would be near;

Katrina kids were nestled all snug in motel beds,

While visions of school and home danced in their heads;

In Iraq our soldiers needed supplies and a plan,

Plus nuclear weapons were being built in Iran;

Gas prices shot up, consumer confidence fell;

Americans feared we were on a fast track to…well…

Wait--- we need a distraction--- something divisive and wily;

A fabrication straight from the mouth of O’Reilly

We can pretend that Christmas is under attack

Hold a vote to save it--- then pat ourselves on the back;

Silent Night, First Noel, Away in the Manger

Wake up Congress, they’re in no danger!

This time of year we see Christmas every where we go,

From churches, to homes, to schools, and yes…even Costco;

What we have is an attempt to divide and destroy,

When this is the season to unite us with joy

At Christmas time we’re taught to unite,

We don’t need a made-up reason to fight

So on O’Reilly, on Hannity, on Coulter, and those right wing blogs;

You should just sit back, relax…have a few egg nogs!

‘Tis the holiday season: enjoy it a pinch

With all our real problems, do we honestly need another Grinch?

So to my friends and my colleagues I say with delight,

A merry Christmas to all,

and to Bill O’Reilly…Happy Holidays.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

All that guff really amounts to is the anti-Christ crowd waving the white flag. "Since when were we having people not say 'Merry Christmas'?" ("Revisionists? When were we ever revisionists?") One is put in mind of the Soviets, another notably left of center group, announcing there had never been a Soviet-American race to the moon -- shortly after July 1969.

Recall that this matter did not start this year, but last year at about this time. This December there was more noise made about it, and it seems to have had the desired effect.

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

Recall that this matter did not start this year, but last year at about this time. This December there was more noise made about it, and it seems to have had the desired effect.

If the desired effect is to make the religious zealots seem more needy and out-of-touch, then the effect has been noted.

Christianity is the majority religion in the United States, but not the only one. Efforts to paint as anti-Christmas deliberate efforts to be inclusive are self-defeating.

Maybe this is all a warm up for the first US pogroms, but I doubt that there will be many takers.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

BS, Rich. I couldn't name such a zealot, and neither could you, most likely. It seems I must inform you that the desired effect is that "Merry Christmas" shall not be disparaged in the public square. This seems to me a better thing than what has been posted as the alternative path.

And for "the first US pogroms," you're a little late, by upwards of a century. Lynchings? Ku Klux Klan? Just pogroms writ small. Race riots? A little bigger and more destructive. Not sponsored by government Cossacks, to be sure, but then like many things American, this kind of thing seems quite adequately done by private individuals. Now, not vexing the Christians, of whatever intensity of practice, hardly seems the stuff to engender pogroms. For that you need three things: 1. Hatred. 2.Governmental Power. 3. A Disarmed Target Population.

Point to a zone where all three conditions apply, and that would be where in the U.S. to expect a pogrom.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The Branch Davidians were not disarmed. Disarming isn't necessary when you've got Warthogs and Apaches.

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

And for "the first US pogroms," you're a little late, by upwards of a century. Lynchings? Ku Klux Klan? Just pogroms writ small. Race riots? A little bigger and more destructive. Not sponsored by government Cossacks, to be sure, but then like many things American, this kind of thing seems quite adequately done by private individuals. Now, not vexing the Christians, of whatever intensity of practice, hardly seems the stuff to engender pogroms. For that you need three things: 1. Hatred. 2.Governmental Power. 3. A Disarmed Target Population.

Point to a zone where all three conditions apply, and that would be where in the U.S. to expect a pogrom.

Ever hear of something called "The Ghost Dance," UG? Or a people called the Lakota? Or a place called "Wounded Knee"? Ever hear of Canyon de Chelly and the Long March and the Navajo? Ever hear of the Cherokee and the "Trail Of Tears"?

[Urbane Guerrilla]

As I said, Rich was a little on the late side here.

Mari, I did half my growing up in Rapid City, SD. Sioux all over the place. Been to Wounded Knee, too. We watched the AIM kick off, and kick up dust -- they were annoying enough that we started talking about the Assholes In Moccasins.

Quiz for UG:

1) Wounded Knee is

a) what you put an ace bandage on
b) the place where some drunk injuns got uppity in the 1970's
c) the location where members of the Lakota tribe were slaughtered in the 1890's for practicing their religion.

2) The ghost dance is

a) What you do at a halloween party
b) What spirits do when they want to celebrate in the local graveyard
c) A ceremonial performed by the Lakota Sioux at the end of the 19th century that they believed would cause time to start running backwards, the buffalo would return, dead loved ones would be reborn, and the white man would vanish from the high plains.

3) Canyon de Chelly is:

a) the world's largest receptical for grape jelly
b) a resort in the French alps
c) the sacred home of the Dinee' or Navajo; the place where the Navajo's chief diety, Changing Woman, was said to have been born and the location of the final battle of the Navajo with the US military where many Navajo jumped to their deaths thousands of feet below rather than surrender their most holy site.

4) The long march is:

a) an especially tedious and lengthy tune your band teacher made you learn to play for homecoming parades
b) an especially snowy and wintery month that seems to go on forever
c) the forced journey by foot at the hands of the US Calvery that the Navajo made from their sacred home of Canyon de Chelly to a barren reservation in Oklahoma. Many Navajo died either on the march or in Oklahoma from starvation.

Don't bust a gasket trying to answer these.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

I see every correct answer is C.

Mari, do us both a kindness: quit assuming I'm only as bright as you are, okay? Bring your A game, not your usual.

If I wanted to behave as irrelevantly resentful as yourself, I'd be sneeringly informing you that M.C. Escher is not a rapper.

I like the Ace bandage one, though.

You know, UG, I actually dislike playing the PC card, but in your case, I think you deserve to be hit up side the head with it.

"Assholes in Mocasins"

[Tonchi]

UG's problem may also stem from the fact that some of those Sioux beat the shit out of him on occasions when he was being his typically antagonistic self at the wrong time. Friends have told me the Sioux are frequently 6'2" and very smart and you definitely do not want to get on their wrong side in a bar. UG probably decided it was safer for him to leave the state.

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Wrong on all counts, Tonchi. All the fights I ever had were with caucasian kids.

Satire should be done better. :p

[Urbane Guerrilla]

Originally Posted by marichiko

You know, UG, I actually dislike playing the PC card, but in your case, I think you deserve to be hit up side the head with it.

"Assholes in Mocasins"

You're trying to pull off a conflation of Wounded Knee and the American Indian Movement. Won't work.

Bring your A game, girl! Not your usual one!

[mrnoodle]

I always got along well with people of other races, in general. Except japanese -- for some reason I've clashed with every Japanese person I've ever known. But as to racism, I've been colorblind forever. I don't make it my personal crusade to sniff out prejudice under every rock, I just don't factor it into my appraisal of someone's worth.

I'm also a "fundie". Why is it that my religious beliefs get me automatically pigeonholed into the "pokes brown people with sticks" category? I thought libs were supposed to be free of bias. *snort*

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

You're trying to pull off a conflation of Wounded Knee and the American Indian Movement. Won't work.

Ahem, earth to UG:

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

Now, not vexing the Christians, of whatever intensity of practice, hardly seems the stuff to engender pogroms. For that you need three things: 1. Hatred. 2.Governmental Power. 3. A Disarmed Target Population.

Point to a zone where all three conditions apply, and that would be where in the U.S. to expect a pogrom.

Originally Posted by Marichiko

Ever hear of something called "The Ghost Dance," UG? Or a people called the Lakota? Or a place called "Wounded Knee"?

Originally Posted by Urbane Guerrilla

Mari, I did half my growing up in Rapid City, SD. Sioux all over the place. Been to Wounded Knee, too. We watched the AIM kick off, and kick up dust -- they were annoying enough that we started talking about the Assholes In Moccasins.

You aren't even worth my C game, UG. Get back to me when you have something to say that doesn't insult the intelligence of everyone here.

Noodle, I never knew that you fundies hated black folk! Really? Do you guys really beat 'em with sticks? Down here in fundieville, they seem to more or less leave the black folk alone (yes, Wolf, there are three black people here in Colorado. I guess Noodle and his friends ran off the rest. ).