During this holiday season...

...please take a little time out to obssess over how I'm oppressing you by not using the word "Christmas" in the title of this post.

In all seriousness, it does sadden me the way right-wing demagogues are hellbent poisioning this time of year by making it into a pitched ideological battle. I suppose nothing should surprise me anymore, but I still find myself amazed that people can be so joyless and hateful. Framing it as a "war," even...how is it possible for anyone to be so utterly lacking in self-awareness? And kvetching about "merry Christmas" not being used in ADVERTISING, fercrissake...because, of course, there's nothing that captures the reason for the season quite like stumbling through Wal-Mart searching for yugioh cards. Here's a good Salon article on the subject.