This is Issue 7 of the Tendown, my weekly look at the very best things that happened in the past week; Last Week, we discussed Bill Moyers, Howard Zinn, gooey butter bars and Snooki getting punched dead in the face on Jersey Shore. What...what...what do you suppose we'll talk about this week?
First - Putting the Holla! Back in Happy Holidays
I got no gods and ain't no gods coming. Not yours, not your neighbor's; I am thoroughly disinterested in magic however it's packaged. O'Reilly would call me a secular progressive; a term which I'm willing to wholly embrace but which he uses to describe all that is wrong with western civilization.
He particularly likes to go on this tear around Christmas, upon which, perhaps you haven't heard, people like me have been fighting a war.
It's a poorly coordinated war, as the first time I ever heard about it was when Bill O'Reilly told me I was fighting. One would think I'd start a little lower on the holiday scale; pick on, say Arbor Day, get a couple of wins under my belt, before challenging the big dog. I'd be a good homecoming opponent for Christmas U.- I pick up good paycheck to refurbish the weight room, Christmas rolls me up like 72-3, standing over my prone defensive backs after another big play taunting "Say my name! Jesus is the reason for the season!"
It's just not a game I particularly want on my schedule. Me, I like Christmas. And had a very nice one this year, which is why it's the very best thing that happened this week.
See? What's more Christmas than that? A tree and presents and a dog to keep me away from all of it?
I am not the enemy of Christmas! I'm just a guy with a car that still isn't working.
Look, how is this for terms of a truce - anytime we ever say Happy Holidays, we are implicitly acknowledging that Christmas is, in fact, one of those holidays that we are wishing bring people happiness. Maybe we don't literally say the word "Christmas" - because to then rattle off a list of holidays (Chanukah, Saturnalia, Freaknik) just isn't very efficient. But really - Happy Holidays isn't code for "Happy Holidays - unless you're talking about Christmas - then I hope you get hepatitis c" - it really just means, "Happy Holidays."
And if you'd like to say "Merry Christmas" without it sounding like "You'd Better Bow Down Before My Savior on His Birthday, Bitch." - that'be great too.
Really, no one's trying to take your religion away. That's a good thing about having secular progressives as an opponent, we just don't care what you do with your own life. No - seriously. Marry ANYBODY YOU WANT. Go ahead. It's not a trick. See? It's good times. Have sex with whomever you want, read whatever books you want, sing whatever songs you want - say Merry Christmas all year around. It's cool.
Sure, Christmas is really just an alliance of on-your-sleeve religion and conspicuous consumption; the two halves of the Republican Party. Sometimes that's meant GOP=Abolitionists+Whigs, now that means GOP="climate change deniers" + "CEOs" or GOP="keep Obama's Nazi death panels from killing my Down's Syndrome baby" + "repeal the estate tax forever". Either way I'm not down, but the State has to worm its way in your head somehow, comrades, and I don't have gods and don't care about our national chants, but I do believe the only way to be worthy of love is to buy presents, so I am sort of stuck with Christmas. But if there's a war, honest, I didn't start it.
Good talk. After the jump - lets see the rest of the best things to happen this holiday week.
