Mike Malloy on "Happy Holidays" hype

[Eric J in MN]

You can listen to "Air America Radio" host Mike Malloy talk about the hype over the "Happy Holidays" greeting at:

http://MoveLeft.com

Malloy points out that for decades outspoken religious people have been saying Christmas is too commercial.

So it's odd for outspoken religious people to now demand that department stores say "Merry Christmas" to boost their commercial transactions.

=====================

My opinion: not everyone is Christian, and so it's just common sense for cashiers to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas."

[tridim]

1. Common sense and common courtesy

Why take the chance at offending someone who doesn't celebrate Christmas? There's no point. I tried to explain that to my Faux watching parents and they just don't get it. They also don't understand that the "merry christmas" thing is a Faux manufactured political issue, nothing more.

[Eric J in MN]

2. But there is more. Robert Novak of CNN is reciting it, too

This is a note I put at the end of my full blog article:

http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft_essay_2004_12_27_mike_malloy_happy_holidays_hype.asp

Robert Novak of CNN is an exception as he claimed outrage at Bush, too, after watching Bush give a Happy Holidays greeting.

Novak said, "I was just kind of stunned at the end of his press conference, when President Bush, who is a believing Christian, and a very sincere one, a deeply religious man said 'Happy Holidays' Well...what's the happy holidays...is it the Fourth of July?"

What Novak pretends not to know is that a greeting is tailored to the recipient. You say "Happy Birthday" when it's someone else's birthday not your own. Not everyone who was listening to Bush's greeting is Christian.

Robert Novak exposed the identity of CIA agent Valerie Plame who was tracking weapons-of-mass-destruction. I'm outraged at that.

Robert Novak can take his phony outrage over a common holiday greeting and shove it.

[gatorboy]

12. That goes for Hannity as well.

I noticed he used the term "Happy Holidays" during his pre-taped radio show this last weekend...

[SheepyMcSheepster]

3. "Happy Holidays" is used due to capitalism.

that is the funny part. stores say "happy holidays" to make room for everyone's money no matter their beliefs. the rush-bots are supposed to love the capitalist system.

that is an interesting point malloy makes. i did not listen to the radio show though.

[Eric J in MN]

5. The Free Market is great say rightwingers,

except when a store shows sensitivity to non-Christian customers.

By the way, I only posted a 5 minute excerpt of the radio show. The mp3 is at:

http://www.moveleft.com/moveleft/audio/2004_12_22_mike_malloy_talks_about_happy_holidays_hype.mp3

[4morewars]

4. Read this Thom Hartmann article, he explains it :

http://www.commondreams.org/views04/1220-20.htm

"Published on Monday, December 20, 2004 by CommonDreams.org
The Myth of National Victimhood - All Wrapped and Delivered for Christmas
by Thom Hartmann


It's Christmas week - Adolf Hitler's favorite season after he declared an official merger of church and state - and, ironically, conservatives are using the occasion to mount a new and bizarre attack.

They said liberals are out to destroy Christmas. Cobbling together a few anecdotes (unsupportable attacks are always anecdote-based), they managed to imply a vast anti-Christian conspiracy bubbling just under the belly of America, and pushed that frightening implication into the minds of millions of Americans just in time for the holiday season."

[Eric J in MN]

6. This part of the artilce you linked to by a German Jew

who was there during Hitler is interesting:
Each act, each occasion, is worse than the last, but only a little worse. You wait for the next and the next. You wait for the one great shocking occasion, thinking that others, when such a shock comes, will join with you in resisting somehow. You don't want to act, or even to talk, alone; you don't want to 'go out of your way to make trouble.' Why not? - Well, you are not in the habit of doing it. And it is not just fear, fear of standing alone, that restrains you; it is also genuine uncertainty.

"Uncertainty is a very important factor, and, instead of decreasing as time goes on, it grows. Outside, in the streets, in the general community, everyone is happy. One hears no protest, and certainly sees none. You know, in France or Italy there will be slogans against the government painted on walls and fences; in Germany, outside the great cities, perhaps, there is not even this. In the university community, in your own community, you speak privately to your colleagues, some of whom certainly feel as you do; but what do they say? They say, 'It's not so bad' or 'You're seeing things' or 'You're an alarmist.'

"And you are an alarmist. You are saying that this must lead to this, and you can't prove it. These are the beginnings, yes; but how do you know for sure when you don't know the end, and how do you know, or even surmise, the end? On the one hand, your enemies, the law, the regime, the Party, intimidate you. On the other, your colleagues pooh-pooh you as pessimistic or even neurotic. ...

"But the one great shocking occasion, when tens or hundreds or thousands will join with you, never comes.

[4morewars]

8. Can you see it happening here ?

Can you see it happening now ?
What can we do to stop it ?

[Eric J in MN]

9. Power concentrated in Bush's hands is

replacing a system of checks and balances.

I'm not saying Bush is going to murder 6 million Jews, just that he's already torturing people.

On the federal level, nothing is going to get better any time soon.

The best we can do is to try to elect Democrats locally.

[4morewars]

10. Electing dems locally is a good start....

Another thing that i think will help is to shine some light on the darkness that is the bush* administration. This type of behavior works best when done in secret. So, tell everyone ! Educate and organize !

As far as bush* killing 6 million Jews, I dont't see it going that way, as the Jews are not in his crosshairs at the moment. But never forget that the USA has most of the world's WMDs, so anything is possible. We certainly have the capability to wipe out that many people. As you mentioned, they have no trouble with using torture and we know they are already using nukes (depleted uranium) They have also used napalm in Iraq, a substance that has been banned worldwide for almost 30 years.

[flaminbats]

7. Jesus was a true supply-sider..

he believed in the paranormal and unnatural.

[Eric J in MN]

11. What does the paranormal have to do with being a supply-sider? nt

nt