The American Spectator

The Nation's Pulse

(Page 2 of 2)

Another sign of the backlash is Wal-Mart and Macy's recent decisions to lift their ban of the C-word. For the past few years retail stores have been systematically removing all mention of Christmas from their advertising, displays and greetings, even to the point of renaming Christmas trees "holiday trees." This year, bowing to boycott pressure, the MBAs at corporate must have realized that 96 percent of their clientele proudly celebrates Christmas and the considerable bad PR associated with nixing the C-word could cut into their profit margin. It is a rare instance of profit trumping political correctness. This naturally has outraged the militant secularists, who have had to beat a hasty retreat to the commentary pages where they have vowed to continue the battle.

p>Militant secularists like Flynn who celebrate nothing this time of year get terribly cross when someone wishes them 'Merry Christmas," though they are somewhat less annoyed when greeted with "Happy Holidays." According to Flynn, "Happy Holidays" is a step up from "Merry Christmas," but it still is far from satisfactory, as it still serves the same "dark purpose as merry Christmas." Mr. Flynn's holiday greeting of choice would be "Happy Holidays, if you're having any." Wouldn't that look lovely on a Hallmark card? Not only does it set the soul a-stirring, but it has a nice rhythm to it: br> /p> blockquote> em>Happy Ho-li-days! If you're having any, any br> Happy Ho-li-days! If you're having any, any /em> /blockquote> br> If only Irving Berlin were around to put those lyrics to music; if only Der Bingle were here to record them.

topics:
Taxes, Israel