The American Spectator

br> — Roger Ross br> Tomahawk, Wisconsin /p>

Thanks to Mr. Tyrrell for this column. I made a point this year of saying “Merry Christmas” to every grocery checker and bagger, every retail clerk and all who came to my door. I don’t remember any one of them saying those words back — just a “same to you” or a “Happy Holidays” after an uncomfortable hesitation. Who are these wackos who make us feel that we should apologize for saying “Merry Christmas”?

p>I look at this political correctness as a form of abuse. Abuse can be described as doing something to harm someone (like beating your wife) and then standing there waiting for an apology (it’s her fault for making him do it). This applies to politically correct progressives stealing our “Merry Christmas” and forcing us to apologize for saying those awful words. It also applies to the Muslim cartoon controversy. Muslims explode bombs, wear suicide vests, wreak havoc all over the globe in its extreme form, but they expect the apologies when cartoons are created to show that because we made them do these terrible things. That’s called abuse, folks, and like that woman in the abusive relationship we need to extricate ourselves from it. Let’s start now with a rebellion against political correctness. br> — Deborah Durkee br> Marietta, Georgia /p> p> Good morning. I have read R Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.’s article. I always enjoy his works. I can’t agree with him more than about this. However, I wish to shed a grain of light on those that are still battling for humanity. I was in a local eating establishment (I forget which one) last week, and the person behind the counter, who was black (oops, I mean African-American), said with a big sincere smile on his face, “MERRY CHRISTMAS” as I took my food and left. As I am a devout Catholic (read bigot if you will) I said, “Thank you, and a Merry Christmas to you, too!” I can’t explain the warm feeling I had in my heart, for I had dealt with the horrors of traffic and such all day. It is just nice to see that someone in a service industry acknowledges that today, since it is rare. br> — Erik Bendorf br> German-Danish-Irish-American /p>