(AND WHATEVER GREETINGS AND SALUTATIONS MIGHT BE APPROPRIATE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR RELIGIOUS AND/OR SECULAR BELIEFS!

ON THIS CHRISTMAS DAY PLEASE REMEMBER AND PRAY FOR THE MEN AND WOMEN IN OUR ARMED FORCES SERVING IN AFGHANISTAN, IRAQ, AROUND THE WORLD AND HERE AT HOME TO KEEP AMERICA FREE AND SAFE.

I will be taking time off between now and January 3rd to relax with my family and to work on the Fair Tax book.  In the meantime Bryan, Belinda, Royal and Laura will provide you with some notes and reading assignments.  I'll be sticking my own two-cents worth in every once in a while.  Rest assured, if something big happens I'll be behind the microphone in a flash ... so don't stray too far.

In the meantime I want  you to think about the school system in New Hampshire that kicked a seven-year-old boy out of a "Holiday Dance" because he was dressed like Santa Claus.  This principal of this government school cited the principal of separation of church and state and said that he didn't want any of the other people at the dance to be offended.  Here's your story.  There's more below.  We're in big trouble, folks.  The era of political correctness must end if our Republic is to be saved.

FRIDAY, December 24, 2004.  Christmas Eve.

RUMSFELD MAKES A VISIT

The Most Hated Man In Washington these days decided to make an unannounced visit to Iraq and visit the troops. As a matter of fact, this wasn't some little land and dash visit at the Baghdad Airport. No, Rumsfeld went straight to the belly of the beast: to dine with the troops in Mosul, on the same base where the Islamic terrorist bomber struck earlier this week. 

He met with troops, ate breakfast and took pictures. He also took questions. He risked his own life to visit the troops on Christmas Eve. Doesn't quite sound like the out of touch bureaucrat his detractors make him out to be. After all, he could have stayed home. But he didn't.

Which brings to light another point. Until he was sworn in as the current defense secretary, Rumsfeld was making big bucks as the Chairman of the Board of a pharmaceutical company. He didn't have to take the job. He could have stayed out of the limelight. But instead, he chose to take a pay cut and serve his country. 

At the end of the day, the Washington elites (including a few "Republicans") hate Rumsfeld because he says what he thinks. He doesn't sugarcoat the truth or hold back. Which is not something liberals want to catch on in the nation's capitol, where lying is a professional sport.

THE GRINCH

12-year-old Bryan LaFond, a 7th grader at the Hampton Academy Junior High school, recently decided that he would attend his school's Christmas dance. His chosen attire for said dance: A Santa suit. Imagine that!

So what happened? Principal Fred Muscara, concerned that somebody might be offended, send the kid home to change. No Santa suits allowed at their Christmas party. He was told to change into more secular attire. The assault on Christmas by the left continues. Pretty soon every tradition in this country will be banned by those seeking to force their agendas down our throats. Would he have been asked to leave had he shown up in traditional Islamic garb? I doubt it. Speaking to a local newspaper, the good principal had this to say: "It was a holiday party. It was not a Christmas party. There is a separation of church and state. We have a lot of students that go to Hampton Academy Junior High that have different religions. We have to be sensitive to that." By the way, did you know the words "separation of church and state" do not exist in the United States Constitution? Go impress your friends with that one.

At any rate, on this day, Christmas Eve, perhaps it would be appropriate to drop Mr. Muscara a line, to tell him what you think (and wish him a Merry Christmas:)

Principal Fred Muscara
Hampton Academy Junior High School
29 Academy Avenue
Hampton NH 03842
Phone 603.926.2000 - FAX 603.926.1855
E-mail:  fmuscara@sau21.k12.nh.us

Maybe if people like this get the message more often, they'll start to realize just how out of the mainstream they are. Maybe.

BUSH FIRES THE FIRST SHOT

If the liberals in the Senate thought they were going to get away with their filibustering of President Bush's judicial nominees last session, they are sorely mistaken. Matter of fact, to remind Democrats that they lost quite a few seats in the last election, President Bush is flexing a little political muscle. It has been announced that he will renominate all 20 judges that the Democrats refused to allow a vote on.

As you might expect, the left was incensed. How dare the president appoint judges to fill vacancies! First up, with his panties in a knot, was incoming Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, who whined: "I was extremely disappointed to learn today that the president intends to begin the new Congress by resubmitting extremist judicial nominees." Oh really? Notice how left-wing liberal judges are never considered "extremist." Only conservatives merit that label from the left.

Now that they are even more out of power, Democrats are going to become more shrill and reactionary than ever before. Just wait...in the not too distant future, George Bush will nominate Clarence Thomas or Antonin Scalia to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and the left will have a seizure.

It's going to be a fun four years.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

More lunacy: the choir at a Christmas Day cathedral has been ordered to sing "God Rest Ye Merry People," instead of Gentlemen. The reason? What else...political correctness.

Also making the list of banned, politically incorrect terms: "Kemosabe." Naturally, Tonto and Lone Ranger were both racists.

World chess champion Garry Kasparov is sounding the warning on Vladimir Putin's increasingly authoritarian rule. Will the west step up and put a stop to it, or will we follow in the footsteps of Neville Chamberlain?

Who is to blame for the difficulties in Iraq? Not Donald Rumsfeld, says Victor Davis Hanson. He says people should leave the Defense Secretary alone.  Hanson is one of the finest writers around.  Give this one a shot.

With the year winding down, Thomas Sowell awards the 2004 Joseph Goebbels award for propaganda. This year's winner is quite the doozy. As always, a fine column.

The media hates religion, and since we're talking about media bias, here's Brent Bozell's latest column. There are plenty of examples.

Of the 641 murderers on California's death row, did you know what the leading cause of death is? Scott Peterson is going to be glad to hear this one, as Jeff Jacoby points out.

So why is the left against the war in Iraq? David Limbaugh has an update, given the events of the past couple of weeks with the violence there. If you have any liberal friends (who doesn't?) this will help sharpen your argument.

Merry Christmas, from Oliver North. Which is more politically incorrect, wishing someone a Merry Christmas, or having Oliver North deliver the greeting? I think a liberal somewhere just passed out.

So what are government schools teaching our most prized possessions these days? Mona Charen says the overwhelming theme in their teachings is that America is a rotten, terrible place that is greedy and cruel. If this doesn't make you take more of an interest in your child's education, nothing will.

WHAT THE HECK ARE THOSE POINTY HAND THINGS?
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