Ed Driscoll

By Ed Driscoll

Bio

Get Updates From Ed Driscoll

A Festivus for the Rest of Us

July 28, 2011 - 12:31 pm - by Ed Driscoll

Frank: It’s made from aluminum. Very high strength-to-weight ratio.
Kruger: I find your belief system fascinating.

– Frank Costanza, discussing the Festivus “tree” in 1997 on Seinfeld.

“Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) tells People magazine in the issue out Friday that he and his wife, Michelle, do not give Christmas or birthday presents to their two young daughters.”

Advertisement

– The Politico, July 24, 2008

“When former social secretaries gave a luncheon to welcome Ms. Rogers earlier this year, one participant said, she surprised them by suggesting the Obamas were planning a ‘non-religious Christmas’ — hardly a surprising idea for an administration making a special effort to reach out to other faiths.”

– The New York Times’ profile of Desirée Rogers, the former Obama White House social secretary, December 4th, 2009.

“No Churchgoing Christmas for the First Family.”

Time magazine headline, December 23, 2009.

All of which bring us to today’s headline at the Daily Caller:

“GOP aims to gut Christmas, White House alleges.”

So from the president’s point of view, this is a bipartisan feature, right?

Though conversely, in its own way, it’s also a reminder of P.J. O’Rourke’s famous aphorism, “I have only one firm belief about the American political system, and that is this: God is a Republican and Santa Claus is a Democrat:”

God is an elderly or, at any rate, middle aged male, a stern fellow, patriarchal rather than paternal and a great believer in rules and regulations. He holds men accountable for their actions. He has little apparent concern for the material well being of the disadvantaged. He is politically connected, socially powerful and holds the mortgage on literally everything in the world. God is difficult. God is unsentimental. It is very hard to get into God’s heavenly country club.

Santa Claus is another matter. He’s cute. He’s nonthreatening. He’s always cheerful. And he loves animals. He may know who’s been naughty and who’s been nice, but he never does anything about it. He gives everyone everything they want without the thought of quid pro quo. He works hard for charities, and he’s famously generous to the poor. Santa Claus is preferable to God in every way but one: There is no such thing as Santa Claus.

Especially when all of your credit cards have been maxed out for years, and the bill collectors are pounding on your door.

PJ Media appreciates your comments that abide by the following guidelines:

1. Avoid profanities or foul language unless it is contained in a necessary quote or is relevant to the comment.

2. Stay on topic.

3. Disagree, but avoid ad hominem attacks.

4. Threats are treated seriously and reported to law enforcement.

5. Spam and advertising are not permitted in the comments area.

These guidelines are very general and cannot cover every possible situation. Please don't assume that PJ Media management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment. We reserve the right to filter or delete comments or to deny posting privileges entirely at our discretion. Please note that comments are reviewed by the editorial staff and may not be posted immediately. If you feel your comment was filtered inappropriately, please email us at story@pjmedia.com.

3 Comments, 3 Threads, 1 Trackbacks

  1. 1. John

    Santa’s also an expert at breaking and entering, which as Sideshow Bob noted two decades ago makes him a perfect Democrat.

  2. 2. cfbleachers

    Santa Claus is a fat, unshaven, white guy who likes to take credit for giving presents to people that other people actually pay for and deliver.

    Because they have been guilt-tripped into not exposing his worldwide fraud, and because he hides behind a facade of “giving”, nobody turns exposes him, they just play along.

    Red is his favorite color and nobody has ever actually seen him do a lick of work.

    He is into “redistribution” and keeps a list of who is “naughty” and who is “nice”.

    The media fawns all over him.

    I think he is Obama’s real father. Nobody can find his birth certificate either. Global warming would really ruin his day, by the way.

  3. 3. whiskey

    Doesn’t celebrate Christmas? No presents for little kids (that’s what the holiday is all about!)

    Guy is undoubtedly a Muslim. Culturally if nothing else. He’s certainly rejected America’s great holiday. Really, what kind of a father doesn’t want to give Christmas gifts, have a tree, and so on, with his little kids?

One Trackback to “A Festivus for the Rest of Us”