Way back in 2006, Mary Katharine Ham shot a video on the holiday that’s even grinchier than Festivus — Leftivus!
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And it sounds like the president is very much a participant. As Andrew Malcolm of the L.A. Times‘ “Top of the Ticket” blog notes, “Most Americans like ‘Merry Christmas’ these days, but not Barack and Michelle Obama”:
A survey of adult Americans finds that an overwhelming majority prefer the seasonal expression “Merry Christmas.” More than seven out of ten, in fact.
Twenty-two percent, according to Rasmussen Reports, go for “Happy Holidays.”
However, the Barack Obama family, spending its first December holidays in the White House, apparently doesn’t like either one. And these results, it turns out, can be revealing about political persuasions too.
They won’t actually spend the holiday in the White House. The Obamas with numerous family and friends will be on a rented beachfront in Hawaii when Christmas Day actually gets here. But the new first couple has just mailed thousands of greeting cards that say simply, “Season’s Greetings.”
They’re cream-colored, maroon-bordered cards showing a gold wreath wrapped around the presidential coat of arms.
The Obamas’ card, paid for by the Democratic National Committee, makes no religious reference whatsoever. “May your family have a joyous holiday season,” says the Obamas’ greeting, “and a new year blessed with hope and happiness.” This comes after reports that, initially anyway, the Obama White House planned its first Christmas to be a “non-religious” one, kind of like a non-sports Super Bowl Sunday.
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