The War on Christmas is back

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Gueraldo Rivera probably had the greatest American Christmas line of all time when he said, “In my house Santa Claus is Puerto Rican.” He kind of tweaked everyone’s brain with that one.
 
UsualName said:
Gueraldo Rivera probably had the greatest American Christmas line of all time when he said, “In my house Santa Claus is Puerto Rican.” He kind of tweaked everyone’s brain with that one.
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I wonder if they got the multiple meanings?
 
gwb-trading said:
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Will you joke about CRT when you do a 180 and mock the idea eventually as you did about the "war on Christmas" in an attempt to downplay your role in spreading nonsense? Have you no shame?

gwb-trading said:
Nothing will make liberals go more ape-shiat insane over these holidays than saying Don Jr will be the 46th or 47th President of the United States.... except for saying "Merry Christmas" maybe.

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gwb-trading said:
Public Schools are closed for two weeks at the end of December because it is the Winter Break. You are not allowed to call it the "Christmas Break".
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gwb-trading said:
To appease Muslims, school district drops Christian, Jewish holidays from calendar
Montgomery County, Maryland parents, CAIR sought days off for Eid al-Fitr, Eid al-Adha
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news...ty-school-board-strips-calendar-chr/?page=all
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gwb-trading said:
Md. school eliminates religious holidays from calendar
http://www.wral.com/school-district-scraps-religious-names-on-calendar/14174894/

Presented with the opportunity to recognize a Muslim holiday on the school calendar for the first time, leaders of Maryland's largest school district went a different direction: They removed all mention of religious holidays from the calendar.


Many school districts nationwide don't spell out religious holidays on the calendar, having replaced "Christmas Break" with the secular "Winter Break." But school officials in Montgomery County, Maryland, a wealthy and diverse Washington suburb, are being criticized for the impetus behind their decision: a push by Muslims to close schools on the Eid holy days.


Muslim activists had asked the board to note on next year's calendar that Yom Kippur, a day when schools are already closed, is also Eid al-Adha. The two holidays do not always fall on the same date. But the board rejected that proposal, instead voting 7-1 to close schools on the same days as usual without mentioning their religious associations.


As a result, Christians and Jews are upset at the removal of their holidays from the calendar, and Muslims are upset that theirs weren't included. Conservative bloggers seized on the decision as part of a perceived "war on Christmas" by secular forces. And Muslims accused the board of hiding behind secularism to protect more established communities.


"It was a no-win situation for us," school board chairman Phil Kaufman said.


Still, Kaufman believes the decision was fair and that some of the furor over it was misplaced. Schools, after all, will remain closed on Christmas, as well as on the Jewish holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. But Zainab Chaudry of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, a co-chair of the "Equality for Eid" campaign, sees a more sinister motive.


"It shows they would go to any lengths, they would take drastic measures to deny the Muslim community the right to have the Eid holiday on the school calendar," she said.


The Constitution bars public schools from using religious holidays as a reason for closing. Schools can only close if opening would significantly affect their operation — essentially, because so many students and teachers would be absent that the school couldn't function. That's why the county opted to close schools on the two Jewish high holidays starting in the 1970s.


At the time, the school system had an absentee rate of around 15 percent on the Jewish holy days. When it last studied the absentee rate on a Muslim holiday, it was around 5 percent — about the same as the rate on a normal day. But school officials don't know exactly how many Jewish students they have or how the Jewish population compares with the growing Muslim population.


Montgomery County's school system is the 17th largest school district in the nation, with 154,000 students.


A handful of school systems around the country are closed on the Eid holidays, including in Dearborn, Michigan, which has a large Muslim population.


Montgomery County schools also send out a more detailed calendar that mentions all religious holidays, and students aren't penalized for missing school for religious reasons.


Courts have upheld decisions to close schools based on absenteeism rates, including in a federal appeal that found Maryland wasn't endorsing Christianity by requiring schools to be closed on Good Friday and Easter Monday.


Leaders of the Eid campaign say the school system hasn't established clear criteria for what should cause schools to be closed. There are other days with high absenteeism rates, such as Take Your Kids to Work Day.


"They've cherry-picked a handful of religious holidays for favored communities and used a secular excuse to grant only those days," said Saqib Ali, a former Maryland state delegate and a co-chair of the Eid campaign.


Schools Superintendent Joshua Starr declined to comment Wednesday. He had recommended that the board eliminate mention of only the Jewish holidays because schools are closed on those days at the county's discretion, while the state requires that schools be closed on Christmas. Board members rejected that suggestion, deciding that it would be more equitable to remove mention of Christian holidays as well.


The associate pastor of Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church, Norman Gordon, said that decision sent a message to all students that their faith is not important. Gordon has three children in county schools, and Ali's wife, Susan Simmons Ali, is one of his parishioners.


"I think, in an effort to be politically correct, they've kind of snubbed not just one particular faith tradition, but all three," Gordon said.
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gwb-trading said:
Protesting Santa booted from Muscatine City Council meeting, banned for six months
http://muscatinejournal.com/muscati...cle_37cab2c4-2b20-55af-b0be-97ca78354b43.html

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Santa Claus unexpectedly visited the Muscatine City Council Thursday night, presenting Mayor Diana Broderson with candy, in this screen grab from the City of Muscatine's YouTube channel. When he began to pass out lumps of coal to councilmen and the city administrator, police escorted him from the building.

Santa Claus made an unexpected — and, to many, unwelcome — visit to the Muscatine City Council meeting Thursday evening.

During the time for citizens to address the council with concerns, Santa, aka Muscatine resident Max Kauffman, entered the Council Chambers, with a red bag of presents in hand. After convincing an audience member to act as his elf, Santa pulled out the first present.

Kauffman handed Mayor Diana Broderson a bag of candy, saying she deserved it for everything she has been through the past year, alluding to the fact she was voted out of office by her fellow city councilmen in May.

"Candy kisses, for all the grief and aggravation you've had to do this year," Kauffman said as he handed over the gift to the mayor. "For the way you've handled everything ... the way you've done it with grace and beauty."

The tension in the room was palpable as Kauffman once again reached inside his bag, saying he had presents for the council members.

"A lump of coal," he said, exclaiming, as he placed a block in front of Councilman Allen Harvey.

By the time he was pulling out a brick-sized piece of coal for City Administrator Gregg Mandsager, saying he deserved it for "suing the city," councilmen and city staff were calling for Santa to be removed.

Mandsager signaled for Police Chief Brett Talkington, who escorted Santa out of the room. Mandsager then directed Talkington to keep Kauffman out of the Council Chambers for six months.

The Santa suit protest was the latest in a series of citizen complaints, petitions and actions to show frustration over the Muscatine City Council's attempts to oust the mayor.

Broderson was reinstated by a judge following her removal, and, in October, a district court judge vacated the council's removal vote. Moments before the protest, Broderson was sworn in for the start of her second term, as she won re-election on Nov. 7.

Kauffman has regularly voiced his opinions regarding the mayor's removal over Broderson's first term. Most recently, he approached councilmen saying they should consider putting Mandsager on leave for suing Broderson for defamation, as well as including the city of Muscatine in the lawsuit.

On the last city council meeting of the year, and the last meeting for three outgoing council members, Santa's rebellious act gave a final nod to Muscatine residents angry over a controversial use of taxpayer dollars.

And, while several residents told this newspaper the Santa Claus protest was in poor taste, the visit from Saint Nick was a theatrical end to a year filled with tense public meetings, citizen demonstrations and residents saying their voices aren't being heard by council.
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Cuddles said:
Will you joke about CRT when you do a 180 and mock the idea eventually as you did about the "war on Christmas" in an attempt to downplay your role in spreading nonsense? Have you no shame?
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So make up your mind -- do you support the War against Christmas or not. Come on, choose a side.
 
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