No offense to Athiests or people of faiths with contrary beliefs, but this clip is a wonderful memory of my childhood.  It reminds me of a time when it was not politically incorrect to celebrate Christmas. 

Sister Toldjah explains it thusly:

All too often, the real meaning of Christmas gets lost or blurred in all the flurry of shopping, travelling, and holiday parties - and sadly, in the era of PC, some people want to take the meaning of Christmas out of the season altogether, as Mary Katharine Ham details here.

I know of people who don’t believe in any form of religious faith, and also know people of other faiths, who do not get offended when they hear or read “Merry Christmas.” They accept it as part of our culture but celebrate it privately in their homes in a different way. They know there is a reason the name “Christ” is in the word Christmas and it doesn’t have a bleeping thing to do with a “winter festival” or whatever the heck the perpetually offended call it these days. What does it have to do with? This little guy, who I’m sure most of ya’ll will recognize, explains it succinctly.

And most importantly, at this time of year when political correctness is so out of control, I take comfort in the fact that they can’t take Christmas out of our hearts and minds, nor will they ever be able to change the meaning of Christmas, no matter how hard they try.

Here it is.  For those of us who grew up in the 60s and 70s, and who waited with great anticipation to watch this evey year, I hope it serves as a happy reminder to you as well.

In what I see as the second major blow to her authority as Speaker, Pelosi will not be installing Rep Alcee "Impeached but not Convicted" Hastings to the Chair of the House Intelligence Committee.

Hastings, Harman Rejected for Chairmanship: Pelosi Decides Against Both of House Intelligence Panel's Top Two Democrats

House Speaker-elect Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has decided against naming either Rep. Jane Harman (Calif.), the senior Democrat on the House intelligence committee, or Rep. Alcee L. Hastings (Fla.), the panel's No. 2 Democrat, to chair the pivotal committee next year.

The decisions came despite lobbying by conservative Democrats on Harman's behalf and a full-throttled campaign by Hastings to overcome the stigma of the 1988 impeachment that drove him from his federal judgeship.

The fight over the top spot on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has exposed the kind of factional politics that bedeviled House Democrats before they were swept from control in 1994. Harman, a moderate, strong-on-defense "Blue Dog" Democrat, had angered liberals with her reluctance to challenge the Bush administration's use of intelligence. Hastings, an African American, was strongly backed by the Congressional Black Caucus but was ardently opposed by the Blue Dogs, who said his removal from the bench disqualifies him from such a sensitive post.

Complicating the matter was Pelosi's relationship with black Democrats. Earlier this year, she enraged the Black Caucus by removing one of its members, Rep. William J. Jefferson (La.), from the Ways and Means Committee after court documents revealed that federal investigators looking into allegations of bribery had found $90,000 in cash neatly bundled in his freezer.

Darn it sure does suck when you have to deal with people on the basis of their actions and not their race doesn't it?  To the race baiting democrats this was a terrible thing, but to most people it was a simply logical thing.

What makes this so odd is that Pelosi is one of the democrats who voted to Impeach Hastings after the accusations of bribery came to light.  So a few years back he was unfit to be a judge, but now suddenly he was worthy to be the Chairmen of a very influential committee?

Since I am snowed in for all intents, I might as well blog some interesting links.

The big story is the major source used by the AP and other news sources has been shown to be a phoney.  What make this particularly troubling is this particular source, Jamil Hussein is the primae source in the story of an alleged massacre, the burning alive of six Sunnis.  This takes on particular importance when you find out that NBC based their decision to officially declare Iraq a civil war on this story.

Stop the ACLU notes that:

It’s not just NBC. Since the Adnan Hajj/Reutersgate/fauxtography scandal during the Israeli/Hezbollah war led to grave questions about the current state of Western journalism, it has become increasingly obvious that there is something basically wrong with the way the major media companies are covering events in the Middle East.

Indeed. Hot Air provides some interesting twists.

But Sister Toldjah provides the million dollar question: 

Does the MSM feel any responsiblity towards its readers for accurate reporting anymore?

Answer?  Apparently not.

Also at STA, the American Legion has taken the same position I have and called for an apology from Rep Rangel over his trash talking the military.

American Pundit however makes the case why he likely will not. He rarely makes nice.

Also via Sister Toldjah, this no brainer about John Kerry:

Democratic Sen. John Kerry, mulling a second bid for the U.S. presidency, finished dead last in a poll released on Monday on the likability of 20 top American political figures.

I have a hard time not finding the jokes in it.  Former NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was first.

In a blow to an out of control blabbermouth Media, the SCOTUS smacks down the NY Times.  Via MM:

The United States Supreme Court refused today to stop a federal prosecutor from reviewing the telephone records of two reporters for The New York Times. The records, the paper said, include information about many of the reporters’ confidential sources.

Wah!  When confidential sources violate national security, too bad.

I know I should remain respectful, but sometimes Rangel just makes me wanna beat the shit out of him. (pardon the profanity)

Hat tip on this is from Stop the ACLU.  Here is Charlie's latest idiocy.  Hot Air has the video:

I want to make it abundantly clear: if there’s anyone who believes that these youngsters want to fight, as the Pentagon and some generals have said, you can just forget about it. No young, bright individual wants to fight just because of a bonus and just because of educational benefits. And most all of them come from communities of very, very high unemployment. If a young fella has an option of having a decent career or joining the army to fight in Iraq, you can bet your life that he would not be in Iraq.

Why do these people even pretend that they respect the Military?  It is such cheap lip service.

The obvious question is why does no one call Rangle on his Sexism.  Last I heard girls go into the military too.  But let's ignore that for a second.

To people like Rangel and Kerry, the only reason they like the Military is that to them it is a social dumping ground to put in all the losers.  To them the military is just the infantry, a bunch of loser grunts with guns.  Loser GUY grunts of course.

They apparently missed the Heritage study.

They ignore the truth that the Military is still led by Commissioned Officers.  And conveniently they forget that those Commissioned officers attended some of the finest Colleges and Universities in in our country, like, oh maybe John Kerry?

Those officers obviously become the leaders, who march along side their men on the ground, but they are also the pilots who fly thousands of sorties in our most technologically advanced aircraft. 

The are the Captains and officers of the Ships and Submarines in our Navy, who patrol the world's Oceans. 

Wishing everyone a great holiday.  I won't be blogging much the next few days, so feel free to use this as an open post for trackbacks or comments.

Thanksgiving at the LSU home will be a bit bittersweet this year, as we face the loss of an old friend.

The friend in question is one of my cats, who is 15 years old and doesn't seem likely to survive the night.  If she does survive the night, we face the decision to try and keep her comfortable or put her down.

I don't really tend to be the weepy pet person, but this cat came to me when I was in midst of hard times, and has been a great comfort to me throughout the years, and I admit I am very saddened by her impending loss.

She was a little scrawny kitten, the last of her litter from the pet store.  She grew into a medium sized short haired gray cat, much like a Russian Blue.

She was raised, if you will by a black lab, who was her only pet companion.  She in turned mothered my daughter, 3 more cats (the latest below) and another dog.

In all the years she never bit, scratched or even hissed at anyone.  One of the nicest tempered cats I have ever had, and never sick.

And so old age, the cruel eld, has apparently caught up with her.

My family is devastated, even though we realize she is old and lead a long life in cat years.

Pets are interesting.  They become as family in many ways.  While I will personally never mourn a pet as much as I would a person, this cat comes the closest as she is the only pet I have ever raised from young to old.

So what I am thankful for is 15 years of love and happiness that was given by a friend.

Rest easy Gizmo. 

One other thought, from Sister Toldjah:

Photoshop via Stubborn Facts

If Kerry and his botched joke was not bad enough, now Rep Rangel has upped the ante a notch.

First, he has once again called for a resumption of the draft.

Video: Rangel says he’ll introduce a bill to bring back the draft

Now I find it odd that so many liberals pointed fingers at Bush claiming a draft was imminent, like during Vietnam, and yet the only two people to suggest on are Rangel and Sen Hollings, both Democrats.

As Allah notes above:

He floats this idea periodically when his side needs a little boost. The last time he really pushed it was before the election in 2004, when the left tried to scare voters into Waffles’s camp by whispering about a secret Republican plan to restart the draft after Bush won. The GOP called his bluff by bringing the bill to the House floor for a vote, where it failed, 402-2. Among the nays? Charlie Rangel. (Among the yeas: Jack Murtha.)

But Rangel has not stopped with the draft, he also has made some fairly serious accusations about the integrity of the military, claiming they are not patriotic, they are essentially in it for the money.

Also via Hot Air:

Video: Rangel says Iraq volunteers are in it for the money, or something

I’ve watched this five times and I’m still not sure what he’s saying. I think he’s trying to argue that there’s no legitimate national security interest to our being in Iraq because, if there were, we wouldn’t have to recruit the poor by running ads and offering financial incentives. Patriotism would be incentive enough and would cut across classes. But since patriotism apparently isn’t enough, that proves the war is illegitimate which means the poor end up bearing a disproportionate share of the burden which in turn means we should either limit our strategic options by eschewing war entirely to prevent this inequity or reinstate the draft so that the sacrifice is shared equitably among people who didn’t enlist and don’t want to be there. Which I guess means the war in Afghanistan is illegitimate too.

HT Sister Toldjah:

http://www.kstp.com/article/stories/S20152.html?cat=1 

5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned that federal investigators and airport police are questioning six Middle Eastern men who had to be escorted off of a plane Monday afternoon at Minneapolis/St. Paul International.

U.S. Airway officials tell 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS' Aviation Expert Bob McNaney that Monday while Flight 300 was preparing to take off from Minneapolis to Phoenix, a passenger passed a note to a flight attendant saying they noticed 'suspicious behavior,' among the men.

The men would not get off the plane when asked, 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS has learned, and had to be removed by police.

Sources tell 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the men were chanting 'Allah, Allah, Allah,' as they were transported down the jetway.

Late Monday, federal investigators were still trying to determine exactly who the men are. One source tells 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS that the men said that they were in town for the weekend for a religious conference.

The other passengers on the flight, which was carrying 170 people, were re-screened for boarding, and it took off about three hours late.

Stay with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS and KSTP.com for continuing updates on this story.

Not too much into yet, so whether this was paranoid passengers or a real problem is not known.

I would say however, that if reports are true, chanting "Allah" and refusing to leave the plan surely did not help defuse tensions.

Crossposted to NW Bloggers

UPDATE:  Looks like an overreaction.  Maybe.n  Via Hot Air:

6 imams removed from flight at U.S. airport after 3 conduct traditional prayers

The six Muslim scholars were returning from a conference in Minneapolis of the North American Imams Federation, said Shahin, president of the group. Five of them were from the Phoenix-Tempe area, while one was from Bakersfield, California, he said.

Three of them stood and said their normal evening prayers together on the plane, as 1.7 billion Muslims around the world do every day, Shahin said. He attributed any concerns by passengers or crew to ignorance about Islam.

This weeks Open Trackback includes a personal announcement, the start of NW Bloggers.com, a joint effort for all NW Boggers to share ideas and thoughts, and maybe even some traffic.  Drop in and register if you are from the Northwest, or have a Northwest connection. 

This weeks link roundup:

Drudge reports that Rangel Will Seek to Reinstate Draft.  After all the accusations against the Republicans and Bush, guess who is actually goping to do it.  And this is not his first attempt, he tried this in 2003 with the help of Sen Hollings, also a Democrat.  On a related note, Sen McCain, the man who would be president agrees that more troops are needed.  I didn't see where he suggested conscription though.

Speaking of McCain, he has now said he supports a reversal of Roe v Wade and returning the ability to pass laws tot he States.  Apparently he is a Federalist after all.

The Democrats have the evil oil companies firmly in their sights.

Britney and KFed are divorcing, and TomKat are Married.  LSU asks:  Who Cares?!

Answer:  The lawyers, the paparazzi, and the people selling the Britney sex tape.

Conspiracy theory alert:  The Republicans are out to get Pelosi, and Hillary too.  This is a surprise, why?

More Muslim tolerance:  Via LGF, a Muslim Cab Driver refuses a blind fare:  Because of his service dog.  The Shari'a watch continues.

Locally, Rep Dave Reichert was finally declared the winner in the 8th Congressional Disctrict.  This prompted his opponent to congratulate him- and whine about it being because she was a woman.  No Darcy, it was because you were a liar, lacked any experience and qualifications, never finish anything you start and had no other agenda besides Bush Sucks.  Next time when you draft your campaign, assume just for fun that we in your district are actually intelligent and care about issues besides Pres Bush.

This weeks Sunday Funny features OJ "Yes we are sick of you" Simpson.

Have a great week!

Leave a trackback of your best post for others to read.   Also, look at the trackbacks below to see what others are saying. 

From Orbusmax Blog:

About 10 days ago, I received an interesting e-mail that I saved until after most of the election frenzy had died down and I had some time to do a little investigation of my own and present a fair representation of the facts.

The e-mailer (someone who has credibility with me but who will remain anonymous) alleged that the Dunlap elementary school in Seattle had been and was allowing students to leave classes at 1:30 in the afternoon to participate in a Muslim prayer service, held in a room and supervised by a teacher and/or a school staffer. The e-mailer also alleged that the services were being kept very low-key, and that only the involved parties (participating students and families) and the school administration was aware of what was going on, and that this had been going on since the beginning of the school year. The e-mailer believes there is also a similar situation at Aki Kurose Middle school but provided no details.

Orb contacted the school and asked for a comment and got this response:

Thank you for checking for the facts.

No afternoon prayer session was organized by any adult or staff member. Dunlap is a Seattle Public School and as such there is a clear separation of church and state.

It is the policy of Seattle School Board that no religious belief or non-belief be promoted by the School District or its employees, and none should be disparaged. We do not have a prayer policy, nor was anything kept quiet.

Sounds good right? Well....not quite.

During Ramadan, a couple of Muslim families whose children attend Dunlap contacted the school and asked for the reasonable religious accommodation of allowing their children a place to prayer during the month preceding their holiday Eide.

It is my understanding that it is lawful for schools to excuse students briefly from class to enable them to fulfill their religious obligations.

My further understanding is that due to safety issues it is allowable for a staff member to supervise those obligations. At Dunlap during this month, between classes, an ELL teacher supervised students for five minutes each day.

Thus sayeth OJ:

With no regard to my alleged victims families and to the greater sensibilities of the entire world, I will publish a book in which I "speculate" about how I killed my wife and her friend, if, you know, if I had actually done it, which I could not have because I was acquitted and everything.

And shielded by double jeopardy laws, I will be able to provide enough details to make such a wild speculation feasible, which of course is only speculation:  See above re: my acquittal.

And with the millions of dollars I will get from all the idiots suckers fools fans who buy my book, I will continue to live in a life of luxury and continue to ignore my victims family and the 30 million or so I owe them.  I may buy my kids a car and an iPod.

***

Look...from a dispassionate legal sense, he is free to speculate anything he wants.  He was fairly acquitted.  I closely watched the trials in a disgusting train wreck style fascination, and the prosecution and police bungled it.  Contaminated evidence galore.  There was enough to raise some doubt, which is all he needed.

And yea, I think he did it, or at least had a hand in it.  But he was found not guilty and we are stuck with him.  I can handle his assertions of innocence, his reward for the killers and his ignoring the court order.

But this is gross and disgusting.  If anyone I knows actually buys this drivel I will be very disappointed.

He should be ashamed.  His fans should be ashamed.  The media and publishers that continue to enable this narcissistic dipstick to be a household word should be too. 

The only good to come of it is if he actually confesses and the feds prosecute him on federal civil rights charges.

Jerk.

Others sick of OJ:  Michelle Malkin, Plains Feeder, La Shawn,