UP-FRONT HOLIDAY HISTORY NUGGET!!
Christmas 1940: In a Dangerous World, Roosevelt Called for Faith from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
From FDR's Christmas message from 1940, the tenth year of the Great Depression:
"Let us make this Christmas a merry one for the little children in our midst. For us of maturer years it cannot be merry. But for most of us it can be a Happy Christmas if by happiness we mean that we have done with doubts, that we have set our hearts against fear, that we still believe in the Golden Rule for all mankind, that we intend to live more purely in the spirit of Christ, and that by our works, as well as our words, we will strive forward in Faith and in Hope and in Love. In that spirit I wish a Happy Christmas to all, and happier Christmases yet to come."
Iran's Top Leaders Praise Spirit of Christmas from The Hill
"Iran President Hassan Rouhani is endorsing the spirit of Christmas. Rouhani on Tuesday retweeted two tweets, one by Iran’s supreme leader and one by its foreign minister, that focused on the spirit of Christmas. The tweets appear to be a part of a continuing effort by Rouhani to put a friendlier face toward the West."
Japan: Land of the Rising Gun (Dan Blumenthal, Michael Mazza) from the National Interest
"... somewhat suddenly, a country that has been not just wary of but eager to avoid foreign military entanglements is now implementing a more “proactive” national security policy. ... While Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is owed Washington’s thanks for his steely leadership, congrats are also in order for Beijing. China has done what North Korean belligerence and American goading have long failed to do: awake Japan from its Rip Van Winkle-like postmodern slumber."
The Francis Factor: Pope’s Economic Ideas Rattle GOP from Politico
"For years, Catholic leaders’ staunch and very public opposition to abortion, gay marriage and the contraception-related provisions of Obamacare made them natural allies for the GOP. But Francis has scrambled the equation by de-emphasizing hot-button social issues, warning against unchecked capitalism and pushing a populist message at odds with the core of the anti-spending, anti-big government Republican Party."
More Hunger for the Poorest Americans from the Editorial Board of the New York Times
"This is a harsh season for Americans struggling to afford food. Last month, the long lines at food pantries across the country grew longer with the expiration of the boost to food stamp benefit levels included in the 2009 economic stimulus plan."
Why Are More and More Children Walking Across the Border? (Ian Gordon) from Mother Jones Magazine
"Over the past five years, the number of undocumented children—mostly teens, but some as young as five—apprehended crossing the border without parents or guardians has tripled"
How Is Obamacare Enrollment Going? from Talking Points Memo
"With Wednesday's release of Obamacare enrollment data, we now have a growing sense of how the law is performing in its goal of getting the uninsured covered by health insurance."
Farewell To Health Care For America Now (Richard Kirsch) from the National Memo
"The campaign that won passage of health care reform is closing up shop, but its grassroots organizing efforts will stand as a model of success for progressives."
Obamacare Not First Big Govt Program with Launch Woes from Talking Points Memo
"Although multiple problems have snarled the rollout of President Barack Obama'ssignature health care law, it's hardly the first time a new, sprawling government program has been beset by early technical glitches, political hostility and gloom-and-doom denouncements."
This Is What It's Like To Work Full Time And Still Be Poor (Alexandra Schuster) from the Huffington Post
"When you are told time and time again that you do not have the right qualifications for a job. When you are living with a child on food stamps and the majority of your government subsidized income is devoted to baby formula. These are the stories of Americans who cannot make ends meet even while working at jobs that pay the minimum hourly wage."
Political Centrism is Not Objectivity (Brendan Nyhan) from the Columbia Journalism Review
"How the media wrongly treats deficit reduction as non-ideological."
Mother Gets a Gift 71 Years After her Baby Girl's Birth from the Los Angeles Times
"For decades, Brooke Mayo believed her daughter, born of rape and given up for adoption, was dead. Then a letter arrived."
The GOP's History of Sexist Hillary-Bashing (Sam Kleiner) from the Daily Beast
"Desperate to stop a second Clinton presidency in 2016, it’s a sure bet many in the GOP will reprise the ugly attacks on they used on her 22 years ago."
New Battles in the War on Liberal Christians (Ed Kilgore) from Talking Points Memo
"This year there are indeed tidings of great joy — or at least intimations of change — that call into question the usual identification of American Christianity with monolithic and triumphant Christian right."
The Gospel According to Fox News — and Their Cries of Holiday Persecution — Make Them Look Even More Foolish (Becky Garrison) from The Guardian [of the UK]
"As the number of Americans who understand what it means to live in an increasing pluralistic country continues to grow, those faithful to the Fox News brand of Christianity – and its need to be ever dominant and combative around the holidays – will continue to look ever more foolish and out of touch."
What Would Happen If We Really Went to War Against Christmas? We'd Probably Lose (Tim Murphy) from the New Yorker
"You've heard about the "War on Christmas," a cynical but largely successful attempt by grown men and women to drive up cable news ratings and sell terrible books. But what about an actual war on Christmas? If President Barack Obama wanted to take down Santa Claus*, how would he do it? And would it work? A classified report obtained by Mother Jones sheds new light on the Department of Defense's plans. Take a look:"
It’s ‘Very Obvious’ That Bobby Jindal Will Run For President, And Even More Obvious That He Will Lose (Henry Decker) from the National Memo
"There is one major barrier blocking Jindal’s presidential ambitions: Pretty much everybody hates the job that he’s done as governor."
Reality Isn’t So Ducky (Kathleen Parker) from the Washington Post
"Profit, not equal rights or freedom of religion or any of the other high-minded principles we seize to bolster our selective outrage, is the real coin of the realm. And, as if you didn’t know, it quacks like a duck."
Reality Has Its Risks (Froma Harrop) from Real Clear Politics
"Why can't it respond to what it considers offensive views by simply announcing that A&E finds them offensive? It's hard to see the point of punishing this redneck, who seems as much no-school as old-school. ... Those jarred by Southern crackers speaking their minds might likewise try avoidance. (Was I just politically incorrect using the word "cracker"?) Or they should make peace with the obvious risk that if you watch reality TV, reality is (sometimes) what you get."
The Twitchiest And Most Influential Voice In the GOP’s Grassroots Will Make Sure The Party Never Rebrands from the National Memo
"The troubling aspect of this power for the GOP is that Malkin’s agenda doesn’t always align with what the party wants or needs. And when it doesn’t, she has no compunction about turning the mob behind her against members of her own party. ... The modern GOP is the home of those who resist change. It was forged from a movement that “stands athwart history, yelling Stop.” This is a movement that rewards its leaders for offending and punishes them for reaching out. And when Michelle Malkin tweets, they listen, they retweet and they rage."
HOLIDAY NUGGET!!
How George Washington Celebrated Christmas (John Avlon) from the Daily Beast
"America's first president threw lavish parties full of pies and whiskey for friends and servants alike. The Founding Father had good reason to splurge after many Christmases that were lean on cheer."
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