Sarah Palin's "War on Christmas" Book

[miffy]

All the shops here start Christmas in early October. But we don't do thanksgiving or Halloween. However some retailers do try hard to get Halloween to take off, but I can guarantee anybody who decorates their house for it is an expat.

[FloraKitty35]

Is there a POW camp for the "War on Christmas"? Do they make you wear Quacker Factory sweaters, eggnog board you, beat you with stale fruit cakes and mince meat pies, make you listen to a bunch of Xmas songs over & over again, and are you required to watch It's a Wonderful Life or some other Xmas special that somehow makes the pain of death lose its sting over and over again?

[SPHASH]

I've been seeing promos for Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel since early October.

[2xx1xy1JD]

Has any store clerk or teacher every actually lost their job for saying Merry Christmas instead of Happy Holidays? If not, I'm calling bullshit on the whole "war of Christmas" notion.

[constantgardener]

The shop where I work has had Christmas cards in since June. We get quite a few customers complaining but then they always buy some because they are on special offer. We have had our Christmas decorations and some food (Christmas puddings etc.) on display since the beginning of this month. When you work in retail you are always in one of three stages - planning Christmas, doing Christmas, or having a post-Christmas sale.

I'm not sure, in Sarah Palin's eyes, whether this means the true meaning of Christmas is being lost or whether we are doing the right thing by celebrating it!

[m0drnmoonlight]

This right here is why Caribou Barbie will never ever run for president in 2016. She's having too much fun getting paid boatloads of money to "write" books about how America hates Christians, appear as a talking head on tv, and travel around the country mocking Democrats and fanning the flames of the "Obama is a Socalist Muslim" movement.

She also has some nerve showing up to the veterans' rally at the WWII memorial last week with Ted Cruz and basically hijacking it so they could spin it into a "Obama hates veterans and, oh yeah, he's a Muslim." And accusing Obama of using vets as political pawns? What a fucking hypocrite. As the granddaughter of a WWII vet, I am so disgusted with her ruining their rally.

She is a horrible, horrible woman and I also wish she would go away (and take her famewhoring daughter too).

And there's no ~War on Christmas~. Bill O'Reilly acts like he's some fucking savior for bringing so much attention to this and I'm pretty sure he takes credit for Walmart doing away with saying "Happy Holidays." WHO FUCKING CARES?! I'm a (very lapsed) Christian and I don't get offended if someone says Happy Holidays to me. You're basically getting told "Have a nice day" and who would be mad about that?

Whenever my dad complains about it and I remind him that not everybody is Christian, he always says "Well, this country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles!" That doesn't make us a Christian nation though!

Yikes, sorry for the rant. :embarrassed:

[m0drnmoonlight]

When I worked at Borders (RIP...or not, I hated working there), we would get our big Holiday shipment right before Halloween. The minute Halloween was over, the cafe would start putting out all of its holiday gifts and displays and start making gingerbread and peppermint drinks. The rest of the store? We'd have cards and wrapping paper out a little before Halloween. Apart from a few small displays with Thanksgiving cookbooks and Thanksgiving books in the kids' section, everything else was Holidays once Halloween was done.

My brother works at Saks and they have their Christmas tree up already. He said customers are bitching out the staff because it's too early, like they're the ones who make the choice to stick it up.

If there's a ~War on Christmas~, why so much emphasis on getting holiday shopping started earlier and earlier? At Borders, people would complain to us that our decorations weren't "Christmasy" enough. Even our generic holiday decorations were still Christmasy - when you see the colors red and green, and wreaths, candy canes, gingerbread men, reindeer...you think Christmas. Did people just want us to stick a giant nativity scene in the store? I'm thinking probably, when they said "Your decorations aren't Christmasy."

[GolightlyGrrl]

Well, I do write reviews for the "I Read it So You Don't Have to" series at our FJ blog, so perhaps I'll take one for the team. But I refuse to buy it and add money to the Tundra Tart's wallet. Perhaps my library will get it. Thank the goddess, my library has self checkout.

[JMarie]

I was in CVS yesterday, and overheard a customer asking about Hanukkah cards. I guess the Jewish holidays don't count, and how dare Hanukkah start on Thanksgiving. That's a national holiday!

[Mary C Doates]

When I worked at Borders (RIP...or not, I hated working there), we would get our big Holiday shipment right before Halloween. The minute Halloween was over, the cafe would start putting out all of its holiday gifts and displays and start making gingerbread and peppermint drinks. The rest of the store? We'd have cards and wrapping paper out a little before Halloween. Apart from a few small displays with Thanksgiving cookbooks and Thanksgiving books in the kids' section, everything else was Holidays once Halloween was done.

My brother works at Saks and they have their Christmas tree up already. He said customers are bitching out the staff because it's too early, like they're the ones who make the choice to stick it up.

If there's a ~War on Christmas~, why so much emphasis on getting holiday shopping started earlier and earlier? At Borders, people would complain to us that our decorations weren't "Christmasy" enough. Even our generic holiday decorations were still Christmasy - when you see the colors red and green, and wreaths, candy canes, gingerbread men, reindeer...you think Christmas. Did people just want us to stick a giant nativity scene in the store? I'm thinking probably, when they said "Your decorations aren't Christmasy."

Another former Borders employee here!

We had Christmas crap filling up the stockroom in August, and had customers complaining about not having (free) Christmas wrapping paper when they did their holiday shopping in September. By Hallowe'en we were tripping over "barges" (floor stacks) of coffee table-type bargain books and being forced to listen to endless loops of Christmas-y music (generally only instrumentals, as Borders was oh-so-sensitive to the possibility of offending non-Christian customers with Jesus references...because non Christians are completely unaware of what the words are to, say, "Oh Holy Night"). We always said it should be illegal to display anything Christmas-y until the day after Thanksgiving.

The banner ad I'm getting on this thread is for Christmas trees!

Edited because flashbacks to the Whitney Houston Christmas album interfered with my ability to form coherent sentences.

[Emme]

I just love when this shit rears its head. The dominant religion is being persecuted because we're being forced to acknowledge that other religious events exist other than ours... waaaah!

[LucySnowe]

Long, long ago I worked in a Hallmark store (bleah) and we had the Christmas ornaments out in July. I think this was more for the collectors than anyone actually wanting to stick them on trees.

I always wonder how people who work in 'nothing but Christmas decorations' shops manage to stay sane.

[doggie]

here is a good review

Initially I planned to ignore this week’s release of Good Tidings and Great Joy, Sarah Palin’s book waging war on the war on Christmas. Few political hucksters milking the culture war for an easy buck peddle antics more shopworn than the annual fear-mongering that secularist Scrooges are coming for our creches.

But then I couldn’t stop wondering: What happens when the Queen of Grievance takes up arms on behalf of the Prince of Peace’s birthday?

I’ll tell you what happens. Pure magic.

Don’t misunderstand. Palin’s book is neither well-written nor informative on either a political or a theological level. She does what plenty before her have done: scour the news for any cases of holiday-themed lawsuits or political scuffles, even ones where Christmas emerges triumphant, and whip them into a towering soufflé of proof that Jesus’s, and maybe even Santa’s, days are numbered. Her favorite conceit is to weave unconnected news snippets into over-the-top fantasy sequences—some set in the future! That allows her to mash up real-world episodes with more baroque scenarios sprung from the fever swamps of her imagination (like the lad docked points for using the word “Christmas†in a school essay), jack up the outrage factor with moralizing dialogue, and then proclaim: See, it’s all really happening!

But to focus on Palin’s narrative or polemic gifts is to miss the point. The book is not, as the subtitle maternally suggests, about “Protecting the Heart of Christmas.†As with pretty much everything the former governor does, this is all about Venting the Spleen of Sarah. And that’s what makes it so gosh darn refreshing. Screw those treacly holiday offerings aiming to melt your heart or lift your spirits. Dickens? Bah, humbug. It’s a Wonderful Life? Sentimental swill. That tear-jerking “Christmas Shoes†song so nakedly exploitative that it makes you want to take a blowtorch to your ears? ’Nuff said. Good Tidings and Great Joy gives the finger to all that, offering instead Palin at her toxic best: snippy, snarky, snide, and thoroughly pissed off.

From the first chapter, it is clear that, whatever her concerns about “a Christ-less Christmas,†Palin has found a convenient frame on which to hang her rage at pretty much everything: Obamacare, Obamaphones, Nancy Pelosi, the national debt, gay marriage, sexual sin, crony capitalism, the preferential treatment of Muslims (whoo-wee! does she get rolling on that one), the lamestream media, Chick-fil-A haters, abortion, Mitt Romney’s hair, and on and on. No liberal stereotype, from Birkenstocks to the French, vegans, and NPR, is too tired to sneer at. She goes so far as to close her first chapter helpfully with a rant against those who claim the entire war on Christmas “conversation†is “the result of hypersensitivity, intolerance, or—their favorite criticism for us ‘bitter clingers’—ignorance and fear of change. (See how I did that? I just summarized 90 percent of the book reviews for my critics, so they don’t even have to read the rest. You betcha, I helped you out!)â€

On and on and on she goes, grinding that ax until it’s sharp enough decapitate a moose with one blow.

Even anecdotes that are supposed to be upbeat turn out to be barbed. After noting that her Christmas Eve tradition includes a candelabra filled with Chanukah candles, Palin sniffs, “See, I embrace diversity.†And after sharing how fun it was to watch daughter Bristol perform on Dancing With the Stars—and to come back for the All-Star season—she quotes her daughter approvingly, “Heh! Exactly! The critics are going to criticize anyway, and the haters are going to hate, so you might as well dance!†(Italics in the original, of course.)

Above all, Palin never misses an opportunity to turn the attention back toward herself and how shabbily she has been treated in recent years. For instance, what begins as a disquisition on how atheists are the only Americans who demand to be legally protected from being offended quickly morphs into Palin talking about all the “concentrated ‘offense’†she stoically shouldered in 2008. (“During that campaign, I saw obscene protesters, had my personal e-mail hacked, was mischaracterized through ridiculously scandalous headlines, received death threats, and was stalked.â€) In case anyone misses the point, she revisits the same theme a few chapters later, when recalling her state of mind on Christmas Night 2008: “I’d been through a challenging campaign for the vice presidency in which I’d been maligned, my family had been mocked, my e-mail had been hacked, and our privacy lost. There was literally no accusation against us that was too strange, too bizarre, to publish.â€

Not that the abuse ended after the election, mind you. By way of explaining to readers how a vocal “fringe†of atheists command so much attention, Palin offers: “When I post something on Facebook, for example, you wouldn’t believe the angry, outraged, and just plain silly and rude responses that immediately follow. And that doesn’t even touch on the vile tweets people fire off. Does that mean a huge percentage of readers dislike what I write? I honestly don’t think so.†And don’t get her started on the ethics investigation of her tenure as governor: “I was slammed with ridiculous charges (some charges so hilarious they actually gave participating lawyers a bad name), costing millions of dollars and most hours of my days…â€

Even in Palin’s fantasy scenarios, it all comes back to (imaginary) personal slights. In one, she lays out a dark episode in which Todd refuses to wish her “Happy Birthday†for fear that the phrase would not adequately encompass all the other things that happened on that day in history.

And on and on and on she goes, grinding that ax until it’s sharp enough decapitate a moose with one blow.

That isn’t to suggest there is no sweetness, light, or levity in the book. Palin’s story about nearly giving a really rich guy an oosik for Christmas is chuckle-worthy. (Even if it does end with her whinging about the intrusiveness of TSA agents.) And the section where she talks about how she and Todd got into a fight over how to respond to Bristol’s pregnancy carries a whiff of real pathos.

For the most part, however, Palin steers clear of good tidings and great joy—and all that other mushy stuff we so often associate with Christmas stories. Without intending to, the score-keeping, eternally offended governor may have penned the perfect manual for a different holiday altogether: Festivus. Let the airing of grievances begin!

[salex]

while running for VP she says (“During that campaign, I saw obscene protesters, had my personal e-mail hacked, was mischaracterized through ridiculously scandalous headlines, received death threats, and was stalked.â€)

Good grief, my father and sister have had those things happen when all they did was serve on the School board ---

Glad you read it for us, hope she didn't earn anything from your doing so.

Thanks for taking one for the team

[louisa05]

I was in CVS yesterday, and overheard a customer asking about Hanukkah cards. I guess the Jewish holidays don't count, and how dare Hanukkah start on Thanksgiving. That's a national holiday!

A couple of years ago, a former student from Christian school, who still drinks all the kool-aid, posted on Facebook that her daughter brought home a picture of a Menorah from school and concluded with the following statement:

"I'm glad my kids get to learn how other cultures celebrate Christmas!"

:angry-banghead:

[2xx1xy1JD]

Doggie - where is that review from? Could you include the link.

[PennySycamore]

I've been seeing promos for Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel since early October.

Hell, the Hallmark Channel shows little but crappy Christmas movies for the 2 months starting November 1 or 2. No more reruns of I Love Lucy, Golden Girls, Cheers or Frazier. I don't know if they still show reruns or Home Improvement and The Waltons in the afternoon, but I doubt it. Charter just changed the position of the Hallmark Channel (the heart of TV, my ass!) and I frankly don't care that it's less convenient.

Now, I love Christmas movies, but I'll stick to TCM, AMC, and the 24 hour marathon of A Christmas Story on TBS.

[louisa05]

Hell, the Hallmark Channel shows little but crappy Christmas movies for the 2 months starting November 1 or 2. No more reruns of I Love Lucy, Golden Girls, Cheers or Frazier. I don't know if they still show reruns or Home Improvement and The Waltons in the afternoon, but I doubt it. Charter just changed the position of the Hallmark Channel (the heart of TV, my ass!) and I frankly don't care that it's less convenient.

Now, I love Christmas movies, but I'll stick to TCM, AMC, and the 24 hour marathon of A Christmas Story on TBS.

Nope. As of this week, no afternoon reruns. Just Christmas movies all the time. Because the "culture" hates Christmas and soon we won't be allowed to celebrate at all, don't you know?

[doggie]

Doggie - where is that review from? Could you include the link.

I forgot the link see if I can find it.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... -book.html

[GolightlyGrrl]

I forgot the link see if I can find it.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2 ... -book.html

This review was a thing of beauty. My alternative title to Sarah's book? "Dreck the Halls."

Speaking of "Dreck the Halls," I was at Barnes and Noble yesterday. They are barely promoting her book. It is not displayed prominently at any of their tables. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," a YA novel that came out in 1999 was more prominently displayed.

[louisa05]

This review was a thing of beauty. My alternative title to Sarah's book? "Dreck the Halls."

Speaking of "Dreck the Halls," I was at Barnes and Noble yesterday. They are barely promoting her book. It is not displayed prominently at any of their tables. "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," a YA novel that came out in 1999 was more prominently displayed.

Which means that the publisher did not pay for prominent space.

I wonder if they are pushing it in Christian bookstores. I would go look, but those stores make me want to hurl.