The Glass Is Half... ?

Ever find one of those news stories you don't quite know how to react to? I found one today that has me on the fence between "This Amuses Me" and "This Pisses Me Off."

Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert has ordered that the decorated tree on the Lawn of the Capital will not be called a "Holiday Tree." It will be officially be called the "Capitol Christmas Tree."

On the one hand I am pleased that someone stood up to the politically correct stupidity of "Holiday" Trees. On the other hand I'm thoroughly annoyed that it had to be done in the first place.

The nations capital is not the only place where the name of decorated trees has become an issue. In the city of Boston the name of the tree has become quite a controversy.

The donor of Boston's officially decorated 48 foot tree is not pleased about the impact of political correctness and said he would not have donated the tree if he knew it would be called a "Holiday Tree."

"I'd have cut it down and put it through the chipper," Mr. Hatt told a Canadian newspaper. "If they decide it should be a holiday tree, I'll tell them to send it back. If it was a holiday tree, you might as well put it up at Easter."

Listen up people. There's this holiday every December that we call Christmas. It's origins are rather loosely tied to Christianity and the birth of that particular faith's version of a savior. It is also and intensely secular celebration wrapped in intense consumerism, and office parties with drunks photocopying their asses. As part of this celebration of family friends and stuff, people decorate a lot. People decorate everything. In particular, we chop down an evergreen tree and festoon it with colored lights and all sorts of ornamentation. We call this a Christmas tree. It is as much a symbol of anything religious as a stop sign.

If this celebration offends you, well I'm sorry. You'll just have to be offended. We do our best to not unduly interfere with your traditions we'd kindly ask you to extend the same courtesy.

And as for the name "Christmas Tree," changing that changes precisely nothing. Calling it a Holiday Tree does not magically incorporate the tree into your winter celebratory traditions. Maybe you could try not to be quite so thin skinned.

It shouldn't be necessary for this to require the official intervention of the Speaker of the House. But the Speaker did intervene. As did the Mayor of Boston and the Governor of California. So maybe the glass is half empty, but it used to be three quarters empty so we're making progress.

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 03:29 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment