The White House has made Christmas a political issue

Two thoughts popped into my head while reading this discussion, dragon. The first one was, can you imagine the uproar that would have followed had the Obamas or anyone in the administration removed so much as one ornament that had been created? My second thought requires me to look at my Christmas tree so it's fortunate that I'm in the livingroom on the laptop. I'm a Christian as well as a Catholic but my tree is a reflection of this world...my world. I have silver baby bootie ornaments with very special names and birth dates engraved on them, little framed ornaments with children's pictures in them, pipecleaner candycanes that were created by my children when they were young, a funky wooden reindeer that one of our grandkids made, butterflies in memory of my husband's late wife, a gold ornament that my husband gave to me commemorating our first Christmas as husband and wife...and Elvis because he likes Elvis. Of course, I do agree that Christmas is not about politics but when you give folks the opportunity to express themselves, you get what you get. All this talk about Christmas trees...but I would like to remind everyone that the most the most important symbol of the season is the Christmas crèche, the nativity scene. Our manger was hand carved by my husband's father. He's had that, the straw bedding and the figurines for approximately 40 years.

The First Lady sets the theme, but she's not necessarily in charge of decorating. Let's not treat this as some sort of purposeful tribute by the Obamas for the people depicted. More to the point, though, why is this important? Why is it important to lay the blame on people who had nothing to do with it and to make a big deal out of it? Are we as citizens running out of things to complain about that we have to turn to inconsequential tree ornaments?

Goodness, can't you see the inclusiveness and diversity of including famed atheist and murderer of 29 million people Chairman Mao on the White House Christmas Tree? j/k This doesn't surprise me a bit. I don't feel shocked. We know the president is very busy and doesn't have time to check out which oppressive dictators are hanging on his tree. Heck, he doesn't even know who's coming to state dinners. The entire administration is a disgrace and becoming the laughingstock of the world. For all his bowing and kowtowing to dictators and terrorists all over the world, he's even losing his popularity with them. Even Chavez has become disenchanted with the great BO. Regardless of what religion you belong to, or none at all, Christmas is still the day set aside to commemorate the birth of Christ. We can tell that from the name - Christ Mass - and there's no way to spin out of that. To me, trees are part of the season but not part of the religious tradition. However, they aren't meant to be political, just cute and decorative. When a tree stands in the White House, the decorations on it are extremely important and symbolic. These decorations symbolize something deeply disturbing.

Not one cell in my body doubts that Obama is a narcissist MARXIST/COMMUNIST. What has ever come out of Chicago politics that is good? NOT A THING! All the CZARS (see definition: a male monarch or emperor [especially of RUSSIA prior to 1917] he's "created" are mere puppets of the master puppeteer, kissing his butt from cheek to cheek and when he says "S*IT," they obey, asking "Any particular color?" Needless to say I DESPISE the man and everything he stands for. (Where IS that legal birth certificate for Barack HUSSEIN Obama?)

I'm agnostic and still celebrate Christmas and even vigilantly defend "Christmas" not being replaced with "Happy Holidays" or the winter solstice. So I'm certainly not qualified to say what someone should put on their tree. My grandmother allowed all her kids (11) and grandkids (39!) to decorate her tree, and you'd be hard pressed to find anything on the tree that actually symbolized the type of Christmas she celebrated as a Catholic. But I can totally see why people are upset or at least willing to bust chops over the Obama's tree. It's in the context of everything we've seen and heard since he's been president. And, you know, that's 100% fair. America's president doesn't get the benefit of the doubt at this point nor does he get to be judged on a case-by-case basis. It comes with the job. We've all been inundated with examples like these since he's been president. If not now or by this point, when do alarms sound that this president isn't like others? And I don't mean skin tone I'm not a big fan of the Bush standard at all, but one can only imagine the MSNBC "Merry Grinchmas" specials and the 60 Minutes slots dedicated to showing how Bush is going against the grain and being a hypocrite by not making Christmas about the birth of Jesus. Details wouldn't matter. And I don't really think it would be unfair. The fact that someone saw fit to put Mao ornaments up and a superimposed Mt. Ego is one thing. Knowing that the Obama's (or staffers or someone else in the admin.) chose the people who did the decorating is another thing entirely -- in the context of everything else, of course. It has whiffs of that whole "we didn't know Van Jones was a loud-mouthed, vulgar, criminal-supporting commie" thing. Yeah, yeah. And I'm selling a 65 Shelby Cobra on eBay for $19.99. Big deal? It's relative, I guess. But I certainly believe it's more than fair to point out the fact that it all tends to meld together.

As you have yourself said it, it is not worth paying attention to. A Christmas Tree is normally appreciated as a whole and not in fragments. The whole effect is what strikes one's eye. Also I doubt it if those in the stature of a President would go thru the nitty gritty of decorating a Christmas Tree. These are assignments handled by those who are not so higher up in the hierarchy. You do seem to have an eagle's eye - good for you!