'Tis the Season for Whining

The Christian right is at it again. Now, they're frothing at the mouth about the supposed secular assault on Christmas. In fact some of these nutcases have urged people to shop only at stores that display a "Merry Christmas" sign, and not those retailers that wish their shoppers "Happy Holidays". Newsflash! You know why "Happy Holidays" has become more commonplace, overtaking "Merry Christmas"? Why, might it just not be, Mr. Lawrence, because not everyone believes that Jesus is their personal savior?

The Christian right's neck-deep paranoia, a persecution complex so out of touch with reality it'd be laughable if it weren't so dangerous, has reached alarming levels. It's all whine all the time now. Hey, try being an agnostic, motherfuckers, and have "he's a good, God-fearing American"[1], Christmas, "In God We Trust" and all that stuff thrown in our face our entire lives. Y'know, we don't fucking whine when confronted by the sanctimony and self-righteousness of various Christian zealots out there. Maybe that's because we don't have the sense of entitlement that every last fucking soul on earth should share our beliefs. Only that believers not institionalize their belief system on us. Take a hint, suck it up, and shut up. You, too, O'Reilly, you fucking pathetic phone-sex pervert. If whiny, nebbish little liberal pussies can do it, macho, gun-toting, off-road racing Christians can, too.

Well, guess there's a reason why they keep whining -- it works. See Kevin Drum for a useful summary of the Christian right's new media war. Plus, a belatedly link to Frank Rich's must-read salvo in the ongoing culture wars. Rich makes a key point that the media is stoking the flames of the culture war by letting the most shrill and far right elements of the Christian right speak for all Christianity.

[1] Just for the record, what's wrong with idea that someone's a good moral being is if s/he does good deeds for their own sake, not because s/he does such deeds out of mortal fear of damnation and eternal hellfire?

The Idiot Box

Note to would-be electronics product designers and engineers: please do not leave buttons that control essential functions out of the console itself, believing that having such a button on the remote control would suffice. For example, when designing a television set, do not place the TV/Video switch button only on the remote for fear that this extra button would somehow compromise the television's sleek, minimalist design.

Believe it or not, remote controls may malfunction. And break. And sometimes, they may even go missing. This should be noted during times when a guy needs to check out his new DVD of the awesome Irma Vep, if only to freeze frame shots of Maggie in a black leather catsuit, only to find out his TV remote has malfunctioned. He will become incredibly frustrated when he finds out that the TV/Video switch is not located on the TV itself, leaving him no way to watch his DVDs.