maybe this clever link is what everyone’s looking for.

read the background stuff:
michelle malkin
New Orleans Mayor Says God Mad at U.S.

excerpt: Loving Your Enemies–November 17 1957
(from mlkonline.net)

There’s another reason why you should love your enemies, and that is because hate distorts the personality of the hater. We usually think of what hate does for the individual hated or the individuals hated or the groups hated. But it is even more tragic, it is even more ruinous and injurious to the individual who hates. You just begin hating somebody, and you will begin to do irrational things. You can’t see straight when you hate. You can’t walk straight when you hate. You can’t stand upright. Your vision is distorted. There is nothing more tragic than to see an individual whose heart is filled with hate. He comes to the point that he becomes a pathological case. For the person who hates, you can stand up and see a person and that person can be beautiful, and you will call them ugly. For the person who hates, the beautiful becomes ugly and the ugly becomes beautiful. For the person who hates, the good becomes bad and the bad becomes good. For the person who hates, the true becomes false and the false becomes true. That’s what hate does. You can’t see right. The symbol of objectivity is lost. Hate destroys the very structure of the personality of the hater.

i hope that those who wish to represent the african-american community will remember the entire message of dr. king, and not just pick out the lines that agree with their message. i also hope that they will embrace suggestions for reform of the current system that will further advance the process of elevating the quality of life for everyone.

michelle malkin says what i was going to say, only quite a bit better.
other food for thought available (as always) at california conservative here and here.

ask yourself how well equality is being achieved by allowing african-americans to believe that they are not capable of achievement on their own terms. sometimes those who want to champion that cause are doing it more harm than good by the message they are sending.

Technorati Tags: MLK, Martin Luther King Jr.

just wanted to let everybody know that this week i’m renting space on one of my favorite blogs, ogre’s politics and views. so go check out his blog too. you won’t be sorry you did. to everyone visiting from ogre’s blog, thanks for stopping by…and feel free to comment.

expect brand new posts to return some time closer to monday. 🙂

what are you doing here reading this blog? go back to opening presents, stuffing your face, and watching meaningless american football! seriously…merry Christmas to all. i hope that everyone gets what they are asking for (except for the D.C. democrats).

now… go enjoy the day. 🙂 serious important stuff returns sometime next week.

that’s how i would describe the objections to the presidential Christmas card by the war on Christmas crowd. i’m not arguing the premise of that group, which is that some groups have an exaggerated idea of how many people are offended by “Merry Christmas”, nativity scenes, and calling Christmas songs and Christmas trees what they are. it is political correctness run amok to even restrict songs that have no religious overtones whatsoever simply because a loud minority might have an objection to it. the argument is that the words indicate some type of exclusivity that leaves out those who don’t believe in a religion and who are deeply offended by any hint of religion in our culture. i don’t see Christmas that way. this holiday doesn’t force religion on anybody. it has become so highly commercialized that its religious significance has become severely compromised. what kind of stupid country sees something deeply offensive about “frosty the snowman”, for heaven’s sake? well…i guess the fact that he melts might be disturbing to small children, but other than that, i just don’t see it.

here’s what the card that has surrendered to PCness said(the corner/NRO):

Psalm 28:7
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
In him my heart trusts;
So I am helped, and my heart exults,
And with my song I give thanks to him

(and THIS controversial line) “With best wishes for a holiday season of hope and happiness. 2005”. it is then signed by the president and first lady.

yep. that sounds like political correctness to me. if you want to criticize excessive concessions to the pc crowd, i’m all for that. but in this case, president bush isn’t guilty of making any of those concessions with this Christmas card. are there groups with an agenda opposing Christmas? i guess. i’m just not sure that their attempts to push this POV are as pervasive as the war on Christmas crowd would have us believe. it’s a red-meat issue for conservatives, so they gladly hop on this bandwagon and go along for this ride, because it’s the cool thing to do. we just have to step back and decide for ourselves where the real injustices are taking place, and make sure that we don’t overstate the isolated incidents where the PC crowd wins.

for more thoughts on Christmas, read the previous post. 🙂 there are nice presents already under the mets fan’s Christmas tree. what’s this about free agent pitcher barry zito possibly coming to NY? i think that this was suggested before…and it’s still a good idea. keep it up omar. 🙂

i’ll give the (almost) last word to the handsome bow-tied guy, tucker carlson:

All of which is to say, I welcome the controversies this season over Christmas. Every time a school district bans Christmas carols, every time the ACLU dispatches a busload of lawyers to fight a nativity scene, every time the ADL declares the Christian Right “dangerous,” it’s a reaffirmation that the faith is not dead. Dead religions don’t give people the creeps. They don’t make atheists mad. They don’t keep Alan Dershowitz up at night. But Christianity still does. What a relief. It’s nice to see that our faith still scares people.

i agree with that.

related:
christmas musings (previous post)
bah humbug…and other christmas musings
my christmas itunes imix –the edited version
(email/comment for my complete musical vision–requires itunes)
can santa claus save the democrats? –from conservative cat

now playing:i still haven’t found what i’m looking for/u2

I just don’t understand Christmas, I guess. I like getting presents and sending Christmas cards and decorating trees and all that, but I’m still not happy. I always end up feeling depressed.

–charlie brown (from A Charlie Brown Christmas)

fictional characters speak truth on occasion. this feeling is not too divorced from reality for some of us during the Christmas season. we trim ourselves a festive tree, spend days and days addressing cards to people we hardly ever see or know, and indulge in a little retail therapy while picking out presents for family and friends. all this is fun. but what does it really mean when all the presents are unwrapped and the tree is gone? have we really found what we are looking for, or does the whole process of preparing for Christmas leave us somewhat empty and just a little depressed?

where we make the mistake, i think, is taking too much time during this season thinking about our regrets, our mistakes, and how far we believe we are from our idealized view of the future. in order to progress, we must recognize that we can’t control much of what happens in our lives. we certainly can’t change the past. what is important is that we find out who we are and our purpose here on earth, because true happiness is elusive otherwise. that’s true at Christmas. that’s also true on all the other days too.

related:

a replica charlie brown Christmas tree
Rudolph, Charlie Brown not for kids anymore?

if you’re looking for gift ideas for your star wars-addict friend, try this.

my favorite yet incredibly cheesy animated christmas specials:
(the original) grinch that stole Christmas
rudolph the red-nosed reindeer
charlie brown Christmas

other favorites:
it’s a wonderful life

in case you are still looking for an answer in Christmas:

Charlie Brown(shouting in desperation): Isn’t there anyone out there who can tell me what Christmas is all about?

Linus Van Pelt: Sure, Charlie Brown, I can tell you. Lights, please. (A spotlight shines on Linus.)

“And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the fields, keeping watch over their flocks by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not, for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you this day is born in the City of Bethlehem, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; you shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel, a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace, good will toward men'”. That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.”

for those who believe in God, it’s the answer to the question. for those who don’t, the search continues.

this is….posted without any regrets.

now playing: tobymac/gone

i certainly wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea about me from my anti-PETA rant yesterday. i love animals. it’s the humans who have gotten pretty stupid. i just want to bring the country together, at least today. so in that spirit, i will refrain from any partisan sniping for one day and show cute pictures of pandas shamelessly borrowed from here and other places. enjoy. 🙂

there is no question in my mind that PETA is out of control. this shouldn’t come as a shock to anybody who has followed the history of PETA(people for the ethical treatment of animals) and the ways that they choose to spread their message to the rest of us. it’s difficult for me to separate the message from the messenger with this organization. what may have started out as a noble cause and a legitimate opposing viewpoint has become the backdrop for a long series of publicity stunts by PETA.

here’s their latest gimmick opposing fishing: comic books for kids that accuse their dads of being hooked on killing! (pdf)

that’s over the top in my book. it’s messed up. they ruin whatever legitimacy their message may have by doing stuff like this. there’s nothing wrong with encouraging kids to eat vegetables or find healthier alternatives to the junk food. we all would be better off if we did this. however, PETA’s role has gone beyond mere advocacy and has ventured into indoctrination. it should be up to the parents what their kids eat. PETA has no authority to regulate that, or to use comic books to turn the kids against their parents. it’s a cheap trick, and the schools should be smart enough to insist that PETA would be more responsible when it comes to the children in their care.

flopping aces weighs in with more specific details and a similar view.
more common-sense opinion here from the pensacola news journal : PETA’s protest is patently pointless.
the daily collegian gets it absolutely right: PETA protests crosses the boundary

here are some previous stupid human tricks by PETA:

PETA workers face 25 felony counts in North Carolina–hypocrisy, much?

PETA Creams Vogue Editor–editor anna wintour gets a tofu pie in the face. nice. but there are better reasons to do this…like the fact that there is a big fat ad on every other page in vogue.

PETA asks Attorney General to charge LSU with animal abandonment in Katrina aftermath–there’s an example of a not-so-shocking lack of perspective.

PETA has serious credibility problems. there’s no other way to spin that. there’s more than enough evidence that their message is distorted by the method of delivery. google “peta protests” and you will have the evidence of this. if animal-rights activists want to be taken seriously, they can’t resort to these kinds of publicity stunts. it only makes them subject to ridicule and parody, and distracts from any level of serious discussion on the subject. oh yeah, and it would also help if PETA practiced what it preached.

welcome to thursday’s edition of stupid people news. it’s time once again to laugh at the unfortunate and ignore the other news of the day. here are some of my favorite stories.

the people:

Son of baseball’s hit king turns himself in on drug charges–but at least he can still get into the baseball HOF…dad takes the over on a repeat offense.

Stolen cart hits officer’s car–drunk guy driving a golf cart with a keg of beer on board…what could possibly go wrong?

Man Electrocuted Painting Fla. Home–metal ladder+ overhead power wires= not good.

Woman plans to marry man who shot her, held her hostage — now THERE’s a dysfunctional relationship. she calls him her soulmate. now, i don’t know about you, but anybody who does what this guy did should be disqualified from that category.

the overpaid researcher:

Traffic causing stress condition–once again our friends at the venerable BBC have uncovered some breaking news. traffic causes stress. you don’t say. read the suggested cures for some added amusement. i’m just wondering how much coin they wasted on this study.

and…you could be an incompetent international organization if you end up in a story on fark.com…like, i don’t know… THE U.N.!

U.N. to reinstate lone official fired in oil-for-food scandal

(if you need evidence of my theory, read the following previous posts:

further evidence the u.n. is incompetent
more on the u.n. oil-for-food disaster)

the post of the day, in my view, was turned in by one of my favorite blogs…conservative cat. read and laugh.

Confused Americans for Truth – Can Santa Claus Save the Democrats?

coming up tomorrow…the weekend begins with the first official “i hate the michigan wolverines” open thread/trackback party, just in time for the brawl between THE ohio state buckeyes and (that other team) on saturday afternoon .

here are the simple rules:
1) keep it clean. profanity in comments here/trackback posts…will be deleted by me.
2) trackbacks must link to friday’s post.
3) leave your best rants against the team from up north in the comments to join this thread.
4) if you have a special post on the OSU/that other team game this weekend, feel free to send me a trackback so that my small but loyal group of readers can experience your brilliance.

that’s it. enjoy the rest of thursday. 🙂

now playing: welcome to my life/simple plan

you don’t get to enjoy friday through sunday in the retail world, especially around christmas time. the following graphic is posted without further comment.