Dear Friends,
Our main topic on this week’s program is The War on Christmas, and other Fox News myths. That conversation starts at the 19-minute mark. Thanks to Debbie Griffin, Ron Yarnell, and Frank Holzhauser for calling in.
Our jasmine tree, repurposed for Christmas.
WAR ON CHRISTMAS. Last week, a mentally disturbed homeless guy lit the Fox News Christmas tree on fire (fake tree, I might add). The arson wasn’t politically motivated, but that didn’t stop Fox News’ Tucker Carlson from saying, “Torching Christmas trees is an attack on Christianity, obviously. It’s an assault of religious observance. By current standard, destroying someone’s religious symbol would be called a hate crime.”
Oh, please. The War on Christmas is as phony as Fox’s tree. It’s merely a self-serving tool to advance one’s political and economic agenda.
No one has mastered that tool better than Donald Trump.
Last week, Donald Jr. sent me an email, saying, “Even though Joe Biden and the Grinch, Dr. Fauci, want to CANCEL Christmas, my father and I know REAL Patriots are going to celebrate in style with our limited edition Trump Save America Christmas Ornament.”
Dang, that’s clever — the perfect combo of coopting Christmas for both political and material gain.
Regrettably, some on the Left seem happy to supply War-on-Christmas opportunists additional fodder. Consider HuffPost’s cancelling of Rudolph a few years back because the animated Christmas special is “a parable on racism & homophobia w/Santa as a bigoted exploitative prick.”
Less insane voices across the political spectrum condemned that ridiculous characterization of one of America’s most treasured hoofed mammals. But damage done. Fox News vultures pounced on the story, and continue to pounce any time someone says or does something easily tagged as anti-Christmas.
Personally, I have no trouble with anyone wishing me Merry Christmas. Or Happy Holidays, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa. The truth is, what most Americans celebrate this month is a cobbled blend of secular, pagan, Christian, and other religious traditions.
So, let’s get over the War on Christmas. Don’t wax self-righteous when someone greets you without first consulting your seasons-greeting preference. Truly, we have far more critical issues to focus on, such as …
DRONE WARFARE. At the 2-minute mark of this week’s program, we discuss the five-year-long investigation by journalist Azmat Khan. Khan meticulously documented what many of us have long suspected: US drone strikes in the Middle East have killed more civilians — and far more children — than the US military claims.
US CIVIL WAR. At the 6-minute mark, we discuss what three retired US generals wrote regarding the 2024 election: “We are chilled to our bones at the thought of a coup succeeding.”
Yikes! Sure, if Trump runs again and loses, there’s no doubt he’ll cry foul. The generals say, “in a contested election, with loyalties split, some [members of the US military] might follow orders from the rightful commander in chief, but rogue units might follow the Trumpian loser. It is not outlandish to say a military breakdown could lead to civil war.”
I’m not convinced. But for sure, we’d better be vigilant and take steps now to protect against that possibility.
The graver threat to democracy is the Republican Party’s subversive campaign to take control of key election positions in swing states. That might give Trump enough of an edge to steal the election without resorting to a military coup. Given other democratic checks and balances that have been weakened but still function, Trump may not get away with that either. Regardless, I doubt the 2024 election will come to civil war.
ANTARCTIC. More than anything, we need to pay attention to what’s going on down south. Way down south. Check out our conversation at the 10-minute mark.
Twenty years ago, no one predicted that the Antarctic’s Larsen B ice shelf would melt as fast as it did. But it took just one month for the huge chunk of ice — two football fields thick — to completely disintegrate.
Last week, scientists warned that something far worse than the collapse of the Larsen B ice shelf was happening. The Thwaites glacier, which some say makes Larsen B look like an icicle, opened gaping cracks and fissures. Thwaites is one of the biggest glaciers in the world, and it now looks likely that parts may collapse within five years or less.
By “five years or less,” read “less.” My one complaint about climate scientists is that they’re spot on with climate impacts, but way off on the timeline. Everything is happening way faster than predicted.
Just how big is Thwaites? About twice the size of Florida. When it melts (not if, but when) it’ll raise sea levels by more than a foot and a half.
But wait, it’s worse, sorry. Other Antarctic glaciers are melting, although many of those aren’t yet spilling into the sea because Thwaites is blocking them. When Thwaites falls apart, scientists believe the melting of other glaciers will accelerate, leading to the collapse of the whole ice sheet and catastrophic global sea level rise measurable not in feet, but yards.
I share these things not to paralyze you, but to spur you to do your part while we still have time.
Beyond that, I want to remind you of a famous quote: “Everything will be okay in the end. If it’s not okay, it’s not the end.”
Believe that. It’s ok to be optimistic. It’s OK to believe that the human spirit, the planet, and life itself will rise above the seemingly intractable challenges we now face. Yet one can’t be complacent and refuse to do one’s part in the great drama of change unfolding around us and within us.
There is no better time of the year to ponder that than now. So, Merry Christmas. Happy Holidays. Be kind to those you’re close to, and bring those who treat you kindly still closer.
Finally, to wrap up this week’s program on a profoundly fun and positive note, at the 54-minute mark, Kathy Byrnes joins me to discuss Christmas and holiday food. I now know more about figgy pudding and boars head than I ever thought I wanted to know.
Ed Fallon
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Ed Fallon