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Great White North
Call it Christmas, Paul!
2005-12-12
When Prime Minister Paul Martin just couldn't bring himself to utter the word "Christmas" last Sunday while out buying a Christmas wreath, I chuckled and put it down to another example of political correctness run amok. But a wise friend of mine had a better phrase to describe it. He called it an example of "the inversion of tyranny."

More about that in a moment, but for those of you who missed it, Martin was purchasing a Christmas wreath for his family farm last week with the media in tow for the requisite photo-op. After he had made his choice, a reporter jokingly asked him, while the news cameras were rolling, whether it was "a Christmas wreath or a holiday wreath." Simple question. Martin's reaction? You know how a deer looks when it's caught in the headlights just before a truck hits it? That's what our 21st prime minister looked like. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence in which you could see Martin struggling to come up with a safe, inoffensive and politically correct answer, he finally blurted out: "It's a $240 wreath!" Ha, ha, ha.

How sad. Our prime minister, a grown man of 67, a Christian (Catholic) and a successful businessman before he entered politics, can't bring himself to utter the word "Christmas" in the context of buying his own family a Christmas wreath. To be sure, it's a fitting punishment for him, because no political party in Canada, with the possible exception of the NDP, worships more at the shrine of political correctness than the Liberals. But how is this an example of an "inversion of tyranny"?

As my good friend explains it, the goal of the practitioners of political correctness, with their constant psycho-babble about using the language of "inclusiveness" to make minorities feel welcome, has never really been about making minorities feel welcome or comfortable at all. Rather, it is aimed at making the majority feel uncomfortable. The pretext these folks use -- be they government human rights officers, self-appointed and perpetually aggrieved spokespeople for various "minority" groups, befuddled bureaucrats and cowed politicians -- is that all they are trying to do is to protect minorities from the tyranny of the majority. But their real goal, far from promoting genuine understanding between the majority and the minority, is simply to exchange one form of tyranny for another -- to replace the tyranny of the majority with the tyranny of the minority. Hence, an inversion of tyrannies.
Posted by:Fred

#20  I'm not sure I'd say that I would describe the US WalMart's clothes as "high quality", but for $9.95, who cares? I love WalMart. Open 24/7 - everything you need at a good price. I especially love it cause all the fussy puritan people tell me I shouldn't shop there - so it make me like shopping there more.
Posted by: 2b   2005-12-13 00:02  

#19  I'm not sure why that should be.

That is, I'm not sure why the difference exists. I thought all Wal-Marts were created equal. :-)

It's not hard to believe though. I've noticed American-made clothes are of higher quality. The cotton is much better. I've asked an expert on textiles, and he said there's a cotton type made in America that is the best in the world. You won't match the quality anywhere else. So maybe there's the reason.
Posted by: Rafael   2005-12-12 23:32  

#18  Seems like everything I buy at Wal-mart lasts for a very short time. I bought a pair of shoes...lasted for about 3 months. I spent slightly more in another place (not a high-end, snobby department store), and it's over a year now and going strong. So Wal-Mart tends not to save me money.

But to be fair, a friend of mine went to a Wal-Mart stateside, and reported that it is different than the Wal-Marts we have up here. You have more choices, and as far as the clothes go, better quality stuff. I'm not sure why that should be.

If your only alternative to department stores is Wal-Mart, then I can tell you that we have far more alternatives available up here. This place, for example. So there's a tradeoff...you get better quality, we get more alternative stores.

There's no picture of this $240 wreath. Maybe it's the Mother-of-all-Wreaths, fits on top of parliament building.
Posted by: Rafael   2005-12-12 23:16  

#17  Why "unfortunately," Rafael?

Call them tacky if you want, Wal-Mart saves me (and scads of other people) a BUNDLE. I couldn't afford nearly as many clothes and other stuff if all I had for shopping were department stores.

(FYI, I mentioned Wal-Mart in my question because I just saw a large, well-made, fancy Victorian-style door wreath there for 40 bucks. Not my style, but very affordable if it were. Hell, even Michael's doesn't charge $240 for wreaths.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2005-12-12 22:18  

#16  Unfortunately we do.
Posted by: Rafael   2005-12-12 19:05  

#15  He paid $240 for a wreath?

JC on a Crutch, what's the exchange rate with Canada? How much is that in real American money?

And don't they have any Wal-Marts up there?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2005-12-12 17:42  

#14  In light of current events - I wish you all peace.
Posted by: 2b   2005-12-12 17:28  

#13  Well, I was going to say something here, but Oldspook stated my feelings so well, I'll just add: mega-dittoes.
Posted by: Xbalanke   2005-12-12 13:42  

#12  Of course, the word "Holiday" comes from a combination of "Holy" and "day". Utilizing "holiday" does not actually result in de-religicizing the season, it simply refuses to name which particular holy day it is.

Posted by: DoDo   2005-12-12 12:56  

#11  I too find the overt campaign to have a completely secular society distasteful. There are plenty of examples of this on a daily basis. But c’mon folks….Martin, nor Wallmart for that matter, hasn’t denied that their ornaments are for Christmas. Instead they are intentionally vague in their descriptions. There’s an old saying in sales that if you truly appreciate everybody, you go out of your way not to offend anybody. There is a difference between sound marketing and PC run amuck. IMO, this article is more telling about the people that can’t tell the difference.
Posted by: DepotGuy   2005-12-12 10:36  

#10  Blandly Inoffensive, Politically Correct, Generic Seasonal Greeting to All
And to All, a Good Night.

Posted by: eLarson   2005-12-12 10:36  

#9  Belief?

The only thing I believe is that I form considered opinions on the basis of factual evidence. Not the 125th hand babblings of other "humans". (Is that pompous enough?)

Religiously I'm Agnostic, if I can't justify a belief in God's existence based on what other humans have said, why should I base a belief in God's non-existence on what other humans have said? Some things are just flat out unknowable and to pretend otherwise is to engage in arrogant self-delusion.

Now, does all this mean that I don't keep to the family traditions of Christmas? Hell NO, nobody ever said I was perfectly consistent. If nothing else Christmas is a tradition that supports and nourishes much of what is best in our culture. And whether Christ and the divinity is real or a legend, the history of Christmas and what it means as celebrated by humans is very real and worthy of respect.

So Merry Christmas to all (and screw your PC Happy Holidays) ;^)

Posted by: AlanC   2005-12-12 10:21  

#8  Hear, hear!
Posted by: trailing wife   2005-12-12 09:25  

#7  The cultural fracture is not between Christians and Athiests as the Left claims.

Ay-men...
Posted by: Admiral Allan Ackbar   2005-12-12 08:12  

#6  OldSpook, one of the many things I appreciate about The Burg is hardline athiests like me can get along with committed Christians like you.

The cultural fracture is not between Christians and Athiests as the Left claims.
Posted by: phil_b   2005-12-12 07:47  

#5  What do I call "a $240 wreath"?
A screwing.
Posted by: raptor   2005-12-12 07:31  

#4  We call those types "Cultural Catholics" - and they also tend to be Cafeteria Catholics as well.

There's also Christmas & Easter Catholics, commonly abbreviated to C&E Catholics (of which I am one, unfortunately, though I am planning to change that...I know, I know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions
Posted by: Rafael   2005-12-12 02:52  

#3  Not much of Catholic in my book. We call those types "Cultural Catholics" - and they also tend to be Cafeteria Catholics as well. Hardly worthy of the label if they cannot bring themsleves to openly profess their faith.

Anyone not Catholci nor Christian may awnat to ignore the rest of this... its from a very conservative Catholic viewpoint.

Jesus own words: (From Matthew) "whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven."

From Rev: "I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of my mouth."

I have more respect to an open, fair and resolute Atheist Libertarian who is willing to stick to his guns on his belief system without trashing others, and bear the price of doing so, than I do for those meay-mouthed PC politicians, those false faith fakers who try to wrap themselves in the mantle of the Church for political gain, while denying its core teachings. The former (Athiests, etc) challenge the Church which ultimately strengthens it, while the latter (fakers of all stripes, including some of the present clergy) weaken the Church from within by rotting the moral fibers and stong demands that belief requires.

People somehow forget how absolutist Christianity is at its core when they get into politics and make their Catholicism into a prop for press release theater. For them its more political playacting, not a cornerstone of their being, the core of their belief system, *cough* kerry-kennedy-schwartzenegger *cough*.

Most of them are getting VERY uncomfortable with the vast intellectual legacy of John Paul the Great, and his successor in spirit and intellect, Pope Benedict. Benedict has shown that he is a moral scholar to match any, and his latest homily was a home run as well, philosophically and liturgically speaking.

As a recent country western song says, its better to be hated for what you are than loved for what you're not. Christianity was never supposed to be a popularity contest, nor was it easy.

His instructions were to pick up our crosses and follow Him. Certainly not easy nor popular, but then again, the best things rarely are a matter of ease or going with the popular crowd.

We enter by the narrow gate, folks. There are no shortcuts, and only one Way Truth and Light on the path.

And not a one of us is perfect - the last one that was, we nailed him to a tree a couple thousand years ago...
Posted by: Oldspook   2005-12-12 02:45  

#2  Ha Ha!!! Payback for the "Do you love Canada?" question aimed at Conservative Stephen Harper. Harper hesitated a bit before answering, "Canada is a great country..." The media was all over Harper for this.

Bravo whoever the reporter was!
Posted by: Rafael   2005-12-12 02:45  

#1  "the inversion of tyranny"

Heh. Reminds me of "Have a nice day - or else."

Martin's a squirrel.
Posted by: .com   2005-12-12 02:30  

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