Peace on earth and mercy mild? I think not. Not this Christmas.

[DemoTex]

We have Iraq, Afghanistan, Abu Ghraib, and Gitmo. At 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue the king's table is set for a bloody feast. His minions scream to put Christ back in Christmas and for more wars. The hypocrisy makes my head hurt.

Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all convictions, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.

From The Second Coming, by W.B. Yeats

[Swamp Rat]

1. And we have a lot more coming down the pike.

[pamela]

2. This reminds me of that Longfellow poem.

And in despair I bowed my head;
‘There is no peace on earth,’ I said;
‘For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!’

[nostamj]

3. the WH Xmas tree

should be decorated with strings of intestines and baby arms.

that's what they celebrate. the death of innocents to ensure the wealth of the guilty.

[TahitiNut]

4. "Christ back in Christmas"?? Not really.

It's more like trying to put Christ back on the cross, imho. These so-called 'Christians' seem obsessed with Old Testament "Sturm und Drang" without the sophistication of rabbinic interpretation. It's eerily Medieval - a Dark Ages kind of thing. The Beatitudes? They never heard of them ... at least not for "all people" ... just for a select few (including them, of course). Henceforth, I'll call 'em "Old Testament Christians" (OTC) - deniers of the "good news." I was loosely brought up as a Missouri Synod Lutheran. About half of my extended family are Roman Catholic. When I attended a Missouri Synod Lutheran church during high school in 59-61, it sure wasn't about fire and brimstone and exclusivity - it was about community, justice, compassion, and peace. Nowadays they seem to have changed from wine to Kool-Aid. It's insane.

[BillZBubb]

5. You are sooooo wrong, don't forget:

War is Peace
Hate is Love
Ignorance is Strength.

Welcome to Bushworld 2004!!!!!

Or perhaps you need some time in a rehabilitation camp?

[Warpy]

6. Well, the Walmart lot was half empty again today

so it doesn't look like retailers are going to get that last big weekend they were counting on. I think it's going to be a pretty grim Xmas for a whole lot of folks, with going out of business sales galore next month.

While I feel sorry for a lot of retailers, I can't summon a bit of sympathy for any who voted for Chimp. They voted for "more of the same" that is killing the working class: outsourcing and downward pressure on wages. People can't spend what they don't have, and that's going to kill the retail sector.

And this fool won't have a clue what to do about it.

[kerry-is-my-prez]

8. They were saying that Walmart is losing customers to JC Penny & Target

I hope THAT'S part of what's going on.

[Midlodemocrat]

9. I noticed the same thing the other day

...in fact, I had to go to - gulp - Sam's Club, because I was hosting a Christmas party and Costco was out of almost everything. A wonderful sign I thought. I do believe we are starving the beast!

edit: for typo. It has been a long day.

[bobbieinok]

7. and he goes on to write

Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand.
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?


I've long been haunted by the last lines...

And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?

along with...

The best lack all convictions, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.