The Truffle

Yes, it looks as if the "war on Christmas" hype is going to become an annual event, right along with "Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer." Only the "war on Christmas" is nowhere near as amusing. Now, I am one of the few people I know who actually likes all those things that people are supposed to hate about Christmas--the carols piped over the loudspeakers, the holiday window displays, the search for the perfect Christmas gifts for a family that, believe me, is next to IMPOSSIBLE to shop for. They never can figure out what the heck they want. Le Sweetie is somewhat better in this regard, but even he is known to say, "I don't care as long as it comes from Boo." (Boo being me.) Anyway, I like Christmas, and the war-on-Christmas chickenhawks are getting on my nerves. John Gibson's silly book is out in paperback, and I wouldn't be surprised if it makes repeated appearances on the bookshelves each holiday season. Bill O'Reilly, ...

Christmas season hasn't even started, yet I still predict that the annual "War on Christmas" will be waged yet again, for a third straight year. How do I know this? Well, first, there's the news that Toys for Tots has rejected 4,000 Talking Jesus dolls. Bill O'Reilly and John Gibson are going to be pissed. Why did Toys for Tots reject their Savior-in-toy-form? Well, since the Marines are government employees, they can't be seen to favor one religion over the other. Yes, it's that pesky little First Amendment thing again. Toys are donated to kids based on financial need and "we don't know anything about their background, their religious affiliations," said Bill Grein, vice president of Marine Toys for Tots Foundation, in Quantico, Va. As a government entity, Marines "don't profess one religion over another," Grein said Tuesday. "We can't take a chance on sending a talking Jesus doll to a Jewish family or a Muslim f...