We Americans can be one silly bunch of wackos.  Only in America could we make a greeting into a political discussion.  This whole "Merry Christmas, Happy Holiday" thing is just absurd and if anyone believes that it came about for any reason other than someone making political hay has been living with their head up their rear for far too long.

This issue "jumped the shark" when some doofus who was debating the issue on CNN invoked the Nazis’ banned children from saying Merry Christmas as a viable comparison to what’s going on now.  You can see the whole video here.  (Thanks to Ed Cone for the lead.)

I have to say that anyone who feels oppressed or threatened and is a member of the kind of majority that the Christmas-celebrating-Christians represent in this country must have never felt the sting of true oppression.  They should stop and think about people with real problems.  You know people who:

• Are without a home months after their home was destroyed by a hurricane.
• Are freezing to death in the Himalayan mountains months after their homes were leveled by an earthquake.
• Are mourning the death of a loved one due to any number of wars.  For those of you thinking about Iraq, open your mind to the breadth of mankind’s problem with violence.  Hint: Darfur.
• Are living in the streets of the wealthiest country in the world.

So spare me the faux-angst of holiday greetings.  There are people with real problems in this world and we need not be distracted by this idiocy.  Just be happy you can shop at Wal-Mart or Target or anywhere you choose, no matter how they greet you.