Kwanzaa is apparently de rigueur in the world of PC—you see it everywhere on AOL for example, always side-by-side with Hannukah and Christmas. The leftists at AOL never leave it out. Might Boscov’s have left the “Merry …” greeting incomplete so that people could fill in “Merry Kwanzaa”?
If that’s the explanation, they probably should get boycotted anyway—but for having extremely bad taste, not for suppressing Christmas …
________________________
“If a tree falls and an expert doesn’t hear it, is there a sound?” Yes, the sweetest, most melodious sound in all creation: the sound of entropy being brought clanking, screeching, grinding to a halt.
The updated information posted at PC Watch which Will S. has linked, evidently in response to my criticism of his original posting, indicates that it is not greeting cards at Boscov’s that lack the word “Christmas,” but rather some kind of credit card-sized item called a gift card that is used for purchases in the store. These little credit cards say “Merry” followed by a Christmas style image. I said last night that it was impossible that Boscov’s had no greeting cards with the word Christmas. My statement has turned out to be correct. PC Watch’s charge has been reduced to complaining that the gift cards for “Happy Hannukah” have the word “Hannukah,” but the gift cards for “Merry” just have Christmas decorations instead of the word “Christmas.” That is still objectionable, but it is an order of magnitude less objectionable than the charge that the store has excluded all greetings cards with the word Christmas. The lack of symmetry concerning the gift cards justifies complaints to the store, it does not justify a “Christian boycott” of the store.
Will S. posted his ridiculous and false charges and the call for a “Christian boycott” against Boscov’s almost a week ago. Why did no reader of this forum notice the absurdity of the charge until I came along and pointed it out? Are we now living in the age of the Blood Libel, when any charge against Jews of committing some anti-Christian act, no matter how ridiculous and unbelievable the charge is, is automatically believed?
And, while both PC Watch and Will S. deserve credit for coming forth with the truth, notice the _way_ that they deal with the truth. Instead of saying, “We blew it, we published this e-mail and accepted its statements, even though what the e-mail said was unbelievable on its face,” instead of admitting any of that, they simply post, without comment, the updated information, while still acting as if the lack of symmetry in the gift cards is as serious as a lack of symmetry in greeting cards.
That’s what Maureen Dowd did after her misleading and false quotation of President Bush (making him appear to say the opposite of what he had actually said) was exposed. Instead of retracting and apologizing for her previous false quotation, she simply published the correct quote without comment. That is cowardly at best. It is the mark of the type of person who, even though one particular bigoted and false comment of his has been exposed, cannot apologize for it, because he still clings to the bigotry that led him to publish it in the first place.
Here is the updated information at PC Watch which Will S. linked:
My reader clarifies what is happening: “Actually, I think you may have thought I meant “greeting card” by “gift card”. What I’m talking about is the credit-card sized gift cards sold in different denominations (the modern version of gift certificates). Boscov’s has these on display throughout the store. You take one to a cashier, pay for it, and the money is encoded into it. One has generic Christmas-style decorations on it with the word “MERRY”. They have another with confetti-style decorations, evidently for New Year’s Day. Since they refuse to use the word “Christmas” on the “MERRY” card, they evidently tried to establish some sort of symmetry with the New Year’s card, so that one only says “HAPPY”. However right next to both cards is the “HAPPYHANNUKAH” card. They have no problem proudly proclaiming that holiday.
Here is a link to the gift cards on their website, but please note that the website does not show all the cards. It only shows a picture of the New Year’s “HAPPY” card, with a dropdown list to select the “MERRY” card. They are evidently not yet selling the Hannukah card online.
The original e-mail did not refer to greeting cards but to gift cards. However, in the absence of any particular information about what a “gift card” is, which information was only supplied by PC Watch’s later update, readers would all assume that gift card meant greeting card and that the word Christmas had been systematically banned from all greeting cards sold at Boscov’s.
Muhlenberg, I’m one who didn’t get the impression anyone was rambling in this thread. I found the comments by all posters in the thread, including Lawrence Auster’s and Will S.’s, extremely valuable and thought-provoking. I think your insinuation (mainly in the title of your comment, which evoked the image of Clinton testifying before the Grand Jury) that Mr. Auster is insincere in his forum discussions is not only wrong and uncalled for but a little shocking, especially coming from a Turnabout regular, Turnabout being View From the Right’s closely allied sister site.
Finally, about “what the deal ‘is’ “: I wonder if you could explain that. We can say controversial things at this site, as far as I’m aware, so why the snideness in making that remark? At the risk of being completely wrong, I’ll take a guess about what “the deal is”: if it’s to do with the delicate fact that Jews and Jewish groups are prominent among those who oppose public expressions of Christmas it’s something we here (and likely the whole world) already know, including Lawrence Auster, and it’s fine to bring it up in a thread such as this, but why not politely? Why the snideness when addressing a man who has discussed things along these lines many times at his own forum completely objectively (and has said he’d be perfectly willing to discuss them more, were it not for the fact that each time he did it attracted all the genuine anti-Semites to his forum)? Bringing up the subject of Jews’ opposition to Christmas isn’t shocking. What’s shocking is the snideness.
(I’m no angel in that regard, having dished out more than my share of snide sarcasm when I get the feeling I’m talking to a brick wall who just can’t be reasoned with. But Auster’s not exactly a brick wall who just can’t be reasoned with.)
If “what the deal is” has to do with something else than this particular subject, what is it then?
I, you, Mr. Auster, and most people who come to this site oppose the forces trying to stamp out public expression of Christmas.
________________________
“If a tree falls and an expert doesn’t hear it, is there a sound?” Yes, the sweetest, most melodious sound in all creation: the sound of entropy being brought clanking, screeching, grinding to a halt.
I do not care about the beliefs and/or ethnic group identification of those that run Boscov’s, I was merely ticked off at what seemed to me, on the surface, as anti-Christian bigotry - and it is still objectionable, to have gift cards which will avoid reference to Christmas but have no such objection to other religious festivals. We do have a real “war against Christmas” going on - see VDARE for multiple examples of such. And a “War against Thanksgiving”, and against the Confederate flag, and so on. In this era, where many (perhaps even on our side, too, as a response, I’ll admit) are hypersensitive about offense, the charges levelled against Boscov’s were not unbelievable, in and of themselves. Daily, we read accounts of absurdities wherein people are offended by little things, and seek to have them banned.
BTW, I originally linked johnjayray’s cross-posting to majorityrights.com, so if I am to be taken to task for either sloppiness or perceived bigotry, along with PCWATCH, then majorityrights.com ought to be, as well.
As for my “being allowed to post” something, this forum is largely, if not completely, unmoderated (posting can be made directly), and people can pretty much post anything, and of course, anyone can respond, as they see fit… Freedom of speech for all is a wonderful thing; let’s hope and pray it lasts…
Will S. justifies what he himself calls his “anger”-driven assumption that a major department store banned all greeting cards containing the word Christmas. He bases his assumption on the many other outrageous attacks on Christmas in recent years. So, on one hand, one can’t entirely blame him for jumping the gun. On the other hand, he should have seen that there is a big difference between, say, Christian things being closed out of public institutions such as schools, and Christian things being closed out of Christmas season Christmas cards, on sale to the public, in a large department store! I repeat that the sheer unlikelihood of the latter being the case, combined with the brevity of the e-mail that was reporting it, should have warned Will S. and John Ray and others to have verified the facts before jumping into publication calling for a “Christian” boycott of a Jewish-owned department store over such a transparently specious charge.
I repeat, this item should not have been published. For Will S. to defend the publication of this misleading and incendiary e-mail on the basis of “freedom” means that he is defining freedom as license, the license to do whatever he likes.
Here’s the NewsMax.com item linked in Bryanna Bevens’ Vdare.com log entry which Will S. linked (must scroll far down the very long page):
_____
Friday, Dec. 3, 2004 12:59 p.m. EST
Macy’s Nixing “Merry Christmas”?
The store made internationally famous by the Christmas classic “Miracle on 34th Street” is reportedly phasing out any direct mention of the holiday in this year’s seasonal promotions.
“Instead of Merry Christmas the message appearing in ads and store displays is ‘Season’s Greetings’ or ‘Happy Holidays,’ ” reports WABC Radio newsman George Weber.
A statement posted to the Web site of Macy’s owner, Federated Department Stores, denies that there’s any company-wide directive to purge direct mentions of Christmas from Macy’s and other Federated outlets.
“Federated has no policy with regard to the use of specific references to Christmas in any of its divisional advertising or promotions. Our divisions are free to advertise in their local markets in any manner they choose. … Our employees are free to wish any customer a Merry Christmas.”
Still, Federated admits to bowing somewhat to the dictates of modern-day political correctness, noting:
“There are, however, many diverse cultures represented in American society today whose views we also recognize and respect. Phrases such as ‘season’s greetings’ and ‘happy holidays’ embrace all of the various religious, secular and ethnic celebrations that take place in the November/December period. [Yeah—like Kwanzaa, the ridiculous invented holiday that only makes those of a particular race who try to “celebrate” it look ridiculous in turn, and Winter Solstice Festival, the monstrosity leftists are trying to shove down our kids’ throats in place of Christmas—Fred Scrooby note]
“Because these expressions of good will are more reflective of the multi-cultural society in which we live today, they tend to be used more and more frequently across all segments of society. In fact, few if any national retailers or businesses now take a different approach to celebrating the season.”
_____
As Will S. points out, Vdare.com’s Bryanna Bevens is considering boycotting Bloomingdale’s because of behavior like this. What’s happening is tribalism, not universalism. If Americans want to keep the culture and traditions they hold most dear they must, among other things, rise up in no uncertain terms and force George Bush to bring to a halt his pet project of replacing the original U.S. population with other peoples he insists on bringing in in their millions and tens of millions. The American people have to learn they can’t have it both ways: can’t have open borders and still be Americans, any more than the Ugandans can have open borders and still be Ugandans, the Vietnamese can have open borders and still be Vietnamese, the Irish can have open borders and still be Irish, or the French can have open borders and still be French. Anyone who says differently is spouting a bunch of boob bait for the conservative Bush-loving bubbas. (For those bubbas who’ve had some college, it’s called sophistry …). And of course it goes without saying it’s one hundred percent right to boycott stores that pull this stunt. That’s called self-defense against attack (largely attack by other tribes, by the way, for any who think this is at bottom genuine universalism: it’s not, but to a large extent the opposite: genuine tribalism).
________________________
“If a tree falls and an expert doesn’t hear it, is there a sound?” Yes, the sweetest, most melodious sound in all creation: the sound of entropy being brought clanking, screeching, grinding to a halt.
Update on pcwatch original post
Here.
PC leads down strange paths
Kwanzaa is apparently de rigueur in the world of PC—you see it everywhere on AOL for example, always side-by-side with Hannukah and Christmas. The leftists at AOL never leave it out. Might Boscov’s have left the “Merry …” greeting incomplete so that people could fill in “Merry Kwanzaa”?
If that’s the explanation, they probably should get boycotted anyway—but for having extremely bad taste, not for suppressing Christmas …
________________________
“If a tree falls and an expert doesn’t hear it, is there a sound?” Yes, the sweetest, most melodious sound in all creation: the sound of entropy being brought clanking, screeching, grinding to a halt.
________________________
PC Watch now admits the charge against Boscov's is false
The updated information posted at PC Watch which Will S. has linked, evidently in response to my criticism of his original posting, indicates that it is not greeting cards at Boscov’s that lack the word “Christmas,” but rather some kind of credit card-sized item called a gift card that is used for purchases in the store. These little credit cards say “Merry” followed by a Christmas style image. I said last night that it was impossible that Boscov’s had no greeting cards with the word Christmas. My statement has turned out to be correct. PC Watch’s charge has been reduced to complaining that the gift cards for “Happy Hannukah” have the word “Hannukah,” but the gift cards for “Merry” just have Christmas decorations instead of the word “Christmas.” That is still objectionable, but it is an order of magnitude less objectionable than the charge that the store has excluded all greetings cards with the word Christmas. The lack of symmetry concerning the gift cards justifies complaints to the store, it does not justify a “Christian boycott” of the store.
Will S. posted his ridiculous and false charges and the call for a “Christian boycott” against Boscov’s almost a week ago. Why did no reader of this forum notice the absurdity of the charge until I came along and pointed it out? Are we now living in the age of the Blood Libel, when any charge against Jews of committing some anti-Christian act, no matter how ridiculous and unbelievable the charge is, is automatically believed?
And, while both PC Watch and Will S. deserve credit for coming forth with the truth, notice the _way_ that they deal with the truth. Instead of saying, “We blew it, we published this e-mail and accepted its statements, even though what the e-mail said was unbelievable on its face,” instead of admitting any of that, they simply post, without comment, the updated information, while still acting as if the lack of symmetry in the gift cards is as serious as a lack of symmetry in greeting cards.
That’s what Maureen Dowd did after her misleading and false quotation of President Bush (making him appear to say the opposite of what he had actually said) was exposed. Instead of retracting and apologizing for her previous false quotation, she simply published the correct quote without comment. That is cowardly at best. It is the mark of the type of person who, even though one particular bigoted and false comment of his has been exposed, cannot apologize for it, because he still clings to the bigotry that led him to publish it in the first place.
Here is the updated information at PC Watch which Will S. linked:
Further clarification
The original e-mail did not refer to greeting cards but to gift cards. However, in the absence of any particular information about what a “gift card” is, which information was only supplied by PC Watch’s later update, readers would all assume that gift card meant greeting card and that the word Christmas had been systematically banned from all greeting cards sold at Boscov’s.
Next "Lawrence" defines what "is" "is"
We all know what the deal “is” Auster.No need to ramble.on
Muhlenberg, was that tone called for?
Muhlenberg, I’m one who didn’t get the impression anyone was rambling in this thread. I found the comments by all posters in the thread, including Lawrence Auster’s and Will S.’s, extremely valuable and thought-provoking. I think your insinuation (mainly in the title of your comment, which evoked the image of Clinton testifying before the Grand Jury) that Mr. Auster is insincere in his forum discussions is not only wrong and uncalled for but a little shocking, especially coming from a Turnabout regular, Turnabout being View From the Right’s closely allied sister site.
Finally, about “what the deal ‘is’ “: I wonder if you could explain that. We can say controversial things at this site, as far as I’m aware, so why the snideness in making that remark? At the risk of being completely wrong, I’ll take a guess about what “the deal is”: if it’s to do with the delicate fact that Jews and Jewish groups are prominent among those who oppose public expressions of Christmas it’s something we here (and likely the whole world) already know, including Lawrence Auster, and it’s fine to bring it up in a thread such as this, but why not politely? Why the snideness when addressing a man who has discussed things along these lines many times at his own forum completely objectively (and has said he’d be perfectly willing to discuss them more, were it not for the fact that each time he did it attracted all the genuine anti-Semites to his forum)? Bringing up the subject of Jews’ opposition to Christmas isn’t shocking. What’s shocking is the snideness.
(I’m no angel in that regard, having dished out more than my share of snide sarcasm when I get the feeling I’m talking to a brick wall who just can’t be reasoned with. But Auster’s not exactly a brick wall who just can’t be reasoned with.)
If “what the deal is” has to do with something else than this particular subject, what is it then?
I, you, Mr. Auster, and most people who come to this site oppose the forces trying to stamp out public expression of Christmas.
________________________
“If a tree falls and an expert doesn’t hear it, is there a sound?” Yes, the sweetest, most melodious sound in all creation: the sound of entropy being brought clanking, screeching, grinding to a halt.
________________________
I wasn't motivated by bigotry; rather anger at perceived bigotry
I do not care about the beliefs and/or ethnic group identification of those that run Boscov’s, I was merely ticked off at what seemed to me, on the surface, as anti-Christian bigotry - and it is still objectionable, to have gift cards which will avoid reference to Christmas but have no such objection to other religious festivals. We do have a real “war against Christmas” going on - see VDARE for multiple examples of such. And a “War against Thanksgiving”, and against the Confederate flag, and so on. In this era, where many (perhaps even on our side, too, as a response, I’ll admit) are hypersensitive about offense, the charges levelled against Boscov’s were not unbelievable, in and of themselves. Daily, we read accounts of absurdities wherein people are offended by little things, and seek to have them banned.
BTW, I originally linked johnjayray’s cross-posting to majorityrights.com, so if I am to be taken to task for either sloppiness or perceived bigotry, along with PCWATCH, then majorityrights.com ought to be, as well.
As for my “being allowed to post” something, this forum is largely, if not completely, unmoderated (posting can be made directly), and people can pretty much post anything, and of course, anyone can respond, as they see fit… Freedom of speech for all is a wonderful thing; let’s hope and pray it lasts…
Will S. justifies himself
Will S. justifies what he himself calls his “anger”-driven assumption that a major department store banned all greeting cards containing the word Christmas. He bases his assumption on the many other outrageous attacks on Christmas in recent years. So, on one hand, one can’t entirely blame him for jumping the gun. On the other hand, he should have seen that there is a big difference between, say, Christian things being closed out of public institutions such as schools, and Christian things being closed out of Christmas season Christmas cards, on sale to the public, in a large department store! I repeat that the sheer unlikelihood of the latter being the case, combined with the brevity of the e-mail that was reporting it, should have warned Will S. and John Ray and others to have verified the facts before jumping into publication calling for a “Christian” boycott of a Jewish-owned department store over such a transparently specious charge.
I repeat, this item should not have been published. For Will S. to defend the publication of this misleading and incendiary e-mail on the basis of “freedom” means that he is defining freedom as license, the license to do whatever he likes.
Some are calling for a boycott of Federated Department Stores
See here for the details.
We're letting our cultural enemies have it entirely their way
Here’s the NewsMax.com item linked in Bryanna Bevens’ Vdare.com log entry which Will S. linked (must scroll far down the very long page):
_____
Friday, Dec. 3, 2004 12:59 p.m. EST
Macy’s Nixing “Merry Christmas”?
The store made internationally famous by the Christmas classic “Miracle on 34th Street” is reportedly phasing out any direct mention of the holiday in this year’s seasonal promotions.
“Instead of Merry Christmas the message appearing in ads and store displays is ‘Season’s Greetings’ or ‘Happy Holidays,’ ” reports WABC Radio newsman George Weber.
A statement posted to the Web site of Macy’s owner, Federated Department Stores, denies that there’s any company-wide directive to purge direct mentions of Christmas from Macy’s and other Federated outlets.
“Federated has no policy with regard to the use of specific references to Christmas in any of its divisional advertising or promotions. Our divisions are free to advertise in their local markets in any manner they choose. … Our employees are free to wish any customer a Merry Christmas.”
Still, Federated admits to bowing somewhat to the dictates of modern-day political correctness, noting:
“There are, however, many diverse cultures represented in American society today whose views we also recognize and respect. Phrases such as ‘season’s greetings’ and ‘happy holidays’ embrace all of the various religious, secular and ethnic celebrations that take place in the November/December period. [Yeah—like Kwanzaa, the ridiculous invented holiday that only makes those of a particular race who try to “celebrate” it look ridiculous in turn, and Winter Solstice Festival, the monstrosity leftists are trying to shove down our kids’ throats in place of Christmas—Fred Scrooby note]
“Because these expressions of good will are more reflective of the multi-cultural society in which we live today, they tend to be used more and more frequently across all segments of society. In fact, few if any national retailers or businesses now take a different approach to celebrating the season.”
_____
As Will S. points out, Vdare.com’s Bryanna Bevens is considering boycotting Bloomingdale’s because of behavior like this. What’s happening is tribalism, not universalism. If Americans want to keep the culture and traditions they hold most dear they must, among other things, rise up in no uncertain terms and force George Bush to bring to a halt his pet project of replacing the original U.S. population with other peoples he insists on bringing in in their millions and tens of millions. The American people have to learn they can’t have it both ways: can’t have open borders and still be Americans, any more than the Ugandans can have open borders and still be Ugandans, the Vietnamese can have open borders and still be Vietnamese, the Irish can have open borders and still be Irish, or the French can have open borders and still be French. Anyone who says differently is spouting a bunch of boob bait for the conservative Bush-loving bubbas. (For those bubbas who’ve had some college, it’s called sophistry …). And of course it goes without saying it’s one hundred percent right to boycott stores that pull this stunt. That’s called self-defense against attack (largely attack by other tribes, by the way, for any who think this is at bottom genuine universalism: it’s not, but to a large extent the opposite: genuine tribalism).
________________________
“If a tree falls and an expert doesn’t hear it, is there a sound?” Yes, the sweetest, most melodious sound in all creation: the sound of entropy being brought clanking, screeching, grinding to a halt.
________________________
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