The Season of the Grinch

Fantastic summation Mr. V.

May your Christmas be merrier than that which is intended for you by our political class.

Posted by monkeyfan at December 19, 2009 7:59 AM

Superb.
A white hot needle into the bullseye of our current malaise. God Bless, Gerard, and a merry Christmas to you. Thank you for what you have given us.

JWM

Posted by jwm at December 19, 2009 8:08 AM

"Grant the people's every request. It is not you they reject, they are rejecting me as their king. As they have treated me constantly from the day I brought them up from Egypt to this day, deserting me and worshiping strange gods..." 1 Samuel 8:7-8

What you see happening is the result of secularism. The people have been clamoring for a king - an earthly one - and now that we have him, "you will complain against the king whom you have chosen, but on that day the Lord will not answer you." 1 Samuel 8:18

For believers though, the answer is eternally given as Emmanuel - God with us. The season can never be diminished.

God be with you and yours, Gerard. Merry Christmas.

Posted by Western Chauvinist at December 19, 2009 8:36 AM

It is the scorning of simple decency. Decency was at the core of the last president; it isn't at the core of the current president.

We shall endure.

Posted by Mikey NTH at December 19, 2009 9:18 AM

It isn't necessarily the abominable circus in D.C. that it responsible for the malaise. It's the hangover from so many years of over-consumption by the American people, for the most part. Buying things for people who already have so much 'stuff' doesn't make anybody feel good.

Perhaps this year is just a step on the path to the return in all of our hearts of the true meaning of Christmas. God is good all the time.

Yes, we shall endure.

Blessings on you.

Posted by JanB at December 19, 2009 9:39 AM

I agree with your Grinch assessment which why I'm taking a certain 'cold' comfort in the east coast blizzard.

May the snow fall and fall on the Capital.

It's a symbol that is appropriate in many ways.

It softens the din.

It's a cold blanket taunting Obama's failure at Copenhagen.

The bulls-eye over DC provides a comforting thought that just maybe God does hear and has a sense of humor.

And of course, it's very pretty.

Wherever you are, Gerard, take heart.

There are a lot of us Cindy Lou Whos out here in Whosville and were gonna turn this Grinch sleigh around.

Merry Christmas!

Posted by Cathy at December 19, 2009 10:26 AM

While all attention was on the great city and it's king, hidden from them, but in their midst, a child was born, to two people who had nothing. But not any child. Must have looked hopeless.
RR

Posted by Ricky Raccoon at December 19, 2009 3:52 PM

"...other gnomes of ill-star." Beautiful, just beautiful!

Posted by Ed at December 19, 2009 4:42 PM

You're a treasure, G.

Without your words, I would be drinking nonstop.

As it is, I take a break now and then to read you.

Posted by Lance de Boyle at December 19, 2009 4:57 PM

Memo to Obama: Don't think we're not keeping score, brother.

Posted by Gagdad Bob at December 19, 2009 7:16 PM

I find it somewhat comforting, to have to cut down on the obscene excesses of past Christmases and to have to find out what it is I really value. For the country it is the year of the Grinch, no doubt, but for me, it is the year of remembering the quiet and dignified desperation of Joseph and Mary, the privilege of Heaven's glory revealed to the poorest and meanest of us all.
Summed up best here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ_fH-1xwGE

Posted by Jewel at December 19, 2009 10:06 PM

There are several comments on the excesses of the past, one said “obscene” excesses. Somehow I don’t believe that these people are talking about themselves. Somehow I get the feeling that they are talking about others, people who they believe are too materialistic, who had too much and are now going to have that excess taken away. So they now find pleasure in the “others” being diminished by a man who goes on million dollar “dates” on jumbo jets and flies that jumbo across the oceans several times a week to deliver speeches and bags of loot to – not the wretched of the earth – but the dictators that make them wretched.

I am reminded of the old Russian fable about the two peasants, one with a cow and one without. A genie appeared to the man without the cow to give him his wish. His wish: for the genie to kill his neighbor’s cow.

Posted by Moneyrunner at December 20, 2009 5:26 AM

Don't despair just yet. We decide what Christmas and Hanukah mean, not them. Only we can diminish it, they cannot. Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will!

Posted by Prologue at December 20, 2009 6:11 AM

Moneyrunner, when I said obscene excesses, I meant myself and no others. It is the bill that comes due every January that you spend the rest of the year paying off. I believe myself to be too materialistic, and it isn't a blanket judgment against others. I get no pleasure in covetousness. I have been poor and well off, and in all circumstances I try to find contentment. For about 3 years, I have limited myself to spending on others what I have managed to save....which is wiser than spending what you might otherwise have in interest payments.

Posted by Jewel at December 20, 2009 8:33 AM

The contempt for this country, its peoples and its traditions among the political classes is truly breathtaking.

Friends blather on about how "wonderful" it is that our "leaders" are far too concerned with our welfare to stop their work for such a triviality as Christmas.

Personally, I find it obscene and sickening. I've not been here of late but am glad I found this. Congress et.al. may wish to pretend such things have no meaning, but as for me, I will keep Christmas.

Posted by shoreacres at December 20, 2009 7:05 PM

I visit your site and find what I cannot say well myself.

My hope is never put in princes, but in Christ. But I have to live in this secular world for the time being. I mourn for what was, and I see the second half of my life as not potential and possibility, but simply surviving. Hope and change.

Posted by Jaye at December 20, 2009 8:46 PM

Sums up my feelings perfectly. It seems as though we are going through the motions of the season while holding our breath, waiting for what the new year will bring. The government that can give you everything you want can take away everything you have. The taking away is about to begin, who knows what the situation will be like next year at this time?

Posted by Boots at December 20, 2009 11:07 PM

Jewel: That is why we have invented LED light strands. :D

If you meant present-giving, try setting aside your Christmas tithe throughout the year, and pay cash.

I am all for a certain amount of excess, because we do need occasional outpourings of joy. I feel much the same way about Independence Day fireworks.

Posted by B. Durbin at December 21, 2009 2:50 PM

Don't think we're not keeping score, brother.

You know, Gagdad et all, I would love to taunt President Wonder Weenie with those words projected onto clouds one night over DC, and the words sitting right under that 'Joker' image, glowering down on the Federal City.

Posted by Don Rodrigo at December 22, 2009 3:38 PM