Christmas and the turning of the year provide at least temporary relief from the usual ill will of politics, but not from political correctness.
There are several holidays around this time of year, although it has become suspect to be inclusive of anything other than the overpowering celebration of Christmas. “Happy holidays,” a greeting once considered amiably nonsectarian — and politically correct — is now considered insulting by the devout.
Generally speaking, though, and regardless of religion, it is the season of new beginnings and the promise of better times ahead. Gifts are given, resolutions are made; it is a time for reflection.
One might reflect, for example, on the general awfulness of secular Christmas songs (or “Xmas” music). “Silver Bells” is fine, but “Jingle Bell Rock” is an abomination, as are “Santa Baby,” “Blue Christmas” and others too numerous to list. The suppliers of mall, airport, restaurant and broadcast music, to avoid offending the supersensitive with the hymnal nature of traditional carols, seem to prefer to dilute the threat of litigation by offending the largest number possible.
Political correctness also asserts itself in the form of GAS, or Gender Avoidance Syndrome. A recent example of this was quoted in the Rocky Mountain News by Lynn Bartels, who has a solid reputation for accurate observation.
As congressional candidate Jared Polis put it, “No one should support a candidate just because they are gay, just as no one should support a candidate just because they are women.” Here it would seem perfectly OK — not to mention grammatically correct — to use “he is gay” and “she is a woman.” But “they” is gaining acceptance as more and more of the politically correct develop GAS.
Avoiding Religious Talk, or ART, used to be part of political correctness, too, but not this year. We’ve lately seen an outpouring of religiosity among presidential candidates. All the front-runners have made special efforts to explain their relationship with whatever church they frequent — or, in some cases, infrequent.
Mitt Romney declares that “freedom requires religion.” Barack Obama feels required to explain that he is a Christian, not a Muslim. John McCain hedges away from his staid Episcopalian upbringing to lean toward the more enthusiastic Baptist. Perhaps it’s because Mike Huckabee seems to have turned his religion into a way to break away from the political pack. No wonder godliness is getting so much attention.
And, of course, Iowa is getting too much attention, as usual. Iowa tends to be pretty religious, and it is said of the state’s voters that they are turned off by negative campaigning. Good for them, but too bad about their hugely hokey caucus night.
There was a time when, as a political reporter, I followed Iowa closely, as if what happened 10 or 11 months before the election was significant and interesting. Now, from a distance, it all seems frantic and silly, all photo ops and folksiness. But unfortunately, it’s still disproportionately important.
Well before Iowa’s caucuses, candidates’ clever operatives find everything bad that there is to find about the opposition. By the time one of the candidates emerges as the front-runner — or the nominee, or even the actual president — so many flaws have been exposed that it’s impossible to think well of the victor.
The campaign season is too long. While hundreds of millions have yet to become engaged in the 2008 process, hundreds of thousands already are weary of it. Let us be thankful, then, for this season of diverse holidays, and the respite it represents.
Fred Brown (punditfwb@aol.com), retired Capitol Bureau chief for The Denver Post, is also a political analyst for 9News. His column appears twice a month.
