Ladies and gentlemen, a self-hating Jew.

Sigh. The latest assault in this completely nonsensical "war against Christmas" is this shameful commentary on the right-wing WorldNetDaily by Burt Prelutsky, a writer of books and scripts for T.V. shows including MASH.

You know how I know this "war against Christmas" notion is completely nonsensical, as in, it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever?

Let me put it this way. I live in one of the bluest parts of one of the bluest states in America. I live in Seattle, Washington. Our state Senators are Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray. We chase army recruiters off campuses. Our Governor is Christine Gregoire. My Congressman is "Bagdad" Jim McDermott, who's so freaking liberal he's featured in Farenheit 9/11.

So you would think that if anybody had this "war on Christmas" stuff down, it would be us. So how come already twice since Thanksgiving, I've been in stores where they were playing not just Christmas music, but blatantly Christian Christmas music? And yet, those crazy Jewish nuts from the ACLU did not run riot.

If it's not happening here, it's not happening. There is no war on Christmas. It is a lie. But let's see what Mr. Prelutsky has to say anyway.

Schools are being forced to replace "Christmas vacation" with "winter break" in their printed schedules. At Macy's, the word is verboten even though they've made untold millions of dollars from their sympathetic portrayal in the Christmas classic, "Miracle on 34th Street." Carols, even instrumental versions, are banned in certain places. A major postal delivery service has not only made their drivers doff their Santa caps, but ordered them not to decorate their trucks with Christmas wreaths.

Gee I wish he'd source some of this stuff. But basically, these are all covered with one answer: It's called having consideration for other people, the idea that you might think of someone besides yourself.

I know this notion is foreign to right-wingers, but in a way, it's actually what Christianity (and hence Christmas) is supposed to be about. Caring for others. Compassion. But let's move on:

Although it seems a long time ago, it really wasn't, that people who came here from other places made every attempt to fit in. Assimilation wasn't a threat to anyone – it was what the Statue of Liberty represented. E pluribus unum, one out of many, was our motto. The world's melting pot was our nickname. It didn't mean that any group of people had to check their customs, culture or cuisine, at the door. It did mean that they, and especially their children, learned English, and that they learned to live and let live.

Although it seems a long time ago, it really wasn't, that people who came here from other places were welcomed with institutionalized poverty, racism and Red-baiting. They lived under the constant threat that the slightest deviation from the norm would be grounds for expulsion from society at best. Beatings and lynchings at worst.

Of course they learned to live and let live, they wanted to live! We're supposed to have made an advance.

But the dirty little secret in America is that anti-Semitism is no longer a problem in society – it's been replaced by a rampant anti-Christianity. For example, the hatred spewed toward George W. Bush has far less to do with his policies than it does with his religion. The Jews voice no concern when a Bill Clinton or a John Kerry makes a big production out of showing up at black Baptist churches or posing with Rev. Jesse Jackson because they understand that's just politics. They only object to politicians attending church for religious reasons.

This paragraph I dearly love-it may be more filled with patent untruths and bullshit than any other single paragraph I have ever seen. First of all, there is no rampant anti-Christianity. Second of all, the "hatred spewed towards George W. Bush" has everything to do with his policies.

Visit any or all of the Weblog Awards "best liberal blog" nominees, and see how much talk you find about Bush's religion vs. his polices. And third, note the "subtle" insinuation that when Democratic politicians attend church, everybody knows they're just kidding.

Even though one of the two Democratic presidents of the past 35 years, Jimmy Carter, now a respected statesman and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is a deeply religious man. In fact a former Sunday school teacher, a religious scholar and a man who has plainly tried to live his life caring for others and showing compassion . (There's those words again.)

How disgusting to imply that his faith is a posture.

My fellow Jews, who often have the survival of Israel heading the list of their concerns when it comes to electing a president, only gave 26 percent of their vote to Bush, even though he is clearly the most pro-Israel president we've ever had in the Oval Office.

Well gee, maybe 74% of your fellow Jews were better able than you to see what A. Whitney Brown used to call The Big Picture. Maybe they saw that pro-or-anti-Israel makes little difference if otherwise he's a horror show who is driving our nation off a cliff.

They're clever folks, those Jews, with certain obvious exceptions.

Via Jill at Feministe, who has a couple of timely responses herself.