Tag Archives: Christmas

A Christmas Question for the Ages

BY JAY BRYANT |  DEC 24, 2023

“Why does Santa give rich kids more presents than poor kids?” the little girl asked.

From the mouths of babes, her grandfather thought. Of course, she had no idea of the complexity of the question. He knew the answer, and he didn’t want to take too long in telling it to her, for fear she would interpret his silence, though momentary, as confirmation of her worst fears.

That had happened to him before. In the most dramatic case, a businessman had asked a question on the telephone, a question for which the answer was far more complex than the man could have known. The grandfather, not yet a grandfather then, had hesitated, and the man had interjected, “I guess your silence tells me all I need to know.” That was certainly wrong, but it didn’t matter. The man had hung up, and the grandfather knew he had lost a lot of money and a friend in those few seconds of hesitation.

“Because,” he told the little girl, “Santa isn’t dealing in things, really. He’s dealing in happiness.” Continue reading

A Christmas Gift for Those Who Govern

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON  |  DEC 24

Bob Michel was greeted with a hearty round of applause when he was introduced as the special guest at the RAMS club Christmas lunch in Washington December 17.

One woman, among the room full of current and former congressional chiefs of staff, rose from her seat to give Michel a standing ovation.

As he went on with his introduction, Paul Vinovich, the RAMS Head, reminded the audience that it was also the 70th anniversary of what was the greatest battle of World War II, the Battle of the Bulge. Seventy years ago today, he said, Michel was fighting his way from Normandy Beach Continue reading

Attention Wal-Mart Shoppers

BY JOHN FEEHERY
Reprinted from TheFeeheryTheory.com

I am thankful that I never, ever have done the early shopping the night of or the morning after Thanksgiving.

Black Friday is a black mark on American capitalism in my view. For once, I am with the union workers, who said “enough is enough” to the folks who run Walmart.

No offense to my friends at Walmart, but come on people. There is plenty of time between now and Christmas for everybody to get their shopping done. Continue reading

Saving Christmas Spirit

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON

The top headlines in some American newspapers on Christmas Eve:
“Bombings in Syria Cast Doubt on Ability of Arab Monitors to Stem Violence”
“Wave of Street Robberies”
“DC Air Jordan Frenzy Leads to Arrests”
“Payroll Tax Fight Leaves Hill Republicans Divided and Angry”
“Clash Over Regional Power Spurs Iraq’s Sectarian Rift”
“Justice Department Cites Race in Halting Law over Voter ID”
“Protesters Flood Moscow Streets”

Those headlines reflect only one of many worlds in which we live.

While negative news permeated the media, people all over the country, young and old, toured neighborhoods gazing at homes decorated with lights, wreaths, and plastic reindeer, or listened to Christmas carols on radios, in churches and schools and shopping malls. Normally sedate people were adorned in Santa hats, Christmas ties, red and green clothes, with smiles directed at complete strangers.

Thousands of people went to K-Mart and Walmart stores and paid off the layaway plans of hard-pressed parents buying Christmas gifts for their children. Continue reading

Three R’s of Christmas

BY MICHAEL S. JOHNSON
Reprinted from the
washingtonexaminer.com blog

Sitting in an easy chair, with the laptop resting easy on your lap, eating dark chocolate with a diet, caffeine-free coke chaser, just contemplating Christmas.  The World BoyChoir’s  rendition of Joy to the World is coming from the speakers.  The tree is lit, surrounded by presents.  There’s love in the room and the house is warm while outside it’s nasty cold. 

Continue reading

The American miracle

By Tony Blankley

Reprinted from The Washington Times

A few years ago, I was in China and, through the help of a friend, had the chance to spend a few hours with a senior editor of the People’s Daily – the Communist Party‘s voice and the most influential journal in China.

Continue reading