I thought about taking Christmas off from writing this blog.  After all, it is a legal holiday.  But how can I disappoint my millions of fans (don’t check the site meter) who read me every week?

Deb and I are pleased because both of our children are home for Christmas.  Our daughter, Tara and our son Tad have come home from Minneapolis.  Our daughter-in-law Lisa and our “grand dog” Winston are also here.  As I write, Winston is curled up on the carpet, Tara is watching television, and the others have gone out shopping.

I don’t know what it is like to be a grandpa, but my friends who have grandchildren tell me it is absolutely fabulous.  I’m in no hurry to be a grandpa.  First, it will add to the mounting body of empirical evidence that proves I’m getting old.  Second, I figure that our remaining family disposable income will fall at least 20 percent due to the fact that my wife will be buying everything under the sun for that spoiled grandkid.  It has also occurred to me that I don’t have any control over when or if I’ll be a grandpa.  You don’t choose to become a grandparent; you just get a phone call and you are one.

Meanwhile, I’ve got my grand dog, Winston.  Winston is a three-year-old Springer
Spaniel.  He is a housedog, but has also become a pretty good bird-hunting dog.  Tad and Winston are inseparable.  They go on a couple of hunting trips to Lisa’s native North Dakota each year.  Hunting is something that Tad learned from the in-laws, who are all North Dakota farmers.  Even though Tad is Winston’s best buddy, Winston appreciates our early morning walks.  With the kids sleeping in, it is “gramps” that gets up early to exercise the dog.  Winston is always dying to come along.  He has matured a lot over the past three years.  He doesn’t pull me along anymore but he still suffers from the illusion that he can catch a squirrel.  He even thinks he can climb trees!

Tad never learned to hunt from me because I never owned a gun.  I figured the only reason to own a gun would be in case marginal income tax brackets got too high.   Then we would probably need a gun to defend ourselves from government agents who were trying to take food out of our mouths.  When the Democrats controlled the White House and Congress I figured I’d need to buy a 45-caliber pistol because of their reputation for excessive spending, but I never did.  Then, when the Republicans came to power in the 90’s I figured I was safe from excessive federal spending.  Boy was I wrong.  Yesterday I got on the Internet and ordered an AK-47 with a thirty round clip!  (Just kidding).

I’ve got to apologize.  Here it is, Christmas Eve, and I’m talking about AK-47’s.  That’s a long way from “turning the other cheek.”  On the other hand, there are American soldiers in Iraq right now that are facing fire from the dreaded AK’s.  They are doing it to protect the peace, for which I am extremely grateful.  The Prince of Peace probably didn’t envision the world this way.  But he also didn’t envision New York’s falling world trade towers, a bombed train in Madrid, or a blown-up bus in Haifa.

On Christmas Day 2005 it is very easy to dwell on hunger, war, terrorism, poverty, and all of the world’s many seemingly insurmountable problems.  But for one day, let us indulge ourselves by remembering and repeating the message of Peace on Earth.  May you and yours have a Merry Christmas and a Joyous Hanukah!

After a long and unusually warm fall, winter came quickly to Hubbard, providing bone-chilling cold in early December.  High temperatures have been in the twenties with low temperatures around zero degrees Fahrenheit.   A light, fluffy snow came down all day Saturday, leaving five inches on the ground.  With 16 inches of snow already fallen this winter, the snowmobile trails and ski runs are open.

Jose Gonzales has finished winterizing all of the construction equipment that can’t be used during cold temperatures, getting the pumps on the pressure washers blown out just in time before the freeze.  Likewise, Craig Johnson was prepared this year after taking his snow blower in for a tune-up back in October.  Susan normally reminds him about such things, but her mind is somewhere.  After the rest of the family retires in the evenings, she sometimes listens to mood music while tears well up in her eyes.  She knows that she is hopelessly in love with Bill Haley.

Timmy Harnack hasn’t had much to cheer about this year, as his Packers have won only three games.  His dad and brother tell him that it isn’t all that bad because the Pack might get a high draft choice next year.  Ralph and Marcus didn’t make their annual pilgrimage to Lambeau Field.  With the high price of tickets and the number of injuries the Packers have sustained they decided to delay Timmy’s first game at Lambeau Field, even though it might be Brett Favre’s last year.  This was an unpopular decision from Timmy’s point of view because he is dying to see the Packer legend in person.

Marsha Lipper-Daley was really upset when two of the members of the city council introduced a motion to rename the Christmas tree the “Hubbard Holiday Tree” at the annual lighting ceremony down at the town square.  She was forced to give an impassioned speech imploring the council not to “worship too much at the alter of political correctness.”  The council voted the motion down by a 4-2 margin.  For now Hubbard, Wisconsin will still have a Christmas tree.

Unity Wilson made a few extra bucks this year selling special wreaths made from “natural pine branches, grown in non-corporate owned forests, untouched by pesticides or chemicals of any kind.”  She’s going to visit her sister in Minneapolis this year where both of them have been invited to attend a small gathering at a large mansion on Lake of the Isles in memory of the late Paul Wellstone.  Angela Gonzales is decorating the house, complete with four Christmas trees, and is happy that all of her children will be back in Hubbard for dinner on Christmas day.  She’s cooking a traditional turkey, complete with Mexican spices and her special guacamole turkey dressing.

Dave has been fixing the old stove in his garage.  The wood gathering should be done by Tuesday, just in time for the next “fat chewing session”.  There’s a lot of talk about the Iraq war.  Some of the folks in the garage feel that we should get out because we got in for the wrong reasons.  Dave believes that these are separate issues and should not be linked.  “We’re in there now”, roars Dave.  “We’ve got to finish the mission.  This is not the time to fly the choppers off the Embassy roof like we did in Vietnam.  We can’t afford to be viewed as soft in a time when we are at war with Islamic Fascists.  The Iraqi people have risked their lives to go to the polls and elect their first permanent government.  What is wrong with you, thinking that we should leave now?”

Frank Rogers will come home to Hubbard for the Christmas weekend.  He’s had a great time partying with his friends in Minneapolis, but he is looking forward to going ice fishing on Lake Shady with Marcus.  Marcus hasn’t told Frank about enrolling in his first college course this January.  He’s debating on whether to tell Frank or not.  After all, if he doesn’t do well and never takes another course he won’t have to explain his failure to Frank.  Marcus isn’t sure he can “hack it” in college.  One thing is for sure.  If Frank knew about Marcus’ enrollment he would encourage the heck out of him.

The foundry has been operating 24 hours a day.  Ralph Harnack has never seen it so busy.  Sometimes he chuckles when he looks back at the last presidential campaign hearing John Kerry say, “This is the worst economy since the great depression.”  When he was younger Ralph would have complained about the overtime but knowing what it is like to be laid off, he fully appreciates having plenty of money in his pocket.  This year he’ll have enough to put the Christmas goose on the table and buy Marcus the new shotgun he’s always wanted.  Timmy will get a new bicycle.  Last night, over a cup of coffee, Ralph and Betty discussed their thirty years together.  They’ve always been working people, but all things considered, it has been a good life.  Most people in the world live far less comfortably than they.  During this Christmas season they’ve decided to be grateful, for life in the United States has given them prosperity, health, and much more for which to be thankful.  It’s going to be a good Christmas in Hubbard, Wisconsin.

When I was about twelve years old I first encountered the word XMAS.  My mother told me that the “X” was intended to shorten the word Christmas, but that she didn’t really like the abbreviated word.  “After all”, she said, “ It’s Christmas!  The name of Christ should appear in the name of the holiday that celebrates his birth.”

As I see it, XMAS was just the beginning of the war on Christmas.  There have been two major fronts on war on Christmas.  The first assault is that of commercialism, for which we have no one but ourselves to blame.   The second assault has been that from civil libertarian secularists, who believe that there is absolutely no place for Christmas in any public venue.

As far as the commercialism is concerned, I think we’ve come close to wrecking Christmas beyond repair.  Christmas should be more like Thanksgiving.  Thanksgiving is a one-day event.  We get together with family, pray to thank God for our blessings, have a wonderful meal, and go home.  The message of Thanksgiving is simple and unadulterated:  It is a time to thank God for our Blessings.

Christmas, on the other hand, is a 4-6 week shopping jag culminating either Christmas Eve or Christmas morning with the opening of an insane number of wrapped presents.  I would hate to admit how many Christmas mornings I’ve seen young children (mine and others in our family) open gift after gift, only to end up crying by the end of the day.  Either a toy breaks, the batteries go dead, or some other kid gets what they wanted.  Despite the incredible acquisition of numerous material possessions over a period of a few minutes, the kid ends up unhappy by the end of the day!  Unlike Thanksgiving, where the reason for the holiday is known and celebrated, commercialism and gift giving has almost obliterated the true meaning of Christmas, which is to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

The second assault on Christmas, from the civil libertarian secularists, has started to make even “token” Christians furious.  A couple of weeks ago Lowes home centers had big signs outside their stores on which they advertised “Holiday Trees.”  Bill O’Reilly covered this on his television program and within 48 hours Lowes had gotten so much heat that they decided to start selling “Christmas Trees” again.  Target unwisely kicked the Salvation Army bell wringers off of their properties last year.  Wall-Mart, seizing the opportunity, donated heavily to the Salvation Army and welcomed the bell-wringers to their stores.  The means to which some secularists will go to litigate against the celebration of Christmas are amazing.  Christmas parades are cancelled because they cannot be held on public streets.  Public school choirs cannot sing Christmas Carols.  The manger scene is banished from the front of the city hall or courthouse.  Virtually every mention of Christmas on public property or at a public venue is prohibited.

The rationale is usually that some Hindu, Muslim, Jew, or atheist will be offended when the “religion of the majority is forced upon religious minorities.”  In reality it is difficult to find a Hindu or Muslim that is disturbed with the celebration of Christmas in the United States.  Jews have demonstrated an uncanny ability to assimilate into virtually every culture in the world.  It is almost impossible to find a Jew that would object to Christmas.  The atheists are the ones who stir the pot in this regard, encouraged and financed by the American Civil Liberties Union.

If I were living in a Muslim country I would expect Ramadan to be celebrated.  When I go to Hindu-dominated India I appreciate and enjoy the Hindu festival of Divali.  Any citizen of India that filed a lawsuit proposing that Divali should not be celebrated due to the fact that it offends religious minorities would be laughed out of the country.  That lawsuit would never make it to court in India, as it shouldn’t.  In the United States the case would probably end up in the Supreme Court.

Enough is enough.  This is the United States of America where the dominant religion is Christianity.  Christmas is a federal holiday in this country.  It is downright silly to deny Christians the right to celebrate their holiday in this country.  I’m not here to predict the apocalypse.  I’m not saying that the Lord will destroy the United States because we chose to secularize Christmas.  I’ll leave that for the more radical Christians.

I will, however, say that I’m fed up with this whole “happy holidays” scene.  This year I’ve made it a point to say “Merry Christmas” instead of “happy holidays”.  I don’t care if you’re a Jew or a Hindu or a Muslim…you’re going to get a “Merry Christmas” from me.  You see; I’m a Christian.  I’m neither a “rattle snake kissing” Jesus freak nor a “cram it down your throat” evangelical.  I have, however, been raised from birth to accept Christ as my savior and to attempt to live my life in a way that mirrors his love for humanity.  Despite the fact that I have fallen short of what is expected of me as a Christian, I’m still a Christian.  Like a lot of my fellow Christians I’m sick of this phony assault on Christmas.

If a Jew wishes me a “happy Hanukkah”, a Muslim wishes me a “joyous Ramadan”, or a Hindu wishes me a “wonderful Divali”, I’m not in the least bit offended.  I can enjoy their holidays just as they can enjoy Christmas.  I don’t even mind if an atheist expresses his opinion that there is no God.  But now it is the Christmas season and dammit, I’m going to celebrate the birth of Christ unapologetically.

This week Kenneth Lee Boyd was executed in North Carolina for the 1988 murder of his wife and father-in-law.  He had the distinction of being the 1,000th person executed in the United States since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976.

On December 13th Stanley “Tookie” Williams is scheduled for execution by lethal injection at San Quentin Prison in California.  The California Supreme court recently voted 4-2 to deny Williams’ clemency, so the only person who can intervene on his behalf is California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.  Williams, who was convicted of killing four people in a convenience store in 1979, has garnered a lot of support from well-meaning people who claim that he is a changed man.   Jesse Jackson, “human rights champion” Bianca Jagger, Michael Fox, and other hollywood types have been maintaining a vigil for Tookie.  Since entering San Quentin Williams has authored several children’s books denouncing gang violence and was even nominated for a Nobel Prize.  It should also be noted that founded the infamous Crips gang in his earlier years of crime and was indirectly responsible for the violence and chaos perpetrated by its members.

Williams may indeed be a changed man.  Boyd mellowed in prison also, and was allegedly a nice guy in the years and months prior to his execution.  I guess incarceration on death row has a way of calming a fellow down a bit.  However, the good behavior of these gentlemen while in prison does not negate the fact that both of them were cold-blooded killers.

Every time a person is executed in the United States the anti-death penalty folks come out to demonstrate.  They point out the fact that the state should not be in the business of killing people; that this is brutal and barbaric for a civilized society.  They also believe that the death penalty does not deter crime.  They are probably correct on both points.

The legal appeals process, from the time a man is sentenced to death until he is finally executed, takes around twenty years and costs literally millions of dollars.  The legal appeals costs for those sentenced to death are so astronomical that it costs much more to kill a man than to incarcerate him for the rest of his life.  Vengeance is expensive.

I propose the following.  First, Schwarzenegger should not intercede to grant clemency to Tookie.  In other words, the “terminator” should terminate Tookie.  Second, the US Congress should again make the death penalty illegal.  Initially you might wonder how someone can support executing Tookie and also wish to abolish the death penalty for everyone else on death row.  The reason is logical and defendable…based on pure economics.

California taxpayers have already paid millions to appeal Tookie’s case.  It would be a shame to let all of that money go to waste.   Fry Tookie.  I don’t give a damn about Tookie, just as he didn’t give a damn about his victims.  I also know that the decision to execute Tookie must be the right one by applying the “Jesse Jackson Test”.  The test goes like this.  Take any issue.  Find out what side Jesse Jackson is on.  The correct position is always the opposite of Jesse’s.

As far as the rest of the murderers go, let’s quit wasting taxpayer money on their legal appeals.  Make the death penalty illegal.  Just lock them in up in solitary confinement without a TV and without cigarettes or coffee until they die.   This will free their lawyers up to do more productive things, like chasing ambulances.

By the way, if you want to buy the autobiography of Stanley “Tookie” Williams, or get a copy of “Redemption”, the movie about Tookie’s life and work, or order a “Save Tookie” tee shirt you can order one at:  www.savetookie.org    On second thought, you might want to wait and place your order on December 14th when the demand and prices for Tookie merchandise will probably fall like a rock.