Rooting against America is un-American

Politicians annoy me. Democrats. Republicans. Even my fellow Libertarians. People’s motives never seem to be for the betterment of humanity and always for the betterment of their kind.

This is illustrated perfectly in the current round of scandalgates that are circling the halls of Congress. Between Benghazi, the Associated Press phone records seizure and the IRS overwhelming interest in tea party activists, Republicans are having a field day at Democrats’ — and particularly President Barack Obama’s — expense.

From what I’ve seen from these scandals so far, there isn’t much to any one of them. But piled on as a perfect trifecta in Thursday’s news, it sure seems as though the president will have a hard time surviving it. If Republicans weren’t already trumping up the word “impeachment” before, they’re surely testing it out now.

The worst part of this is that Republicans — by and large — couldn’t actually care less about what happened in Libya (that’s where Benghazi is, although I saw a statistic the other day that says that while 41 percent of registered Republicans believe that saga to be the biggest scandal in American history, 39 percent of those who believed so didn’t know where Benghazi is).

I also can’t imagine they feel bad for the Associated Press reporters who had their phone records snagged by the Department of Justice. I tend to view the GOP as skipping over the 1st Amendment because it gets in the way of their favorite one.

Now the IRS thing, I’ll give them credit for that. That story is just ridiculous. We all know that Republicans hate the IRS already anyway. And that bit of absurdity went after their people. So I’m sure they are genuinely upset about it.

But aside from the IRS shenanigans, I can’t help but feel that the GOP’s primary interest in these tawdry affairs is the amount of damage that it could potentially do to the president. Basically I believe that they’re much less interested in either correcting or preventing wrongdoings than they are in pinning any wrongdoings on President Obama.

What I want to know is: Why do Republicans hate America?

This is the same question that Republicans asked whenever Democrats questioned anything George W. Bush did. It was a stupid question then and I realize that it’s a stupid question now. I ask it facetiously.

Except …

It does genuinely seem un-American to me to root against President Obama, his policies, prosperity and even peace — all in hopes of bringing down his presidency. Some people are actually rooting for chaos because they think it will make Obama look bad.

Yes. It was equally un-American for Democrats to root against President Bush. But we’re dealing with the here and now. And here and now the GOP is willing to sacrifice anything just to get at Obama.

So I guess my real question is: If you’re willing to root against America — in the name of America — how can America possibly win?

Scott Leffler is a real American. He fights for the rights of every man. He also used to watch wrestling as a child. Follow him on twitter @scottleffler.

There is no "War on Christmas"

I don't wear my religion on my sleeve, but I am a religious person. I'm a Christian. I believe in the almighty God and his son Jesus Christ. I attempt to practice Christian values, including the celebration of the birth of Christ, which we call Christmas.

I put this out there to stave off any hate mail which might refer to me as a “Godless commie” or whatever. Hate mail is welcome, but don't write it under false pretenses, okay?

The “War on Christmas” is a farce. It doesn't exist. It's propaganda put out by certain nutjobs in the media – mostly radio - in order for them to have something to talk about in what is typically a slow news month.

One particular nutjob has been lamenting the war on Christmas for years, saying that retailers across the United States were forcing their workers to say “seasons greetings” or “happy holidays” instead of “merry Christmas” in order to further the "legalization of narcotics, euthanasia, abortion at will, gay marriage."

No, really. That's a direct quote from Bill O'Reilly, the self proclaimed culture warrior.

When I'm out shopping or whatever, I tend to say “Merry Christmas” to people I come across. It's my holiday and that's my way to share the Christmas spirit. If someone returns the favor and wishes me a Merry Christmas, I think that's great. If I get a “happy holidays” back, I think that's okay, too. Also appropriate, “Happy Hannakuh,” and “Happy Kwanzaa.”

Last week, I went to a Festivus party put on by my friends at WNYMedia.net. They wanted to have a holiday party, but wanted a twist. Festivus, for those of you who don't know is a holiday invented by the show Seinfeld. There's a pole instead of a tree, feats of strength and the airing of grievances. It's cute.

I don't assume that everyone has the same religion as me. And I don't object to religious tolerance, which is why many people say “happy holidays” over “Merry Christmas.”

A couple days ago, a friend of mine attempted to convey a similar message on Facebook. She was heralded by some and lambasted by others. The most telling comment, though was, “It's called the Christmas season,” to which my friend commented, “not if you're Jewish.”

How true.

When you order a drink for a friend, you don't just assume that they want the same thing you're drinking do you? If you're unsure of their beverage habits, you ask them … then order what it is they asked for, right? And if they're not drinking what you're drinking, you don't assume that it's some left-wing conspiracy against Coke, do you?

See, I just have problems with conspiracy theories in general. The concept that the board of directors of any major retailer sit around and come up with ideas to kill Christianity is absolutely absurd. Its much more likely that they sit around and come up with ideas to be more inclusive so they can make more money.

More inclusive means more generic. More generic means “happy holidays.”

So if you're going to lob conspiratorial accusations at the major retailers for creating “holiday” ads instead of “Christmas” ones, do so on the grounds that they're just trying to make more money.

And if you're opposed to corporations making more money, who's the commie now?

Merry Christmas to those I love. This means you.