Have you read Senator John McCain's X-Mas Greeting?

PHXnews ^ | 12/22/03 | John McCain

[AZ Righty]

Dear Friend,

Cindy and I would like to take a moment to wish you and your family a Happy Holiday Season. We will celebrate the season by spending time with our family and friends, sharing in the special moments and memories of this past year.

[AZ Righty]

Is this a political message banned by the McCain-Feingold Bill?

[pbear8]

I'm sure there's some good and deep philosophical reason that this article was excerpted? Right??

[lewislynn]

You might find the bigger sin around here is using "X-mas" rather than Christmas.

[thoughtomator]

Turns into "XXY-mas" real quick sometimes

[Arthur McGowan]

Three "holidays" and no "Christmases." Yet he has the gall to mention "Happy New Year." Doesn't he know that some people don't celebrate the New Year on January 1st? Isn't he afraid of offending his Chinese and Jewish constituents? One has to despise anyone who so cravenly goes along with the Edict Abolishing Christmas that seems to have been issued around 1990.

[Damagro]

Actually it wasn't even an X-Mas greeting. It was a "holiday season" greeting. Was the word Christmas outlawed and I missed it?

[Skooz]

Well, if it was just a "holiday season" greeting, why release it now? It could just as easily be a Flag Day or Memorial Day greeting. Maybe McCain wants to wish everyone a happy Cinco de Mayo a little early.

I suppose a generic, banal, non-offensive, bland "holiday" of some sort is coming up pretty soon. I wonder what it is.

[Wil H]

John McCain is a mealy mouthed, pandering, obsequious son of bitch.

That's why there is no mention of the federally mandated CHRISTMAS holiday in his message...

just in case you did not know...

[RJayneJ]

Quote of the Day by P.O.E.

[latina4dubya]

and why is this? as adults we should all know by now that the shorter word, "XMAS" does not stem from people leaving Christ out of Christmas (which is what i thought as a child)... look up the letter X and find that X actually means Christ... i've also heard that there was a time when people didn't believe they were worthy enough to even write the name "Christ," and so used the X instead... i kind of like that idea... sure some people use xmas to abbreviate, but not necessarily so with everybody... such as myself from now on... i know i'll have lots of explaining to do to my brothers and sisters in "X."

[kitkat]

*** sure some people use xmas to abbreviate, but not necessarily so with everybody... such as myself from now on...***

MERRY CHRISTMAS, latina. Oh, and a HAPPY NEW X, as well.

[knarf]

"I suppose a generic, banal, non-offensive, bland "holiday" of some sort is coming up pretty soon. I wonder what it is."

Happy HannaRammaQuanzMas

(Courtesy of the Glenn Beck show.)

[leadpenny]

Maybe he was a silent co-sponsor of the lawsuit.

[matrix2225]

Happy Holiday Season (period, term, spell, time, time of year, flavor, spice) what season, I thought in English season means changing weather, like fall, winter, spring, summer. Season of what great harvest etc. For me is Christmas and Marry Christmas.

[friendlylib]

According to m-w.com the first definition for "holiday" is a Holy Day, such as Christmas, Hanukkah, etc. Flag day, though of great importance to our national identity, is not a Christian/Jewish/Muslim/Hindu/etc holy day.

Likewise, AZ Righty, a "season" as defined by m-w.com is 1 a : a time characterized by a particular circumstance or feature , which is perfectly appropriate in this context, since many Holy Days occur around the same time. I suspect that Senator McCain believes that some of his constituents and acquaintances might very well celebrate other holidays and he wanted to expressly include his respect and good wishes for their own private celebrations. He certainly did NOT discount the importance of Christmas by including celebrations of other faiths.

While I don't think a Christmas greeting is in any way offensive, I certainly have as much respect for a greeting which is simply trying to show respect for the faithful of many beliefs.