A Christmas Letter to Jason Kenney
I finally confess my true feelings about Alberta’s new Leader of the Official Opposition
Dear Jason,
Merry Christmas.
Oh, and I hate you. There, I said it: I hate you.
Not because of your ideology or political views or weird haircut or your massive sense of entitlement and messiah complex.
No, I hate you because when I should be working on many other things, you do something stupid that infuriates me. Then it prompts me to write you a letter that I know you don’t read.
Today’s stupid thing dragging me away from other things:
This tweet is a quote from a Rick Bell column which thankfully, I don’t have to read in full due to twitter.
And while talking to and/or reading anything by Rick Bell is a stupid thing, its not the stupid thing that’s infuriating me today. Ultimately, Jason, its your brain and you can damage as it further as you see fit.
No, it’s that you’re cheerfully the ‘War of Christmas’ lie. Given that you lie all the time, you’d think this one wouldn’t make any difference to me.
But it does. Oh, how it infuriates me.
The War on Christmas is a lie.
You know that, of course. The fact that a given statement is a lie has never stopped you from saying it if it suits your needs.
Oh Jason, you never fail to live down to my expectations.
Weaponizing Christmas
The War on Christmas is one of the more disgusting things that crazy right-wingers have done in the last 30 years.
Don’t get me wrong, its not as bad as say: voting against every piece of gay rights legislation that’s ever happened to come up while you were an elected official or otherwise using the state to further your prejudices.
Nonetheless, its still exceptionally vile. Right-wing Christians, who supposedly value their religious beliefs above all else, weaponized their biggest holiday of the year.
They weaponized the birth of Jesus of Nazareth (See Note Below).
Jesus of Nazareth, the real historic person, deserves more respect than this. Especially from those who believe he was their messiah.
What kind of people try to make their biggest holiday into a weapon against their political enemies?
What kind of people turn a well meant ‘Happy Holidays’ into a cultural and political weapon? Especially given that it is accurate: Christmas Day is just the first of several religious and secular holidays. There’s a reason there is a carol called ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas.’ Oh and New Year’s too!
The kind of people who want to police the speech of others. The kind of people who want to use the majority religious beliefs as a cudgel against minorities and left-wingers regardless of their religious beliefs.
The kind of people who care more about their cultural and political power then they do about the actual teachings of their religion.
The kind of people who weaponize Christmas: they’re bad people.
Turn the Down the Volume on Your Foghorn
So this was all just a joke:
Also, for what was supposedly a joke, you sure go to a lot of effort to justify the premise in this tweet.
Let’s be clear: the original statement was not a joke.
It was yet another dogwhistle to your rabid ultra-conservative base. They’re so common, that I think you’re incapable of speaking in anything other than dogwhistles.
But dogwhistles of bigotry have to fly under the radar in order to work and yours are now, as they say, foghorns.
If you can’t help yourself Jason, can you at least turn down the volume?
It would be the most wildly unlikely Christmas miracle ever, to hope that you might somehow move up the moral ladder from bad to misguided.
Consider it a Christmas gift, one all Albertans would appreciate.
Happy Holidays!
Jack
Albertan who’s favourite upcoming holiday is St. Stephen’s Day (December 26th).
Note: Yes, I know that Jesus of Nazareth was not born in the winter and that the date of the celebration was moved from spring to the day of a similar pagan feast to make it easier to convert pagans to Christianity.
