Then Roberts hit Yarmuth hard:

By his votes, Mr. Yarmuth has shown that he does not grasp one of the most fundamental principles of our American Constitution: Government must treat all religions with equal respect. Everyone in the 3rd District -…..

Flame away, right-wing fellow Americans.

847 was passed, as the resolution’s language notes, in the wake of 9/11 in a climate of fear and potential misunderstanding about Islam. It was proposed and passed to prevent American Muslims from feeling threatened and to encourage all Americans to be unified in the wake of these terrible attacks but to avoid scapegoating the innocent. The resolution makes almost no mention of Muslim theology, and is offered by an (at that time) entirely non-Islamic House of Representatives as a gesture of friendship to the American and international Muslim community.

HR 635 can be read either as the sort of relatively insignificant resolution the House and Senate pass all the time praising or recognizing one event/group or another, or it can be read as a defensive volley in the supposed “War on Christmas.” Of course, the language of 635 belies the very idea of a war on Christmas. If 225,000,000 Christians are afraid their holiday will somehow be forced underground, they’re a pretty fearful bunch. From where I sit, Christmas, a holiday the Puritans once banned because it was associated with waste and debauchery (most people celebrated it anyway), has rallied nicely since the mid-1600s, and is in no need of defense.

What the nine “nay” voters undoubtedly objected to was the implication in the bill that Christianity is, in all but name, the official religion of the United States. The people now preparing to flame me a la Michelle Malkin can pretend this sentiment isn’t in the bill while, at the same time, agreeing with the sentiment, but it’s there. Where the Constitution forbids the establishment of a state religion, the implications of a House resolution that lavishly praises a religion that is the one practiced by a vast majority of Americans, taking pains to connect it with the Republic using language familiar to anyone who has read the various arguments right-wing Christians have made attempting to paint the founders as deeply committed to a Christian state (they weren’t), are considerably different than one that discourages discrimination and irrational hatred of the practitioners of a tiny minority religion.

That said, it’d be hard not to see a trap like this one, and why these nine didn’t vote “present” or simply skip the vote, I don’t know.

Wow. We always knew it, but rarely has it been so effectively displayed:
From the office of G…
Popularity: unranked [?]…

If you listen to left wing pundits, there is no war on Christmas. It is all something made up in the minds of Bill O’Reilly and all the right wingnut neocon facists chickenhawks. Oh, really? Via Michelle Malkin
From the office of GOP Rep. Steve K…

Jay over at Stop the ACLU is always on top of events going on around the globe, and especially within our own borders. (Where he finds the time, I haven’t a clue).

…

The Vets for Freedom debated in England last night. Unfortunately, I just opened the email. There is an article, however, letting our elected officials know of the importance of funding our troops before they leave for another one of their vacations….