We're in the business of securing freedom, not sacrificing freedom.

- John Ashcroft, 2002

Freedom's untidy, and free people are free to make mistakes and commit crimes and do bad things.

- Donald Rumsfeld, 2003

In the Middle East and throughout the world, freedom is on the march.

- George W. Bush, 2005

Freedom requires religion.

- Mitt Romney, 2007

WAR IS PEACE

FREEDOM IS SLAVERY

IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

- Ministry of Truth, 1984 

Christmas is not only getting too commercial, it's getting too dangerous.

- Linus Van Pelt

Last night, for the first time since my childhood, I watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas." The tale, of course, is about a little boy's endearing search for the real meaning of Christmas. First televised in 1965, it's a perennial favorite, and yet, it's clear its message, the commodification of the holiday season, continues to get lost among the overabundance of retail shopping outlets.

In fact, watching CB last night, what's striking is its heavy-handed critique of the materialism in which Christmas is steeped. Perhaps "marxist" is a bit too far, but, clearly, there's a strong message, one that's not at all covert.

Lucy Van Pelt: I know how you feel about all this Christmas business, getting depressed and all that. It happens to me every year. I never get what I really want. I always get a lot of stupid toys or a bicycle or clothes or something like that.
Charlie Brown: What is it you want?
Lucy Van Pelt: Real estate.

I'm not sure kids today are as savvy as Lucy, dreaming of real estate under the tree. And, seeing today's foreclosure rates, maybe it's not the best strategy. But it's obvious "Black Friday" is still all about the shopping:

With temperatures in the 30s overnight in Dallas, many waited in their cars instead of lining up for 4 a.m., 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. openings.

Crowds were noticeably younger than in past years and people had their shopping trip mapped out in advance, knowing they could go all night if they wanted to follow new earlier and staggered openings from midnight on.

Holiday shopping today is about maps, and strategies. It's a decidedly militaristic approach -- shopping is hell. And for good reason. A law suit was recently filed against Wal-Mart, from an incident two years ago, where a "security officer shot pepper spray to try to subdue a crowd he claimed had become unruly."

I guess we shop with the security guards we have, not the ones we want.

But it's not just the crowds. Toys with lead paint and other recalls from China that have made the news in recent months top shoppers concerns for the shopping season. Not concerned enough to stop them from lining up at 3AM. But, still, concerned.

Crowds, fights, pepper spray, lead paint: shopping truly is dangerous business.

Get the biggest aluminum tree you can find, Charlie Brown, maybe painted pink.

- Lucy

Perhaps the greatest affront to the real meaning of Christmas is the current trend of those giant blow-up Santas and related plastic ornamentation lining the lawns of suburbia.

What is it about Christmas that makes people want to place giant blow-up plastics on their lawn?

Charlie Brown's dog, Snoopy, isn't immune to decorating fever, as he dresses up his doghouse and takes first prize in a contest. But Snoopy's got nothing on Marty Slack:

The 500 extension cords, the 100,000 lights, the 57 flying metal reindeer, the neon nativity scene, the bubble machine, his very own FM transmitter so he can synchronize all this to "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" — it's tempting to conclude that Marty Slack is a fanatic. But as he told a reporter for CBS News last December: "I think I'm beyond fanatic. I was fanatic a few years ago."

Slack has become a Christmas icon in the Salt Lake Valley, where on a typical weekend night in mid-December a thousand cars snake through his neighborhood to get a look at his house at 5631 Whispering Pine Circle. And then last year his fame went global when he won grand prize in the PlanetChristmas Worldwide Decorating Contest.

Fanatic? Pathological, perhaps.

OK, maybe that's harsh. But it's difficult to look at American attitudes towards the holiday season, and not get, in Charlie Brown's words, "depressed."

There's an important message in the Peanuts gang. It's not the toys, the gifts, the money, the lights. The blow-up plastic Santas.

The message is, it's the simple things that matter.

Charlie Brown: This little green one looks like it needs a home.
Linus Van Pelt: I don't know. Remember what Lucy said? This doesn't seem to fit the modern spirit.
Charlie Brown: I don't care. We'll decorated and it'll be just right for our play. Besides, I think it needs me.
[Picks up tree; a lot of needles fall off]

So, this year, go find a crappy little tree, and give it some lovin.

Peace.

Iran is not building nuclear weapons.

Bookmark that link, or, perhaps even better, print out a few copies, and bring them along to your upcoming holiday dinners with family. So, this way, when your right-wing nutcase uncle, in the inevitable lull between courses, as the table is being cleared, the kids run off to play Xbox, and your aunts go outside for a smoke, explains that we have to bomb Iran, you can simply provide him with the handout.

You do have a right-wing nutcase uncle, don't you?