Joys of the season

And so, Christmas Eve is upon us at last, that magical day when children can't wait to get to bed early and dream sweet dreams of the bounty that awaits, and parents everywhere look at their accumulated piles of cleverly hidden presents and only then think to ask each other, "How the hell are we going to pay for all this?!"

Ah, the joys of the season...

Sunday, of course, is the "Big Day" - a day when, ironically, many churches this year are closed for business to allow their congregations time for more secular rituals at home. Tomorrow evening marks the beginning of the eight days of Hanukkah, a week-plus-one of gifts, glowing candles - and the most dreary holiday songs ever written! And in two days, the celebration of Kwanzaa begins its week long countdown to the New Year, reinforcing seven basic values of African culture which contribute to building family, community and tradition among African Americans.

(Note to O'Reilly, Falwell, Gibson, Hannity, Dobson, et al: these virtually simultaneous days of observance and revelry just might be the ones to which courteous and tolerant Americans are referring when they wish passersby a joyful "Happy Holidays!")

But before I break out the eggnog and prepare for the arrival of additional overnight guests, I'll leave you with these few items worth mulling over as you put the finishing touches on your own holiday plans:

The New York Times reports that secret domestic surveillance since 9/11 is far more widespread than we imagined. Now, I'm all for combating international terrorism with all the legal means at our disposal. Nevertheless, as an American citizen, I expect my phone conversations and book selections to be private and confidential. Turns out that "click" you've been hearing on the line might not be a figment of your imagination after all.
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On a related note, articles in the Times and the Washington Post point out that Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito has demonstrated a tendency in his career to lean toward the expansion of Presidential powers, and to favor the Executive branch over the Legislative. This is a pretty important characteristic in someone about to be appointed to a lifetime position, beyond the reach of U.S. voters. Let's hope that Congress, in light of the recent revelations concerning Mr. Bush's abuse of authority, keeps this issue in mind, and asks Mr. Alito some tough questions on this topic before simply rubber-stamping his appointment to the top court.
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In case you missed it yesterday, check out Dan Froomkin's "Year in Review", a summary of the seemingly endless examples of Administration duplicity and mismanagement that will leave you wondering (as it does me) how this White House can have an approval rating higher than 5 percent! From non-existent WMD's to Terry Schiavo to Katrina to domestic spying, you've done one heckuva job, Georgie.
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And on the positive side, the Los Angeles Times writes today that red or blue, right or left, U.S. citizens are separating their personal feelings for or against the war from their unanimous support of our men and women in uniform. I'm glad to see that at least the people learned something from the lessons of Vietnam - even if our government seems bound and determined to repeat its mistakes.

Have a safe and wonderful Holiday, everyone!