Commentary

Thank You, President Trump... For Giving Me A Blog To End The Year With

A year of political media and marketing that seemed to defy precedence is ending, as you might expect, on yet another unprecedented note: an ad campaign thanking the President of the United States for letting Americans say something they were never prohibited from saying: “Merry Christmas.”

The $1 million campaign created and bought by pro-Trump PAC America First Policies, features people portraying regular American citizens thanking the President, including a cherub-faced girl, posing in front of a Christmas tree, who says: “Thank you President Trump for letting us say Merry Christmas again,” with the song “We Wish You A Merry Christmas” playing in the background.

Never mind that Americans were never prohibited from saying it, or believing it. In fact, the First Amendment protects both those rights.

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The paid media effort was either a targeted at an audience of one (President Trump) or to persuade his supporters that Trump has, in fact, somehow protected their right to say “Merry Christmas.”

Trump, who kvetches almost incessantly about “fake news,” literally created a fake issue about a plot to keep Americans from wishing each other a Merry Christmas, and a PAC spent serious money trying to convince Americans of that fact.

In the ultimate irony, Trump even thanked himself in a Christmas Eve tweet asserting, “I am proud to have led the charge against the assault of our cherished and beautiful phrase. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!”

That Trump likes self-congratulating himself isn’t new. That he likes creating fake wars to fight is also standard fare. But to exploit one of America’s most cherished traditions for political gain isn’t just a lie, but a shameless assault on reality.

On that note, and without any thanks to President Trump, let me wish all our readers a belated Merry Christmas. And even though POTUS hasn’t weighted in on it -- yet -- I’ll throw in a Happy New Year! 

Wishing you all the best for 2018.

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