Christmas

Newt Gingrich: George Washington experienced America’s first Christmas miracle – And it changed our history

As I gather with family and friends for the holiday, I like to think about the most important Christmas moments that we have shared together. This year, as I was thinking about it, I also thought about the most important Christmas moments in American history. My mind immediately went to the first – George Washington’s victory at the Battle of Trenton on Dec. 26, 1776. Indeed, this risky assault actually amounts to America’s first Christmas miracle, which I explain in this week’s episode of “Newt’s World.” In December 1776, Washington and the Continental Army were not in good shape. They were badly in need of a victory, having had a run of devastating defeats with no significant successes. Not only that, Trenton was being defended by Hessian mercenaries, who were highly trained and well-equipped. The odds in a straight-up fight were not good. So, Washington had to do something unexpected – attack the day after Christmas. However, on Christmas Day, the weather was horrible. Washington’s roughly 2,400 soldiers – many of whom did not have shoes – had to march through wet snow, sleet, and driving rain to the Delaware River, where they then crossed in the dead of night. Once they started crossing the river, the weather was made worse by a Nor’easter that had hit the East Coast. Journals from Washington’s men described the storm as “a perfect hurricane.” Further, once they were over the river, they knew they had to march for several more hours before they engaged in a battle. The weather and slow crossing had put them three hours behind schedule, and some officers were debating just calling off the attack. Soldiers reported their muskets weren’t operable in the weather, the temperature was in the high 20s, the rain kept coming. It was a disaster. Still, Washington was determined. He told the men to use their bayonets if their rifles wouldn’t fire, and they continued the march. Calling off the attack was not an option for him. For all these reasons, the Battle of Trenton should have been a complete failure, and likely the beginning of the end of America’s independence. Yet, miraculously, it was the exact opposite. The attack on Trenton lasted only an hour. Of the approximately 1,350 Hessians defending the city, 900 surrendered after Washington’s swiftly executed surprise attack. Not only did the Continental Army suffer few casualties – soldiers picked up a good deal of munitions and equipment that once belonged to the Hessians. It was genuinely a miracle for the Americans, and it shaped our country and our world for centuries to come. I hope you will listen to this week’s episode of “Newt’s World” and hear more about America’s Christmas Miracle. Just click here.

Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Dr. Newt Gingrich (R) is the host of the “Newt’s World” podcast and author of the New York Times bestsellers “Understanding Trump and Trump’s America.”      🙂

Tomi Lahren’s Final Thoughts: A Christmas Message for Melting Snowflakes

It’s time for a special Christmas edition of Final Thoughts. It may be winter, but it’s still melting season…snowflake melting season, that is. Uh oh, have I already offended you? In Britain for example, a new survey by insurance firm Aviva found that 72 percent of 16 to 24-year-olds there believe the term “snowflake” is unfairly applied to millennials. 74 percent of respondents took it a step farther, arguing that they believe the use of the label could have a negative effect on young people’s mental health. And that my friends, is special snowflake syndrome at its finest. So what is a snowflake? Well, allow me to explain. If you spend more time occupying the streets in “protest” than you occupy a shower, or a job, you’re a snowflake. If you’ve convinced yourself that despite any actual evidence, Russia somehow stole the election from Hillary, you are a snowflake. If your favorite arts and crafts projects consist of knitting pink hats in the shape of a reproductive organs or scribbling “Resist” on a cardboard sign, you are a snowflake. If choosing between two gender options seems unfair to you, you are a snowflake. If you demand a safe space from conservative speakers but think it’s perfectly acceptable to burn and smash up your own campus in protest, you are a snowflake – a violent snowflake – but a snowflake nonetheless. If you think that you, by virtue of being born, deserve a participation trophy, you are a snowflake. If you think someone else should pay for your college education, you are a snowflake. There is no such thing as “free.” It’s not free if your neighbor pays for it. If you think borders, walls, and immigration laws are mean, you are a snowflake. If recognizing the “Islam” in radical Islamic terrorism offends you, you are a snowflake. If you think an AR-15 is a military assault rifle, you are a snowflake. If you have never bought, shot, or touched a firearm but insist you are an expert on gun policy, you are a snowflake, and terribly misinformed. If the American flag and the National Anthem offend you, you are a snowflake and you should take your snowflake booty and relocate to another country since you clearly don’t appreciate this one. If a simple Christmas greeting sends you into a PC orbit, you are a snowflake. And last but not least, if you are more concerned with what our president tweets than the great things he’s doing for jobs, GDP, the stock market, border and national security, you are for dang sure a snowflake. It’s time to wake up and realize you are special to your parents, not anyone else. You need to get over the notion that the worst thing that can happen to you is hurt feelings. If you sit back and wait for someone to offend you, you’re not living a very full or productive life. Dry your tears, accept reality, and get to work. If you don’t like the way your life is going, change it. Life is tough, get a helmet. Those are my final thoughts. From LA, God Bless and Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas, indeed!!  I, unfortunately, have a niece that is one of these “snowflakes” that Tomi is referring to.  If you know one, please forward this little ditty to them on this Christmas day.  Thanks Tomi!     🙂

Trump Family Christmas Card Wishes Families ‘Merry Christmas’ Instead of ‘Happy Holidays’

President Trump is fulfilling his promise to bring back “Merry Christmas” to the White House by including the phrase in his 2017 White House Christmas card. The Trump family is taking a different approach with their holiday greeting than the Obama family, who opted to use the more generic phrase “Happy Holidays” in their greetings, according to the Daily Mail. The White House unveiled the card, which is signed by President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and their 11-year-old son Barron Trump, on Monday in the White House “Bookseller’s” area after revealing the Christmas decorations to the public. A gold presidential seal adorns the front of the card while the inside of the card includes the phrase “Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year” with the first family’s signatures at the bottom. Trump made a promise on the campaign trail to bring back the use of the phrase “Merry Christmas” around the holiday season. He began using the phrase around the holidays on his “Thank You” tour in Wisconsin in December 2016. The president reiterated his promise at the Values Voters Summit in Washington, DC, in October when he told the crowd of activists at the conference that he would support the use of the word Christmas again. “We’re saying Merry Christmas again,” he told the crowd.

Yes!!!  To see a pic of the card, click on the text above.  Excellent!!   🙂

Christmas Music Can Harm Your Mental Health, Psychologist Says

Are you one of those people that can’t stand hearing Christmas songs months before the holiday actually arrives? Does hearing festive carols weeks before Thanksgiving only make you upset that you haven’t eaten your turkey yet? A psychologist in Great Britain says your reactions don’t make you a Grinch because too much Christmas music is actually bad for your mental health. Clinical psychologist Linda Blair claims the constant barrage of Christmas tunes too early in the season forces people to remember all the things they have to do before the holiday. Blair says the songs are a reminder to buy presents, cater parties, organize travel, and all the more stressful chores during Christmas. “You’re simply spending all of your energy trying not to hear what you’re hearing,” Blair tells Sky News. The psychologist added that store workers are most at risk for being worn down by the catchy beats. She states that hearing the same songs over and over each day make workers struggle to “tune it out” and they become “unable to focus on anything else.” “Christmas music is likely to irritate people if it’s played too loudly and too early,” Blair explained to reporters. In the U.S., the mad dash by retailers to get consumers in the holiday spirit continues to eat up more of the calendar. The seller’s push, also known as the Christmas Creep, has made some major stores decide to break out the Christmas playlist in the middle of October. According to a survey of top retailers by the Tampa Bay Times, Best Buy outpaced all other stores by starting their holiday music on Oct. 22. Danny Turner, a programming executive with Mood Media, told the Times he advises stores avoid playing novelty or repetitive songs that tend to be more annoying than cheerful. “The one I have in mind is The 12 Days of Christmas… Once I’m at the third day, I’m counting how many days are left. You don’t want any songs that feel like they last for 12 days.”

No kidding!  Ms. Blair is spot on.  The early playing of Christmas music has gotten out of control.  It’s about time someone said this…

Starnes: SCROOGE! PA grade school cancels performance of ‘A Christmas Carol’

The fifth graders at Centerville Elementary School in Lancaster County, Pa., have been performing “A Christmas Carol” for decades. But this year that tradition came to an abrupt end. Parents told local reporters the play was canceled because two parents complained about a line in the Charles Dickens holiday classic. The unnamed parents took offense at the words uttered by Tiny Tim, “God bless us, every one,” television station WHTM reported. “I was very surprised because it’s going on for decades and it’s a tradition at the school that everyone looks forward to,” resident Jane Burkhart told the television station. Like many in this deeply religious community, she was saddened by the cancellation. “One little line shouldn’t ruin it for every kid,” Burkhart said. “Charles Dickens is a class author, not a religious author.” Principal Tom Kramer addressed the controversy in a message posted on the elementary school’s website. “We understand that some parents are upset that the play was cancelled, but we have heard from families on both ends of the spectrum, including those who expressed appreciation that the play, as it had traditionally been prepared and delivered, was cancelled,” he wrote. Kramer went on to reject reports that their decision was based on one or two families. “That’s just not true,” he said. He did not specifically address the parents’ allegations that the play was cancelled because of the line, “God bless us, every one.” But he did seem to hint at some sort of issue. “Our decision is rooted in the desire to be respectful of the many cultural and religious backgrounds represented by the students attending Centerville Elementary,” he wrote. That’s a mighty big clue, folks. In order to be tolerant and diverse, public schools have to eradicate any mention of God. But to be fair – the school administration says their decision was mostly because of the amount of time it took to produce the show (about 20 hours). “Given the changes in state standards in recent years, we could not defend the commitment of this kind of instructional time to something not part of the fifth-grade curriculum,” he wrote. Heaven forbid the teachers try to introduce the children to the world of the performing arts. The principal also pointed out that “producing and performing a play is not part of the written curriculum for fifth grade.” So, after more than 40 years of Christmas productions featuring Tiny Tim and Ebenezer Scrooge, he’s just now figuring that out?

I know, right? Just more anti-Christmas political correctness gone insane. Thanks to culture warrior Todd Starnes for bringing this tragic story to our attention.

Todd Starnes’ All-American Christmas Special

The folks here at the Fox News Corner of the World are getting ready to rock your radios and your laptops with my All-American Christmas show – filmed at the historic Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. The 2015 show features an all-star cast of performers including MercyMe, Laura Story, jazz legend Kirk Whalum and nationally known evangelist Franklin Graham. The show also features the 300 voices of the Bellevue Singing Christmas Tree directed by Mark Blair. And they’ve also assembled one of the finest orchestras to play on the radio – not to mention 45 fiddlers. Yes sir – we’re going to have a terrestrial and digital holiday hoedown! And it was all filmed before a 3,000 member audience of fans from across the nation. This show is going to put the jolly in your holly, folks! My All-American Christmas is sponsored by Truett-McConnell College, Liberty Institute and War Room. Now, my longtime listeners and readers know that I’m a strong supporter of the Armed Forces and this year’s show features a moving tribute to our brave fighting men and women. We also have decided to do something special for our wounded warriors who are spending Christmas in a VA hospital or VA nursing home.Bellevue Baptist Church wants to send DVD copies of their annual Singing Christmas Tree Spectacular to VA hospitals around the nation. If you buy one copy, you can also buy additional copies for veterans at a discounted price. The Starnes family has already placed our order and I hope you do the same. The video of our show will premiere at 5 p.m. eastern on December 21st. You can watch on FoxNews.com or on Roku. The radio version of the show will premiere on Christmas Eve.You will also be able to listen to the show on American Family Radio and the Bott Radio Network. From my family to yours, Merry Christmas America! Todd Starnes is host of Fox News & Commentary, heard on hundreds of radio stations. His latest book is “God Less America: Real Stories From the Front Lines of the Attack on Traditional Values.” Follow Todd on Twitter@ToddStarnes and find him on Facebook.

We apologize that this is a day late.  We post many of Todd’s articles here at The Daily Buzz.  If you missed his Christmas show, you can still catch it online, or order a DVD.  Merry belated Christmas, Todd!  And, thanks for all your great articles in 2015!  We look forward to many more in 2016!  Cheers!   🙂

The grinches of government – Christmas thrives, no thanks to grumpy holiday haters

Christmas means different things to Americans, and not everyone subscribes to the uplifting spiritual tenets upon which it is founded. In a nation as diverse as ours, that should surprise no one. Leave it to the feds, though, to dampen the spirit of one and all by sowing seeds of confusion over recognition of the world’s most widespread faith-based holiday rather than offering an unalloyed message of support for its observance. After seven years of President Obama’s secularists working to stamp out the nation’s Judeo-Christian heritage, that should not come as a shock to anyone, either. Christmas endures. This holiday season, the Department of Veterans Affairs in Salem, Va., earned reprobation fit for a Grinch by attempting to ban Christmas trees and expressions of Christmas greetings from its facilities. A November email sent to employees from the management team prior to the holiday season read, in part: “Public areas may only be decorated in a manner that is celebratory of the winter season. Displays must not promote any religion. Please note that trees (regardless of the types of ornaments used) have been deemed to promote the Christian religion and will not be permitted in any public areas this year.” Miraculously, management caved to complaints from staff members and rescinded the tree ban. Employees nonetheless were forbidden from voicing “Merry Christmas” — except in “personal work areas.” For some, the First Amendment means free speech is the first freedom to be trampled. Still, it’s encouraging to learn that just as the heart of Dr. Seuss’ grumpy character “grew three sizes” on Christmas morn, the feds at the VA were similarly moved by the spirit of the season and brought back the decorated trees. To be sure, Barack and Michelle Obama customarily offer Christmas wishes in their weekly address during Christmas week. It is faint blessings, though, since they spend the preceding 11 and a half months championing policies that uproot the sanctity of faith, family and freedom, replacing these all-American values with the notion that all blessings flow from the hand of almighty government. In a nation of 320 million, diversity of opinion and expression are bound to grow. Religious and cultural practices must compete in the expanding marketplace of ideas, but Christmas maintains its traditional place in the hearts of Americans. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that 92 percent of the nation’s citizens celebrate Christmas. That includes 96 percent of Christians and, a particularly eye-opening fact, 81 percent of non-Christians. Joining in the celebration are 76 percent of Buddhists, 73 percent of Hindus, and 32 percent of Jews (many with non-Jewish spouses). Even 87 percent of those with no religion at all honor the Christian holy day in some fashion. This is not to suggest that attitudes toward religious traditions are impervious to the effects of time. The Pew survey found that while 68 percent of the “silent generation” (those born between the mid-1920s and early 1940s), consider Christmas to be a religious holiday and 17 percent view it as merely a cultural occasion, among millennials, only 40 percent find religious meaning in the celebration and 43 percent find it a cultural event. Though less steeped in the inner emotion of the holiday, millennials surpass their grandparents in showy expressions of merry-making. Eighty-one percent of the younger generation said they plan to put up a Christmas tree and 91 percent expected to buy gifts for family and friends, while only 75 percent and 79 percent of the older folks, respectively, planned to do so. Despite efforts of the small-hearted in government to expunge Christmas from public consciousness, the day remains a holiday that nearly 22 million federal, state and local employees, believers and non-believers alike — are glad to have. And no day does more to compensate for the dismal economic record of the Obama era than Christmas. Americans are expected to drop some $830 of their hard-earned cash per person into retail tills before the holiday season winds down. Christians cherish the biblical narrative of Christ’s birth in a lowly Bethlehem stable when there was no room at the inn. The rest of his story is the example of one who lived the words recorded by the apostle John: “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” Whether revelers cleave to “the greatest story ever told” or simply enjoy the festivities of the season, Christmas is ingrained in the American heart. It will take more than President Obama and his army of grinches to change that. • Frank Perley is a contributor to The Washington Times.

Thanks for sharing that, Frank!  And, Merry Christmas!    🙂

Good Grief! Obama thinks Christmas is about loving tiny trees

President Obama took a break from saving the icebergs to weigh in on what he believes to be the true meaning of Christmas – loving tiny trees. The president, along with the first lady, delivered their homage to foliage during an appearance on a television program recognizing the 50th anniversary of “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” “For half a century, people of all ages have gathered around the tv to watch Charlie Brown, Lucy, Linus and the rest of the gang teach us the true meaning of Christmas,” Mrs. Obama said during a taping of ABC’s “It’s Your 50th Christmas, Charlie Brown.” That was all well and good – until President Obama chimed in. “They teach us that tiny trees just need a little love, and that on this holiday we celebrate peace on Earth and goodwill toward all,” he said. Wait. What? Does the president really believe that “A Charlie Brown Christmas” was all about tiny trees pining for love? “Because as Linus knows, that’s what Christmas is all about,” Mrs. Obama declared. Good Grief, America. As the Christian Post first reported – President Obama failed to mention Jesus. I wish I could say that I was surprised by this nonsense. It’s not such much a war on Christmas as it is a war on ignorance. It reminds me of the Obamas first Christmas in the White House — when they actually considered removing the Nativity from the East Room. And more often than not — that the White House holiday cards and decorations in recent years have glorified the family dog — instead of you-know-who. Remember the Yuletide topiaries shaped like Bo the First Pooch? The Obama family is free to celebrate and decorate however they see fit. But what is not within their purview is to revise the true meaning of Christmas. So let’s take a moment and reflect with Linus Van Pelt on the Reason for the Season. Lights, please. “And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, ‘Fear not: for behold, I bring unto you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the City of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.’ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.'” And that, Mr. President, is what Christmas is all about – celebrating the birth of Jesus – not a tree. We already have a holiday for that – it’s called Arbor Day.

No kidding!!  Don’t ya just love how author Todd (Starnes) just cuts through the crap and sets the record straight?!?  Todd is exactly right, and that little monologue is exactly what Linus says.. And its after saying that THIS is what Christmas is all about.  But, that would undermine Obama’s liberal, progressive, secular, anti-Christian agenda.  So, he focused on the little tree..  Typical…  Excellent piece, Todd!!     🙂

Christmas Eve: Three in Four Americans Identify as Christian

On this Christmas Eve, three in four Americans identify as Christian, according to surveys conducted this year.

An appropriate poll on this Christmas Eve.  So, despite the cultural decline, over 75% of Americans consider themselves to be some variant of Christian (i.e. Protestant, Catholic, Mormon, non-denominational, etc.).  Frankly, I’m surprised its not even higher than that.  Regardless, its because of stats like this that atheists use lawyers and the courts to fight their agenda.  They certainly don’t speak for the overwhelming majority.  Merry Christmas!   🙂