Dr. Fletcher

(writing notes) In this session Howie told me about the trouble Nathan made with the trouble Howie was making with the so-called 'War on Christmas'.

Howie

Well, Doctor, it's Christmas season and I got a message from the top that gradual erosion of Christmas from American culture is an issue the Republican Party has an interest in.

Didn't strike me as an important issue. I gathered some focus groups together and I discovered that, in fact, the groups that I brought together were not at all alarmed or surprised. They were rather inured to the fact that in this culture at this time, you don't say 'Merry Christmas'. You say 'Happy Holidays'.

That's a phenomenon that's been occurring for some time. But Karl Rove and the Republican strategists have decided - and I think they're probably right - that this is an issue that the Republican Party can really gather on. My job, as I told you, is to figure out how to make what they want happen.

So I wrote a secret memo to go off to a number of figures across the country, a lot of them conservative ministers - hitting our hinterland. The memo essentially said: 'Talk about this issue. Talk about the loss of Christmas. Talk about how this is eroding a basic American value - Christmas. And that there are enemies of Chritmas in this country.' And I characterized them as 'tormentors of Christ' - in order to get the blood pumping.

Presumably it worked. But somehow this memo and the very language 'tormentors of Christ' escaped. Escaped, Doctor. And the ACLU and the ADL have blown the whistle. They have accused the Republican Party of anti-Semitism and of a violation of First Amendment rights. And it all came from my memo.

Share with a friend! Close