MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The beloved Christmas carol "Silent Night" in the original German:

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Check out the Carnival of Christmas 2009.

Read various personal observations on the season from around the blogosphere, including an entry by me.

ONE OF THE BEST CHRISTMAS STORIES ON THE WEB

HERE

Warren also happens to be my blog adminstrator and graphics designer.

Our nation is filled with hard-working people like Warren - people who quietly "do the right thing" and ask for no recognition or bailout.

Need I say that Warren is a staunch conservative?

The left talks about showing compassion. The right shows compassion.

2008 CARNIVAL OF CHRISTMAS

For TAB readers who celebrate Christmas, you might be interested in visiting this site for some celebrate-the-season reading.

For those who celebrate Christmas, may yours be a blessed one, filled with wonderful memories.

RELIAPUNDIT ADDS: WE SCOOPED INSTAPUNDIT WITH THIS! MERRY CHRISTMAS, GLENN!

BARNEY FRANK'S MISTAKE

STOP THE PRESSES! POLITICIAN ADMITS MISTAKE!

According to this December 22, 2007 item in the "Religion" section of the Washington Post, Barney Frank regrets two of the votes he recently cast:

Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) says he was wrong to vote different ways on House resolutions recognizing Christmas and Ramadan.

Instead of voting for the Muslim holiday and abstaining on the Christian one, Representative Frank says he should have abstained on Ramadan as well....

In my experience, politicians don't make such admissions unless constituents have applied some pressure. Of course, it is possible that Representative Frank realized all on his own that his differing votes evidenced a double standard.

Why do I have doubts about his revised view, just in time for Christmas? I've become highly skeptical about the integrity of all politicians — the result of my observing politicians' ambivalence and their lack of integrity as they jockey for power and votes.

Returning now to the remainder of the item in the Washington Post, Representative Frank further explained about his change of mind:

Frank says he's Jewish and doesn't observe either holiday, but adds that he wouldn't support a Yom Kippur resolution, either. He says Congress should stay out of religious matters and let Americans worship as they wish. In the future, Frank says he'll abstain on all such resolutions.

I've never quite understood why politicians abstain from voting — unless, of course, they aren't educated enough about a certain matter to vote responsibly. Isn't our elected representatives' job on Capitol Hill to make decisions?

Why do politicians abstain from a vote, anyway?