War is hell

The editorial page of the Wall Street Journal even back in the Dow Jones days was "The Shady Acres Rest Home for Whackjob Conservatives" (insert "Paul Gigot" here), but no one took them seriously. You bought the paper for the business news, as the "Chinese Wall" between editorial and news made the real wall in China look miniscule by comparison. Now that it's been Fox-ified, you don't even want the Journal for business coverage, and editorial has gone so far out that they make Gigot, etc. look measured and thoughtful. Case in point? What is the cause of our economic crisis? Speculation, de-regulation, deficit spending, etc. No. Ladies and gentlemen, we suffer today because our nation is at war on three fronts, in Iraq, in Afghanistan, and against...Christmas.

Notwithstanding the cardboard Santas who seem to have arrived in stores this year near Halloween, the holiday season starts in seven days with Thanksgiving. And so it will come to pass once again that many people will spend four weeks biting on tongues lest they say "Merry Christmas" and perchance, give offense. Christmas, the holiday that dare not speak its name. This year we celebrate the desacralized "holidays" amid what is for many unprecedented economic ruin--fortunes halved, jobs lost, homes foreclosed. People wonder, What happened? One man's theory: A nation whose people can't say "Merry Christmas" is a nation capable of ruining its own economy.

Yes, boys and girls, we are in this mess because we have not decked the halls nor heard angels on high. No fa la la la la, no Fannie Mae. Because we didn't see mommy kissing Santa Claus, Lehman Brothers collapsed, and we can no longer join in any reindeer games or in the international credit markets. Amazing. (link)