Fox's Jingle Bells crash-out, Kahlil, and me

The Foxies launch their annual "war on Christmas" charade by attacking me for boosting a young historian's post

Every year, Fox “News” celebrates their annual tradition of pretending there’s a “war on Christmas.” It’s a tried and true ratings gimmick, designed to trigger their loyal, almost entirely white, right wing “Christian” audience (who apparently have no idea the Bible forbids celebrating around a tinseled tree on the pagan holiday of Saturnalia, which takes place in an entirely different season from the historic Jesus’ birth.)

1Hear what the Lord says to you, people of Israel.
2This is what the Lord says:
“Do not learn the ways of the nations
or be terrified by signs in the heavens,
though the nations are terrified by them.
3For the practices of the peoples are worthless;
they cut a tree out of the forest,
and a craftsman shapes it with his chisel.
4They adorn it with silver and gold;
they fasten it with hammer and nails
so it will not totter.
5Like a scarecrow in a cucumber field,
their idols cannot speak;
they must be carried
because they cannot walk.
Do not fear them;
they can do no harm
nor can they do any good.”
—Jeremiah 10

Awkward …

Well, this year’s War on Christmas includes something really novel. Joy. Namely … me … and the racist early history of the classic Christmas carol Jingle Bells…

Now it might have been more journalistically sound to actually name the person whose post I boosted … at first, only in my Instagram stories and later, post Fox crashout, on my main IG page. His name is Kahlil Greene. He’s a brilliant young historian who posts content for people his age and younger, to make history more interesting for them. He even wrote about the experience of being both trolled and ignored by my superfans haters at the House of Murdoch. You can read his excellent post here. His important conclusion, upon perusing the Foxy comments:

I read through those comments, and though impossible to confirm, I’d bet 99.99% of the responses do not engage with the historical research at all. Instead, they attack a straw man, a version of my argument that exists only in their headlines. The whole fiasco reveals exactly how propaganda works, and how anti-intellectualism has become a reflex for millions of Americans.

And And Fox didn’t just do a panel. As Kahlil pointed out in an email to my producers, they also posted an article on their website, and a social media post, in addition to the on-air panel that included the unfortunate “killjoy Reid” comment.

But since they couldn’t be bothered to give Kahlil credit for his work, I invited him to appear on The Joy Reid Show tonight to say his piece:

And here, just for your full and thorough enjoyment, is Kahlil’s original IG post:

There’s nothing wrong with learning history, folks. It’s just here to help.

The right’s bah humbug

Meanwhile, there’s nothing less Christmasy than MAGA. These are the people who despise immigrants so much, their entertainment is White House deportation porn. And the mass abductions aren’t even stopping at the White House door. CNN obtained an interview with the mother of White House lie-spokesperson Karoline Leavitt’s nephew, (her name is also Caroline, though with a “C…”) who has been freed from nearly a month of ICE custody, and brought to the realization that the woman she chose as godmother to her son cares nothing about family, as compared to her loyalty to King Herod Trump.

Ah, family. No wonder the manger - with ICE displays are proliferating.

And white Christians, who are America’s most conservative citizens, hold the most radically right wing views on immigration, per the lates information from the Public Religion Research Institute.

Around four in ten Americans say they have a great deal or some confidence in US Immigration and Customs Enforcement known as ICE (42%), compared with the majority (56%) who have little or no confidence. Republicans express far more confidence in ICE (79%) than independents (37%) or Democrats (16%).

Significant majorities of Americans who most trust far-right TV news (89%) and Fox News (84%) have confidence in ICE. Those who do not trust any news sources are divided (53%), while far fewer Americans who most trust mainstream TV news (29%) and newspapers (27%) have confidence in ICE.^[3]

Most white Christian groups have confidence in ICE, including white evangelical Protestants (68%), white mainline/non-evangelical Protestants (59%), and white Catholics (58%), compared with around three in ten or fewer Jewish Americans (31%), Hispanic Catholics (34%%), Black Protestants (28%), and unaffiliated Americans (23%).

Christian nationalism Adherents (71%) and Sympathizers (63%) have far more confidence in ICE, compared with far fewer Skeptics (44%) and Adherents (12%).

While just one in three Americans of color express confidence in ICE, that number rises to half of white Americans. Americans with a college degree are notably less likely than those without a college degree to have confidence in ICE; confidence in ICE also increases with age.

They would definitely deport baby Jesus.

But please, don’t trouble them with the uncomfortable history of Christmas carols…

Subscribe to Kahlil Greene’s Substack, History Can’t Hide, and consider becoming a paid member, to support his independent work!

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