Back from break

-- by Dave

I'm a little slow putting this up, but I hope everyone got a look at my post last night at Firedoglake, "Home for the Culture Wars":

A lot of people have found the traditional holidays in recent years increasingly uncomfortable events, especially as the Culture Wars have heated up. The corrosive politics of eliminationism practiced by the right has turned more than a few holiday gatherings into occasions for political brawls and rancorous familial splits.

I've been fortunate in that regard; both my parents, though former Goldwater Republicans, have become dyed-in-the-wool Democrats in recent years, mainly because they have seen firsthand how badly conservative rule screws things up. But many of their relatives and longtime friends and neighbors, of course, are not. Dad stays in touch with many of them via e-mail, which means that he gets a lot of right-wing crap. And like a lot of people, he takes much of it at face value without really thinking about it.

Which means that I had a conversation with my Dad this Christmas similar to ones I bet a lot of other people had at home for the holidays with their parents and relatives. You know: the one about Barack Obama being a Muslim who refuses to salute the flag.

Hope you enjoy.

And while I'm at it, be sure to check out Jon Swift's compilation of the year's best posts, provided by the bloggers themselves.