What does your Christmas look like?

Reactions to Barack Obama‘s decision to honour homophobe Rick Warren with a plum role at his inauguration have flooded the airwaves today. I thought the most poignant comes from artist Shepard Fairey, whose instantly iconic red-blue portrait of Obama is being featured on the cover of this week’s Time magaine. Fairey should be thrilled but instead says:

“…the moment is bittersweet because I’m very disappointed…I understand that Obama is trying to appeal to conservatives and
evangelicals, but this move is symbolically a slap in the face to many
people. Warren is not a uniter, but a divider.”

Obama reaffirmed his belief in gay equality today but he just doesn’t seem to get how his recent choices say otherwise. This preview of tonight’s “Dateline NBC” neatly sums up the issue:

I love Warren’s giant fake laugh, not to mention, “How can you say I’m a homophobe because I vigourously campaigned to strip my neighbours of their civil rights? I gave them donuts!!” What a dick.

But in happier US politics news, congress will soon see an FTM transgender employee and the Navy is considering an openly gay man for Secretary. Ah, the sound of progress!

My Christmas needs a good dose of silliness, like the story of Anne Hathaway at her gay brother’s wedding or Neil Patrick Harris and the “How I Met Your Mother” gang re-enacting “The Best of 2008” for Entertainment Weekly — it’s Olympic gold!

Christmas means different things to different people — some want to see signs of peace on earth, others need Seann William Scott playing tennis in a jockstrap — whatever you’re into!

Others will say that Christmas is all about the children. This always sounds horrible to me (face it, they’re nothing but juice boxes, drool and pink eye) but the hilarious little guy in this video might just change my mind:

 

But there are two things I hope you’ll all agree with me on this holiday week:

1) Christmas carols are just better when they’re sung by Chris Isaak

2) “Pee Wee’s Playhouse Christmas” is the best holiday special ever. What’s that? You haven’t seen it? Well then, here comes part one:

A former editor of the late, lamented fab magazine, Scott has been writing for Xtra since 2007 on a variety of topics in news pieces, interviews, blogs, reviews and humour pieces. He lives on the Danforth with his boyfriend of 12 years, a manic Jack Russell Terrier, a well-stocked mini-bar and a shelf of toy Daleks.

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