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Every year, the media churn out stories about the so-called “December Dilemma” --- accounts of mixed families trying to balance Christmas or Hanukah. Considering that far less than a million households feature partners of split Jewish and Christian commitment this fascination seems odd, even bizarre. A recent New York Times story called “A Holiday Medley, Off Key” focused on these Jewish-Christian conflicts, citing the absurd figure of 28 MILLION mixed-religion households – when the highest number ever cited for all Jews in the United States is 5.2 million. The times featured a gay couple in which the Jewish partner said he “felt guilty” about decorating their Christmas tree. Actually, Jewish tradition is far more emphatic in disapproval of homosexuality than of hanging ornaments. The problem with all these stories – about blending religious elements, with Menorahs and “Silent Night,” dreydels and manger scenes – is that they trivialize both religious traditions. One of the couples described by the Times made that trivialization sickeningly explicit by describing a Jewish husband married to a Christian wife who honored his “tradition” by taking a bagel, covering it with shellac, inserting a red Christmas bulb into its hole, and placing it atop their tree as an interfaith ornament. I don’t believe that the Children of Israel have survived exile and pogroms and holocausts over the course of two millennia in order to see their faith expressed by a non-edible (and no doubt non-kosher) “Everything Bagel” that’s been carefully shellacked. The truth is Christmas is a serious holiday about the birth of the Savior; Hanukah (just concluded tonight)  is a serious holiday about resisting assimilation and standing up to paganism. Both deserve more respect than they get in cutesy stories about the “December Dilemma.”

The latest press reports are indicating that Speaker Pelosi has backed down from a proposal to eliminate all earmarks in the omnibus spending package that she plans to move to the floor by the end of the week. 

Democratic leaders believe that earmarks are the last form of spending that should be cut. I believe that earmarks are currently the first form of spending that we should cut in the omnibus spending package.

The point here is that the earmark culture still commands power in Washington.  Speaker Pelosi is clearly signaling that she is willing to cut whatever is necessary in order to maintain earmarks.

1) an FEC statement of candidacy; 2) having an Iowa campaign staffer and Iowa campaign office as of October 1; and 3) registering at least at 1% in the October Des Moines Register poll.

"I pray God that my participation in the debate will vindicate their good will."

U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo of Colorado follows on McCain’s heels at 5 percent in the Register’s scientific poll. Texas Rep. Ron Paul is at 4 percent, Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback and new candidate Alan Keyes are tied at 2 percent and California Rep. Duncan Hunter gets 1 percent.

During today's debate, when Mike Huckabee said: "I had also the most, I think, impressive education record," Mitt Romney struck back by pointing out Massachusetts' test scores were superior to Arkansas scores.

But the question remains; how valid were the tests?  A Townhall staffer emails me his disturbing experience grading tests for the company that graded Massachusetts' standardized tests:

During the summer of 2005, I took a temporary job working as a test scorer, grading the English exams for fourth and eighth grade students from Mitt Romney’s Massachusetts.  Strange that, in this most recent debate, Romney mentioned how his state ranked first in both of these tests.  My experiences pertain to those tests taken during the 2004-2005 school year, but I doubt things have changed.
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Today, a Capitol Hill newspaper, The Hill exposed Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and her spending habits as the Speaker of the House.  According to the report, Pelosi has already spent 63% more than the former Speaker of the House, Representative Dennis Hastert (R-IA).  In the first nine months of her tenure as Speaker, she has spent a little over $3 million, which when compared to the $1.8 million spent by Speaker Hastert during the same period last year, fully illustrates the disparity.

This begs the obvious question of what could she possibly be spending all this money on? Well, for one thing…flowers. According to The Hill, approximately $16,000 of the $3 million was used to buy flowers. Don’t forget that these flowers were all paid for with taxpayer funds. 

In addition to her apparent penchant for botany, the Speaker spent $10,000 to pay for a single speech to be written for her and nearly $20,000 to hire a lawyer for the sole purpose of overseeing her transition into the Speaker’s chair. Again, all taxpayer dollars.

Sadly, this report, albeit outrageous, does not surprise me. Madame Pelosi’s spending spree is simply a microcosm of the larger lack of commitment to fiscal responsibility exhibited by the Democrats in this Congress.

Why is Keyes debating, while Kucinich and Gravel are not at tomorrow's Democratic debate? According to Iowa Public Television spokeswoman Jennifer Glover Konfrst, Keyes met the criteria to participate; Kucinich and Gravel did not.

The criteria include: 1) an FEC statement of candidacy; 2) having an Iowa campaign staffer and Iowa campaign office as of October 1; and 3) registering at least at 1% in the October Des Moines Register poll.

Where the hell has this Fred been for the past few weeks? This guy looks like he could eat most of the rest of the field for lunch.