Nothing says Christmas like . . .

1) . . . Trim A Home Airblown inflatable animals, 50% off, exclusively ours [K-Mart].Choose from hippo, zebra, gorilla or pig (not shown).

I've been known to condemn Santa Claus as the crass personification of greed and materialism but these inflatables make him look pretty good. At least he has something to do with Christmas.

2) . . . a seven-foot fairy:

Instead of the traditional Christmas Lights switch-on, The Times newspaper reported that residents will be attending the 'Dundee Winter Light Night'. Council officials have also decided that rather than a retelling of the Nativity story there will be a disco, a contemporary circus, a continental market and a seven foot fairy on stilts.

That's another reason to resist this stuff - not merely because it's an act of cultural vandalism but because what replaces the demolished tradition is so feeble and insipid. ("Contemporary circus" is, of course, PC-speak for "monumental yawneroo with interpretative dance acts but no dangerous animals" - so don't go along expecting to see Dundee Council officials sticking their heads in the lion's mouth.)

Interestingly, the two objectors in this story are Jewish and Muslim. They see this trend not as benignly multicultural but, ultimately, as an assault on all faith. What it advances is a kind of bland statist conformity. You see it especially in those grade schools where not only "Silent Night" but even "Rudolph" and "Frosty" get junked and the kids stand like zombies singing dirge-like sub-Disney power-ballads of a vaguely Gaia-worshipping bent about coming together to hold hands and behold the power of the dream of the circle. Creepy.

Nailed it.

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