Breaking news: Nina Totenberg does not hate Christmas!
The NPR legal correspondent created a web frenzy with a seemingly dismissive reference to the holiday on "Inside Washington" last weekend. During a debate about tax cuts and the omnibus bill, Totenberg threw in an off-hand anecdote:
"I was at -- forgive the expression - a Christmas party at the Department of Justice," she said, going on to explain how guests there were worried about the impact of spending cuts.
"Forgive the expression"? Another salvo in the War on Christmas! Conservative bloggers jumped all over Totenberg, accusing her of a liberal, politically-correct agenda: "Totenberg and her ilk. . .are making a conscious and deliberate effort to scrub the religious meaning from the winter holidays, because Christmas instills confidence in a particular religious movement they fear and despise," opined John Hayward on the Human Events blog. Many noted suspiciously that her comment aired during Friday's broadcast of the show on public television -- but disappeared by Sunday's rebroadcast on WJLA.
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