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.
Let's go to the video tape: Totenberg's quote comes in the midst of a complex examination of the federal deficit with fellow panelists and moderator/executive producer Gordon Peterson. "I didn't even notice it," he told us Tuesday. The reason her remark didn't appear on Sunday's show? Panelists tape additional commentary for the public television version that is routinely edited out to make room for commercials on Sunday. Happens every week; no conspiracy here.
Plus, added a puzzled Peterson: Nina adores this season. Years ago, when they taped the show in a studio with a piano, she and Carl Rowan would belt out carols every December. "I know she loves Christmas," Peterson said. "I've seen her at Christmas parties -- if you'll pardon the expression."
Then we reached Totenberg herself during her "Christmas vacation" (her term) in Jamaica. Turns out her critics got it completely wrong: She was, she says, defending Christmas. The DOJ celebration was officially dubbed a "holiday" party, and she was gently mocking that generic designation. "I think that's kind of silly because it's obviously a Christmas party," she told us. "I was tweaking the Department of Justice. It was a touch of irony at the expense of the Justice department, not at the expense of Christmas."
As for the bloggers who were so quick to judge -- without bothering to ask her what she meant: "Jeesh, these folks need a life -- and perhaps a touch of the Christmas spirit, as well."
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This piece of cover from 'Reliable Sources' is not only typical, but it is an utter distortion. It was not an "off-handed anecdote," it was de rigueur in D.C.
Totenberg gave the automatic anti-Christmas and, in Sally Quinn's cocktail circuit, expected off-handed PC remark. She said it with her smarmy smirk in full expectation of Cheshire-like agreement from all around.
The worst part was that Totenberg's anti-Christmas remark overshadowed her complete ignorance revealed in her calling continuation of current tax rates as "tax cuts" and comparing business tax expectations and planning to the self-serving massive bureaucracies in Washington.
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