Away with the manger ~ By Chuck Norris

Commentary from WorldNetDaily

By Chuck Norris Posted: December 20, 2009 ~ 7:03 pm Eastern © 2009 I'm willing to bet that President Obama's Christmas address this week will shine with religious significance about as bright as his unusually short Thanksgiving Proclamation, which gave a token reference to God via a quote from George Washington. Even in Obama's superstar Christmas interviews with Oprah and Gloria Estefan, there were discussions about Santa, Christmas trees, ornaments, gingerbread houses and even their dog's Christmas stocking. Obama even gave a Christmas shout-out to all Hispanics. But there was not one discussion of religion or a hint of the real reason for the season. Gone are the days when presidents and most politicians publicly rejoice in the birth of Christ. But things were not always this way. As with many of you, I still remember a day even in Washington when Christ was central to Christmas. It was an America that was far less politically correct – an America that wasn't afraid to stand up for its belief in the babe who was born in Bethlehem. Here's a small sample of that America represented in personal and public presidential Christmas proclamations and events, as documented in presidential library archives, at WhiteHouseChristmasCards.com and by historian David Barton in his treatise "Christmas with the presidents." On Christmas Day, 1795, President George Washington celebrated Christmas with members of Congress at his Mount Vernon estate, complete with a fox hunt, feast including "Christmas pie," music, dancing and visiting that at times continued for a solid week. America's second president, John Adams, was the first to hold a White House Christmas party. Thomas Jefferson loved celebrating Christmas, from his youth considering the day as a time of "merriment" and "The day of greatest mirth and jollity." He threw elaborate parties at the White House and his Monticello estate for family and friends, played his violin, sang his favorite Christmas song, "Adeste Fideles" ("Oh Come All Ye Faithful"), and even gave his slaves a few days off each year to enjoy the holiday due to his abolitionist leanings. (And let's not forget, when at the White House during the eight years of his presidency, Jefferson attended church where he did each week in the Capitol building – something that continued through the Civil War – in 1867 it was the largest church in Washington with 2,000 people attending weekly.) During the 1835 Christmas season, President Andrew Jackson sent out invitations and cards (of sorts) to local children inviting them to an event in the East Room on Christmas Day, in memory of a boy who had never heard of Christmas, never knew his father and whose mother died at a young age. That boy was Jackson himself. President John Tyler also enjoyed hosting Christmas parties for children. After a chaotic political season in December 1848, in which intense debate ensued over issues relating to slavery and expanding U.S. territory, President James K. Polk described Christmas Day as "perhaps the most quiet day of my presidential term," despite apparently not accompanying Mrs. Polk and the children to church on that particular day. President James Buchanan, a devout Presbyterian, would have his southern Pennsylvania estate extravagantly decorated at Christmas for the community to enjoy (a tradition that is still done to this day). President Abraham Lincoln read the Bible throughout his life and attended services at the New York Avenue Presbyterian Church on a regular basis, including at Christmas time. During the Civil War, he and his wife would visit hospitals on Christmas to help care for the wounded. During one political campaign, he declared "I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures; and I have never spoken with intentional disrespect of religion in general. … I do not think I could myself be brought to support a man for office whom I knew to be an open enemy of … religion." READ FULL STORY >

Ronald Reagan Christmas address (12/23/81) Video provided by PatrioticToDaBone