I've noted previously that Old Media has developed a squeamishness towards describing this time of year in business stories as the "Christmas shopping season."

In the midst of media criticism of Mike Huckabee's Christmas ad, including the Whoopi Goldberg-Joy Behar exchange on "The View" noted earlier today by NewsBusters' Justin McCarthy, how interesting it is that one of Hillary Clinton's latest ads in Iowa joins in the C-word sqeamishness (HT Hot Air, whose Bryan Preston calls it "Hillary's Unintentionally Revealing Christmas Ad").

The ad shows Mrs. Clinton wrapping presents for the American people, including "Universal Health Care," "Alternative Energy," "Bring Troops Home," and "Middle Class Tax Breaks" (where have we heard that undelivered promise before?). In search of the final present to wrap, she asks, "Where's Universal Pre-K?" Finding it, she says, "Ah, there it is."

(Three of these "presents" to the American people would have to be paid for with money coming from the American people in the form of taxes -- but that's for another time.)

Then comes the ad's final new slide:

Mike Huckabee might want to "revise and extend" the remarks of his Iowa campaign manager. Appearing on this evening's Tucker on MSNBC, Bob Vander Plaats stated that "we're fighting a radical religion in Islam" and that "the war on terror is a theological war."

View video here.

Howard Kurtz wrote a whole story Wednesday entertaining as a serious idea -- without any conservative rebuttal or extended break for belly laughs -- that Hillary Clinton suffers from a "harsher microscope" from the national media. It might be arguable that Barack Obama has received even better coverage lately, but it's like arguing that your little brother got a bigger stick of cotton candy than you did. The idea that "harsh" describes her media coverage is ridiculous.

For a quick critique, simply look at other stories in the Post. In the Style section right underneath the woe-is-Hillary piece: "The Magic & Bill Show, Providing The Charisma Assist." On the front page, Post investigators are hammering Rudy Giuliani by association with "Giuliani's Kerik Woes Resurface Through Informant: Candidate Distancing Himself From Former Confidant." Does this in any way make Hillary's case? Or make it look like the laugh line it is?

In a stunning announcement Wednesday, Time magazine has named Russian President Vladimir Putin its Person of the Year for 2007.

Obviously, this must have come as a great shock to Nobel Laureate Al Gore who was the odds on favorite to win another dubious honor for becoming a multi-millionaire selling the gullible on the manmade global warming myth.

With that in mind, Pat Sajak penned the following satirical piece depicting how Gore – ever the sore-loser – might respond to this announcement (emphasis added):

On Wednesday’s CBS "Early Show," co-host Harry Smith played a clip of a recent Hillary Clinton campaign ad featuring her mother and asked Political Correspondent Jeff Greenfield: "Is Hillary's mom the real secret weapon in the campaign?" Greenfield responded by describing the ad’s brilliance:

I very rarely look at ads these days and one line just jumps out at me. Hillary's mom lives with her, not mother, mom. Why? Women outlive men. Wives outlive their husbands. Primal fear: 'I will spend the rest of my life alone or in a home.' And the idea that this prototypical career woman, who her enemies see as driven and cold, has taken her mom in to live with her, I think that packs a powerful emotional wallop. And in Iowa, women vote in caucuses more than men and older people do more than younger.

Smith agreed with Greenfield’s assessment, "Right. And older women especially. Yeah this is -- boy -- talk about right to the heart."

♪♫ ♪ You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I'm telling you why - Cramer Claus is coming to town ♪♫ ♪

Yes, that's right - CNBC "Mad Money" host Jim Cramer "Claus" appeared on NBC's December 19 "Today" to tell viewers Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke was on his "naughty list."

"He is a guy that doesn't get regular coal - I'm giving him high-sulfur stinky coal," Cramer said. "He is in the end an academic who is over his head frankly. I hate to say that. He's a volunteer official who is trying to do his best. But he had his chance and he's lost it."

Media watchdog website Honest Reporting has awarded their annual Dishonest Reporter Awards. Some of these stories you know and some you don't--probably because they were ignored by the media. Some were even covered here at NewsBusters.

The "winners" included Christiane Amanpour for “God's Warriors,” the BBC for covering up an internal investigation into its Mid East reporting, US government funded Al-Hurra TV's former 'director Larry Register for dhimmitude, a UNC Daily Tar Heel article about breaking up with a boyfriend because of Israel and of course Charles Enderlin and the Mohammad Al Dura Fautography that launched the Second Intifida. See how many of the stories over at Honest Reporting you know:

Dishonest Reporter of the Year (Christiane Amanpour)

This year's Dishonest Reporter voting marks a change for HonestReporting readers. Previous awards went to large, impersonal news services, but not so this year. One journalist made herself such a lightning rod in 2007 she easily defeated BBC and Reuters – the traditional disfavorites.

Time magazine has terminated its relationships with its two conservative columnists, Charles Krauthammer and William Kristol. The New York Observer has the details:

The exact reasons for the departures of Mr. Krauthammer and Mr. Kristol, both high-profile backers of the Iraq war, are not entirely clear.

“I was very happy to work with them,” said Mr. Krauthammer on the phone from his Washington office. “And I have a lot of things that occupy me.”

Asked if he would have preferred to stay with the magazine, Mr. Krauthammer, a Pulitzer Prize winner who writes a regular column for The Washington Post, suggested there wasn’t much of a choice. “It’s a hypothetical that didn’t arise,” he said.

"The View"co-hosts discussed the Mike Huckabee Christmas ad when Joy Behar moved to quote Ron Paul, ideologically libertarian, whom Behar calls "a very staunch Republican," who quoted Sinclair Lewis: "When Fascism comes to the country, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross."When they played the advertisement, Behar moaned "we don’t have to listen to him do we?"

Whoopi Goldberg, who previously defended Georgia Governor Perdue for holding a prayer service, defended Huckabee’s ad claiming "if he wasn’t a Christian, I don’t think people would be as freaked out by it." Whoopi also defended those who wish to proclaim Merry Christmas.

KEYS: Do you think it matters? Well, well, do you think it matters?

This is when you combine the eight variant spellings. (see Source # 1)

This news comes after "an ICM opinion poll in 2006 revealed that nearly 40% of British Muslims support Islamic sharia law replacing current British law, and 20% have some sympathy for the suicide bombers who attacked London on July 7, 2005."  (See Source # 2)

This also follows a recent report that the British government is already unofficially allowing Sharia courts to operate in Britain.  Even for crimes as serious as assault with a deadly weapon. "Some lawyers welcomed the advance of what has become known as "legal pluralism". (See Source # 3)

Source # 1: 

Dec 19, 2007 Michelle Maulkin article which links back to "Daily Mail" article about boys names:

http://michellemalkin.com/2007/12/19/mohammed-now-second-most-popular-boys-name-in-britain/

Source # 2:

I received an e-mail solicitation message from Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee’s national campaign manager, Chip Saltsman, late last night. Upon reading it, I winced.

Second thoughts began to stir in my mind. Had I been premature in throwing my support behind the former Arkansas governor? Read the message below, copied and pasted from the e-mail without any changes, and see if you can spot the item that causes me so much concern:

Today I appeared on Chris Matthews’ television show Hardball with a Romney advisor. It was an eye opening experience and clearly demonstrated two very different approaches to this race.

Governor Romney’s campaign having spent tens of millions of dollars promoting their candidate only to see him drop in polls has clearly gone negative. Negative television ads, repeated misrepresentations of the facts, researchers in Little Rock scouring for negative stories. Here at Huckabee for President headquarters we like to call it Operation Kitchen Sink and it has been underway for the last 2-3 weeks or so.

This video is about a group called "Common purpose". The focus of this particular speech is from the British perspective.  However, the speaker mentions that he believes this same group is operating inside the U.S.  I have seen a bit on the net that seems to confirm that, but I am still looking into it. I will, in addition to the link to the speech, provide a link to "Common Purpose" international site.  Currently it does not list the US, but it does list a number of other countries.  Read a little bit about the organization on their own page. The site talks about leaders "leading beyond authority" and utilysing the "invisible, open space"  that "lies between the citizen and the state." It talks about learning how to "take things forward without simply seeking consensus."

Rock musician Todd Rundgren hasn't been prominent as a performer since the 1970s, but his Sunday concert at the Birchmere here in MRC's hometown of Alexandria drew a mixed review in the Washington Post. Tuesday's review by Stephen Brookes ended with this strange paragraph about Rundgren's failure to offend people:

And for a guy pushing 60, Rundgren still works hard, digging into the vocals and closing most songs with a leaping scissors kick. But his promises to "offend each and every person in the room" didn't quite deliver, starting with a tame "Fascist Christ" and ending with a listless jab against -- yawn -- neoconservatives. Sorry; if you want to talk politics in this town, you have to hit a lot harder than that.

Since when is a song viciously attacking American Christians as fascists considered "tame" and inoffensive? The only arguments in the Post's favor: The song is old (from 1993, hardly the zenith of Christian conservatism), and it's a very lame white rap song.

The Democrats were finally able to get something passed in Congress, a new energy bill that mandates car gas mileage and bans the incandescent light bulb, and on Wednesday’s CBS "Early Show," co-host Julie Chen described it as, "Congress's historic move to get rid of gas guzzlers." Co-host Harry Smith began the "historic" theme at the top of the show:

Later this morning, the president will sign a new energy bill, that will radically change the way we drive, the fuel we burn, and the way we light our homes...This morning for the first time in 32 years we will have a new energy bill. The Energy Independence and Security Act.

No one objected to the idea that everyday light bulbs would be banned with this new legislation. Instead Smith joked holding up a light bulb: "So guess what, will we see the end of the incandescent light bulb? Remember, was it Uncle Fester who put it in and it lit up?"

"But Mika Brzezinski agrees with me!" might not be Mike Huckabee's best pitch to Republican primary voters in defending his harsh criticism of the Bush administration on foreign policy. But the fact is that Mika has done her best to throw Mike a lifeline on the matter.

In a "Foreign Policy" magazine article, an excerpt of which appears below, Huckabee had famously written of "the Bush administration's arrogant bunker mentality."

Interviewing Huckabee on today's Morning Joe, Mika teed up some recent news as supporting evidence for the "arrogant bunker mentality" allegation -- and the candidate was only too happy to take a swing.

View video here.

This is an increasing trend in the Western World. This is yet another case of a leftists / sharia alliance.

http://michellemalkin.com/2007/12/19/stifling-mark-steyn-part-iii-fight-back/

For general discussion and debate. Possible talking point: Despite all the media carping and whining concerning the "housing crisis," foreclosures fell again last month for the second time in the last three months.

Is this a sign that housing is bottoming, or is the worst yet to come next year?

Discussing the controversy surrounding his latest campaign ad and the broader issue of his invocation of religion in his political campaign, the normally good-natured Mike Huckabee turned . . . cross on this morning's Today. And while contending he wanted to promote a kinder tone at this time of year, the candidate came prepared to take some pointed shots at Mitt Romney.

View video here.