I have made a tradition of two things around this time of year: making peanut brittle just like my dad used to do, and designing our family Christmas card. In all the decades (yes, decades) that this has been my assumed responsibility, at no point has it occurred to me, "Hey, I know: Let's get the whole fam together and take a photo of us loaded down with guns."
Not once.
Not a doodle of reindeer inspecting the barrel of their assault rifle, or elves churning out handguns by the score. I tend to keep things pretty secular, so there isn't a lot of outward religiosity going on, but I am pretty clear that the occasion that we are celebrating with all of this mail is the nominal birthday of the Prince of Peace.
This message was apparently lost on Representative Thomas Massie from Kentucky. He gathered his brood together to show off their arsenal, including the wish for Santa to "bring more ammo." Not a bike. Not a Nintendo Switch. Not frankincense or myrrh. Or goodwill toward men.
Another thing that happens while I am creating my family's Christmas card is that I have to remember all those other cards that I have drawn in the past, as well as all the clever designs I have seen from others over the years and try not to rehash any of those ideas.
This notion was wasted on Representative Lauren Boebert from Colorado. She posed with her boys and their rifles, grinning from ear to ear, with the message, "The Boeberts have your six, RepThomasMassie! (No spare ammo for you, though)"
Ho, ho, ho. Get it?
Last week there was a shooting at a school in Michigan. The fifteen year old who committed the murders there was given the gun that he used for Christmas. Somehow, I don't believe that the sentiments coalescing in all this ugliness could be contained in a card. Or a tweet. Or a blog entry.
Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.
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