I love the holidays. Of course, we should maybe narrow that down. I love Christmas. The friends, the family, and the snow. Yeah, snow can be a bitch – but it can be fun as hell too, and I’ve been living here almost 21 years now, so I’ve gotten kind of used to it. Snow means Christmas. Christmas means home. Home means Iowa.

Everyone at some point in their lives has either said or overheard someone talking about hating where they grew up. I’ve touched on this before, but I think it’s important to reiterate that very few people really hate where they’ve come from and when someone honestly feels that uncomfortable with where they grew up than it’s a really sad thing in my eyes. I’m not saying I want to live in small-town Iowa for the rest of my life, but I can see Iowa as some place safe I can always come back to. Safe for me and safe for those around me.

Which brings me to my next point. I’m going to death-stare out of existance the next family member that suggests maybe we should do something different this year for the holidays. You know, a small family trip?

No. I don’t want to go to Florida. I don’t want to go to California. I don’t want to go to any of the gulf states.

You can go without me, and I can assure you that you will be missed while you are gone. I will take pictures of our tree with the presents under it. You can have yours when you get back. You’ll be back in early-to-mid January, so you won’t miss much as far as snow fall. It’ll be here when you get back and for quite some time. We’ll fill in your spots for the string of games we play during the holidays.

There’s not much to be missed – except the newest batch of children. You know how they’re at that perfect age right now? They’ve grown out of the stage where they run around the house, knocking down the nativity scene. They’re not so young that they have to be laid down in front of a movie when it gets late just to pass out five seconds into A Charlie Brown Christmas.

They have genuine smiles on Christmas morning. They wanted every toy in every commercial and every paper ad they saw. They have no idea what they’re getting, but they’ll freak out when they get it.

It’s a horrible time to be anywhere but home for the holidays. With a family as big as mine, it may not ever be. I, for one, am perfectly okay with that.

Merry Christmas friends.

Yesterday I was at a friend’s bonfire and after hearing the word “nigger” thrown around several times and hearing my friends talk about the Nazi mini-flags they had bought at a gunshow, I wasn’t really phased-I knew the people engaged in the conversation and I didn’t really think they meant half of the stuff they were talking about, regardless of the fact that it did bother me. I have black family and close family-friends.

Then the conversation came about how some Aryan supremacy organization had written a statement indicating they would assassinate Obama should he win the Presidency. I mentioned that I had full intentions of voting for Obama and asked how they felt about that.

This is when racial ignorance turned into complete stupidity. I got every response I’d expect – from a seventy year old neo-con.

Didn’t I realize Obama supports terrorists?’
Didn’t I know Barack’s middle name is Hussein? He’s basically a terrorist himself!
He’s a Muslim! All Muslims are the extremist types that blow up buildings!

Far be it for me to try and educate anyone spewing the slander.

Far be it for me to question whether they understood that a name is just a name, and in fact a pretty common Kenyan name he received from his Kenyan father.

Far be it for me to say he isn’t Muslim, but actually Christian, attending the United Church of Christ – not that there’s anything wrong with being Muslim-because if you’re not living in a bubble you understand that extremist religious organizations exist across a wider spectrum of faiths.

They even tried to tell me that he was sworn in to some political office by the Quran. Again – nothing wrong with that, but it’s a blatant lie and trying to use it as evidence of some great injustice is like trying to karate chop a tree down.

They were trying to tie in all these religious and political issues, but the real issue was that Barack Obama has dark skin.

Now I don’t want to make this article pro-any candidate, but I did want to shine some light on an issue I have with society that’s been around for a long time. While racism maybe be less rampant than it used to be in the United States, it still exists. Even in Iowa, where Obama won over the state at caucus.

And, unlike my initial observation, I realize that it’s not just elderly white farmers in the middle of nowhere with the ignorance. It runs through the young and old, generations passing down misinformation to it’s youth.

Last night’s discussion made me sick to my stomach. It’s the same feeling I got when I heard my uncle make similar claims in February, but I had made excuses for him. No longer can I excuse hate speech. Why should some of my family have to shield their children from this world?

They shouldn’t, and they also shouldn’t have to shield them from their own blood.

I’m actively looking for your thoughts. Please comment on this article.

• Panic at the Disco?
• Motion City Soundtrack?
• The Hush Sound?
• Phantom Planet?

You wanted to see them all at the same venue? Same night? Welcome to the 2008 Honda Civic Tour. It kicks off April 10TH and hits our section of the midwest on May 28TH at the Val Air Ballroom.

Thanks to Craig for the notice.