It never ceases to amaze me how this administration and white right-wing evangelicals, according to their professed beliefs, proclaim Christmas is about the coming of the Prince of Peace, imposed upon the masses. It causes disgust in me. And anger. And how baffling is the expressed elation about killing, justified in the name of Christianity. Tragically, not the first time in history, but must the unspeakable be repeated?
And yet, on Christmas day, it seems to me, another mighty distraction through military action to cover revilement, with the intent to conquer, increase wealth at the hands of a few and further diminish access to the truth—at the grave expense of humanity.
(I do hope that no one takes offense at this song parody.)
Hark The Herald Angels Sing!
Hark the herald angels sing
Born today our nation’s King
With us here rejoice and pray
Jesus, bless the U.S.A.!
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ
In Your name, our foes we strike
Islam—you’re not welcome here
Christians unite, in Him revere!
Jewish friends we tolerate
In what is now our Christian state
First Amendment rules be damned
Marco, DHS and Pam
Pete and all ye Cabinet Heads
Help us to the nation spread
The Good News that Christ is born
As our country is transformed
Onward Christian Soldiers march
We all proclaim your Holy Church
In Your name we celebrate
In what is now our Christian State
P.S. - If you are enjoying this brand of poetry, please consider subscribing to our Substack, Never Trump Poetry, free of charge. Subscribers receive insightful commentary from my editor, Michael Broder, and audio recitations of our twice-daily posted poems. Thank you.
Non-Christian here. So not offended. Grinning like the flipping Cheshire Cat. Bravo. (I sang it to the tune I sang growing up cuz of course, we sang Christmas carols in public schools in the 60s.)
This was the most tortuous of letters.. I want to scream and escape the viscousness and hatefulness that is suffocating America. A President calling people he does not like scum... glee when people suffer... hate toward all except white Christians... Maybe this regime will finally out nazi the nazi's in hate and eventually murder. I'm so happy I am a senior and lived my best years prior to this nightmare.
Why would any true American file a 1040 or pay taxes in 2026? The U.S. Congress is replete with eunochs posing as Democrats, the GOP is now the MAGA 65 IQ NEO-FASCIST PARTY and the Despicable Six (SCOTUS) encourage Nero to fiddle and set fire to the economy and destroy American farmers.
As always, HCR, thank you. Non-Christian American here and I have been saying to anyone who might listen for the last 20+ years, that if you are not a Christian, it's ve-ry apparent that we live in a Christian country. We are smacked in the face daily with this fact. But these yahoos have taken it to a whole new level. The Christmas "wishes" from the government are abhorrent. My parents were both 1st gen American with immigrant parents, working their way up from refugee status. We have strayed so very far from the ideals I was raised with. But I try to maintain hope and positivity and your historian's perspective is invaluable.
I was brought up as an Episcopalian, Sunday School, junior choir, taught children about Jesus and his teachings, and when invited by friends to go to their church, went to the Protestant church, Baptist church, Methodist church, Presbyterian church and even a Jewish Jewish Synagogue.
I married in my Episcopal church but my husband was in the military and we moved often, so I went to the church that was near the base. Our last move was to a place where I found a newly formed mission church, it was a Lutheran church and I joined it. I became a volunteer secretary, council member, an usher, and a Sunday School teacher and involved in a ministry formed from churches in the area, as volunteer secretary and caseworker to help the needy with paying electric bills and rent, along with giving them food. Our church even put up flyers and posted them in the truck stop off our interstate, inviting them to join us to come as they are, no need to dress up, with the times of our services.
When hurricane Andrew destroyed many of our homes I worked with the Methodist church as a scheduler and helped cook for the volunteers that came from all over the US to our town to help rebuild including Habitat for Humanity.
I'm not telling this looking for praise, but because of my deep faith and the teachings of Jesus Christ, son of God and God's blessings given to me when so many had less than I or had nothing. I printed out two copies of my favorite chapter and verses from the Matthew: 25:31-46, The Sheep and the Goats. One copy is over my computer and the other copy is on my refrigerator.
I will never accept the religious rights as a one religion nation and will never bow down to Christian nationalism.
True Christians, like you, actually practice their faith. I've found that the so-called Christians that need to dress up and parade their "religion" but never lift a finger to help anyone are full of empty promises. Thank you for practicing your faith and helping make the world a better place.
Did “the Framers of the Constitution (establish) the United States of America on the rule of law?”
Did the developers of the Empire State Building establish the building on a constructed foundation? Yes, but the constructed foundation sits on a natural “bedrock” foundation. If you look at the Manhattan skyline, you can tell where bedrock is and is not close to the surface by seeing where skyscrapers are and are not constructed.
Likewise, the Framers of the Constitution established the United States of America on the natural principle that “I” am the most important person on the planet bar none, and “I” am currently tied for first place with roughly eight billion other people.
The “rule of law” is merely an expression of the principle that we are all equal, or it is merely an expression of the principle that some people are more equal than others. If you look at the health of nations, you can see which ones have a healthy egalitarian “bedrock” foundation and which ones have an unhealthy authoritarian “sand” foundation.
In other words, as incredibly important as it is to know how to get to your destination, it’s much more important to know your destination.
P.S.
Dear Marco Rubio, Jesus was an egalitarian, but he wouldn’t have called you an authoritarian. Instead, he would have told you some version of Matthew 23:27-28.
Q: What causes terrorism? A: Authoritarianism.
Q: How do we end terrorism? A: End authoritarianism.
Thank you Prof Cox Richardson. All these events - thoughtfully condensed without even a hint of the deserved outrage, or any histrionics (as usual for HCR) - are the grist of nightmares. I’ve had to listen three times to process how far afield we’ve strayed from our fragile democracy, from morality and ethics, from sanity.
These people posing as Christian’s, apparently have no idea what Christ stood for. It isn’t the savage attacks on ‘others’ that is their standard fare. As long as wealthy White bigots are in charge of our country, there can be no justice and no freedom.
The idea that shaking down people for money is acceptable is not Christian , it’s theft. .
This is a disgrace and an insult to every person in what we call the United States, from the Native peoples to the Puritans, who introduced Protestant exclusivity to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, to the immigrants who followed, among them Catholics and Jews and Muslims, and Hindus and Buddhists and every form of belief that crossed the Atlantic from Africa in the hell of slave-traders’ ships. These insults were spun out in a sickening slurry of phony piety by people who all—ALL—have proven to follow none of the teachings of ANY religion, much less the admonitions of their “savior.” This programmed broadside of so-called Christian cliches was yet another attempt to set us all against one another, to distract us with infighting while they continue to loot the world and leave innocent people to suffer on every continent. Neither Trump nor his sycophants have any use for information. We need to harness our anger and take back our multi-ethnic, multi-racial and richly varied country. And then we need to make some changes to Bill of Rights.
Yes, once we overcome the madness that is MAGA we definitely need to establish laws that make "norms" into laws that EVEN THE PRESIDENT must follow. I think we've learned that trusting to the basic goodness of humanity is not enough. We probably should have seen it coming. But now we know.
Thank you, again, Heather❣️ This is such a good piece. Sad, scary, evil, vomitous what is happening but it’s great reporting! Thank you, to you and your team👍🏻
It never ceases to amaze me how this administration and white right-wing evangelicals, according to their professed beliefs, proclaim Christmas is about the coming of the Prince of Peace, imposed upon the masses. It causes disgust in me. And anger. And how baffling is the expressed elation about killing, justified in the name of Christianity. Tragically, not the first time in history, but must the unspeakable be repeated?
And yet, on Christmas day, it seems to me, another mighty distraction through military action to cover revilement, with the intent to conquer, increase wealth at the hands of a few and further diminish access to the truth—at the grave expense of humanity.
Woe to this nation, and to our world.
(I do hope that no one takes offense at this song parody.)
Hark The Herald Angels Sing!
Hark the herald angels sing
Born today our nation’s King
With us here rejoice and pray
Jesus, bless the U.S.A.!
Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ
In Your name, our foes we strike
Islam—you’re not welcome here
Christians unite, in Him revere!
Jewish friends we tolerate
In what is now our Christian state
First Amendment rules be damned
Marco, DHS and Pam
Pete and all ye Cabinet Heads
Help us to the nation spread
The Good News that Christ is born
As our country is transformed
Onward Christian Soldiers march
We all proclaim your Holy Church
In Your name we celebrate
In what is now our Christian State
P.S. - If you are enjoying this brand of poetry, please consider subscribing to our Substack, Never Trump Poetry, free of charge. Subscribers receive insightful commentary from my editor, Michael Broder, and audio recitations of our twice-daily posted poems. Thank you.
Non-Christian here. So not offended. Grinning like the flipping Cheshire Cat. Bravo. (I sang it to the tune I sang growing up cuz of course, we sang Christmas carols in public schools in the 60s.)
Singing “The Good News…” gives too much weight to the word “The,” and feels clumsy. Using “Shout” might work better.
“Shout Good News that…”
Thanks for your comment.
One problem is the American Catholic bishops joining Pope Leo in condemning Trump's anti-immigrant policies.
Nigeria has oil- that's the prize
Well that explains everything!
Is this what Jesus came to do?
I think not!
For shame on these people! They can lie to me. They can lie to themselves. They cannot lie to God!
Happy Kwaanza! Heather is a national treasure. Let’s keep singing the no kings anthem together as we go caroling to fight fascism: https://democracydefender2025.substack.com/p/no-kings-anthem
This was the most tortuous of letters.. I want to scream and escape the viscousness and hatefulness that is suffocating America. A President calling people he does not like scum... glee when people suffer... hate toward all except white Christians... Maybe this regime will finally out nazi the nazi's in hate and eventually murder. I'm so happy I am a senior and lived my best years prior to this nightmare.
Why would any true American file a 1040 or pay taxes in 2026? The U.S. Congress is replete with eunochs posing as Democrats, the GOP is now the MAGA 65 IQ NEO-FASCIST PARTY and the Despicable Six (SCOTUS) encourage Nero to fiddle and set fire to the economy and destroy American farmers.
I no longer recognize the country I was born in.
It’s really sad isn’t it.
and the beat goes on...
regret is a draining companion...suck the hope right out of the marrow...
As always, HCR, thank you. Non-Christian American here and I have been saying to anyone who might listen for the last 20+ years, that if you are not a Christian, it's ve-ry apparent that we live in a Christian country. We are smacked in the face daily with this fact. But these yahoos have taken it to a whole new level. The Christmas "wishes" from the government are abhorrent. My parents were both 1st gen American with immigrant parents, working their way up from refugee status. We have strayed so very far from the ideals I was raised with. But I try to maintain hope and positivity and your historian's perspective is invaluable.
I live by the question, What would Jesus do?
I was brought up as an Episcopalian, Sunday School, junior choir, taught children about Jesus and his teachings, and when invited by friends to go to their church, went to the Protestant church, Baptist church, Methodist church, Presbyterian church and even a Jewish Jewish Synagogue.
I married in my Episcopal church but my husband was in the military and we moved often, so I went to the church that was near the base. Our last move was to a place where I found a newly formed mission church, it was a Lutheran church and I joined it. I became a volunteer secretary, council member, an usher, and a Sunday School teacher and involved in a ministry formed from churches in the area, as volunteer secretary and caseworker to help the needy with paying electric bills and rent, along with giving them food. Our church even put up flyers and posted them in the truck stop off our interstate, inviting them to join us to come as they are, no need to dress up, with the times of our services.
When hurricane Andrew destroyed many of our homes I worked with the Methodist church as a scheduler and helped cook for the volunteers that came from all over the US to our town to help rebuild including Habitat for Humanity.
I'm not telling this looking for praise, but because of my deep faith and the teachings of Jesus Christ, son of God and God's blessings given to me when so many had less than I or had nothing. I printed out two copies of my favorite chapter and verses from the Matthew: 25:31-46, The Sheep and the Goats. One copy is over my computer and the other copy is on my refrigerator.
I will never accept the religious rights as a one religion nation and will never bow down to Christian nationalism.
True Christians, like you, actually practice their faith. I've found that the so-called Christians that need to dress up and parade their "religion" but never lift a finger to help anyone are full of empty promises. Thank you for practicing your faith and helping make the world a better place.
Seems like we never learn that religious wars never brings about anything. Other than more religious wars throughout mankind’s existence!
yeah, but...they had the wrong take in the first place...at least from what i know of the New Testament...now Jehovah's another story, ALtogether...
first He gives the 10 commandments to Israel, right? most important/irreversible one of all of them is, of course, 'don't kill'.
and then He gives Joshua the go ahead to slaughter all of the tribes that were in Canaan... I guess Jehovah doesn't have any tolerance for squatters.
Thank, uh, God? that can't happen today...
SEE? some people DO learn from history AND religion...
Did “the Framers of the Constitution (establish) the United States of America on the rule of law?”
Did the developers of the Empire State Building establish the building on a constructed foundation? Yes, but the constructed foundation sits on a natural “bedrock” foundation. If you look at the Manhattan skyline, you can tell where bedrock is and is not close to the surface by seeing where skyscrapers are and are not constructed.
Likewise, the Framers of the Constitution established the United States of America on the natural principle that “I” am the most important person on the planet bar none, and “I” am currently tied for first place with roughly eight billion other people.
The “rule of law” is merely an expression of the principle that we are all equal, or it is merely an expression of the principle that some people are more equal than others. If you look at the health of nations, you can see which ones have a healthy egalitarian “bedrock” foundation and which ones have an unhealthy authoritarian “sand” foundation.
In other words, as incredibly important as it is to know how to get to your destination, it’s much more important to know your destination.
P.S.
Dear Marco Rubio, Jesus was an egalitarian, but he wouldn’t have called you an authoritarian. Instead, he would have told you some version of Matthew 23:27-28.
Q: What causes terrorism? A: Authoritarianism.
Q: How do we end terrorism? A: End authoritarianism.
Thank you Prof Cox Richardson. All these events - thoughtfully condensed without even a hint of the deserved outrage, or any histrionics (as usual for HCR) - are the grist of nightmares. I’ve had to listen three times to process how far afield we’ve strayed from our fragile democracy, from morality and ethics, from sanity.
These people posing as Christian’s, apparently have no idea what Christ stood for. It isn’t the savage attacks on ‘others’ that is their standard fare. As long as wealthy White bigots are in charge of our country, there can be no justice and no freedom.
The idea that shaking down people for money is acceptable is not Christian , it’s theft. .
The idea that shaking freedom.
This is a disgrace and an insult to every person in what we call the United States, from the Native peoples to the Puritans, who introduced Protestant exclusivity to the Massachusetts Bay Colony, to the immigrants who followed, among them Catholics and Jews and Muslims, and Hindus and Buddhists and every form of belief that crossed the Atlantic from Africa in the hell of slave-traders’ ships. These insults were spun out in a sickening slurry of phony piety by people who all—ALL—have proven to follow none of the teachings of ANY religion, much less the admonitions of their “savior.” This programmed broadside of so-called Christian cliches was yet another attempt to set us all against one another, to distract us with infighting while they continue to loot the world and leave innocent people to suffer on every continent. Neither Trump nor his sycophants have any use for information. We need to harness our anger and take back our multi-ethnic, multi-racial and richly varied country. And then we need to make some changes to Bill of Rights.
Yes, once we overcome the madness that is MAGA we definitely need to establish laws that make "norms" into laws that EVEN THE PRESIDENT must follow. I think we've learned that trusting to the basic goodness of humanity is not enough. We probably should have seen it coming. But now we know.
Good point: Trump disregard of Christians in Ukraine. What's wrong with that picture?
Simply pathetic politicians!
Thank you, again, Heather❣️ This is such a good piece. Sad, scary, evil, vomitous what is happening but it’s great reporting! Thank you, to you and your team👍🏻