I just now saw this post, and I hope you're still seeing these comments because I cannot find an email link for you. I have to tell you that the second blog you quote from, the one you have identified as being Libby Spencer's, is actually mine. If you click the link, you'll see that. I recognized the quote when I read it. I wrote that.

SCROOGE: Christmas comes but once a year,
So you better make hay while the snow is falling,
That's opportunity calling you!
CHORUS: Rub your hands, December's here,
What a wonderful time to be Glad and merry!
SCROOGE: Just so you're mercenary too!
CHORUS: Buy an ad and show all the toys,
Show all the toys up on the shelf.
SCROOGE: Just make sure that you get a plug,
You get a plug, In for yourself!
SCROOGE AND CHORUS:
Christmas comes but once a year,
So you better cash in,
While the spirit lingers,
It's slipping through your fingers,
Boy! Don't you realize
Christmas can be such a
Monetary joy!

CRATCHET: Well, I guess you fellows will never change.
SCROOGE: Why should we? Christmas has two s's in it, and they're both dollar signs.
CRATCHET: Yeah, but they weren't there to begin with.
SCROOGE: Eh?
CRATCHET: The people keep hoping you'll remember. But you never do.
SCROOGE: Remember what?

CRATCHET: Whose birthday we're celebrating.
SCROOGE: Well, ....... don't get me wrong. The story of Christmas, in its simplicity, is a good thing - I'll buy that. It's just that we know a good thing when we see it.
CRATCHET: But don't you realize Christmas has a significance, a meaning.
SCROOGE: A sales curve! Wake up, Cratchet, it's later than you think.
CRATCHET: I know, Mr. Scrooge, I know.
CHORUS: On the first day of Christmas,
The advertising's there, with
Newspaper ads,
Billboards too,
Business Christmas cards,
And commercials on a pear tree. . .
Jingles here, jingles there,
Jingles all the way.
Dashing through the snow,
In a fifty-foot coup-e
O'er the fields we go,
Selling all the way. . .
Deck the halls with advertising,
What's the use of compromising,
Fa la la la la la la la la.

Thanks for tempering the quotes from leftists with someone like the Anchoress, who has beautiful insights. [... et cetera]

I was wondering when someone would blame the liberals. Gippergal doesn't disappoint, as usual.

Yeah, blame the liberals and "overfeminization" of society for America's insane consumerism. Don't blame the corporations who pump ad after ad into our faces every 15 seconds through every way possible. No, they're not responsible at all. It's those damn liberals overfeminizing us and wanting to make everyone a winner instead of just one person.

Seriously, "Gippergal," do you really believe that claptrap? Is outrageous consumerism really because of liberals? Or conservatives? Is this a subject that maybe transcends politics per se?

Seriously, "overfeminization?" That's your answer? Please.

So sure ... consumerism is a good topic.

Actually, its a great topic, and one that really needs to be explored in depth over the coming months and years.

I grew up in one of the wealthiest communities in the country, but my childhood experiences were influenced by my parents depression & ww2 upbringing.

We certainly wanted for nothing, but getting a new Beatles record was a big deal. A new TV? Huge, one of the biggest events of the year in any home.

When I see children who have a tv, a computer and an xbox in each room and an ipod in every kids pocket, I wonder where we are going as a society. When you factor in half the kids being overweight, it is downright scary.

I would love to see the people in that crowd prosecuted. Sadly they'll probably never even be identified, much less brought to justice.

I'm sure "a chicken in every pot" is millennia old as well ... but I don't see it as quite the same emotion as xbox-lust.

Populist politics have been around forever, as have the long line of suckers who repeatedly fall for it's allure. But that's a separate topic.

However, the observation stands. The same "me first" mentality that motivates stampedes for - its almost too incredible to write - X-Box's and WII's, also motivates that pull of the lever for the guy who promises 'vote for me and I'll give you something for free.'

Don't be surprised if the lady caught on tape joyously proclaiming 'Obama's going to pay for my mortgage and gas' is also caught on tape at one of those bizarre 4 AM rushes.

I gotta take my daughter shopping now........

"The nation has just concluded an election with the winner running on a classic populist theme: vote for me and I'll take your no good rich neighbors money and give it to you."

I'm more surprised that people take behaviors as old as mankind, and squint to see them as an aspect of momentary politics.

Trot out Piker's Blank Slate ... human nature spans nations and centuries. The Anchoress did approach it from a human nature angle, which was good, but I think she might have been a tad optimistic when supposing that many out there were acting out of love.

It might have been closer to "Nature red in tooth and claw."

The nation has just concluded an election with the winner running on a classic populist theme: vote for me and I'll take your no good rich neighbors money and give it to you."

And this Black Friday behavior surprises?

Rants about guns on occasions like that make me want to roll my eyes; it does, however, bring to mind another question: in a culture that downplays the importance of competition, do people get more testy? For instance, when all children get a compensation trophy; when battles to protect national security are minimalized by liberals as overcompensating ego machinations; when hunting is sneered at as barbaric; the further removed from meaningful competition people are, the more likely they are to display competitive motives in inappropriate arenas.

I think the overfeminization of some aspects of culture suggest the unhealthy concept that real men, and real women, talk everything to death. The liberal illuminati suggest that photos of Gov. Palin hunting are one step removed from neanderthal. Sports is one of the only places left where competition can flourish, and even here, the experience is frequently marred by penalties for a quick touchdown celebration.

On the Wii: I've read about the cool bowling game they have for it--but how is it for first person shooting games and for sports games like Madden?

Very good, although my only point of reference is older games; I don't have Xbox and whatnot. The shooting games are much better if you get the optional pistol attachment, which is fairly inexpensive. Madden is quite good and operates intuitively using the standard controller.

We’ve got a big wall-hanging plasma HDTV, a Blu-Ray, a Wii, and various other goodies.

On the Wii: I've read about the cool bowling game they have for it--but how is it for first person shooting games and for sports games like Madden?

I've been sticking with the Xbox cause of Halo, Grand Theft Auto, and Madden, but the Wii does look pretty sweet!