Well, I thought I'd get in a few more pearls of wisdom (or garble a few more facts), but it's Christmastime and you know how it is for us liberals -- always another church to burn, always another 24-hour all-Christmas radio station to bust up with a pickaxe.

I'm joking. I'M JOKING.

Seriously -- anyone hear of any churches being torched this month? Christmas decorations on houses trashed, followed by claims of responsibility by seculoterrorists? No? And why would that be? Could it be that liberals don't want to destroy Christianity in America? Could it be that, at most, we'd prefer a bit of separation of church and state?

OK, sorry, I'm ranting. And it's Christmas, and I'm here to tell you that I'm skipping town for a while.

But first, in the spirit of the season, I'll give you a link for which I'm going to hell (as will you if you click on it) -- it's a Jesus Action Figure TV ad. I will say in my defense that I'm 99% sure that there are some Christians who would find this as amusing as I do. There are, alas, no right-wing bloggers or syndicated columnists who would. All the more reason to click the link.

"A Visit from Saint Nicholas (In the Ernest Hemingway Manner)" by James Thurber, from the Christmas 1927 issue of The New Yorker, is funny too (on a somewhat more elevated plane).

I'm more of a softy than I seem to be, which is why I like Julia's take on the season.

And, even though it reminds me of things I haven't done in a long time, this is an amusing tree.

And with that, I gotta go. I'll be back after the holidays. Thanks for showing up all year.

(Hat tip to Bob Hayes for the Thurber and Kevin Hayden for the tree.)