Office "Politics" and bigotry

Two stories illustrate the idiocy that righties are inflicting - or potentially could inflict- on the ability to do business in the United States.

First comes this (via Atrios).

As I commented there the really, really funny thing about this is FOX can't A rename their party!

If they did, somebody could (rightly) raise an EEO complaint against them, and it would cost them quite a bit of dough in legal fees.

And that code is poison to EEO compliance folks in HR.

That's why offices call these things "Holiday" parties, not just 'cause they are: but "Christmas" excludes.

"Christmas" in these circumstances can be seen as code for "Jews and non-Christians aren't welcome," especially after the fact, and especially with a few choice tidbits of ancillary literature thrown in to place this whole "war on Christmas" in context.

From the last link, a publication project associated with Pat Buchanan (no relation to Andrew Cunanan):

A hallmark of this war is an aggressive multiculturalism that has elevated a variety of formerly obscure or even non-existent festivals into faux-Christmases, principally Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and now Ramadan, but also Diwali, Bodhi Day, the Birth of Guru Gobind Singh, Dongji, and Chinese New Year. The reason for the elevation of these holidays is their proximity to Christmas, not their cultural significance or intrinsic worth. Indeed, Kwanzaa was invented in 1966, Hanukkah is traditionally a minor holiday (with no basis in the canonical Hebrew Bible), and Ramadan was virtually unknown in America until a few short years ago. Despite their recent provenance—at least as pseudo-Christmases—these holidays are now treated as coequals of Christmas, with public figures sure to pepper any of the increasingly rare mentions of Christmas with references to at least some of these others.

Now there really is a "Bodhi Day," and its not Buddhists' fault that the Christians stole Saturnalia to ascribe it to their Christ's birth.

If folks want to celebrate Kwanzaa who am I to complain? I don't care, frankly.

But if you've detected the subtle- or perhaps not so subtle- racism and bigotry behind these "Christmas" crusades, you're not alone.

Which brings me to "Team America" - not the movie, but the PAC ("dedicated to securing our nation's borders"), run by one guy named Tancredo, who's evidently a Congressman from Colorado. They have a page on "Your Congressman," but when you drill down, as I did, to find out on what they rate our representatives, among those are "Reduce Unnecessary FOREIGN-WORKER Visas," where they helpfully explain:

Probably the greatest damage to the wages and working conditions of American workers comes from foreign nationals who are specifically imported to compete with Americans for jobs.

The grade in this category weighs all actions that deal with permanent and temporary foreign workers.

Although temporary importation of foreign workers does not in itself cause significant U.S. population growth, it usually does because the federal government has done almost nothing to ensure that workers go back home after their work visas expire.

Let me clue everyone in on something: the overwhelming majority of Ph.D.'s in Electrical Engineering in the United States are foreign born. If a company needs one, it has to jump through ridiculous bureaucratic hoops to get one. The idea that "not enough" is being done to keep American workers from getting lower wages from a job is simply bullshit. Anybody who's tried to hire one with specialized knowledge in the area of communications systems engineering knows this. There simply aren't enough qualified American born Ph.D's in the area, and I should know. I'm one of the relatively few.

So, are these folks racist? You're damned right they are.