God Rest You Merry Right-Wing Nuts

A substitute teacher and Tea Party member in California, home to many Sikhs, Hindus, Buddhists, Jews and other non-Christmasy types, is proposing a law to force schoolchildren to sing Christmas carols. Merry Hyatt says her "Freedom to Present Christmas Music in Public School Classrooms or Assemblies" initiative will invite "the prince of peace" back into kids' lives to make it all okay again. "I have two words to say about Ms. Hyatt's proposal," said Rob Boston of Americans United for Separation of Church and State. "Blatantly unconstitutional."

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Rhetoric Vs. Reality

On the same day he received the Nobel Peace Prize, the ACLU blasted President Obama for shielding Bush officials from accountability for its torture polices "on every front....from civil liability, criminal investigation and even public scrutiny." To date, it noted, "not a single torture victim has had his day in court." "The Bush administration constructed a legal framework for torture," said the ACLU's Jameel Jaffer. "Now the Obama administration is constructing a legal framework for impunity."

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No More Back Alleys

The city of Berkeley made a pointed statement on abortion Wednesday by sending coat hangers - a symbol of illegal abortions - to 20 Democrats in the U.S. House who voted to restrict federal funding for abortions in the health care bill. The 20 Representatives are here. "The coat hanger represents the time when women had to have abortions in back alleys," said councilmember Susan Wengraf. "I don't want my granddaughter to go through what my grandmothers had to."

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West VA Lawmaker 'Worried' About HS Students' Single-Payer Tee-Shirts

West Virginia Delegate Daryl Cowles, R-Morgan, has expressed concern that eight Berkeley Springs High School students recently wore Single Payer Action T-shirts, saying he is worried that the small form of protest could escalate into something more.

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