On the one hand, you have to congratulate Fox for shifting the debate.

In the pre-Fox days, whenever there was Republican boredom or a bad patch, they pulled out the “flag burning” crisis. Thankfully, it’s been years since the last burning flag threatened to bring down the Republic.

On the other hand, Fox is really beating a dead horse with their pre-planned War on Christmas. It’s become too predictable. As soon as people start making plans for the holidays, they can sleep soundly knowing that just like an SEC team will be playing (and winning) the national championship game in college football or January snow in the Rockies, Fox will be howling about the War on Christmas. It’s that predictable.

Of course, Fox has been caught waging its own war on Christmas, as his Fox’s own Bill O’Reilly. And who can forget George W. Bush’s “holiday” cards that forget to even mention Jesus. And then there’s Bush’s “holiday” page on the White House Web site.

Why do Republicans hate the baby Jesus?

At this point, I almost miss the fake outrage over flag burning.