Just a quick question for Todd Starnes and Bill O'Reilly: Would this photo be better or worse if the sign said "Merry Christmas"?
Our guess: If Fox News does mention this sign, one of the resident Professionally Oppressed Christians will argue that perhaps Ferguson brought some of the misery on itself. If only they'd reminded the young hotheads -- the rioters, of course, not the dudes firing tear gas willy nilly -- that Jesus is the Reason for the Season, they'd have calmed down and gone home. We can almost guarantee we will see someone claim that in all sincerity.
At least one prominent wingnut, Ben Howe -- head writer for Dana Loesch's teevee show on Glenn Beck's cable sort-of-channel -- found seasonal cheer in a similar image:
The Drudge Report got into the holiday spirit, too:
We were more impressed by Matt Novak, who writes Gizmodo's awesome "Paleofuture" feature. We grabbed the photo from histweet, and have to agree that the whole thing seems like a bizarre movie -- but also entirely too weird for fiction:
We only have the language of dystopian fiction to describe these images yet they'd play as too heavy handed on screen
And just to prove that nothing is ever entirely new, there's one other work that the photo calls to mind: Simon and Garfunkel's 1966 "7 O'Clock News/Silent Night."
Still gets us just as much as it did in high school.
Will Fox News Accuse Ferguson Of Doing War On Christmas?
Words fail. Hug your loved ones.
Bah Humbug!