For what seems like every one of the past eight years, conservative media outlets have covered what they like to call the "war on Christmas" because as everyone is no doubt aware, the holiday of Christmas has seen such a free fall in popularity (that is sarcasm by the way). Yes, for some reason I have yet to be able to explain, some Americans believe that Christmas is under attack. I mean, sure, you can have your Kwanzaa and your Channukah, but actually acknowledging and respecting the fact that you don't celebrate Christmas? That's a line that they cannot cross! The nerve of those other people not taking part in my holiday, and the goal they have to let me know about it when I say Merry Christmas.
For those who are unaware, the so-called "War on Christmas" is an idea popularized by conservative news outlets, with Dennis Prager of PragerU, and Bill O'Reilly of former Fox News fame being large believers of the concept. Essentially, it is the belief that certain groups of people, particularly liberals and other people on the left, are orchestrating a large and organized attempt to remove Christmas from American life in the name of diversity, a popular example being the use of the term "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas". Some advocates of this belief even think that the left wants to remove Christmas as a holiday altogether, and in turn, Judeo-Christian values as a whole. If it sounds crazy, that's most likely because it is.
Regardless, I did notice something recently: this year, there hasn't been one peep of the war on Christmas. I haven't even heard one mention of it this holiday season, and I'm pretty sure I know why. The reason the war on Christmas has seemingly ended is that Obama has left the White House. The most vocal advocates of this War on Christmas were right-wing media outlets, specifically Fox News. Whenever they would talk about it, Fox would always attribute this war to the left, and their efforts to destroy Christmas or whatever. But now that Trump is the president, there simply isn't a need to feed to outrage machine.
Another thing I have noticed is that now that Trump is in office, many people, when talking about him or responding to him in comments of videos and such, make a point to say "Merry Christmas". They say it as if the phrase was taken from them, and they have now regained the ability to say it. To think that people weren't allowed to say Merry Christmas to each other is preposterous. I wish my family a Merry Christmas, and I'm an atheist for Christ's sake. I even put out a whole article detailing why I think Christmas is a blight on American society, but I still said Merry Christmas to my grandfather. Why? Because I'm not a dick.
To say that there is a war on Christmas is ridiculous, and if there was, then Christmas is winning in a landslide. Christmas is more of an American holiday than a Christian one these days, as Christmas shopping and deals have become a yearly fixture in American capitalism. It's become damn near impossible to separate the two. In my opinion, the war on Christmas was a right-wing tool used to elicit unfounded outrage against Democrats, and in turn, former President Obama. Now that Trump is president, it simply isn't as needed or profitable to further this misguided narrative any longer.