The official White House holiday card makes no mention of the word ‘Christmas’ and instead focused on Bo the First Dog based on the wishes of the First Family.
“From our family to yours, may your holidays shine with the light of the season,” read the inside of the card, featuring the presidential seal.
The front of the card features Bo the First Dog lounging by a fireplace. Holiday greenery is draped over the fireplace mantle. Holiday presents are placed on a table underneath a poinsettia – instead of a Christmas tree.
Los Angeles-based artist Mark Matuszak told the LA Times that he was asked to create the card by the White House social secretary.
“They wanted to do an inside shot, something home related,” Matuszak told the newspaper. He said one of the ideas was to focus on the Obama’s family dog. “So we thought, let’s put Bo in front of a fireplace.”
“It’s odd,” she said, wondering why the president’s Christmas card highlights his dog instead of traditions like “family, faith and freedom.”
“Even stranger than that was his first year in office when the Christmas ornaments included Chairman Mao,” Palin said. “People had to ask that it be removed because it was offensive.”
President Obama’s Christmas Cards have been the subject of controversy in the past. His 2009 greeting card made no reference to Christmas, drawing the ire of Republican Congressman Henry Brown.
“I believe that sending a Christmas card without referencing a holiday and its purpose limits the Christmas celebration in favor of a more ‘politically correct’ holiday,” the South Carolina congressman told Fox News Radio in 2009.
Former President Bush did not mention Merry Christmas in his cards, but had a history of including Bible passages on the White House Christmas Cards.
For his final Christmas in office, the president sent a greeting card that included a verse from the Gospel of Matthew.
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven,” the card read.
Palin said the majority of Americans can appreciate the more traditional, “American foundational values illustrated and displayed on Christmas cards and on a Christmas tree.”
As for the Obama card, she replied, “It’s just a different way of thinking coming out of the White House.”
Register for free to join our community of investors and share your ideas. You will also get access to streaming quotes, interactive charts, trades, portfolio, live options flow and more tools.