The Fox “News” Phony War on Christmas

Every year at this time Fox “News” ramps up one of its perpetual outrage machines. 

Yes, folks, it’s that most wonderful time of the year when God’s Chosen Network launches the Phony War on Christmas because chastising heathens who prefer HAPPY HOLIDAYS is the reason for the season.

On a related note — because Fox related them this morning — there is also its Phony War on Political Correctness, which has only gotten worse since Mr. Politically Incorrect was elected to the Orange Office.

What am I getting at?

There’s a meme going around the internet this week that the call and response, male and female, song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is a little rape-y, with a far-too-close examination of the lyrics making it sound like it was sung by Bill Cosby.

Never letting a crisis go to waste — and never too ashamed to lie to its viewers to make them angry — Fox “News” linked that meme with its Phony War on Christmas to send out this bullshit on the facebookery:

Of course I quickly pointed out how Fox “News” was lying to its viewers. Hilarity ensues.

Meanwhile, here’s all the proof you need that Fox “News” knows what will stir up hate in its Christian audience:

Some viewers seemed happy to add Race to the mix:

While others just attacked:

And, on and on ad nauseam.

It’s true that in this age of Date Rape Drugs the song comes off as promoting roofies. However, it had a much different context when it was written. While Wikipedia can be wrong at times, it’s not wrong about this song:

Baby, It’s Cold Outside” is a song written by Frank Loesser in 1944.[1] It is a call and response duet in which one of the singers (usually performed by a male voice) attempts to convince a guest (usually performed by a female voice) that they should stay together for a romantic evening because the weather is cold and the trip home would be difficult. Originally recorded for the film Neptune’s Daughter, it has been recorded by many artists since its original release. Although some critical analyses of the song have highlighted parts of the lyrics such as “What’s in this drink?” and his unrelenting pressure to stay despite her repeated suggestions that she should to go home,[2] more in depth analysis has noted that cultural expectations of the time period were such that women were not socially permitted to spend the night with a boyfriend or fiance, and that the female speaker states that she wants to stay, while “what’s in this drink” was a common idiom of the period used to rebuke social expectations by blaming one’s actions on the influence of alcohol;[3] the song is therefore a collusion by two willing lovers to engage in a romantic liaison, using the pretext “it’s cold outside” as a shield against the social stigma of the time period against women making their own decisions about their sexuality.

SHORTER ANALYSIS: It’s just a cute song. The outrage on both sides is totally overblown.

Now, let’s hear the tune by the guy what wrote it and his wife Lynn Loesser:


Every week Headly Westerfield publishes a Monday Musical Appreciation at the Not Now Silly Newsroom.

About Headly Westerfield

Calling himself “A liberally progressive, sarcastically cynical, iconoclastic polymath,” Headly Westerfield has been a professional writer all his adult life.