FORSAKING MY USUAL HOLIDAY HIATUS    PART 2 

YESTERDAY I DESCRIBED WHY I’M NOT TAKING my traditional Christmas-to-New Year hiatus: It’s to maintain my sense of proportion in the midst of Trump 2.0. This  maintenance continues here in Part 2.

What Ever Happened to the Separation of Church and State? Ashley Ahn notes, “Trump Administration Emphasizes Religion in Official Christmas Messages,” The New York Times, December 25, 2025. As her article’s subtitle observes, “Government officials have traditionally steered clear of such overtly religious language, as the Constitution prohibits the establishment of an official state religion.”

Without actually reading the Official Christmas Messages, this one might be a difficult call. Christmas, after all, is celebrating the birth of Christ, just as Hanukkah celebrates the Judaic Festival of Lights. However, “Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ” might seem more assertive to a non-Christian than “Merry Christmas.” 

Trump as a Crusader? As updated on December 26, 2025, by CBS News, “U.S. Launches Strikes on ISIS Targets in Nigeria on Christmas Day, Trump Says.” The report quotes Trump on Truth Social: “Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!”

A real King: Richard I of England reigned 1189–1199. He and France’s Philip II agreed to go on the Third Crusade, 1189–1192, since each feared during his absence the other might usurp his territories. (So much for medieval royals.)    

Imagine Donald J. Cœur de Lion…. Where’s a troubadour when we need one? 

Especially rare would be finding a troubadour to take the gig at a newly named Donald J. Trump and John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts. See Hillel Italie’s “Kennedy Center Christmas Eve Jazz Concert Canceled After Trump Name Added to Building,” AP News, December 24, 2025.

A Nuanced Target. There’s a parallel here with Trump’s claim of South African attacks against its white population (this, counter to that country’s own crime data). Malcolm Ferguson reports “Nigeria Clarifies What Really Happened With Trump’s Airstrikes,” The New Republic, December 26, 2025. (Note, The New Republic, founded in 1914 as part of the progressive movement, is known for “its intellectual rigor and left-leaning political views.”) 

Ferguson recounts, “The Nigerian government took the time to debunk President Trump’s claims of Christian genocide in Nigeria after he announced the bombing of Africa’s most populous (and most oil-rich) nation.”

The Nigerian Foreign Ministry asserted, “Terrorist violence in any form whether directed at Christians, Muslims, or other communities remains an affront to Nigeria’s values and to international peace and security.” 

The country, Wikipedia notes, is “a Muslim-majority country with a sizeable Christian minority, as well as a tiny minority of adherents of traditional African religions and other religions…. As in other parts of Africa where Islam and Christianity are dominant, religious syncretism with the traditional African religions is common.”

The New Republic report continues, “Nigeria has spend months attempting to clarify this point, as the right has spend months attempting to justify violent U.S. intervention to protect Christians—with Trump threatening to enter Nigeria ‘guns-a-blazing’ just last month.”

A Complex Situation. Ruth Maclean, Saikou Jammeh, and Ismail Auwal report, “Trump’s Claims About Nigeria Strike Belie a Complex Situation on the Ground,” The New York Times, December 26, 2025. The trio of reporters describe, “Sokoto State, which was hit by more than 12 Tomahawk missiles Thursday night, is populated overwhelmingly by Muslims, who bear the brunt of terrorist attacks there, according to analysts and groups that monitor conflict. Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah of Sokoto said recently that the area does “not have a problem with persecution” of Christians.”

“And,” their report notes, “… analysts are divided over the existence of ties between insurgent groups in Sokoto and the Islamic State. What the strikes immediately achieved is not clear, though reports emerged on Friday morning that one of the areas that was hit was the outskirts of Jabo, a town in Sokoto that analysts said was not known to harbor any terrorist or bandit groups.”

Maybe it’s too early for that troubadour to compose his heroic lay. ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2025