Posted on 11/27/2003 1:12:06 AM PST by kattracks
Macy's has told "Hairspray" star Harvey Fierstein that he's naughty, not nice, for dragging Mr. and Mrs. Santa Claus into the debate over gay marriage. Fierstein, who was due to don a Mrs. Claus dress in today's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, annoyed the department store by writing an op-ed piece in yesterday's New York Times in which he called for same-sex partnership rights and asked, "What if Santa really was gay?"A Macy's spokeswoman told us customers who called the store complained that "Mr. Fierstein was using the parade to espouse his own political views."
Fierstein plans to appear in a red-and-white velvet outfit, designed by "Hairspray" costumer William Ivey Long, on the second-to-last parade float accompanied by Macy's penguin character, Percy. The final float features Santa and Mrs. Claus.
So who is Fierstein supposed to be? Macy's insists that he's Edna Turnblad, his "Hairspray" character, done up for the holidays. Fierstein maintains he's none other than the first lady of Christmas herself.
"They asked me to do the parade," he told us. "I said I'd be willing to do it if I could be Mrs. Santa Claus. They said, 'How much fun.' As far as I understand, I'm Mrs. Santa Claus... if Harvey Fierstein as a fictional character playing a fictional character makes them more comfortable, that's what I'm doing."
The actor denied that anyone at Macy's called him to gripe, but a store rep said, "We expressed our feelings that we thought [the op-ed] was inappropriate."
MIAs and VIPs
Pentagon brass deny that they're giving special treatment to the suspected remains of Charles Dean, brother of presidential hopeful Howard Dean.
Internet gossip Matt Drudge reported that the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) "was pressured" to recover the remains, which are believed to have been found last month in Laos.
"A well-placed military source" was quoted as saying that finding the remains of Charles Dean, who was a civilian traveling in Laos, were put ahead of "numerous other MIAs who actually died fighting for their country."
Drudge also said troops "are upset over being forced to take part" in a repatriation ceremony yesterday in Hawaii at which Charles Dean received military honors.
Lt. Col. Jerry O'Harry, a JPAC spokesman, says there was no pressure and that "we work all our cases in the same manner." He added, "If we don't treat everyone as a returning serviceman, we cannot go back and render those honors after the fact."
[snip}
With Ben Widdicombe, Suzanne Rozdeba and Spencer Morgan
Originally published on November 26, 2003
Some people can politicize anything.
In the former, that is, in Saami Shamanism, there is no doubt "the Little Red Man" is in the driver's seat. Reindeer really do fly in his world. You might even meet Reindeer Man beating a drum, blowing a horn, or maybe even using a mellophone. See one of the current 4 panel US stamps issued for Xmas to get the full flavor of the Shamanism.
In the latter, they are of two minds about "the Little Red Man". Either he's been replaced by peyote ~ note: the Little Red Man's essence is derived from amanita muscaria, a red mushroom with white spots, but peyote is safer ~ or, they've totally removed the Little Red Man and his "friends" from their belief systems.
Some families in America really do grow up WITHOUT Santa Claus in the homes, and they are not all Jewish and Moslem!
Seems obvious to me this guy is of the misapprehension that Santa Claus is some sort of secular symbol. But putting on that "dress" suggests that he is aware, to a degree, of Santa's former manifestation as amanita muscaria. Wonder what he has in that handbag?
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