Ah, Jeff Frederick, remember him? Yep, this guy was a Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 2004 to 2010. Frederick also was chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia, until he was ousted in 2009 for reasons that are still not totally clear (although it certainly seems that this had elements of “Tea Party” vs. “establishment” to it).
Anyway, Frederick is baaack, this time livid that the Republican National Committee (RNC) had the audacity to wish people “Happy Kwanzaa.” Admittedly, I find it surprising the RNC would do that, since they’re usually all about “War on Christmas” faux outrage, including their principled stance of NOT recognizing others who celebrate non-Christmas holidays this time of year. So it’s hilarious to see former RPV chair (and former RNC member) Jeff Frederick going off on the RNC for celebrating a “made up holiday” (after first mocking the RNC, then being accused of racism by a Democrat, who Frederick claims is being a “tool of the hysterical left” – lol). Of course, the fact is that ALL holidays are “made up” by humans, pretty much by definition (e.g., we’re humans, we’re the ones who come up with culture, religion, custom, whatever).
As for Kwanzaa, it was created in 1966 “as the first specifically African-American holiday, with the name deriving “from the Swahili phrase matunda ya kwanza, meaning ‘first fruits of the harvest.'” What on earth is wrong with that is beyond me, but apparently it set off the former chair of the Virginia Republican Party. From the responses on Twitter, it looks like it set off a bunch of other right-wingnuts as well (e.g., one wrote, “@GOP Kwanza. R U kidding? It was started by a communist convicted felon who beat and tortured women.”). Yikes.
P.S. See the photo of Jeff Frederick on the far right (appropriately enough), celebrating something or other — apparently NOT Kwanzaa or Festivus, though! LOL