Shortly after my first column was published ("Recent TV trends expose Americans," Jan. 31) a letter to the editor was published challenging my choice to include a reference to political correctness in a column that had nothing to do with politics. The author of this letter was correct to assert that politics belongs in a political column. However, I still stand by calling Christmas break "winter" break completely necessary, just not in the context I put it.

Political correctness is an invention of the insecure. I cannot figure out how people can be so sensitive and insecure as to honestly be offended by some of the things that have been "corrected" in the name of equality. For instance, I'm sure there was a collective sigh of relief across the nation when the phrase "founding fathers" was eliminated from our textbooks in favor of the more politically correct "framers." We wouldn't want to acknowledge the fact that those who framed our Constitution were men, now would we?

The most obvious target of political correctness is Christmas. A lot of people like to claim that this Christmas controversy doesn't exist, that it is a product of the far-right conservatives. That simply is not true. Even Wal-Mart felt the pressure of political correctness by revoking Christmas from its ads and greetings a couple of years ago, only to reverse its decision this past Christmas. Wal-Mart began using Christmas again because, from my experiences, the majority of Americans are not offended by the phrase "Merry Christmas." I work in a grocery store and around Christmas I wish nearly everyone a "Merry Christmas." I have yet to offend anyone, after working through four Christmases. Why is it that there was a hidden push by radical groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) to punish those who celebrate Christmas if it seemingly offends no one?

The ACLU and other organizations like to quote the Establishment Clause of the Constitution when attacking Christmas. Nowhere in the Establishment Clause does it state that the government needs to eliminate all mentions of Christmas from the public arena. It simply states that they shall make "no law respecting an establishment of religion." Bill O'Reilly points out in his book Culture Warrior how the ACLU raided small towns in its attempts to get Santa Claus banished from schools and eliminate those ever-offensive Christmas carols. Usually, the ACLU loses these battles. But as O'Reilly so adamantly points out, just because the ACLU loses the legal battle, they have still won a social victory. The costs of fighting groups such as the ACLU are too high for small schools so they begin censoring their actions.

Apart from the Christmas controversy, I also believe that political correctness is a copout for addressing serious issues. It tries to eliminate real social problems -- racism, sexism, hatred, etc.-- by pretending that they don't exist. If everyone just censors what they say, the world will be a better place and everyone will get along.

You wish.

Take the recent controversy over President Bush calling Sen. Barack Obama "articulate." I had no idea it was offensive to call a black person articulate. I use the word to describe many people -- it's a compliment. I would be flattered if someone said I was articulate. Not only that, but President Bush has admitted himself he's not articulate.

During the State of the Union address, Bush used the phrase "Democrat majority," instead of "Democratic." According to a CNN report, at the annual Democratic retreat Bush addressed his critics by saying, "Now look, my diction isn't all that good," Bush said to laughter. "I have been accused of occasionally mangling the English language. And so I appreciate you inviting the head of the Republic Party."

As a society, we take things out of context way too often. Bush is not the most articulate human being. His statement to Sen. Obama was not meant as an insult to other African Americans -- it was a compliment.

I would understand the outrage over the statement if the context or phrasing had any negative inflection at all, but it didn't. If you have seen the video, you know exactly what I mean.

Political correctness was already well-discussed and analyzed by George Orwell in 1984. He referred to it as "Newspeak." The further we go in restricting speech, the closer we are to becoming the dangerous society of 1984.

It is ridiculous to actually believe that political correctness will eliminate stereotypes. If anything, it only breeds stereotypes and promotes censorships.

We prevent discourse from occurring by allowing our problems to be "politically corrected" instead of formally addressed.