'Tis what season?

You'd never know by looking at the greeting cards many politicians send out these days - and that has more than a few people so mad you'd think someone had chopped down their holiday tree.

For sending out 1.4 million cards that wish folks a joyful holiday season without a merry sentiment in sight, some conservatives have branded President Bush The Grinch who stole ... well, you know.

In West Virginia, Gov. Joe Manchin doesn't mention which season he wants you to enjoy, but folks there are mostly just mad because he spent state money to send out 15,000 cards at a cost of $6,500 - plus postage.

South Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford also sends out about 15,000 cards this time of year but comes closer than most to broaching a reason for the season, including a Scripture passage from the Book of Micah and asking people to give "abundant thanks to the Lord for our many blessings this holiday season."

"The governor believes there can be an overabundance of political correctness and that, just as Christians are tolerant of others' beliefs, people should also be tolerant of Christians' beliefs," Sanford spokesman Joel Sawyer said.

Sanford, unlike Manchin, pays for his cards out of his own pocket and campaign funds. You might say Sanford has the real, uh, holiday spirit.

Joseph Farah, editor of the WorldNetDaily.com Web site, said he tossed the White House card for the slight to Christmas.

"(The president) claims to be a born-again, evangelical Christian. But he sure doesn't act like one," Farah told The Washington Post.

State Rep. John Graham Altman says politicians are offending 90 percent of people to avoid upsetting a very few souls, most of whom could not care less what sentiments some politician sends.

"It's a form of mild insanity," Altman said. "Political correctness has become the establishment. ... They'll probably be going after the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny next."

Cyndi Mosteller, chairwoman of the Charleston County Republican Party, said too many politicians and businesses are "succumbing to the secularization of the culture."

She said we should all talk straight and call Christmas what it is. Tolerance, she said, is about respecting one another's beliefs, not neutralizing them.

"I went to Lowe's to buy a Christmas tree, but they didn't have any - all they had was holiday trees," Mosteller said. "So I didn't buy one."

All this Yuletide politicking is probably for nothing. Don't these people realize their cards won't likely be sitting on the mantel of anyone out Seasonal caroling on Holiday Eve?

This has all become so controversial you'd think the C-word was "Confederate."

Contact Brian Hicks at 937-5561 or bhicks@postandcourier.com.