Newt Gingrich, whose website was hacked yesterday to lead to sites such as this, this, and this, is lying to people saying that federal government employees aren't allowed to say "Merry Christmas," which is strange because Obama said it a lot yesterday and he's the boss of federal employees. The sad part is people believe it. They believe it because they want to believe it, so maybe in their alternate reality, it is their truth, so maybe Newt is not lying at all!
From Politifact, which says Newt's lie is a "Pants on Fire" lie:
Newt Gingrich says the nation's obsession with being politically correct has come to this: Federal officials aren't allowed to say "Merry Christmas." On the campaign trail, Gingrich has offered strong criticism of efforts to keep religion out of public places and said he would hold judges to account if they rule in favor of stricter separation between church and state. The topic came up in Davenport, Iowa, on Dec. 19, 2011.
The question wasn’t audible on a video clip, but here's Gingrich's reply: "This is actually weird . . . I’ve been investigating this for the last three days. I am told that this is actually a 20- or 30-year-old law, which I have to say I find strange, and I would advocate repealing the law. Apparently if the president sends out Christmas cards, they are paid for the Democratic or Republican National Committees because no federal official at any level is currently allowed to say ‘Merry Christmas.’ And the idea, I think, is that the government should be neutral. … I want going to go back and find out how was this law written, when was it passed. We’ve had this whole — in my mind — very destructive attitude in the last 50 years that we have to drive religion out of public life." Read the rest
