Ah, Yes...The War On Easter.

In today's Tribune-Review we read:

The White House this year did not release its traditional Easter proclamation. A spokesman dismissed questions about the lapse and subsequent criticism. Hey, the first family went to a Baptist church on Sunday, said Jay Carney.

And there was that Easter breakfast last week for Christian ministers -- where Mr. Obama professed his Christian faith, it's reported.

Traditional Easter Proclamation?

So the appropriately "Christian" (and please note my irony quotation marks. WWJD? He certainly wouldn't allow torture or kill innocent civilians, that's for damn sure.) George W. Bush issued an Easter proclamation, right?

Nope. Not one.

In fact Little Green Footballs goes further. There hasn't been an official Easter proclamation since at least 1980. None from either Bush, none from Clinton and none from Reagan, either.

And yet the Trib says they're "traditional" and that the lack of one this year is somehow an anomaly.

But then the braintrust at the Trib takes an extra step into dishonesty:

Let's see, there have been proclamations about major Muslim holidays. Last year, Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha each received one. And, by golly, there was an Easter proclamation last year -- one that included mentions of a variety of other religions and even the nonreligious.

Really?

Last year Easter was on April 4 and according to this list at the American Presidency Project, there was no Easter Proclamation on or before April 4, 2010. Or indeed anywhere in that year.

It isn't there. Doesn't Scaife's braintrust even bother to check these things?

How about Ramadan? Was there a Ramadan proclamation in 2010 like the braintrust says?

Uh, no.

Ramadan 2010 took place between August 11 and September 9. Look at the list. No proclamation for Ramadan.

Usually we can trust Scaife's braintrust to give us an early morning chuckle. Usually they spin the facts rightward and usually that's funny. But today they got so many facts absolutely wrong it's difficult to laugh.

No War on Easter. No Ramadan proclamations. No facts getting in the way of a cheap smear. That's the Trib editorial board today.