Just When Thought You Heard It All News (12-24-2016)

An Alabama Santa Claus is getting his wish for Christmas this year, but only after a little beef with the state’s Department of Revenue.

Dave Reid, who you cannot deny looks a lot like Santa, received the motor vehicle equivalent to a lump of coal this year when he found out that his “HO HO” vanity license plate were deemed offensive. He plays Santa professionally and has proudly displayed the holiday message on the back of his SUV for the past six years.

“I have a 1999 4Runner that across the back glass says ‘My other ride is a sleigh’ with a wildlife license plate that says HO HO,” Reid told WSFA-TV. “How offensive is that? People drive by me on the interstate so everyone can wave and take a picture. Who is offended by that? It’s ridiculous.”

Other banned license plates in Alabama have included “OUTHSE,” “BRDP00,” and “EYEH8U.”

Alas, the holiday season is about hope and surely you can’t keep Santa on the naughty list. Reid petitioned the license plate power brokers and with a little nudging from local media, he received his Christmas miracle. He tells WSFA-TV that his plates will be renewed.

Santa or not, vanity license plates are frequently the battleground for first amendment rights. In Oklahoma, the ACLU recently came to the defense of a man who wanted “COMMIE” printed on his plates. And in Kentucky, a man was denied his request for a license plate that stated “IM GOD.”

What can you buy for that extremely flush Republican on your shopping list? How about a CLUE!! Or if you just so happen to be in the United Arab Emirates you could just fork over $155,000 for a diamond-encrusted, gold-plated, Donald Trump -stamped iPhone 7…….

The phones, which feature a photo of Trump’s face, are being created by Goldgenie, a company that will gold-plate just about anything. Its motto is “Luxury gifts for the ungiftable.”

The Trump iPhone was born when a psycho Chinese woman requested one in a Goldgenie store in Sharjah, near Dubai, according to Frank Fernando, the company’s managing director. He told CNN Money that he believes the woman is hoping to give it to Trump after his inauguration.

There have since been another nine orders for the phones.

“There are very wealthy, high-net-worth individuals all over the world and sometimes it’s very difficult to buy gifts for them because they have everything,” Fernando said.

Is $155,000 a trifle high? Russian-Italian company Caviar Phones is offering a less-gold-plated smartphone with a relief of the president-elect’s image and the slogan “Make America Great Again” for $3,000.

The company honored Russian President Vladimir Putin with a similar phone, the Moscow Times noted...........

A Caviar representative told journalists that the Trump phone is a symbol of hope for better Russian-U.S. ties and that the company would do “everything possible” to deliver one of the phones directly to the president-elect.

The flashy phones are among a range of Trump-related products offered this holiday season, from the cheap to the expensive.

On the other side of the political aisle, some Trump opponents are buying friends and relatives who voted for him “get-back gifts” — mostly donations to organizations like Planned Parenthood and the Sierra Club in the name of the Trump supporter.

“With my oldest brother, who I know voted for Trump, I’m going right for the jugular. I’m donating to the Democratic National Committee on his behalf,” Hillary Clinton voter John Tereska told the Guardian.

“It’s revenge giving,” he said.