Editor’s note: The views expressed by guest columnists are not necessarily those of The Costa Rica Star, its advertisers, or its staff.

At the White House “Merry Christmas” is in while “Happy Holidays” is out.

Former President Barack Obama referred to the Christmas season as “Happy Holidays” so not to offend non-Christians in a Christian-majority nation. But that has all changed.

No sooner did First Lady Melania Trump unveil the 2017 White House Christmas decorations President Donald Trump’s forever critics started hammering away saying the display was “ghoulish” and more fitting for “Halloween.” Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder reflected in bias. This year’s White House holiday dress up is outstanding, chic and classy in every way — a true mirror-image of America’s newest and most controversial First Lady.

In a one-minute video released Monday, Melania Trump introduced the country to the new look at the White House sporting the theme of “Time-Honored Traditions.” The Nativity Scene – complete with Mary, Joseph, a little baby Jesus and three Wise Men — still remains on display inside the White House. All-in-all this year’s White House spectacle includes 53 Christmas trees, 71 Christmas wreathes, more than 12,000 ornaments and a 200-pound gingerbread reproduction of the White House, according to a White House statement.

“Throughout the month of December, the White House will host more than 100 open houses and many receptions,” said Melania Trump’s Communication Director Stephanie Grisham. “More than 25,000 visitors will walk the halls taking part in public tours.”

The contrast between how Melania Trump is treated in the mainstream news as compared to former First Lady Michelle Obama is an obvious double-standard. Anything related to team Trump gets trashed in today’s unsavory mass media and Melania is obviously a bull’s-eye objective.

Just who is Melania Trump? She is a 47-year-old former red-carpet-runway-super-model from Novo Mesto, Slovenia, now worth an estimated $50-million, according to Celebrity Net Worth.com. Her modeling career began at 5-years-old. At 16 she was doing TV commercials and at 18 she turned professional — modeling in Milan, Paris and New York City — where she met real estate tycoon Donald Trump at a party at the Kit Cat Club in Times Square in 1998. They began dating when she was 28 and he was 51. They married in 2005 at an Episcopal Church in Palm Beach, Florida with a reception at Trump’s Mar-A-Lago Resort attended by numerous Hollywood and mainstream media elites, plus former President Bill Clinton and then-Senator Hillary Clinton. Many of these Trump wedding attendees are now the president’s harshest critics – how ironic is that?

Melania Trump became a U.S. citizen in 2006 the same year her son — Barron Trump — was born, according to Wikipedia.
It’s no easy feat to speak six languages. Melania Trump is fluent in English, French, Italian, German, Serbo-Croatian and her native Slovene. On her first overseas trip with the president in May 2017, First Lady Melania Trump spoke in Italian with children at a pediatric hospital in Rome.

“She is a spectacular representative for the United States,” commentator Monica Crowley said Tuesday on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle with Laura Ingraham.

Some insight into Melania Trump’s world can be gained by reading some of her quotes taken from rare interviews.
· “My opinion is that more languages you speak, better it is, but when you come to America, you speak English.”
· “I am not a ‘yes’ person. No matter who you are married to, you still need to lead your life.”
· “You know, to marry a man like Donald, you need to know who you are and you need to be very strong and smart.”
· “I’m very political. I’m not political in public; I’m political at home.”
· “I’m not that kind of wife who would say ‘learn this’ or ‘learn that.’ I’m not a nagging wife.”
· “We are both very independent. I let him be who he is and he let me be who I am. I don’t try to change him. He’s an adult. He knows the consequences and so I let him be who he is. I give him my opinions, many, many times … I don’t agree with everything that he says but you know, that’s his normal.”

Mainstream media is so out of control they portray Melania Trump as some street-tramp Trump picked up one night in New York and married her – kinda like that movie ‘Pretty Woman.’ Why was Michelle Obama worshiped while Melania Trump is scorned? There’s no other former First Lady to compare Melania Trump to, not even Camelot’s Jackie Kennedy parallels. You’d think the liberal mass media would love Melania – A European immigrant who made good on her own merit at a young age – a real-life role model for young women everywhere, but no.

Melania and the president have known each other for 19 years and have been married for 12. They have their beautiful son — Barron — who at 12 years old has also felt the impact of unwarranted criticism from mainstream media. Everything the Trump’s do is scrutinized beyond the pale. The Trump family has sacrificed the affluent, comfortable and uncontroversial life they had before Donald Trump became Mr. President — who is not kidding when he says he’s working solely for the American people to bring them a new and improved future. On Wednesday the DOW Jones Stock Market hit 23,940 for the first time – 24,000 can’t be far behind. When President Trump gets his tax-cut bill passed the stock market will soar past 25,000.

Let’s hope First Lady Melania Trump remains in the White House — hanging shiny balls on Christmas trees — for seven-more-years. Merry Christmas!

P.S. ‘Boo Hoo’ for long-time TODAY Show Anchor Matt Lauer who was fired Tuesday for sexual misconduct with a co-worker. Lauer went to Trump’s wedding at Mar-A-Lago. He’s been with NBC for 20-years and now his career ends with him reportedly making $25-million annually – that’s the real indecency. Drain the swamp.

About the Author Britt Nelson relocated to Costa Rica in 2011 from Florida, where he served as news editor for the Palatka Daily News, a newspaper owned by the New York Times Regional Newspaper Group (NYT-RNG) for 20 years.

Nelson served the NYT-RNG for 18 years in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina and Florida as a correspondent, reporter, staff writer, senior staff writer training new reporters, copy editor, page designer, editorial writer, editorial page editor and editorial board member.