It’s supposed to be a time of goodwill and cheer, but it seems like the folks who need to rattle a saber 24-7 are finding reasons to act like Ebenezer Scrooge and ruin everyone’s holiday season with wave after wave of bitter political correctness.

Holiday classics are threatened with extinction. Time-honored phrases are seen as the gateway to cruelty. Suddenly the first line of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” is ringing through like a tornado siren, and boy, you better watch out — or else.

Let’s start with the song “Baby, It’s Cold Outside.” A holiday favorite for decades, now radio stations are bending to some listeners’ demands that the song be taken off the airwaves because it is allegedly sexist and could trigger a reaction from rape victims.

Glenn Anderson, a radio host from Cleveland, wrote on his station’s website that “The world we live in is extra sensitive now, and people get easily offended, but in a world where #MeToo has finally given women the voice they deserve, the song has no place.”

I have to wonder if the good host was equally outraged about “Blurred Lines” a song by Robin Thicke that many panned for promoting rape culture. That song, in my view, is more likely to make women uncomfortable than a song from the 1940s.

Unfortunately, we can’t ask the composer for “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” what his intentions were about the meaning behind the song, considering Frank Loesser wrote the song in 1944 and died in 1969. Of course, that doesn’t stop folks from trying to put a 2018 lens on classic words and assume the writer intended to make an innocent-sounding song provoke images of helpless women and predatory men.

Of course, Loesser’s not the only one under attack this holiday season. “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” a must-show television Christmas special for decades, is now being ripped apart by the overly sensitive among us who believe the heartwarming tale is about bullying and bigotry.

Admittedly, Rudolph is picked on because he has a big, red nose, and the other reindeer do shut him out from their activities, but do you find any of them able to make their way through the fog on Christmas Eve? No. The moral of the story is that Rudolph finds a way to forgive those who have wronged him and looks at the greater good, which is making sure children wake up to find their Christmas presents.

Let’s look at our culture today. Is there bullying? Yes. Are there folks who try to seclude others who are considered “odd” and “misfits”? Again, yes. Do most of those people find a way to rise above the jerks and bozos and realize they have value despire what some think? They usually do, and even if they don’t, it’s going to take more than yanking “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” off the airwaves.

Then, just when I thought the fog of political correctness couldn’t get any worse, our friends with People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals decided it’s time to censor some phrases that they feel promote animal abuse and compare them to racist and homophobic language.

Do you like to say that you “bring home the bacon”? Nope. Can’t say that anymore, according to PETA. Now, you should say “bring home the bagels,” because bagels taste just like bacon, right? Just like tofu tastes like chicken.

Also taboo is the phrase “Kill two birds with one stone,” now replaced with “Feed two birds with one scone.” However, you also have some experts warning against that, because feeding scones is hazardous to birds’ health. So, essentially, PETA’s advocating killing birds with bread instead of blunt force trauma. How exactly is that ethically treating animals?

I’m not sure PETA has a leg to stand on when it comes to being politically correct. This is the same organization that, in 2005, put together a publicity campaign with 12 photos of people of color in chains next to shackled elephants and caged chickens. PETA was raked over the coals for that campaign, and yet we’re supposed to believe the group is suddenly concerned about racist language.

With all this political correctness invading, who will become the next victim? “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer” (Obviously Santa didn’t utilize Rudolph that year) for promoting elder neglect? “A Charlie Brown Christmas” because all the other Peanuts characters laughed at the title character’s choice of Christmas tree? “Curiosity killed the cat” for advocating killing a nosy feline? Mistletoe, because it welcomes unwanted advances? Where do we draw the line?

If you don’t like a song, change the station. If you’re triggered by a Christmas special, turn off the television. If you’re letting PETA define your vocabulary, I just feel sorry for you. Feel free to dislike whatever you want, but don’t try to dictate that the rest of us should share in your dislikes. America is about freedom, and we’ll decide what makes us happy on our own.