Say Anything Blog

For those of you who don't watch or listen to Bill O'Reilly, this won't mean much, but in the past two weeks he has really hyped up stories which confirm his view that Christmas is under attack, and that this war on Christmas is part of a, and I'm quoting, "secular progressive agenda." Yikes! His biggest evidence for that claim? Certain companies (including Wal-Mart) say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" in their stores.

Now, to me, O'Reilly's obsession with this is pretty funny. I could quite frankly care less whether the Wal-Mart employee wishes me a "Merry Christmas" or a "Happy Holiday" (then again, I'm not a Christian). To me, it's just capitalism in action: companies want to maximize their profits, so they avoid any statements that could detract people from going to their stores. However, regardless of how you feel, you have to love this irony:

Although Fox News hosts Bill O'Reilly and John Gibson have lambasted what they see as a "secular" "war on Christmas," Fox News' own online store advertises "Holiday" ornaments rather than "Christmas" ornaments, as apparently first noted on the weblog Daily Kos. The items are grouped under the category "Holiday Ideas."

O'Reilly, host of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, has recently waged a campaign against corporations that greet customers with "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." For his part, Gibson, the host of Fox News' The Big Story with John Gibson, has published a book titled The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban the Sacred Christian Holiday Is Worse Than You Thought (Sentinel, October 2005).

Despite O'Reilly's specific criticism of those who use the term "holiday tree" instead of "Christmas tree," an O'Reilly Factor ornament for sale at the Fox News store features this tagline: "Put your holiday tree in 'The No Spin Zone' with this silver glass 'O'Reilly Factor' ornament."

Ha ha!