Jewish World Review Dec. 25, 2005 / 24 Kislev 5766
Bill O'Reilly
Pressing the point
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com |
Just when you think you have it figured out, life kicks you in
the back of the knee. Over my 30-year career in journalism, I have tried to
resist generalizing about the media. You know, that it is rife with
left-wing loons bent on imposing a secular society on the country. In the
past, I would have never said that. But that was then, this is now.
I have come to believe that the American press is so secular
Karl Marx would be appalled. And here's my proof: A few weeks ago, I stuck
up for Christmas. I said it was wrong for retail operations to ban the words
"Merry Christmas" in their stores. I said it was misguided for the ACLU to
sue people because they put up images of the baby Jesus in the town square.
I wrote it was awful that the federal holiday of Christmas was under siege.
In reply, I received gentle criticisms from my peers in the
press; a few simple reminders that most of them disagreed with me on the
issue and, in general, think I have the intellect of a Visigoth. For
example, my friends at the San Francisco Chronicle called me a "Field
Marshal," which I believe is a Nazi reference. My pals at The New York Times
compared me to some fundamentalist Islamic preachers (so now people are
calling me Mullah Omar O'Reilly).
The fine folks at the Charleston Gazette in West Virginia opined
that I should be "ashamed" for saying there's a war on Christmas. The
Telegram & Gazette in Massachusetts described me as "a right-wing
demagogue." And Sam Donaldson said I made up the whole controversy to get
"ratings." Now that's going over the line.
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I have a very long list of media insults directed my way, and
I'm checking it twice. I want to find out who's been naughty and nice. Sorry
to say, nobody in the media's been nice.
But the folks are on my side. A new Gallup Poll taken on the
nonexistent Christmas controversy says that 69 percent of Americans feel
replacing "Merry Christmas" with "Happy Holidays" is a bad thing. Only 3
percent of Americans object to hearing or seeing the words "Merry
Christmas."
Even the House of Representatives weighed in on the nonexistent
Christmas controversy. By a vote of 401-22, the House passed the "Resolution
to Protect Christmas Symbols and Traditions." All the Congress people who
voted against the measure inhabit the far-left precincts. Don't they know
that Santa runs the biggest entitlement program in history?
It doesn't really bother me that my media cohorts feel I am the
spawn of Pat Robertson. I'm actually glad so many press outlets made their
true feelings about Christmas known, because now we all know where everybody
stands. The American press is overwhelmingly secular, and you better duck if
you're a traditionalist.
That is bad news for the baby Jesus, but good news if you want
the USA to become like Holland. The secular-progressive movement, led by the
always reliable ACLU, has a invaluable ally in the media, and the culture
wars will become even more intense as more press people emerge from the
secular closet.
But we traditionalists can point to the fact that 95 percent of
Americans say they observe the Christmas holiday, and that is an
overwhelming mandate. But don't get too optimistic. While we are still free
to celebrate Christmas, actually saying the word is becoming a bit more
problematic. The holidays may be happy, but Christmas is getting less merry
every year.
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JWR contributor Bill O'Reilly is host of the
Fox News show, "The O'Reilly Factor," and author
of, most recently, "Who's Looking Out for You?" Comments by clicking here.
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