December 15, 2005

• Wait wait wait . . . Bill O'Reilly and other right-wing talkshow hosts were wrong about something?? Heh. Just kidding. I'd love to see a retraction out of any one of them, though. That would be big time news. Fwiw the closer I am to any story the more I'm aware of how wrong most reporting is, be it incredibly biased or not. I don't know why, it just seems to be that way.
• O'Reilly producing lies of mass destruction! Fucking dumbass.
• Oh, how I hope this isn't true: http://www.lc.org/libertyalert/2005/la121405.htm (Pardon for my lack of knowledge of how to properly link)
• There's a radio station called Majority Report on the a.m. dial that spends a little time every day tearing apart what Bill O'Reilly says. He likes to tell flat-out lies, like the one the other day wherein he said a school in Iowa (or Ohio, or... somewhere) banned Christmas-colored shirts during the holidays. Turns out he got some information on a lawsuit brought years ago by some parents which had absolutely nothing to do with Christmas at all. He simply changed all the facts to suit his purpose. Idiot. And asshole. Can't forget asshole.
• At risk of sounding like a partisan, I don't find that O'Reilly is all *that* strident. He's arrogant, and brusque, and he takes his debate cues from the Rush Limbaugh School of Being An Ass, but on many subjects he does seem to be far more even-handed than his contemporaries a 'la Hannity or Beck or (good lord) Michael Savage. However, he like most of his ilk, tends to fulminate major mountains from the most modest of molehills. This whole Merry Christmas/Happy Holiday foofaraw is just about the stupidest subject I can think of on which to argue. Who gives a rat's ass whether Wal mart or the school borad or whomever decides to say "Good fortune to you upon the winter solstice!" or "Mithra bless you!" Conservatives in this land would be well served to return to their historical stance of "minding one's own beeswax." No offense to you personally, beeswaxy.
• Huh. All this time, I thought saying "Happy Holidays" was nothing more than a fairly benign, good-energy-to-all type wish. I had no idea I was declaring war on Bill O'Reilly and his ilk. Happy holidays, everybody. Happy holidays.
• This type of feller works best when persecuted. If nobody's persecuting them, they have to pretend someone is to give them something to fight against. It's fine when he's your drunken, paranoid Uncle Bill who you only have to deal with at Thanksgiving, but when he's a national broadcaster or the leader of the free world, it can get kind of disgusting.
• The school's "winter program" has included decorating classrooms with Santa Claus, Kwanza, Menorahs, and La Befana (a Christmas witch). There's a Christmas Witch? How cool is that?! Well, I gotta agree with Fes in that of the right-wing yadderboxes I find Bill to be listenable. When I've listened I usually disagree, but I like how he at least pretends to be quiet and listen if he thinks the "other side" is sincerely debating. As opposed to some other goat felchers like Sean Hannity, where from word one I'm disgusted and pissed off. Happy Holidays all!
• I see Fes and petebest are stubbornly remaining reasonable instead of simply bashing the O'Reilly monster with the rest of us. Happy HOLIDAYS to you, sirs! that'll teach 'em...
• La Befana
• And may the fates smile upon YOU, milady, this Solstice! In the mythical tradition, the Befana arrives flying on a broom, or even on a donkey. ah HA!!
• Remember the SNL sketch with Jon Lovitz as "Chanukah Harry?"
• Man, I'm just delighted that as an adult I'm learning about non-Christian traditions that I was never, ever taught about in school. And it wasn't that I went to a Christian school; it's just that in NZ we don't have crazy things like Judaism (yes, we do, but I didn't know that for years) or Kwanza. I learned about Kwanza five years ago. I can thank Bill O'Reilly and Fox for exposing me to new traditions surrounding the holiday season. Happy holidays! Woo! For the record, it's still "Merry Christmas" at every mall in my town and probably will be until the Green Party realises what's going on. On preview: Jon Lovitz is my favourite SNL dude. I wish I'd seen that one.
• I mentioned this before in another thread, but I think it bears a more exhaustive account. Regarding St. Nicholas as patron of Wolves (yes, wolves, and yes, THAT St. Nicholas) From Songs, Dances, and Customs of Peasant Poland (ahem) "The wolves do the saint's bidding, and will take only those animals which he assigns to them... He is always just, both to the prey and the preyer... It is said that the wolves meet at a certain spot on St. Nicholas' Day and the saint tells each one what beast he may seize in the coming year. A popular tale tells how a man was punished for eavesdropping while these orders were being given out. he wanted to find out if the saint really did rule the wolves, so he hid in the branches of a pine tree on St. Nicholas Day. The saint did indeed tell each beast in turn what prey they might seize. Coming finally to the last wolf... St. Nicholas ordered him to 'eat up the man who is sitting in the pine tree.' "Terror stricken, the man remained in the tree until morning, then ran home and stayed in all the rest of the day. Weeks later there was a knock at the door. Other members of the family went in turn, and saw nothing. After repeated knocking, the man went out, whereupon the wolf seized and devoured him. Only his boots were left to bear testimony that 'whatever is in the wolf's teeth was given him by St. Nicholas.'"
• I want to decorate with a Christmas Witch. Or at least a psycho Santa. As for attacking O'Reilly, I find that far more effective than a "Happy Holidays" is my favorite all purpose holiday greeting, "Fuck You, Bill."
• I like to offer him some nice Christmas falafel. I then pretend to drop something and bend over to pick it up.
• Who gives a rat's ass whether Wal mart or the school borad or whomever decides to say "Good fortune to you upon the winter solstice!" or "Mithra bless you!" I read that too fast, and thought it said MOTHRA bless you, and got a little excited there. "People are worshipping Mothra now? I could go in for some of that..." But, alas, no-one's worshipping Mothra. Dammit. It's so much work to start up a cult on your own. Much easier just to sign up when the membership drive comes around.
• Fwiw the closer I am to any story the more I'm aware of how wrong most reporting is Your first mistake was in suggesting that anything associated with Bill O'Reilly could be considered as 'reporting.' Bill O'Reilly is the right-wing pseudo-intelectual's version of Springer. Your second mistake, by the way, was in leaving your fingerprints on the murder weapon.
• Dammit! I mean . .ah . .ah . . heh heh . . Mmmerry Christmas!! . . heh . .
• Yes, everyone -- have a Merry Christmas, and all the best for the New Year. Love, Capt. Renault & Mothra.
• We must look deep into our hearts and find the Mothra within.
• WWMD
• It would depend, of course, on whether there was a really big christmas light on or not.
• There are no WWMDs. We searched. We sent Rodan and everything.
• Rodan couldn't find his own ass with both hands and a map.
• Man I fucking love the small tag. And em, too, though code has a special place in my heart.
• He couldn't remember what WWMD's he was looking for, even though he Rodan down an' everything
• maybe he shoulda Rodan the winda...?
• Does anyone take this wannabe McCarthy seriously? Especially after his sexual/moral pecadillos were exposed in that sexual harassment thingie a couple of years ago, I think most people understand he's a hypocritical ratings whore like the rest of 'em. (Other than the Kool-Aid drinkers, of course.) (The "I'm not a dyed in the wool conservative like Rush et. al." pose is just a way to differentiate himself in the marketplace, IMO.)
• I'm still confused how you can bring suit for not singing "Silent Night" I can sort of understand how you can sue if someone sings "Silent Night" on the public dollar, but even then, it takes a certain kind of ass to do it. But how can you sue because someone just decides not to do something that you want? That they aren't required to do in the first place? Other than the fact you can sue for anything. Are these people idiots? They're committing barratry.
• "... and a par-tri-idge in a barratry."
• I want to see a school district cancel Christmas. No plays, no songs, just send the kids home early to be with their families, and watch the conservative groups go into conniptions because its obviously the states job to make the holiday special for them.
• The thing about "secularlizing Christmas" is that it happened, I dont have an exact date, but probably sometime in the 1800s or earlier. I have always been an athiest and I've always celebrated Christmas as a time to get presents and be off of school/work, which is the same way a vast majority of Americans celebrate it. I cant recall exactly but I dont think I actually knew it had anything to do with Jesus at all until maybe middle school.
• The world according to Bill O'Reilly
• psst... my husband's school didn't have Halloween, and they aren't having Christmas... no decorations, no play, no carols. It's go home and be with your folks until early January, and here's your Winter Break reading assignment. The only concession? The hubs still receives a lot of holiday cards from the kids, but who can get upset with receiving a mess of coffee and dark chocolate? (Rabid fundies, start your engines...)
• Dear Mr O'Reilly, I'm just writing to say that I totally agree with your position that any alteration of the words to Stille Nacht is reprehensible and should be sternly punished. I am completely ready to join in your campaign. First thing we do is take out any fucker we hear singing it in English. Please accept the enclosed flamethrower as a token of my goodwill. Yours etc.
• Happy Snowtime, and Hail Mothra. May the glow of the bug light shine down on us all.
• I used to watch oReilly just to see what it was people were complianing about. I agree that he isn't as bad as some. However, he has his pet projects that he just harps on to no end. Religion is his latest one. I remember his big deal a couple months ago when a school in Florida changed their days off so that they didn't have the monday after easter off and he got all indignant. What the hell? I'm from a small town in rural Indiana where everyone who is religious is christian and we NEVER had the Monday after Easter off. I've asked several people from around the country and I've yet to meet someone who had it off (even talking to two people who went to Catholic school!) Then the day that the senate voted onteh gay marriage bill OReilly didn't even talk about it. On his show that day? Something that Hillary Clinton did and something else about how much Michael Moore allegedly hates America. Way to tackle the tough issues there, Bill. And that's the problem. He makes mountains out of molehills that people can't really oppose. They're destrying christmas! Gas is too high! Child molesters are bad! France is evil!
• That was an awesome cartoon, homonculus! When will the pinko liberal commie socialist uberlords stop denying us the right to celebrate the Mothrist tradisions that made America great?!?
• Bill O'Reilly is the anti-Mothra.
• When will the pinko liberal commie socialist uberlords stop denying us the right to celebrate the Mothrist tradisions that made America great?!? Huh, just after the same neo-con-fasco-industrialists finish denying us the right to celebrate the Mothrist traditions that made Australia even better than that. Mothra understands. He is my friend. I have his number of speed-dial.
• This is all Land's End's fault.
• I don't believe this spiritual-entity "O'Reilly" exists. No one has shown me any conclusive proof except for recorded images on a glass windowed box constructed by men, and those images make self-contradicting statements routinely. I suspect its all part of some hoax to keep the masses under control. Fox is the opiate of the people. When you ask me how it can be that I can be an "apundit", I ask you why you no longer believe in the living spirit of "Morton Downey Jr." I simply believe in the existance of one fewer pundit-soul than you.
• Bill O'Reilly has a PULITZER, dammit.
• We didn't have Christmas anything at my school lo, those many years ago (I graduated high school in 94). It was because what's her face -- the head atheist lady? -- sued TX schools saying Christmas and Easter parties violated the separation of church and state. Which is true, and no doubt right, but it sucks when you're a kid and all you know is you don't get to have parties any more. A few years later they relaxed the rules and we had "winter" and "spring" parties. They were just as fun! Also... what's going on that's so bad for the right that they had to make up this "war on Christmas" thing? Is the war going that badly? Or did someone sleep with someone they shouldn't have? What's being bait-and-switched here -- what should I be paying attention to?
• dodgeville, eh? "... as far as I know the only pagans in town just moved to Platteville." chicago bears fans, i bet.
• secular night, profane night all is calm, all is bright round yon female, mother and child earthly infant, so tender and mild sleep in terrestrial peace sleep in terrestrial peace
• petebest, I take offense at your calling Sean Hannity a goat felcher. I have far too much respect for goats to allow that insult to go unchallenged. In fact the only animal life-form that I can think of that I would not feel insulted by hearing the reference is...Sean Hannity. "Sean Hannity is a self-felcher." There, I said it.
• 
• Lara, that's the most feckin beautiful picture I ever saw. HAIL MOTHRA!
• Sean Hannity is also the anti-Mothra. He is Legion. All of him, in fact, are Legion.
• deconstructo I humbly apologize. I misspoke, obviously, and concur that he is very much a self-felcher. Just look at that grin, fer cryin' out loud.
• Dingell's Holiday Jingle
• We wish ye a Mothra Christmas We wish ye a Mithra Christmas We wish ye a myrrhy Christmas And a handy Yule ear!
• The War Against The Winter Solstice
• Awesome. I got more from the blog comments than from the article (which was good). I was of the understanding that a more accurate time of Jesus' birth would be spring. Y'know when the shepherds are actually out. But I didn't know that the winter solstice was also the celebration of Ra's birth. Ra! Ra! Ra! Sis Boom Ba! GoooooOOOOO Ra!
• Jesus is a mistranslation interesting stuff if you didn't know this, or kind of used to know it, or knew of it but weren't clear on the details.
• The horrors of December in a one-party state.
• The O'Reilly Factor For Kids Wow. Cover please: Don't miss the "Pinheads and Smart Operators" bullet points.
• Mothra photoshop contest. I think Medusa makes a cameo.