As a liberal, I normally think any Christmas display in a public setting is a crime on par with murder or political incorrectness, but I have no problem with the Christmas tree display in this article. It’s pretty obvious to me that the school project wasn’t about Christmas, but teaching the children an important lesson about irony.

A Christmas tree that elementary school students decorated with discarded lottery tickets was removed from the state Capitol over the weekend after a lawmaker complained it was inappropriate.

Rep. Randy Terrill, who opposes the lottery, said he spotted the tree on Wednesday when it was erected as part of the governor’s annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony. The Republican lawmaker called the Westwood Elementary School principal, who apologized and asked the governor’s office to remove the tree.

Sherry Fair, spokeswoman for Oklahoma City Public Schools, said the teachers and children did not intend to offend anyone. The teachers went to various convenience stores and got used lottery tickets, which were cut into various geometric shapes and placed on the tree.

How dare these little bastards even hint at the fact that Christmas has been over-commercialized to the point of being a secular holiday?

And on the “Christmas is under attack” front, here’s an O’Reilly-ism that I wanted to address last week :

This is so insane, I don’t think of anything — I’ve seen anything this stupid in the 30 years I’ve been in this business. Here you have a national public holiday signed into law by Ulysses S. Grant in 1870. Christmas, all right? Federal holiday, everybody gets off, no mail delivered, everybody shuts down. Federal holiday. Why is it there? To honor a philosopher, Jesus. Whose philosophy was part of the foundation of our country. All of this is indisputable. Can’t dispute it. OK? A man was born, his name is Jesus, he had a philosophy, the philosophy was incorporated by the Founding Fathers to make up the United States of America, U.S. Grant signs into law the holiday, Christmas.

Now there are plenty of people who have pointed out that Bill O’Reilly is a neo-McCarthyite asshole, but I don’t think people are spending nearly enough time emphasizing the fact that he’s a dumbass. From the History Channel :

In the early 17th century, a wave of religious reform changed the way Christmas was celebrated in Europe. When Oliver Cromwell and his Puritan forces took over England in 1645, they vowed to rid England of decadence and, as part of their effort, canceled Christmas. By popular demand, Charles II was restored to the throne and, with him, came the return of the popular holiday.

The pilgrims, English separatists that came to America in 1620, were even more orthodox in their Puritan beliefs than Cromwell. As a result, Christmas was not a holiday in early America. From 1659 to 1681, the celebration of Christmas was actually outlawed in Boston. Anyone exhibiting the Christmas spirit was fined five shillings. By contrast, in the Jamestown settlement, Captain John Smith reported that Christmas was enjoyed by all and passed without incident.

After the American Revolution, English customs fell out of favor, including Christmas. In fact, Congress was in session on December 25, 1789, the first Christmas under America’s new constitution. Christmas wasn’t declared a federal holiday until June 26, 1870.

So Bill gets points for pointing out that Pres. Grant declared X-Mas a holiday, but he’s completely ignorant about the role of Christmas in this nation’s history.

When I use the words “dumbass” and “ignorant”, I don’t mean them strictly as an ad hominem attacks. I want to emphasize the fact that I think these terms accurately describe Bill O’Reilly. The biggest problem isn’t that he’s a loudmouth or a bully, but that he’s a fool who doesn’t know what he’s talking about most of the time. It not that he doesn’t have the mental capacity to understand the subjects he opines upon, it’s just that he never does homework. For anti-intellectuals like Bill, making up your mind before knowing all the facts is an asset, as sign of moral and intellectual clarity. For the rest of us, it just makes you look like a dipshit. Having your mouth move faster than your brain may come in handy on the radio or Fox News, but to those of us who aren’t just letting O’Reilly’s self-righteous rage turn into background noise, Bill looks like a complete moron. In a real marketplace of ideas, a mental midget like Bill O’Reilly would get laughed into a homeless shelter, but in the information as entertainment era, O’Reilly has carved out a perfect niche for himself.

And for the record, Bill, one of the reasons I love Christmas is because Santa always gives a lump of coal to humbugs like you.