Some Good News in the Culture War

Some good news in the culture war. That's the subject of this evening's "Talking Points Memo."

While anti-Christmas madness is afoot, the latest is a high school in a suburb of Seattle banning the play "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens (search). The backlash against this kind of thing is growing. Many people are saying Merry Christmas very loud. An act of support for groups that oppose the attacks on the federal holiday is growing.

You know you're winning when the fanatics start accusing you of bias. And that has started again. I'm not going to dignify. The defamation is dopey, other than to tell you it's exactly the same thing that happened when I defended Mel Gibson's movie about Jesus.

The battle is now out in the open. That's a good thing. Today on the "Radio Factor", I got a call from a woman who said quite clearly she doesn't want her children exposed to Christmas in the public school and wants the federal holiday that honors Jesus rescinded.

Now I actually respected the woman's candor, while deploring her misguided point of view. There are deep reasons for the anti-Christmas jihad, as we've stated. I have summed them up in my column available on billoreilly.com. But since 90 percent of American households celebrate the holiday, this is no small matter. If they could, secularists would cancel Christmas as a holiday. That's how much they fear the exposition of the philosophy of Jesus.

And it is fear. The message of Christmas is peace on earth and goodwill. What could possibly be wrong with that? Santa Claus symbolizes giving. Where's the downside?

For the secular bunch, the downside is celebrating a philosophy that encourages peace, but also makes judgments about right and wrong. And it is those judgments that scare the bejesus, sorry, about out of the progressives. Once you start holding people accountable for their behavior, the progressive vision falls apart.

"Talking Points" believes critical mass has been reached in America. The majority's fed up with being assaulted by extremists. Most of us are traditionalists. That is, we believe the U.S.A. was well-founded and doesn't need a radical overhaul. We believe we are a good country, and that if you work hard and you're honest, you'll succeed. We believe that Christmas displays are positive and that spirituality builds character. Traditionalists respect freedom, even the freedom of the majority.

So we're winning the battle. Many people who were standing on the sidelines are now speaking out against the folks who are attacking the spirit of Christmas. And as always in this country, the real power lies with the people. And the people have been awakened. And that's "The Memo."

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

A group called Public Advocate of the United States is giving the ACLU a little jazz. Members gathered in front of the ACLU offices in Washington, D.C., yesterday and began to sing Christmas carols. They also implored the free speech group not to sue them for exercising free speech.

We believe the ACLU heard the message loud and clear, but they don't care, which, of course, is ridiculous.

See, that's what you can do. You give a little jazz back to these people.