On Monday's Countdown during the show's regular "Oddball" segment, while reporting on the controversial decision of the Seattle-Tacoma Airport to remove its Christmas trees from public view rather than display a Menorah, MSNBC's Keith Olbermann mocked FNC host Bill O'Reilly by jokingly suggesting that O'Reilly supports a "war against Hanukkah." Olbermann, who since last year has mocked O'Reilly and other FNC hosts, once calling them "fat heads," for their concerns about a "War on Christmas" by secularists, jokingly commented, referring to Bill O'Reilly disparagingly as "Billow": "Generalissimo O'Reilly remains upbeat. Look not on this as a defeat in the war on Christmas. This was a dramatic victory in Billow's new war against Hanukkah." Ironically, less than 20 minutes earlier on The O'Reilly Factor, host O'Reilly had spoken approvingly of displaying a Menorah at the airport as he interviewed the rabbi who had requested it. The FNC host was quite sympathetic to the rabbi's viewpoint as he lambasted the airport's decision not to allow a Menorah display. O'Reilly: "There is no reason not to put up a Menorah in the Sea-Tac Airport because Hanukkah is a celebrated holiday, and, you know, Americans of Jewish faith would like to see it, and it's in context, so put it up." (Transcripts follow)
Below is a complete transcript of Olbermann's comments from the December 11 Countdown, which ran at 8:29 p.m., followed by some of O'Reilly's comments from the December 11 The O'Reilly Factor, which ran shortly past 8:10 p.m.:
Keith Olbermann: "To the liberal Northwest, Seattle, Washington, where a mighty blow has been struck against the good guys in the war on Christmas. Nine 15-foot Christmas trees being dismantled at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, SeaTac, after a local rabbi came in and asked for a big Menorah to be put on display as well. Airport officials, rather than surrendering and recognizing the Jewish holiday, opted to take down the Christmas trees. No Hanukkah, no Christmas, no nothing. It's a scorched Earth policy at SeaTac. Generalissimo O'Reilly remains upbeat. Look not on this as a defeat in the war on Christmas. This was a dramatic victory in Billow's new war against Hanukkah."
From the December 11 The O'Reilly Factor:
Bill O'Reilly: "Instead of putting up a Menorah, which any sane person would have done, the Sea-Tac Airport people took down the trees."
...O'Reilly: "This is so stupid. All right, so all you wanted, you didn't want 14 Menorahs, you just wanted a Menorah or two, correct?"
Rabbi Elazar Bogomilsky: "We wanted actually one Menorah display amongst, you know, wherever they felt the right place to put it in the airport."
O'Reilly: "Sure. Why not? It's Hanukkah, a Menorah, why not? So these pinheads at Sea-Tac-"
Bogomilsky: "It's more than 'why not.' You have to understand there's over 6,000 Menorah displays throughout the world-"
O'Reilly: "But that's what I'm saying. I'm saying why, there is no reason not to put up a Menorah in the Sea-Tac Airport because Hanukkah is a celebrated holiday, and, you know, Americans of Jewish faith would like to see it, and it's in context, so put it up."
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I am so glad someone else cau
December 12, 2006 - 00:38 ET by bigtimerI am so glad someone else caught that Brad! Great job!
I was busy yelling at BOR about this with his insane attitude, clicked it over to Ubermann during a commercial and was yelling at him for not knowing what he was talking about, as usual, the two of them both were just plain wrong.
LMAO!
Seriously though...they both made me furious tonight, Ubermann always does with his agenda-driven filthy lies, BOR just did his usual fifty-fifty with me, sometimes I could just smack him, sometimes I wonder how he can be so blind to reality...
As an aside, if he begs Osama Obama to please, please, come on his show anymore like he did tonight, he isn't going to be able to get his mouth off of where it sounds like it is going next....to do his show.
"Once the coffers of the federal government are opened to the public, there will be no shutting them again." - Grover Cleveland
Olbermann has become so reckl
December 12, 2006 - 01:40 ET by winston smithOlbermann has become so reckless and juvenile in his hatred for O'Reilly (and FOX) that he doesn't even come close to the facts anymore and his small audience of Bush-haters could care less. Everytime Bush opens his mouth to speak Olbermann and his experts are always quick to dismiss it as some kind of lie. By Olby's standard, accusing O'Reilly of a "War On Hanukkah" while he actually supports a Hannukkah display, is a lie without equal.
Christmas cards w/o the Christ
December 12, 2006 - 01:49 ET by exLibAt least in the UK evidentally the war on Christ is Christmas is a win for secularists.
A recent story linked from Drudge said something to the effect that 70% or so of Cards targeted for the holiday say nothing of Christmas or Christ.
As with media bias liberals best tactic is just to deny it and mock it.
I don't think this is new or
December 12, 2006 - 12:14 ET by 4arrowI don't think this is new or worrisome. When I was young, a hundred years ago, we only sent "religioius" cards to Catholics as our non-Catholic friends and family saw them as graven images. Hence the charming cards with Victorian Christmas scenes, the Christmas Star and of course St. Nick were in abundance.
If God be for you, who can be
December 12, 2006 - 13:35 ET by TruthMongerIf God be for you, who can be against you?
It's not going so well for the anti-Christ crowd these days is it? Has it ever?
Terrorists are not Muslims, Nazi's were not Christians, etc, etc...
SFB
December 12, 2006 - 02:12 ET by mattmdoes anyone know where i can
December 12, 2006 - 02:50 ET by CCCPdoes anyone know where i can find the ratings for these shows?? serious question
Here are fridays ratings (w
December 12, 2006 - 03:04 ET by mlongHere are fridays ratings....where The Factor had a guest host and still beat KO by a wide margin...
http://insidecable.blogsome.com/2006/12/11/fridays-numbers-29/
Use...
December 12, 2006 - 08:20 ET by Guy Arthur ThomasI recommend TVNewser at Mediabistro. They have the PDF for the November Program Ranker out for all cable news and talk shows.
If you claim to be a conservative, please don't disgrace yourself and conservatism by thinking and arguing like a liberal.
War Against
December 12, 2006 - 09:05 ET by Senior ChiefI attended my 1st grade son's holiday program. Obviously it was a Christmas program, but to my dismay Christmas was totally eliminated. Of the 60 minutes of musical, never did they mention or shown Christmas! The props were all Kwanza and Hanukkah, but with two tiny-1/2 inch picture of a tree on the programme. Hanukkah and Kwanza's history were recited, but not Christmas. I shouted "What happened to Christmas?", but nobody heard me...I'm planning to write to the school's Principal, Superintendent and PTA. Could it be ACLU or NEA were behind it. Well, let me find it out.
Bill O'reilly was right, there is an ongoing war on Christmas. I've seen it myself. And to you all my fellow Americans, please monitor your childrens' play and do the same- let the school and politicians know. They're not just taking Christ away from Christmas, but they totally abolished it. Our American Christmas tradition is slipping away...And to my brothers and sisters in uniform, especially you folks there in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Gulf area and other post overseas, Merry Christmas, Feliz Navidad, Maligayang Pasko to you and your family...
I totally agree with you. My
December 12, 2006 - 09:31 ET by msh1973I totally agree with you. My kids (who are in middle school) have never been in Christmas play in school where, Christmas has been the main focus. Instead of, "We wish you a Merry Christmas," it was, "We wish you a Happy Holiday". It makes me crazy. Oh, and Christmas vacation has been replace by, Winter Break. Ok then.
People have forgotten that ma
December 12, 2006 - 10:09 ET by Tony SPeople have forgotten that majority rules in the US and the majority of people celebrate Christmas.
I married a Jewish woman and we raised our son Jewish. At around age nine, he asked: "Why is everything you see about Christmas and not Hanukkah?" I told him "Because less than 2 percent of the US is Jewish." He said that made perfect sense to him and it still does.
Why do the political types not understand what a nine-year-old understood?
Reply to Tony S
December 12, 2006 - 10:41 ET by dallas7107The reason a nine yr old gets it is because you have not made him feel like a victim because he is Jewish.
That is the problem with the Left wing today everybody is a victim and if you are a well to do person then you should feel guilty about it.
I learned about Hanukka at Ca
December 12, 2006 - 19:03 ET by mattmI learned about Hanukka at Catholic School when I was a kid. We learned about the menorah etc. Later I learned more about it in bible studies at an Evangelical Church.
When Christians see a menorah or a star of David we see (or should see) our "cousins" in faith celebrating what they believe in and feel a kinship with them, because, after all, Jesus was Jewish...
BTW: I've been invited to three Christmas parties so far. Two are family and one is a Jewish friend of mine... God Bless America.