[daperlman]

well no matter what you think of either of them - it was great TV. I greatly dislike O'Reilly but he certainly got the better of that exchange.

 

[daperlman]

actually, i don't think o'reilly got the best of the exchange. even when he called letterman out on the 60 percent crap thing, i knew he would respond with the you can't believe everything you read in the media. i don't think he had a solid argument to back him up.

one of the things i love best about farenheidt (spelling) 911 is when mike moore and the mother of a soldier killed in iraq are walking around the capitol, asking congressmen with children old enough to enlist, would they allow their children to go to this war. of course, they all respond hell no.

when dave asked him if he had a child who had been killed in war and o'reilly responded no, it drove the anger in me. ask yourselves, of all the members of congress who voted for this war, would send their child? that should tell you how two-faced most of these politicos (including our president) are.

btw, i am a veteran, which should explain most of my anger on this subject.

Well I do think most of what O'Reilly says is crap. But Letterman said that and O'Reilly basically asked what he meant and to which Letterman basically says that is what I heard, but I don't watch your show...so I dunno. Advantage O'Reilly there. Then Letterman basically accuses O'Reilly of being heartless and cruel for not sympathizing with Sheehan (which is a totally lame arguement... of course everyone sympathizes with a parent who loses a child, but that doesn't give carte blanche on what they say).

 

[daperlman]

Indeed.

Around here the generic-ation of "holiday" decorations is obvious.

Also, almost universally cashers and customer service people are told to not wish any customer "Merry Christmas" under any circumstances. Many are even instructed not to wish any customer "Happy Holidays" since a few people might even be offended by that! It's strictly "Thank you for shopping at <name of retail business>" just like the rest of the year.

does this happen... yes. Does this usually happen? No.

In fact, I would submit that this is not the case 75% of the time.

Is there a law against saying Merry Christmas? NO
Are employees of these businesses punished for saying Merry Christmas? NO
Are they forced to work on Christmas? NO

The over sensitivity to Merry Christmas... is just like any other silly corporate / bureaucratic nonsense. Policies are designed to insulate the entity from lawsuits.

I have a hard time taking seriously the assertion that there is 'War on Christmas'
or the notion that Christians are oppressed in the United States.

 

[daperlman]

At Kmart, Sears, Sav-a-Center (grocery chain), several regional retail chains around here (and elsewhere, I'm sure) YES. Saying "Merry Christmas" is punishable by official reprimands and other job actions. Multiple slips will result in termination.

At many national and regional retail chains (particularly drug stores and convenance stores, CVS and Wallgreens, for example), YES! Employees get scheduled to work on Christmas and have little say about it. They get double-time pay though. Of course working on Christmas has noting to do with the PC debate. These stores have had a tradition of being open on Christmas day for many years.

There will be 0 persons terminated as a result of saying merry christmas this year. Christmas is a federal holiday, and while there are a few 24 hour type places that remain opened during most or all holiday, but in almost every case places are closed during Christmas.

BTW... IMHO... and I am confident those of our forefathers, an owner of a business a person should be able to fire someone for any and all reasons, and make whatever rule he/she pleases.

Nevertheless, while there are instances of oversensitive managers and officials here and there, I am just not buying this widespread oppression of Christian individuals in this Country.

IMHO, It is like hearing a white person complain of injustice because there is a black entertainment channel and not a 'white' entertainment network.

 

[daperlman]

When a person gets all bent out of shape because somewhere out there in the world is another person who has a view (religious, political, artistic, whatever) that doesn't 100% agree with theirs, that is just silly.

Yep.

 

[daperlman]

But there is, it's called Fox

That is only for angry white men... what about the rest of us

 

[daperlman]

This street goes both ways. IMO...and those of our forefathers...I am free to organize a write-in campaign or a boycott to let business owners know that I see and do not appreciate the hypocrisy in their actions. They expect me to come in and spend tons of money on Christmas presents to make sure they finish the year in the black, but they are unwilling to use the word Christmas in their advertisements. I personally won't organize the campaign to throw the shipment of "Holiday Trees" into Boston Harbor, but I think our forefathers might agree with that as a tactic too.

Fair enough. Companies don't care about you enough to offend you, they are there to make money. They DO expect you and everyone else to spend money there. I suppose if enough people are offended by their actions you can drive them out of business.

But I hope you are not drawing a parallel b/t the perceived war on Christmas and taxation without representation.

I am seriously confused about how Wal-Mart's commercails seem to have a negative impact on an individual's personal relationship with God. IOW, what if Wal-Mart DID awknowledge Christmas in a public and visable manner... spreading Christmas cheer? Would that make our lives better? How?