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Media

‘War on Christmas’: Bill O’Reilly Engages Rhode Island Governor Over ‘Holiday Tree’

Nov. 29, 2012 11:05pm Jason Howerton

Bill OReilly Takes On Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee Over Holiday Tree

Bill O’Reilly Credit: Getty Images for The Rumble 2012)

Following his contentious Christmas debate with Atheists for America President David Silverman on Wednesday night, Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly confronted Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee on Thursday over his decision to rename the state’s Christmas Tree a “holiday tree” as a gesture of political correctness in “changing times.”

While Chafee accused O’Reilly of trying to start a controversy where there wasn’t one, the Fox News host said he was the one starting controversy by trying to “impose his will” on the residents of his state.

“I just want our traditions to be respected that’s all,” O’Reilly said.

Chafee also told O’Reilly that everyone on Fox News is “too angry” before wishing him a Merry Christmas.

Watch the segment via Fox News/Mediaite below:

Featured image via Getty Images

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Comments (67)

Tickdog
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:28am
i watched this last night.. He kept saying it was the previous administration that started calling it a Holiday tree.. Sounds familiar, the blame game that is.

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- VoteBushIn12
  Posted on December 2, 2012 at 11:53am
  If you want to agree the TREE is a representation of a secular philosophy, then the term used to refer to the tree should not matter. (Why, as a Christian, you’d want your primary religion secularized is beyond me, but that’s another matter)
  
  BUT, Bill is stressing out because he wants it to be called a CHRISTMAS TREE thereby removing focus from “the tree” itself and placing it on the NAME of the tree. The fact that there is a tree is not important, he is upset over what we call that tree.
  
  So now lets look at the name of the three.
  “Holiday Tree” : Secular, inclusive, generic. Fit for a public space.
  “Christmas Tree” : Direct reference to Christmas (an exclusively CHRISTIAN holiday) which bares the namesake of Jesus CHRIST (an exclusively religious figure) who is the primary figure head in CHRISTIANITY (a religious ideology).
  
  So no, Bill, you’re wrong. And I, an intelligent liberal, would LOVE to explain it to you as many times as it takes.
  
  Report this comment
Akridgerunner
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:26am
It’s true as others have stated here; RI citizens get what they voted for and what they deserve.

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- Captain Whamo
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 11:07am
  A Rhode Island RINO.
  
  Report this comment
Rightallalong
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:17am
Bill O gets it right once in a while but at the end of the day BILL O is a big government progressive who just wants his BIG government done HIS way since he is so smart — how many times has he told the world how he went to Harvard…..

He supported gun confiscation during Katrina and thinks the oath to the constitution is a load of crap.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Isd0FlGb_LY

and watch him defend smashing the constitution

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICoiFBWGX4M

Bill O is a total POS!

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dvwrld
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:08am
What a Douche Bag!

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china clipper
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 7:39am
RI is so small, it’s population has squeezed brains.

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- The_Jerk
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 7:58am
  RI, Rampant Ignorance. And, Chafee represents them well.
  
  Report this comment
ColoradoMaverick
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 7:37am
This governor is a total ass clown but so are the citizens who voted him into office. Get a clue folks, elections have consequences.

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blanco5
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 6:49am
Why isn’t bill talking about the fact that any American can be siezed in the middle of the night and held indefinitely???? There’s NO issue of Christmas when that is happening.

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- soybomb315_II
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 7:10am
  exactly
  
  Report this comment
betterpart
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 4:00am
Every year we go through the saaaame thing. So what else is new?

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Triple7
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 2:37am
From the:The Communist Takeover Of
America – 45 Declared Goals
Communist Goals (1963) Congressional Record–Appendix, pp. A34-A35
January 10, 1963

15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American
institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic
expression. An American Communist cell was told to “eliminate all good
sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and
meaningless forms.”
27. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with “social” religion.
Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity, which
does not need a “religious crutch.”
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the
ground that it violates the principle of “separation of church and state.”

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- thetruthlives
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 7:49am
  the left is evil, but no one said they weren’t smart. we have to be smarter and fight harder
  
  Report this comment
- dnewton
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 11:24am
  C.S. Lewis warned of “social justice” in his book “Screwtape Letters.” The date was 1941. Unfortunately, he did not elaborate on what was so destructive and threatening to Christianity about “Social justice.” I guess back then and during a war, it got too little notice and the author expected people to be smart enough to figure out why it was evil without breaking it down to a first grade level first.
  
  Report this comment
berlet98
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 2:37am
2012 War on Christmas II: Nice Companies

(Part I of this series, http://tinyurl.com/cg7eolv, cited the Liberty Counsel’s 2012 listing of “naughty” American retailers, a designation based on companies’ refusal to recognize that much of their business this time of year is attributable not to some vague winter “holiday” but to buyers shelling out for Christmas gifts for friends and loved ones in celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ. Part II deals with LC’s designees as “nice” companies, i.e. those that acknowledge the reason for the season.)
The good news is that retailers designated by the Liberty Counsel as “naughty” for their indefensible, anti-Christmas, effectively anti-Christian policies (15) are far outnumbered by “nice” companies (40+). The bad news is that many of the latter are perfunctory at best in expressions of the Christmas spirit. None, however, can be labeled as Scrooges or Grinches because they at least pay some recognition to the meaning of Christmas.

On the Liberty Counsel website, the “naughties” are afforded the opportunity to redeem themselves by “using online home page banners, images and text; printed advertisements; in-store signs and displays; greeting Christmas consumers with ‘Merry Christmas’ instead of generic terms such as ‘happy holidays;’ and consumer reports about online and in-store experiences.”

As LC explains, it “simply wants to give the gift of Christmas back to those who supp

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ShyLow
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 2:23am
Here is what Jesus would be outraged about. There are more Churches on a country road then homeless shelters in the entire county. Jesus was not a tree worshiper and did not follow the traditions of man.

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- NickyLouse
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 11:33am
  Amein. Amein.
  
  Report this comment
ShyLow
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 2:14am
Get angry over a tree celebration that the Bible said NOT to participate in,is ignorance at it’s finest.

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- Greenwood
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 2:12pm
  The only event Jesus specifically instructed his followers to commemorate was his death, not his birth. (Luke 22:19,20 ) There is no historical evidence that the early Christians celebrated the birth of the Christ. But they did memorialize his death. (1 Corinthians 11: 23-26) It was not until more than 300 years after Jesus’ birth that Christendom began to observe Christmas on December 25. In the mid-17th century, an act of parliament banned Christmas celebrations in England. In the US the Massachusetts General Court did the same. Why? It was nothing but a pagan festival covered with a Christian veneer honoring the agricultural god Saturn and the sun god Sol Invictus, or Mithra.
  
  Report this comment
Alan
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 1:51am
They’re outlawing the word Christmas because of a handful of professional whiners and we’re the bad guys.

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Linda SD
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 1:35am
Since the Pope admeited this month that x-mas has absolutely nothing to do with Christ or his birth, isn’t it time for ignorant pew sitters to accept the fact that x-mas is just what the Pope claims it to be, a celebratyion of the winter solstice and its pagan deities. Can’t we just let the atheists have their holiday back and finally start anew by worshipping Christ in Spiurit and TRUTH!!!

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universalphilos
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 1:33am
A Christmas prophecy, December 16, 1983: “Rejoice, as John rejoiced the first day that Mary came unto her cousin, Elizabeth, and he saw, therefore, his cousin and the Messiah, and knew that it was all so. Rejoice, and know that the Messiah is with you, for he lives upon the Earth. He breathes the same air you breathe.
And his time will come, if you make it so.
But rejoice, as he will rejoice with you, for as you shall have a Christmas tree so shall he. As he gives presents and you give presents, in your mind’s eye, be as the shepherd boy. Reserve your greatest gift that you might give it unto him.
We say unto you, shalom. Lehaim!”

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Wdawg
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 1:21am
HAHAHAHAHA…. War on Christmas? get Fu***ing real! there is a real war going on in the Middle East with American lives on the line! **** you O’Reilly!

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johnsmith500
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 1:20am
This idiot is a governor? Really?Repeating “Times are changing” like a drone, and then “You are from Fox news, you guys are angry”? People elected this idiot?
All I can say is WOW!
Idiots and retards are running the country.

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- loriann12
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:51am
  My husband spent 6 days in the VA Hospital after a surgery. He was actually TOLD BY A STAFF member to turn off Fox News, as it was a propaganda outlet. Guess his race?
  
  Report this comment
drenfroe
Posted on November 30, 2012 at 1:11am
Its past time to say no more of this crap.

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Anonymous T. Irrelevant
Posted on November 29, 2012 at 11:47pm
What holiday is Coward Chafee proposing to celebrate with this holiday tree, Ramadan?
I am assuming he and his staff are going to be taking a holiday on December 25th., why? Is that a special day, Governor? You sound stupid when you say one thing, but do another.

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pantokrator
Posted on November 29, 2012 at 11:36pm
I don’t know, I don’t see the harm in officially naming it a “Holiday Tree”, I’m sure it’s not like you can’t personally call it a Christmas Tree. I like Bill’s intolerance for people trying to deliberately destroy Christmas, but I don’t think that’s the case here. This governor wants to change the official name of the tree for the “changing of times”, fine. I’ll still walk by it and say, “Nice Christmas Tree”. No harm done.

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- RANGER1965
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 12:50am
  You’re both right and wrong.
  
  You’re right that the governor is likely trying to do what he feels is right by calling it a holiday tree. Perhaps it’s his hope that by doing this officially, it removes the government stamp from a Christian themed item.
  But the danger of this is seeing this incident in isolation. The enemies of this nation, of Christianity, Capitolism, and of American Culture have adopted the strategy of “Death by a thousand tiny cuts”
  Many of us can no longer see these incidents in isolation, but instead see a steady relentless attack on everything Christian, and everything American.
  It may not be just, to see things this way. It certainly biases the situation, but it makes it no less real.
  
  Report this comment
- DIR
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 1:37am
  “No harm done!”
  
  Wow! Really? Who the hell is Chafee to make this determination. He’s the governor, not the supreme ruler of Rhode Apple. If it’s such a huge issue that the tree be called something other than what tradition has so far ordained, let the people vote on it. He works for them. Well maybe not. Maybe I’ve been misinformed.
  
  This is one of those seeminly insignificant actions that’s a huge issue. Next he’ll be telling everyone in his state what they can and can’t eat, what they can and cannot drive, where they can and cannot not go.
  
  Report this comment
- SacredHonor1776
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 4:21am
  Ironically by calling it a Holiday tree they are calling it a Holy Day tree…
  
  Report this comment
Jeetman
Posted on November 29, 2012 at 11:35pm
I cannot believe that my fellow Rhode Islanders elected this BUFFOON. Rhode Island is a **** hole. I need to move to Texas and I would if I had the ability financially and occupationally to do so. When Ovomit crashes the dollar, I’m going to be in a really bad situation. I have neighbors who depend on their Obama phones and welfare checks. I recently was let go from my temp job I held for two and a half years. I hate this state. My votes are overridden by the dumbest people you can imagine. They are mostly dumbocratic zombies.

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- biohazard23
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 5:32am
  God bless you. I hope things turn around and start looking up for you soon.
  
  Report this comment
- THXll38
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:44am
  I hope you enjoy those wonderful Texas property taxes.
  
  Report this comment
- dnewton
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 11:18am
  But, if you leave, who is going to pay all of the taxes that they need to create the rest of Utopia? I sometimes wonder if the movement of people from blue to red states causes problems with electoral college a few years before the census and redistricting. A lot of people from blue states are moving to Tennessee also. Our state senate is about 80% Republican. The old timey local Democrats don’t get it but those who are fleeing California, Connecticut and other blue states do get it. Rhode Island has a very high per capita tax and per capita government debt.
  
  Report this comment
- Theocracy588
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 3:40pm
  I can’t believe all of the other states aren’t clamoring for you to move! You sound like a fine addition to any community. Not so sure why a crashing dollar would put you in a worse situation, though; perhaps it’s all the Italian suits and German sports cars you’re buying?
  
  Report this comment
TruthPolice60
Posted on November 29, 2012 at 11:34pm
I am sooooo glad that Lincoln Chafed is no longer in the republican party. Rhode Island can have him and they deserve him. What a clown. But I will say this. Enough of the tolerance and political correctness. Americans have been too tolerent of other views which has led to these “changing times”. Now it’s time to change back to traditional American values, the values that made this country great. Those values don’t include socialism, atheism or sit on your a** and wait for your government checkism..

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- DIR
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 1:07am
  Chafee is a chameleon. He changes his party affliation more than he changes his underwear, which is probably one of the reasons he stinks The guy looks and sounds like a typical hayseed politician. That he gets voted in says more about his states voters than it does about him. P. T. Barnum said ” … there is a sucker born every minute.” a lot of them must live in rhode island. RI should be renamed, as has been done to the ‘Christmas tree’, Rhode Apple and it’s state symbol should be the road apple and it’s state bird should be a fly. A DNA test will probably show the fly is the missing link in Chafee’s family tree.
  
  Report this comment
- savagenatn
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 4:19am
  yep RI got what they deserved when they voted for chafed a$$. What an absolute moron *******. You have GOT to be kidding me
  
  Report this comment
- GeorgieJo
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 4:29am
  RODE ISLAND has CHAFFEE
  and MINNESOTA has FRANKEN
  2 idiots kissing CLINTON makes
  a Russian Son In Law
  
  Weener will be elected KING of NOOYORK after this crap
  FLUKE will be an intern and Cheeeesy Clinton
  can forgive HER MAN
  LMAO.
  
  Report this comment
RusHube
Posted on November 29, 2012 at 11:27pm
Our country is in serious trouble!!

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- TruthTalker
  Posted on November 29, 2012 at 11:35pm
  yeah…what he said.
  
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sizzlinsexybeckster
Posted on November 29, 2012 at 11:25pm
When George W. Bush was in office there was a silent war on Christmas for 2 years until people finally noticed they had to go to an old lady’s garage sale in order to find the words “Merry Christmas” on a decoration.

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soybomb315_II
Posted on November 29, 2012 at 11:10pm
another year – more christmas outrage by the right. As long as people keep nominating progressive republicans and RINOs….On what ground do you have to complain about a liberal government?

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- Cosmos102
  Posted on November 29, 2012 at 11:23pm
  uh…not following. Huh?
  
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- TruthTalker
  Posted on November 29, 2012 at 11:28pm
  Don’t turn your back on what is right. I call B.S. on those who do the “It is what the American people want” schtick. Quit pouting.
  
  Report this comment
- THXll38
  Posted on November 30, 2012 at 8:49am
  I am a libertarian and I love Christmas and I find it to be utter BS to destroy one of the greatest holidays in our country. Jesus was not born on Christmas, most scholars would agree with this. It is indeed a pagan holiday.
  
  Report this comment

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