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| Home Front: Culture Wars | |
| No more 'holiday' trees at Capitol | |
| 2005-11-29 | |
| House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert has told federal officials that the lighted, decorated tree on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol -- known in recent years as the "Holiday Tree" -- should be renamed the "Capitol Christmas Tree," as it was called until the late 1990s. The Capitol's senior landscape architect confirmed the name switch yesterday for The Washington Times. "It was known as the 'Holiday Tree' for several years and just recently was changed back to the 'Capitol Christmas Tree.' This was a directive from the speaker," said Capitol architect Matthew Evans. "The speaker believes a Christmas tree is a Christmas tree, and it is as simple as that," said Ron Bonjean, spokesman for the Illinois Republican. The Capitol tree, traditionally overshadowed by the White House's "National Christmas Tree," was renamed a "holiday tree" several years ago, according to the Capitol Architect's offices, in an effort to acknowledge the other holidays of Kwanzaa and Hanukkah -- although no one seemed to know exactly when the name was changed or by whom.
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| Posted by:Steve |
| #5 I personally, PREFER they call it a Christmas Tree, not a Holiday Tree. Calling it a Holiday Tree might imply there is such a thing as a Chanukah tree - there aint, and Jews shouldnt put up such a thing. A Christmas tree is, in the US, a Christian tradition, whatever pagan origins it may have. I dont want it implied that the Capitol is honoring Chanukah by lighting a tree. I presume Muslims feel the same way. |
| Posted by: liberalhawk 2005-11-29 16:17 |
| #4 Wow, I couldn't have said it better, DOT! Keep up the rants! When even Neal Boortz (who is no friend, at least cuts 'em no slack on his show) is defending the Christians, ya better look out! |
| Posted by: BA 2005-11-29 15:42 |
| #3 Yep, it is a Christms Tree. That's where the holiday comes from. Period. Full stop. Trying to hi-jack it and neuter it is asinine. Slowly, but surely, there is a real no-shit backlash building against the ACLU / Michael Newdow / et al assaults on the traditions and customs of the majority of Americans. All they've managed to accomplish is to piss off everyone to the right of Trotsky. I think, in sum, they've merely revealed themselves as "ist" ideologues and, well, as demonstrably insane attention whores. I see a clear parallel between the backfiring antics of these domestic morons and the Zarqi-styled Caliphatists. I hope they share a common fate, too. Asstards. |
| Posted by: .com 2005-11-29 15:13 |
| #2 Well, it's too tall to be a Hannukah bush... |
| Posted by: danking_70 2005-11-29 12:45 |
| #1 The funny thing is, it is a Christmas Tree, whether you want to refer to the season as Holiday Season or not. No other religion features a tree, why not call it what it is? Nobody calls a menorah a "holiday lamp". |
| Posted by: BH 2005-11-29 12:03 |