I don’t normally have a "Commentary Of The Week", but a post by Kevin Hayden at The American Street is so spot-on, that I will instigate the accolade solely for his post, and then retire it afterward.  Kevin writes:

Bill O’Reilly, desperate and ready to throw himself on the floor, kicking and screaming if need be to regain attention, no longer busies himself squeezing his loofah, but has begun an assault on nobody visible, claiming his invisible tormentors are trying to take Christ out of Christmas.

Now let’s see if I’ve got this straight. A humble carpenter displays random acts of kindness, generosity and mercy, hangs out with a pack of rough-edged blue collar workers, feeds the hungry, heals the sick, brings the dead to life and advises any who listen to care for the weak and visit the jailed, encouraging the wealthy to forgo their loot.

On the other hand, a mean talking, bullying, war belligerent who denigrates the weak, sick, poor and jailed, sexually harasses an underling, shouts down grieving family members of those killed on 9-11, and otherwise displays arrogance, hatred and pompousity.

I should think the real question folks should be asking is “Who took Christ out of Bill O’Reilly?”

I also think that question could be asked of more publicly self-professed Christians who simply never walk their talk.

Kevin asks the question rhetorically, but I don’t.  I want a serious answer. 

I’ve read the Bible and what Jesus taught.  Wouldn’t the best way to honor Jesus — especially on his birthday — involve heeding his lessons of love and generosity, rather than engaging in a bullying self-righteous "war" on merchandisers and other belief systems?

RELATED:  The Kevin Hayden post above mentions "invisible tormentors [who] are trying to take Christ out of Christmas".  I’ve touched upon this point before.  Who ARE these people that O’Reilly and others are attacking?  Because I don’t see them.  I have always suspected that there is a little code-talk within these conservative Christian rants.

Well, we have an answer, and it should come as no surprise.

Townhall.com is a product of The Heritage Foundation, which is enormously influential in the Republican Party.  The site sports "serious" conservative viewpoints and columnists — people like George Will, etc. 

It hasn’t escaped many people’s attention that today, one particular columnist on Townhall comes from behind the veneer, drops the code words, and exposes the truth behind the War on the "War on Christmas".

According to him, who is behind the "War on Christmas"?  Who is the enemy?

The Jews.  Yup.  First O’Reilly attacks Jon Stewart (a Jewish comedian) for supposedly advocating secularism, and now this.  Here’s some quotes from the Townhall article by Bert Prutlusky (entitled "The Jewish Grinch Stole Christmas"):

I never thought I’d live to see the day that Christmas would become a dirty word. You think it hasn’t? Then why is it that people are being prevented from saying it in polite society for fear that it will offend?

… How is it, one well might ask, that in a Christian nation this is happening?

… Although it seems a long time ago, it really wasn’t, that people who came here from other places made every attempt to fit in.

… When it comes to pushing the multicultural, anti-Christian, agenda, you find Jewish judges, Jewish journalists, and the ACLU, at the forefront.

… But the dirty little secret in America is that anti-Semitism is no longer a problem in society; it’s been replaced by a rampant anti-Christianity. For example, the hatred spewed towards George W. Bush has far less to do with his policies than it does with his religion. The Jews voice no concern when a Bill Clinton or a John Kerry makes a big production out of showing up at black Baptist churches or posing with Rev. Jesse Jackson because they understand that’s just politics. They only object to politicians attending church for religious reasons.

… It is the ACLU, which is overwhelmingly Jewish in terms of membership and funding, that is leading the attack against Christianity in America. It is they who have conned far too many people into believing that the phrase “separation of church and state” actually exists somewhere in the Constitution.

… I happen to despise bullies and bigots. I hate them when they represent the majority, but no less when, like Jews in America, they represent an infinitesimal minority.

I am getting the idea that too many Jews won’t be happy until they pull off their own version of the Spanish Inquisition, forcing Christians to either deny their faith and convert to agnosticism or suffer the consequences.

It comes as no surprise that at the heart of the War on the "War on Christmas", it’s pure ole-fashioned, KKK-esque anti-semitism.   It’s so classic that it is almost trite: heck, the phrase "liberal media" comes straight out of the old far-right "Jew media" and "Jew York Times" stuff.  "Liberal" and "Jew" used to be interchangable words for the Far Right. 

Let’s turn to this quote:

"And it has become pretty general. Last Christmas most people had a hard time finding Christmas cards that indicated in any way that Christmas commemorated Someone’s Birth. Easter they will have the same difficulty in finding Easter cards that contain any suggestion that Easter commemorates a certain event. There will be rabbits and eggs and spring flowers, but a hint of the Resurrection will be hard to find. Now, all this begins with the designers of the cards."

Who said it?  Bill O’Reilly again?  John Gibson?  Maybe I’ll send you a Macy’s Merry Christmas gift card if you guess correctly.  (Or . . . if you’re a Christmas-robbing Jew, then this).

Too late.  The author of those words was Henry Ford.  They come from his 1921 tract "The International Jew," a vile piece of anti-semitic garbage blaming the International Jew Conspiracy for, well, everything bad in America.

Times haven’t changed that much, and Townhall today proves it.

UPDATE: More from Pandagon.