Tue, Jan 18, 2005 11:02am ET

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O'Reilly: King "would be appalled" by "attacks on Christmas"

In a "Talking Points Memo" devoted to "[h]ow Martin Luther King would view things today," FOX News host Bill O'Reilly declared that King "would be appalled by the secular culture" and by "the attacks on Christmas, the demonizing of Christianity." Media Matters for America has documented how in late 2004 O'Reilly used a recurring segment titled "Christmas Under Siege" to hype a series of bogus "anti-Christmas" stories, distorting and omitting key facts to declare that "progressive secularists" were "attacking" Christmas as part of a broader campaign to advance a radical agenda of "gay marriage, partial-birth abortion, euthanasia, legalized drugs, [and] income redistribution through taxation."

From the "Talking Points Memo" on the January 17 edition of FOX News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: Dr. King would be appalled by the secular culture, the attacks on Christmas, the demonizing of Christianity. By the way, where's the ACLU [American Civil Liberties Union] and other pinheads when Martin Luther King's picture is displayed on public property? He openly advocated the philosophy of Jesus and proudly declared himself a Christian. What say you, ACLU? Dr. King yes, the creche no? Think about it.

—G.W.

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