By: Guest ContributorDec. 22nd, 2009more from Guest Contributor

In a stunning turn of events, Fox News has been running a holiday greeting commercial that does not say Merry Christmas, but instead wishes everyone Happy Holidays. Could there be any greater sign of their surrender in the war on Christmas than Fox News airing a spot that wishes viewers Happy Holidays?

Here is the video courtesy of Media Matters:

For anyone who needs a refresher, the war on Christmas began in 2005 when Bill when O’Reilly claimed that progressives were at war with Christmas as a part of their larger agenda, “See, I think it’s all part of the secular progressive agenda to get Christianity and spirituality and Judaism out of the public square. Because if you look at what happened in Western Europe and Canada, if you can get religion out, then you can pass secular progressive programs like legalization of narcotics, euthanasia, abortion at will, gay marriage, because the objection to those things is religious- based, usually.”

However, this latest commercial isn’t the first sign that Fox News has given up their role as protectors of Christmas. First Bill O’Reilly outsourced the war on Christmas to John Stossel’s Fox Business program, and on Fox and Friends, Steve Doocy slipped up and referred to their office holiday party.

The left has mocked the so called war on Christmas for years. It is really nothing more than right wing paranoia, and a not so subtle ploy to get the evangelical base of the GOP fired up. In all seriousness FNC’s abandoning of the war on Christmas is a big sign that culture wars of the 1990s have finally ended, and the right wing culture warriors are admitting their defeat.