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Lights out at Statehouse

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Illinois

The ice storm wrecked the Christmas lights on the Statehouse.

Some of the color went out of Springfieldâ€™s Christmas season on Wednesday. I was on the roof of the state Capitol to watch workers remove the colored lights from the dome. I am sorry to report that the lights will not be going back up this year.

Unlike most of what goes on at the Statehouse, there were no politics in this decision. The Nov. 30-Dec. 1 winter storm decided it.

We enjoyed the lights for a short time. They were turned on Nov. 27, so we saw them for about three days. But it wasnâ€™t until Wednesday, almost two weeks after the storm hit, that the Capitol roof was safe enough for workers to get out and see just how bad the damage was.

Nine of the 12 strings of colored lights that annually hang from the dome snapped. There was maybe a bucketful of broken glass lying about. Jim Speis, electrical general foreman, says there is no way the lights could be replaced before the end of the year.

Bakke’s column is really quite good today. Go read the whole thing.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Dec 14, 06 @ 9:28 am

Comments

Should the Statehouse really be hosting a Christmas display anyway? Christmas is, after all, a religious holiday. Does the Statehouse similarly honor other religious holidays? Also, should houses of the General Assembly really be opening with a prayer?

Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Dec 14, 06 @ 9:50 am
Oh here we go with the Christophobia…Squideshi are you actually at your place of employment on Christmas Day or are you taking the day off? If you’re at home, you’re a hypocrite.

Comment by Crimefighter Thursday, Dec 14, 06 @ 9:51 am
Crimefighter, my home and place of employment are one in the same. I’m self-employed and determine my own schedule. I’m also a Unitarian Universalist that celebrates Christmas. That doesn’t mean that I can’t simultaneously oppose de facto endorsement of a particular religion by State government.

Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Dec 14, 06 @ 10:02 am
Well, Christmas lights on trees and such isn’t really Christian, far more pagan. And because our economy is so dependent on this pagan holiday, it seems that publicly recognizing it is fine.

I would however draw the line at a Nativity unless a Menorah, a Star & Crescent and maybe a Diwali display go up at the same time, place and scale.

Comment by cermak_rd Thursday, Dec 14, 06 @ 10:16 am
I agree it’s likely that the display of Christmas trees is a tradition with pagan origins; however, it is also a practice which has largely been incorporated into the Christian celebration of Christmas. This is evidenced by the fact that they’re called Christmas trees, rather than Yule trees.

Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Dec 14, 06 @ 10:27 am
I’m just going to say that people that complain about Christmas need to move to another country that was not founded by forefathers that believed in Christianity. This is the U.S.A., and we should NOT take the “In God We Trust” off of our currency, prayer out of our schools, or “one nation under God” out of the Pledge of Allegiance. If you have nothing better to complain about, you need to get a life elsewhere.

Comment by maggiemae Thursday, Dec 14, 06 @ 11:02 am
Right on–maggiemae !! No matter how you worship or who you worship to–simply try to pray some. Like they say, “In war and combat there are no athiest”

Comment by WARDOG Thursday, Dec 14, 06 @ 11:15 am
someone complained on talk radio in Springfield this morning that the Capitol has no Christmas tree inside, in the rotunda. Reality time: the building interior is being substantially renovated, and any four story tree would be a real encumbrence to the workers.

On the issue generally, the first 16 presidents all described themselves as “Deists”, as an affirmation that this may be a Christian dominated society, but not a Christian country or government. Andrew Johnson blew this precedent, pandering to his fellow Protestants to not let him get impeached.

fyi - the issue of Christmas as a national holiday has been adjudicated (at the petition of atheists), and no court has had the guts to address the issue. The rulings all say that Christmas is a societal celebration like Thanksgiving, and not essentially religious in nature — much to the legitimate collective anger of Christian clergy. Easter is not as great an issue, because it always comes out on Sunday.

My personal position? The Iraqi War and other issues are much more important. Better not to raise such a polarizing concern. Look how much fuss there was over dropping Pluto as a planet - imagine the chaos of trying to drop Christmas as a national holiday. Will we have Green and Red states, by how they would vote in a referendum on this? Let’s focus on getting out of the war and balancing the state government budget in Illinois… Happy Holidays and 2007

Comment by capitol view Thursday, Dec 14, 06 @ 11:26 am
Oh for heaven’s sake. I’m for Christmas lights or holiday lights or whatever you want to call them. They are pretty!

But I don’t think religious minorities should be told to shove off either. Like it or not, they also are part of the body politic and whether our Founders were or were not Christians is about as irrelevant as you can get. They also wore powdered wigs and didn’t own plastic stuff or use credit cards.

Comment by cermak_rd Thursday, Dec 14, 06 @ 11:26 am
Maggiemae, the phrase “In God We Trust” was only added to our currency in 1864. That’s a full 88 years after the founding of this nation.

In addition, the words “under God” were added to the Pledge of Allegiance only 52 years ago, in 1954! Prior to 1954, the pledge was as follows:

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands; one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

If you’re going to make an appeal to the founding fathers, you should at least know that they didn’t have anything to do with these later modifications.

Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Dec 14, 06 @ 11:47 am
Okay Squideshi so if I required the services or products that you provide, whatever it is and I have no clue what, but just saying if I required the services or products you provide that I can drive up to your storefront and the sign in the window will say OPEN on Christmas Day?

Comment by Crimefighter Thursday, Dec 14, 06 @ 12:26 pm
I have no need for a storefront. Regardless, if a client absolutely needed something on Christmas Day, then yes, I would probably end up working on that day. As a small business owner, providing that kind of customer service is important if you want to keep your client base.

Comment by Squideshi Thursday, Dec 14, 06 @ 12:46 pm
Maybe it’s an ominous sign of what is to come.
2007 will not be a good year for Corruptovich.

Comment by Apocalypto Thursday, Dec 14, 06 @ 4:33 pm
These lights were pretty, but Mother Nature might be outdoing them. Due to a very intense solar storm, aurora borealis activity is very high, and spectacular displays have been seen in northern Illinois and as far south as Oklahoma. Get out and take a look… I’d say at least the northern 2/3 of the state should be able to see it.

Comment by 'Lainer Thursday, Dec 14, 06 @ 8:29 pm