Putting the pagan back into Christmas

According to U.S. News and World report, last week House Speaker Dennis Hastert ordered a return to calling the annual "Holiday Tree" outside the Capitol the "Capitol Christmas Tree." His aides then brought in Christmas trees, holly, and wreaths to decorate Hastert's office. One of his aides was quoted as saying "we've decked the halls with boughs of holly while we work for America."

I wonder if they realize that decking the halls with boughs of holly is a pre-Christian (aka pagan) religious ritual? While there's debate regarding whether Christmas trees themselves are a pagan tradition, it seems clear that many of our Christmas traditions are actually pagan in origin (see http://www.religioustolerance.org/xmas_tree.htm and http://www.history.uk.com/churches/index.php?archive=10).