One of the biggest Christmas stories of this season doesn't involve charity, compassion or faith in miracles. Instead, with each day it has more and more to do with bashing beggars and broken values.

The tale of an 11-year-old girl thwarted from selling mistletoe near the Portland Saturday Market without a permit has – with her family's enthusiastic urging – erupted into a campaign for what they call the disappearing American work ethic.

Less than a week after the mistletoe flap, Madison Root has become a cause celebre among Fox News anchors and right-leaning pundits. She's a poster child for bootstrap perseverance in the face of bureaucracy and apathy. And she's a money-making entrepreneur with her sights set on bigger things than braces.

"This is no longer about Madison's mistletoe or her getting kicked out of a Portland park," her father, Ashton Root, told The Oregonian. "It's about what this world is coming to. It's about our culture of handouts."

During a steady stream of media appearances, the precocious and well-spoken spitfire echoed similar sentiments. "It's about how we're raising wimps, how people would rather beg for money than work hard," she said in a KATU news interview. "I want people to know that we need to build up America's work ethic."

The turn of the story and the biting rhetoric has not set well with everyone.

"It's sad that people who are struggling around Christmas are being used as a political punching bag," said Israel Bayer, an advocate for the poor and executive director of Street Roots, an alternative newspaper sold by homeless vendors.

Madison and her parents say her yuletide-tale-turned-political-rallying cry started with less lofty ideals.

The Lake Oswego girl spent Friday, Nov. 29, snipping and bagging mistletoe at her uncles' farm in Newberg. The reason? She said she wanted to help her family pay for a set of braces for her teeth.

Madison Root, 11, sells mistletoe in Portland last Saturday.

The next day, Madison plopped down a box near the Skidmore Fountain near the Saturday Market and started selling beribboned bags at 4 bucks a pop. But her homegrown business was short-lived.

A private security guard for the market told Madison and her dad they were violating city code (specifically Chapter 20.12.020, "Soliciting For or Conducting Business" in a public park). Under the rule, it's illegal to "sell or offer to sell any article or service" without a permit.

What happened next is a matter of contention. Ashton Root claims the guard said his daughter could beg for money but not sell mistletoe. Representatives for the market and its security company, Pacific Patrol Services, refused to let The Oregonian speak with the security guard.

Ashton Root said the moment would become the turning point of his daughter's endeavor.

"When someone tries to push you down or keep you down, you don't take no for an answer," he said. "Don't be lazy. Stand up against adversity."

It never hurts to have a dad who is a media-savvy businessman.

Within hours of being told she couldn't sell, Ashton Root - the president of PixelGigs, a tech company that has raised at least $3 million in venture capital – marched her story to two TV stations.

On first sniff, it had the scent of a modern day Christmas fable, with trappings of "A Christmas Carol" or "How the Grinch Stole Christmas." There was Scrooge or Grinch trampling over the plucky and adorable Tiny Tim or Cindy Lou Who.

The story aired Sunday night. It spread like wildfire within hours.

By midday Monday, Madison's family had purchased the domain name madisonroot.com, public records show. The website was registered under the name of Taylor Root, Madison's older brother and a PixelGigs vice president.

An early version of Madison Root's website.

An early version of the website was a single page with a photo of Madison and asked people to "donate" to the braces fund by clicking on a link that directed users to a PayPal account. The site has since become a full-fledged homepage where people can order bundles of mistletoe and follow her story.

A flood of television interviews and articles followed, but the story exploded when a host of conservative outlets and commentators seized on her spunk.

After stints on Fox News, The Lars Larson Show and The Glenn Beck Program, Madison had a lengthy chat with Sean Hannity on Friday. On Saturday, she has an appearance schedule with Fox & Friends Weekend.

The persistent drumbeat of publicity has meant a surge in mistletoe sales. As of 5 p.m. Friday, Madison had received nearly 8,000 orders from throughout the country, Ashton Root said from his office, which has become a makeshift mistletoe factory filled with shipping boxes, cellophane and piles of sprigs.

Most of the payments are being processed through PayPal, which deposits the money into a bank account Madison set up this week. During the interview, Ashton Root insisted: "For people who say that my ex-wife and I are using our child as a pawn to make money, that's just ludicrous. Her mom and I will not see a red cent of her money. It's all Madison's."

While the girl's father said Madison "could easily put six kids in braces now," she plans to use the money to invest in her own business and pursue several entrepreneurial ideas. She and her family have yet to file paperwork to launch a legitimate enterprise, but she has talked about starting a web series that interviews successful people like brain surgeons, Oprah Winfrey and President Barack Obama.

Her dad said she may also cut a couple of checks to struggling startups at Portland's NedSpace, a co-working studio of tech companies, artists and creative types.

Israel Bayer had a thought to add:

"I would challenge Madison and her family to put their money where their mouth is and help empower struggling people to get jobs."

-- Shane Dixon Kavanaugh