I was asked to play Santa Claus at the home of my brother, James, in Las Vegas on Christmas Eve, December 24. Here are some photos of the festivities:
l. to r.: Santa solo, Santa with my sister Lizzie (34) and her daughter Frances (9 months), Santa and my nephew Dean (17), and Santa with Dean's brother, Dylan (16). Dean and Dylan are the eldest sons of my brother, James (46), an optometrist practicing in Las Vegas.
Comments (10)
I'm still trying to get my mind around this stunning fact: Santa is a Thomist philosopher from Las Vegas.
Who knew?
Posted by Michael Bauman | December 28, 2008 8:50 AM
I always knew Santa was a conservative! Merry Christmas!
Posted by Conway Wong | December 28, 2008 3:52 PM
hmmm...Dean & Dylan...named c. 1991/2...
So your brother had a taste for the oldies?
Then again, there are other Deans, and other Dylans.
Posted by steve burton | December 28, 2008 4:10 PM
Conway,
Santa CAN'T be conservative:
(1) He knows who's naughty and nice, which can only mean he's got everyone under surveillance and is invading everyone's privacy -- you know, Big Brother in a red suit (Please note: the suit is red. What more proof do you need?)
(2) He has no real job, which can only mean he's on the government dole -- and is trying to get little kids used to accepting handouts from The Man.
(3). He is trying to overshadow Christ at Christmas, which can only mean he's a member of the ACLU.
(4). When he's looking for someone to impersonate him, he picks Beckwith. (Actually, I could have started with number 4 and simply skipped the first three.)
Posted by Michael Bauman | December 28, 2008 6:04 PM
Santa also gives stuff to people who haven't paid or worked for it. Lots of stuff. Obviously a liberal.
I loved a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon from years ago. Calvin gets ranting to Hobbes about how Santa runs his operation. "How does he pay the elves? Where does the money come from for the toys?" And so forth. Hobbes looks thoughtful and says, "Deficit spending?" Calvin says, "Yeah, but someday it's going to catch up with him, and then where will I be?"
Posted by Lydia | December 28, 2008 7:01 PM
Michael,
I must respectfully disagree with your conclusion.
Five reasons Santa is a conservative:
1) Exploitative labor practices among non-unionized elves.
2) Gets on his “magic sleigh” and drops presents down the chimney, aka smart bombs.
3) Has illegal surveillance program to track naughtiness, which can result in distribution of environmentally unsafe coal.
4) A liberal Santa would update his traditional wardrobe to be more media savvy.
5) He lives at the North Pole instead of a tropical island paradise.
Posted by Step2 | December 28, 2008 8:02 PM
Plus he can see Russia from his house.
Posted by Zippy | December 28, 2008 8:12 PM
"Plus he can see Russia from his house."
Which means he easily tracked Alger Hiss. :-)
Posted by Francis Beckwith | December 28, 2008 8:47 PM
So, if I follow the discussion to this point:
If from his home Santa tracked Alger Hiss, then Santa is Whittaker Chambers.
And if Santa is Frank Beckwith, then Whittaker Chambers is . . . . FRANK BECKWITH!
And we have pictures to prove it.
See -- if you pay attention to W4, you'll learn something interesting every day.
Posted by Michael Bauman | December 28, 2008 9:10 PM
Bauman's quip reminds me of this one:
God is Love
Love is Blind
Steve Wonder is Blind
Therefore, Stevie Wonder is God.
I know it's not valid, but it's still funny.
Posted by Francis Beckwith | December 28, 2008 9:16 PM