Dear Santa,

Christmas is here, and the past few weeks have been filled with lots of hurrying, full schedules, parties, crowded stores and long  lines.  When I was caught in mall traffic last week, I thought of this line from How the Grinch Stole Christmas:

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn’t before.  What if Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store?  What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?  ~Dr. Seuss~

Christmas sure doesn’t come from a store, and it means a lot more than a new iPhone or a Starbuck’s gift card.  As a conservative, I am worried about the world our children are inheriting. So, although I’m asking for gifts from you, Santa,  I’m not asking for material gifts.  I want three things, and they don’t cost money.  I’ve been a pretty good person this past year.  I’ve  loved my family, community, church and country, and I’ve worked to help them all.  I worked out regularly and kept up with my laundry and dishes most of the time.  All that doesn’t mean I deserve these gifts, but I sure hope you’ll try.

First, please make news-people report the news.  Period.   Slanted commentary and bias hurts everyone.  We need to know what’s going on without having a spin put on it.   And I’m not just talking about not wanting a liberal slant.We conservatives don’t want the news slanted our way either.  Have journalists stick with the classic “who, what, where, when, how and why” – and let us figure out what it all means.  We understand that liberal beliefs sound good, but  the end result is greater dependence on the government which, in turn, limits freedom.  Thus, liberals need a complicit press in order to advance their ideology.  And now, even with a press fully in bed with them, liberals are dragging down the entire country with their lofty-sounding but unworkable policies.   So a great first step to making America great once again is for  journalists to get back to the basics of impartial reporting.  Conservatives can’t lose on a level playing field.  And level-playing-field reporting is what we need.

Second, could you make our President, Barack Obama, act like the President of ALL Americans?  He diminishes himself and the office of President  when he stoops to calling  American citizens names just because their beliefs are different from his.   He has even  publicly mocked people who disagreed with him.  While campaigning, he once told his audience to argue with people who disagreed with him and to get in their faces.  Sadly, that’s our President – always stirring things up.  And while you’re working on his bullying behavior, Santa, how about getting him to quit blaming other people for his problems.  It’s embarrassing for the whole country.  Help him grow a pair, put on his big boy pants and take responsibility for his administration.  And, Santa, as a bonus, give his honesty muscle a tweak or two.  One of the first things I learned early in life is that when people lie to you, you can’t trust them. Being trustworthy is not Obama’s strong suit, to put it mildly, and he really needs to change that! You may be just the right person to handle that!

Third, please convince activist groups of all persuasions to help their constituents – not to shut up their critics.  I have no problem with groups like GLAAD.  They have the right to further their cause.  However in recent years, many activist groups (including some conservative groups) have apparently decided that the only way to promote their cause is to shut up anyone who disagrees with them.  I think of how much better the recent Phil Robertson/A&E Network situation might’ve turned out if GLAAD had simply said, “Although we strongly disagree with Phil, we defend his right to say what he believes.”  Then they could’ve urged their members to boycott the TV show.  But no, they had to be offended, twist his words out of context and put pressure on the network to take him off the show.  They didn’t want to disagree with him; they wanted to ruin his reputation and career for the mighty sin of disagreeing with them.  If they had taken the high road, they might’ve even won a couple of admirers rather than alienating millions of Americans and hurting their cause.  So, Santa, help activist groups – well, really everybody – to not get their panties in a wad and to live and let live.

Before I sign off, I have to admit that I started to add a fourth item to my list.  I thought that maybe you could get entertainers to stick to entertaining and keep their political opinions to themselves.  However, after I thought about it for awhile, I realized that while some celebrities cross the lines of human decency, are irrational,  display sublime ignorance, are over-the-top drama queens, or are simply clueless, they have freedom of speech just like everyone else.  Plus, their delusions of political acuity make for some highly entertaining cringe-worthy moments at times.  So, Santa dear, just leave celebrities alone.  After all, they’re their own worst enemy anyway.

That’s my list, Santa.  Bring those three things, and you’ll have my unending gratitude.  Forget the cookies and milk.  I’ll leave a shot of whiskey with a nice slice of my famous pecan pie for you.  You’ll need that extra energy to face the tasks I’ve given you.

Love,

Victory Girl Melanie