DECEMBER 18, 2005 --

Dear Santa,

You probably have heard that there are some objections to saying "Merry Christmas," and to calling Christmas
trees -- Christmas trees.

You would be right, I think, in wondering if the term "Happy Holidays" is used this time of year, doesn't it include Christmas?

More than a hundred years ago, a New York editor wrote an editorial assuring a girl named Virginia that you still exist.

And if you still exist, now, how can Christmas not also exist?

Yes, Santa we still have Christmas --and
also an older holiday -- Chanukah, and a newer holiday, Kwanzaa -- this season as well.

But the way I see it -- and being Jewish I light Chanukah candles and don't have a Christmas tree -- there is something about
Christmas that transcends religion. The spirit of good will, perhaps?

I was in Torrington, CT, December 15, and stopped, briefly at the town's Christmas Village, where I met Mrs. Claus, visited a workshop where elves were making toys, and saw your sleigh and some of your reindeer. And lined up at the entrance were children waiting with their parents to meet you.

The night before, on the way to Torrington, I stopped at Thomaston to get pictures of
the lights on the Opera House and Town Hall and other buildings that, for me, give this small town a magical quality this time of year.

And on reaching Torrington, I took some photos of the Christmas tree, at night, outside of CIty Hall.

Be assured that Christmas trees are still on public display and also sold, and called Christmas trees in New York City, too.

A few days before driving to Connecticut I got a photo of snow-covered Chrismas
trees for sale on a side street on the west side of Manhattan.

Before I forget, thank you for visiting New York City, on Thanksgiving Day. And I'm sure you know that children in the big city react to snow on a hill just like their country cousins.

One of the photos I'm sending with this letter shows some young people sledding on a hill at Riverdale Avenue and 231st
Street in the Bronx.

Admittedly, my understanding of Christmas has a secular base, not a religious one (and some people might regard that as objectionable), but for me the message of Christmas comes down to two words: good will.

That would make Christmas trees symbols of good will, and you, dear Santa, a messenger of good will.

And boy, could we use good will today.

An epidemic of good will would be the very best Christmas present we could have, I think, I would like to think that you will be giving lots of families copies of Jeanine
Basinger's "The 'It's a Wonderful Life' Book."

This volume includes the text of the Frank Capra movie, the story, "The Greatest Gift," by Philip Van Doren Stern, that inspired the movie, and lots of behind-the-scenes information.

There is also a bit of populist advice in the
script -- but before I tell you about that I'd like you to know that American Express agreed to lower the interest rate on my Optima credit card to 10.49% from the previous rate over 20%. This, after Washington Mutual lowered the rate on my Providian card from the high 20s to 7.99%, suggests to me that there are some financial institutions that have caught the Christmas spirit, and don't follow the example of those instititutions that, like the fictional Henry F. Potter in the Capra movie, think money is to be made by squeezing people rather than working with them.

(I guess I should also note that oil companies seem to be raising prices again -- prices in Torrington are about
18 cents higher than they were two weeks ago -- but as this sort of thing is counter to the Christmas spirit, I am not sending you a photo of current, anti--Christmas spirit gas prices.)

The good advice I noticed in the script of the Capra movie is George Bailey's appeal to people who filled the Bailey Building and Loan to get their money out right away, because they were afraid they would lose their savings.

George appealed to the people not to panic -- and he urged them to stick together. I guess that is also the advice we were lucky to get from the Founding Fathers. I think that is what the advice in
the first half of Federalist 57 is all about.

This document calls on leaders to stay close to the people. (Would you agree Santa that a politician who needs to rely on focus groups is not really close to the people?)

But it seems to me that it is the responsibility of the people to keep their leaders close to them, and not to re-elect officials who forget the message of No. 57 -- which, I think, comes down to one word: populism, a word that I would define as an expression of good will to all people.

Perhaps I ought to show a bit more good will to our leaders. Although I could there is need for more reform, there has been a bit of a softening of the city's parking policy -- meters no longer have to be fed on Sunday. That gesture by City Hall is to be commended as a good will expression of sympathy for the people, consistent with Federalist 57's advice to leaders.

And perhaps I should regard the $65 ticket I got on December 9 for an inspection sticker that expired December 8 as an indication that New York City can act swiftly and effectively when it wants to.

One thing that has occurred to me in recent years, Santa, and, I have learned, I am not alone in this, is that time seems to go by faster, as you get older. I don't know if this anniversary will get much notice, but I was reminded, recently, that Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., died sixty years ago, at age 65, on December 21, 1945, as a result of injuries he suffered
in an auto accident December 9, 1945--seven months after VE day, a victory this controversial general helped make possible.

And, Santa, would you believe that this coming March 15, "My Fair Lady" will mark the 50th anniversary of its Broadway opening?

What a Christmas present it would be to New York -- to the country and beyond -- if this anniversary got a lot of attention.

One of the songs written by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Frederick Loewe, has Prof. Higgins saying of Eliza Doolittle: "I've grown accustomed to her face. It almost makes the day begin." I think as long as we are accustomed to good will, it will make civility begin -- and because it is my sense that most people would welcome good will at all levels (in the contect
of competition, it might be called "good
sportsmanship), I assure you--yes, Santa, there still is Christmas, with its message of "Peace on earth, good will towards everyone."

In appreciation and with affection,

Yours gratefully,
David