White House Staff; Opioid Coverage; Changing the Rules; the Jolly Old Elf
Good morning. It’s Friday, December 23, 2016. On this date 193 years ago, Santa Claus came into being -- at least in his modern incarnation. His birth took place not in a manger but on the pages of an American newspaper, that glorious institution that predates (and helped midwife) the founding of the United States.
I wrote about this five years ago, and am reprising the story today mainly because I’ve barely begun my own Christmas shopping. In any event, in the early 19th century, the traditional Christmas figure of “Saint Nicholas” was evolving in both Europe and America. The original iteration was a real person, a 4th century luminary in the early church with a penchant for using his family inheritance to aid the needy and the sick. The bearded bishop became known for his generosity with material possessions, concern for sailors and ships, and, most notably, his love of children.
I’ll have more on this story in a moment. First, I’d point you to our front page, which aggregates columns and stories spanning the political spectrum. We also original material from our own reporters and contributors this morning, including the following:
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Experts: Trump Needs WH Team Before Cabinet. Alexis Simendinger assesses the president-elect’s progress in assembling those who will determine how well the new administration operates.
Competing Power Circles Emerge in Trump WH Staff. Emily Goodin explores a potential divide among some newly appointed key players.
Journalism in the Year of Dying Narcotically. RealClearInvestigations editor Tom Kuntz writes that news outlets large and small shed much needed light on the opioid crisis in 2016.
Reforming the Regulatory State Under Trump. In RealClearPolicy, Ted Gayer and Philip Wallach spotlight opportunities ahead for the new administration and Congress.
The GOP Should Provide Health Insurance for All Americans. In RealClearHealth, James C. Capretta outlines the political realities and policy priorities the majority party must have for a successful repeal-and-replace process.
Larry Kudlow Would Bring Rationality to What Is Absurd. RealClearMarkets editor John Tamny lays out why Larry Kudlow would improve the role of the Council of Economic Advisers.
Addressing Solar Industry Scams. In RealClearEnergy, Dan Whitten cites mechanisms in place to protect consumers and weed out bad actors in the renewables field.
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By the early 1800s, the figure of Saint Nick was a composite character, taking on aspects of a “Father Christmas” popular in Great Britain, along with some of the qualities of a gift-dispensing do-gooder out of Germanic and Scandinavian lore and sometimes called Santa Claus, an Anglicization of “Sinterklaas,” a Dutch word for Saint Nicholas.
But on December 23, 1823, a portly and merry Saint Nick appeared, courtesy of an unsigned poem published that day on Page 3 of the Troy (N.Y.) Sentinel. It was titled “Account of a Visit From Saint Nicholas,” although we usually know it as: “The Night Before Christmas.”
These verses were written by well-known religious scholar Clement Clarke Moore (or, as some claim dubiously, a poet of Scottish and Dutch descent named Henry Livingston Jr.) and featured an appealing Santa who managed to be both elusive and accessible. He was “a right jolly old elf” with rosy cheeks and a red nose. “Chubby and plump,” he happily smoked a pipe, and was quick to laugh -- and when he did so, his tummy shook “like a bowl full of jelly.”
It was this edition of Santa Claus that caught the public’s imagination, and it never let go. And so, to slightly paraphrase Clement Moore, I’ll just say in closing this morning: “Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good day.”
Carl M. Cannon
Washington Bureau chief, RealClearPolitics
@CarlCannon (Twitter)
[email protected]
