Good Santa
Posted on September 9, 2007
Santa Claus is getting serious. His summer workshop is thin on toys but stocking-stuffed with legislation and government reports. Yes, Virginia, Santa is a policy wonk. But considering Mr. Claus’ career before donning “the uniform” it isn’t so surprising. Mr. Claus, who legally changed his name to Santa Claus a few years ago, was Director of the Terrorism Research and Communications Center, served as Assistant Deputy Police Commissioner for the New York City Police Department, and as a law enforcement administrator in the Virgin Islands. Long story short: If Rudolf’s nose is red for any of the wrong reasons, we have a problem.
But closest to Santa’s heart is children. From his home in a Lake Tahoe church (this Santa is also a monk) Santa is spearheading a national push to put children’s issues back on the political radar. Mr. Claus recently finished a 50 state “Bless the Children” tour, where he met with governors and lawmakers to discuss the plight of millions of America’s poorest and most vulnerable kids. The country’s methamphetamine epidemic, Santa says, has led to thousands more being taken into foster care. Child suicides are on the rise and child obesity is epidemic. It sounds like a job for Superman but this Santa says he’s up for the challenge.
WJ: So we hear you’ve got a gig for the other 11 months.
I do. My work is helping the 2 million children across the United States who are abused, neglected, exploited, abandoned, homeless or institutionalized. That represents one out of every 37 children in America. I’m also very concerned about the 400,000 American children who are already in the foster care system. More than 100,000 are ready to be adopted right now—if anyone was there to.
WJ: C’mon. Angelina Jolie can’t adopt everybody.
Ho, ho, ho. True. (Editors note: Santa didn’t actually say “Ho, ho, ho” but we think it adds something.) It’s wonderful when anybody is willing to step up and adopt. But considering that we have 114,000 ready for adoption in the United States, it’s a concern when a quarter of that figure is annual adoptions from overseas. By adopting American kids, we can take a lot of pressure off of our social services system. Read more
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