Dear Readers,

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Dec 22, 2003

Byline: Paul M. Rodriguez, INSIGHT

Dear Readers,

Among the jobs newsmen most enjoy (at least many of us) are exposing government excess, bureaucratic silliness and the ever-present waste of taxpayer dollars. Truth be told, we don't know whether there are altruistic aspects to such exposes or if there is just something innate in people that makes them curious about what's going on behind the scenes and ready to deliver a good punch in the nose to the big guy in the fright wig on the other side of the curtain.

What brings this to mind is a knock-down-drag-out fight by the federal government to keep secret something that had nothing to do with the workings of government. And curiously, like the prosecutor in the movie Miracle on 34th Street, some folks still don't seem to get the idea that government is supposed to be transparent to allow governance for the people and by the people.

Consider Santa Claus. We thought his presence at Christmas was a "controversy" long ago settled officially by the U.S. Postal Service, which, by law we're told, cannot knowingly deliver mail to fake people at fake addresses. Yet when you read Timothy W. Maier's cover story about a decades-old fight to classify portions of certain presidential intelligence reports related to Santa, you have to wonder how much money was wasted on protecting the identity of one of the world's most well-known figures.

Yes, we're talking about Santa Claus - a jolly old fellow whom the U.S. government insisted could not be identified in highly classified intelligence documents long held by our spy agencies and, we suspect, by many other governments, because nobody was to know about his work. Kidding aside about sources and methods and all that secret spy stuff (and the real legal battles involved), the reality is that had anybody in the government just asked any kid on virtually any block, they would have discovered the secret is out about the man in the red suit and his tiny reindeer. Even the U.S. military publicly acknowledges - and protects - St. Nick's annual travels.

We personally learned about the spirit of this fellow named Claus in 1961 when the family apartment burned up on Christmas Eve and everything was destroyed. But on Christmas morning, at the shelter of the

Salvation Army, Santa delivered his gifts while we were reminded what Christmas really is about. For my part, the world was made right again. The spirit of rightness was there then, and it can be there now for anyone willing to toss cynicism to the wind and let that inner child emerge. There's nothing wrong with seeing the world through a child's eyes; in fact, it's a good thing. We recommend it to friends and colleagues all the time - think like a child when life's burdens get heavy. Go out and play, it's good for body, mind and soul.

The authors of the "Santa Claus Papers," about which Maier reports, must have been filled with a good deal of "childhoodism" (to coin a word) when they created those intelligence documents at the height of the Cold War. What a shame that their adult successors got bogged down with Grinchy and silly rules - spending tax monies to hide the merest spark of holiday humor.

Reporting the news is not always simple. But now and again something flies down the chimney that is irresistible, allowing us to report sooty affairs as well as some good news. Yes Virginia, Santa lives and shall continue to do so as long as adults remember that they once were young and in need of kindness from a stranger. Even a fat, old one with a scratchy beard.

With all the troubles in the world, especially in the heart of the Middle East, where current holidays reflect traditions going back for millennia, this is a very good time to remember what's most important.

From an elf bunker in the north, I'm your newsman expectantly watching for Santa and remembering the glow of many a Christmas.