43% "believe" in Santa . . .

 Dear you,

Remember the good old days when we argued about Santa Claus?  Is he for real or just fake news?  Is he white or “other”?  Ah yes, the good old days.  Flashback to a piece by Andrew Kaczynski, BuzzFeed, December 2013.  Public Policy Polling results were shown as follows:

Do you believe in Santa Claus?

Yes 43%

No 50%

Unsure 7%

Agree or disagree:  It’s a verifiable fact that Santa Claus was white.

Agree 32%

Disagree 36%

Unsure 32%

Oh god.  Look at those numbers.  Close to half of us, grown ass adults at that, believe in Santa.  Worse still, we have the ever-present race-claimers!  Nearly a third asserted S.C. was white, as a verifiable fact.  How the hell are they going to verify that?  What are they using as evidence?  Do they know what evidence is?   

Ah, the good old days, a time when wacky beliefs wouldn’t bring down a democracy.

Now, we argue about empirical realities like math.  We argue about who won the election.  And for those of us who do not buy the lie of voter-fraud-everywhere!!!!!!, it feels like arguing with morons who believe in Santa Claus.  I cannot believe we are even doing this. However, here it is, according to numerous sources and polls:

Almost 50% of voting Republicans believe Trump’s claim that he won the election

I am pretty sure they believe in Santa Claus too, a white Santa who by virtue of his race is free to break and enter, consume your snacks, and leave junk all over the living room floor.   

Then and now, there is always a big chunk of American peeps who BELIEVE whatever they are told.  Fine.  Believe away.  Just don’t fuck around with my democracy.  Or my holiday retail excursions.  In those hallowed (and hopefully masked and distanced) aisles, I get to study the various forms of Santa iconography, critique his expressions, couture, and level of creepiness. [See the above photo of Santa at the local Wally.  On a scale of 1 to 10, how creepy do you think he is?  I say about 8.  Something about that hand gesture and lacy suit trim. Highly problematic.]  So, yeah, in a way I enjoy Santa.  I just don’t BELIEVE in him.

So, to close, I am just saying I wish we were arguing about The Man With The Bag instead of . . . you know who.

Just do the math.

Love,

Joyce