When my son Chris was a boy there came a year when we’d pushed the Santa Claus envelope as far as we possibly could. His belief in the jolly white-bearded old man had run its course. Still, I sensed a longing and wistfulness, as if deep down he still wanted to believe. Maybe it was my own longing that prompted me to write my son a letter about the mystery and the magic of Santa Claus. The following is excerpted from my letter to Chris.
Christmas 1991
Dear Chris,
For hundreds of years children around the world have asked their parents if there really is a Santa Claus. I knew the time would come when you, too, would question Santa’s existence. Sometimes in life the truest answers aren’t always the simplest. So I decided to explain it to you in this letter.
Santa Claus’ name comes from the word Sinterklaas which means St. Nicholas. And yes Chris, there really was a St. Nicholas. Hundreds of years ago he was the bishop of Myra in what is now Turkey. He was known as a kind and generous man who brought presents to the children who lived in his village every year at Christmas.
Over the centuries some people forgot about St. Nicholas and his love for children. But others remembered and they passed his story down from generation to generation. Then about 100 years ago a man named Clement Moore decided he would write a story about Christmas for his own children.
He sat down on a cold snowy night and he wrote a story that you know well…The Night Before Christmas. Clement Moore’s own children so loved the story that they gave it to all their friends to read. Before long the story spread, and soon children were once again listening for the sound of sleigh bells in the night.
I have my own Christmas story. It’s about a mother and father who took their four-year-old son out on a snowy night in Brooklyn to buy a Christmas tree. They pulled the little boy through the snowy streets in a red wagon. The three of them lived in a small apartment but the love they shared for each other was enough to fill the whole city!
When they found the right Christmas tree they brought it home and had hot chocolate. Maybe someday they would have a house in a place with lakes where the boy could swim whenever he wanted. Who knows, maybe the boy would someday have a little brother named Sean. But for now they had their Christmas tree and their hot chocolate and their love for each other and that was more than enough to make them happy and warm.
By now you’ve guessed that the little boy was you, Chris. You see, what Santa Claus really means is L-O-V-E. He is very much alive in our hearts and in our remembrance of Christmases past, reminding us about the love St. Nicholas had for the children in his village, or that caused Clement Moore to write his wonderful story, or that we will always share as a family.
On Christmas morning when you come downstairs and see the tree with all the presents underneath, I want you to know that mom and I put them there because we love you, because we carry the spirit of Santa in our hearts, and because it makes us happy when you are happy.
Before long Sean will be old enough for you to read him The Night Before Christmas. When you’re done reading the story you can watch your brother as he listens for the sound of reindeer hooves on the roof. And maybe every now and again, even though you’re growing up fast and you know it’s crazy, you’ll catch yourself listening for the sound of sleigh bells in the sky.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Friday, December 4, 2009
White House Press Secretary Needs to Get a Grip
Word out of Washington is that White House press secretary Robert Gibbs became testy with a reporter from American Urban Radio during an exchange over the role of the White House social secretary at a recent state dinner.
Message to Mr. Gibbs: You’re the one that needs to “take a deep breath” and chill out, not April Ryan from Urban Radio.
The fact is, a serious breach of security occurred at the state dinner in question. This is particularly troubling in view of the fact that President Obama has received far more threats in a shorter period of time than his predecessor George W. Bush. So ask yourself a question Mr. Gibbs: what’s wrong with this picture? The picture, that is, of White House social secretary Desiree Rogers dressed to the nines and looking very much the belle of the ball at the state dinner, as Ms. Ryan had the gall to point out.
We now know that state dinners are events at which Ms. Rogers’ predecessors were typically stationed in the reception area with the Secret Service as an additional screen against uninvited guests. Instead of enjoying the heady atmosphere at the dinner, she should have been checking out the incoming guests along with the Secret Service. But enough about Rogers. From a communicator’s perspective it is Gibbs that provides counterpoint to the President’s calm, cool approach to dealing with hot topics.
As best I can figure, there’s one of three possibilities. The White House press secretary hasn’t had much crisis experience, he’s more arrogant than I originally thought, or he’s just not very good at his job. Truth is, Robert Gibbs has spent his professional life in the role of political flak. No disrespect intended here. I was once one myself.
Second message to Mr. Gibbs: If you think you've had some contentious interactions with the White House press corps to date, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
For the record, I don’t say these things lightly. In fact, I expressed a similar opinion after the way Gibbs handled the Cambridge incident involving a white police officer and a black Harvard professor. Interestingly, that was right around the time the association that represents my profession – Public Relations Society of America –selected Gibbs as communicator of the year or something to that effect. I’m still not sure I understand PRSA’s line of thinking on that one.
Over the years I’ve been involved in more than a few crisis situations from a nuclear emergency and a patient fatality to a major environmental accident. If I've learned anything, it's that you don't wait until a crisis hits to establish a good rapport with the news media. The fact that Gibbs seems to have something of a short fuse doesn't help matters.
Third and final message to Mr. Gibbs: Alientating reporters isn't the way to go. If you treat them like professionals, they usually respond accordingly. Bottom line...they're there to get the story, whether you want them to or not.
America faces more difficult days in the months ahead between our decimated economy, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and everything in between. We need a captain at the wheel with a steady hand. I still believe that in President Obama, we have that captain. But the President needs a communicator who can keep his cool and convey the President's positions objectively and unemotionally to Americans and the world through the news media.
In a different setting I might recommend that Mr. Gibbs receive coaching and counseling. Unfortunately, the role of White House press secretary isn’t one in which you have time to learn on the job. Just ask Ari Fleischer, Dee Dee Myers, Marlin Fitzwater, Ron Nessen or Bill Moyers. Who knows, when all is said and done maybe Robert Gibbs is the best person for the job. But right now, based on his performance to date, it sure doesn't look that way.
Message to Mr. Gibbs: You’re the one that needs to “take a deep breath” and chill out, not April Ryan from Urban Radio.
The fact is, a serious breach of security occurred at the state dinner in question. This is particularly troubling in view of the fact that President Obama has received far more threats in a shorter period of time than his predecessor George W. Bush. So ask yourself a question Mr. Gibbs: what’s wrong with this picture? The picture, that is, of White House social secretary Desiree Rogers dressed to the nines and looking very much the belle of the ball at the state dinner, as Ms. Ryan had the gall to point out.
We now know that state dinners are events at which Ms. Rogers’ predecessors were typically stationed in the reception area with the Secret Service as an additional screen against uninvited guests. Instead of enjoying the heady atmosphere at the dinner, she should have been checking out the incoming guests along with the Secret Service. But enough about Rogers. From a communicator’s perspective it is Gibbs that provides counterpoint to the President’s calm, cool approach to dealing with hot topics.
As best I can figure, there’s one of three possibilities. The White House press secretary hasn’t had much crisis experience, he’s more arrogant than I originally thought, or he’s just not very good at his job. Truth is, Robert Gibbs has spent his professional life in the role of political flak. No disrespect intended here. I was once one myself.
Second message to Mr. Gibbs: If you think you've had some contentious interactions with the White House press corps to date, you ain't seen nothin' yet.
For the record, I don’t say these things lightly. In fact, I expressed a similar opinion after the way Gibbs handled the Cambridge incident involving a white police officer and a black Harvard professor. Interestingly, that was right around the time the association that represents my profession – Public Relations Society of America –selected Gibbs as communicator of the year or something to that effect. I’m still not sure I understand PRSA’s line of thinking on that one.
Over the years I’ve been involved in more than a few crisis situations from a nuclear emergency and a patient fatality to a major environmental accident. If I've learned anything, it's that you don't wait until a crisis hits to establish a good rapport with the news media. The fact that Gibbs seems to have something of a short fuse doesn't help matters.
Third and final message to Mr. Gibbs: Alientating reporters isn't the way to go. If you treat them like professionals, they usually respond accordingly. Bottom line...they're there to get the story, whether you want them to or not.
America faces more difficult days in the months ahead between our decimated economy, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and everything in between. We need a captain at the wheel with a steady hand. I still believe that in President Obama, we have that captain. But the President needs a communicator who can keep his cool and convey the President's positions objectively and unemotionally to Americans and the world through the news media.
In a different setting I might recommend that Mr. Gibbs receive coaching and counseling. Unfortunately, the role of White House press secretary isn’t one in which you have time to learn on the job. Just ask Ari Fleischer, Dee Dee Myers, Marlin Fitzwater, Ron Nessen or Bill Moyers. Who knows, when all is said and done maybe Robert Gibbs is the best person for the job. But right now, based on his performance to date, it sure doesn't look that way.
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