William Frawley Saves Christmas?

There is a delightful scene in the 1947 Christmas movie Miracle on 34th Street where the judge in the case to commit Kris to a mental institution for believing he is Santa Claus is considering how to rule on the question of whether Santa Claus exists.  The judge at first assumes he will have to agree  with the district attorney that he does not.  Then a political boss played by William Frawley  explains things to him.  “All right, you go back and tell them that the New York State Supreme Court rules there's no Santa Claus. It's all over the papers. The kids read it and they don't hang up their stockings. Now what happens to all the toys that are supposed to be in those stockings? Nobody buys them. The toy manufacturers are going to like that; so they have to lay off a lot of their employees, union employees. Now you got the CIO and the AF of L against ya and they're going to adore ya for it and they're going to say it with votes. Oh, and the department stores are going to love ya too and the Christmas card makers and the candy companies. Ho ho, Henry, you're going to be an awful popular fella. And what about the Salvation Army? Why, they got a Santy Claus on every corner, and they're taking a fortune. But you go ahead Henry, you do it your way. You go on back in there and tell them that you rule there is no Santy Claus. Go on. But if you do, remember this: you can count on getting just two votes, your own and that district attorney's out there.”   The judge prudently changes his mind and ducks the question.

Over the weekend Anthony Fauci clearly and explicitly announced on TV that people might or might not be able to spend Christmas with their families and friends this year, and it was just too early to tell.  Then on Monday he declared  that of course people can enjoy a normal Christmas with their families and denied ever meaning anything else. One can  wonder if some modern day William Frawley from the Democrat party gave him the same sort of advice the judge got in the movie. It is surely amusing to think one did. Whatever one thinks of Fauci’s performance on other things in his dealing with the epidemic, his arrogance, shiftiness, and utter failure on the marketing and public relations side are obvious