OK, I know this is supposed to be a political blog, but it’s also about espousing conservative values. And so I would like to take a moment and put forward to you all, the roots of my conservatism as we celebrate this Christmas season.

Every Christmas season I have the good fortune to play Santa at church, family and work parties. I originally started doing it as a way to fund our Christmas, but it has turned into something much bigger. Each year I find a family that is struggling and who otherwise wouldn’t likely have a good Christmas. I seek donations from others and on Christmas eve, the last family I visit is that designated family (after all the kids are in bed) and with the parents help I place presents under the tree for each family member. It is truly a rewarding and humbling experience to help provide such a service.

We’ve unfortunately forgotten that giving should be a personal experience whether it is done as individuals, through a church, or through another charity. IT SHOULD NOT BE DONE THROUGH GOVERNMENT! When the government takes it on themselves to take money from us through taxes and give it to someone else, whether it’s the financial institutions, insurance companies, auto companies, welfare recipients, or hurricane victims, it’s socialism plain and simple. We must resist at every turn, the governments attempts to become the nanny state for all of us, and go back to the “community barn raising” mentality that this great nation was founded upon. When everyone begins to turn to the government for handouts, everyone becomes the leech and eventually there’s no blood left to suck. Socialism will eventually collapse upon itself. This has been proven through history time and time again. Why must our current government feel inclined to “beat the odds?” It contradicts the laws of nature. In 1623, the impoverished community of Jamestown abandoned socialism for that very reason and planted the seeds of capitalism that caused the United States to become the envy of the world.

Back to my Santa story. This year, in addition to my providing a Christmas for one needy family, I have committed myself to beginning another tradition. I have found that just being in my Santa suit creates the miracle of Christmas cheer, and so I go where people are seeking to tap into that spirit. On Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah there is a building called the Joseph Smith Memorial Building. The crowds throng to look at the Christmas lights on Temple Square and to listen to the musical performances in the JSMB. Let me share with you my experience I had last week.

I arrived, parked under in the underground parking and walked into the lower level of the building where I was immediately thronged by several children. Normally as a Santa I am sitting on a chair for children to sit on my lap. However, when I run across children in this situation, I get on my knees and open my arms to hug the children. You should see the look of delight, love, and appreciation in their eyes! The parents are so thankful--it warms my heart to see it. After greeting that group of children, I took the stairs to the main floor and was thronged by another group of kids with the parents in tow. Santa truly is a celebrity around Christmas time. But it’s not about me or my ego; it’s about being a symbol of Christmas, of love, of joy and of giving--and being that symbol brings happiness into the lives of others.

After giving out hugs to several more children I was approached by a bride who was having her reception in that building and wanted her picture taken with Santa. Then more children surrounded me and I gave them my undivided attention. Shortly thereafter I was approached by about thirty high school girls in matching dresses who wanted their picture taken with Santa, I had never seen a wedding with 30 bridesmaids before and they assured me they weren’t with a wedding party, but had just finished performing at the top level of the building. I had my picture taken with them in groups of five or six. Then a young couple came up to me and asked if they could have their picture taken with Santa. For many people, Santa represents happy childhood memories, so I am no longer surprised when adults ask to have their picture taken with me, or at family or young adult parties, still want to sit on Santa’s lap and tell Santa what they want for Christmas.

Still another bride wanted her picture taken with me, and then two more young couples, and then more children. I was having more fun performing these acts of service than you could possibly imagine. I plan to go again this next Friday evening. If you happen to be in Salt Lake City at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building, keep your eye open for Santa.

But let’s keep in mind what Christmas is really all about. Christmas isn’t about Santa, or seeing how much money we can put in the retailer’s pockets, or about receiving gifts, or about trying to outdo our neighbor’s Christmas decorating fetish. It’s about following the example of He who’s day we celebrate this entire month. My son was feeling bad because of a painful relationship breakup and he asked me if I knew of a way to get past the pain faster. I advised him that if he really wanted to get over this breakup the fastest possible way, he should find acts of service he can perform daily. Since he’s got a wonderful voice, I suggested that he go to an adult care home and sing Christmas carols to the residents. Or go shovel snow for an elderly widow. Looking past our own lives, helps us find the love that lives inside all of our hearts. Are these not the conservative values we seek to spread? I believe they are. If we each find ways to make the world a better place on a daily basis, we will find that our lives are more enriched and worth living. And people are less likely to look to government to provide them with their “daily bread.”

My final thought is in the form of a video, to help us all remember the real reason why each of us celebrate Christmas and prefer to continue to say “Merry Christmas” to one another, rather than merely “Happy Holidays.”

I well remember the days of the Jimmy Carter Presidency and the accompanying recession and energy crisis. As the price of gasoline skyrocketed well above inflation (sound familiar) President Carter set up the energy department and created the well publicized “Synthetic Fuel” program to totally eliminate our dependence on foreign oil. When that pronouncement came out, almost immediately the sheiks all got together and increased production and lowered the per barrel price of oil to pre-inflation prices. And so we forgot our resolve to wean ourselves off of foreign oil dependence.

This past summer we watched helplessly as gas prices went through the roof once again. When the #dontgo movement finally convinced the Democrats in Congress to vote on legislation that will allow us to drill offshore and extract oil from shale, amazingly the prices plunged again. I just filled up last night and only paid $1.49 per gallon for my gas. It was 2002 the last time I paid that amount for my gas.

Let’s not get fooled again here though. It’s clear that the Saudis are pulling the same stunt as before in an attempt to keep us dependent on their oil. We absolutely must take full advantage of this opportunity to develop alternate energy options so that we will NEVER again be subject to the whims of hostile foreign powers. Again, I’m not the kind of person to just talk about a problem just so I can vent—I like to provide what I believe to be reasonable solutions to help solve the problem. So here’s what I believe we, individually and collectively, should do to improve our situation.

• Demand that auto manufacturers build more cars that use natural gas, a gas that is renewable and a resource that has enough reserves in Canada, US and Mexico to last several lifetimes even at current fuel consumption levels. When I say “demand” I mean go straight to the source and vote with your pocketbook. Don’t clamor for more government regulation to solve our problems. We want to make our government smaller with less control, rather than the opposite. Just go to your local car dealer and let them know that you will be unable to purchase any more new cars from them in the future until the time that they have alternate fuel vehicles readily available on their lots for purchase. Personally, I would define “readily available” as 50% of the inventory on their lot is alternative fuel vehicles.

• The stock market is down right now. Eventually it will go back up and when it does I believe the smart money will be put into alternative energy stocks such as natural gas, wind power, hydrogen fuel, nuclear development, etc. Invest in those stocks so that entrepreneurs with great ideas will be able to provide the best products to the market that will in turn reduce or even remove our dependence on foreign oil.

• Write your Congressman and Senators to let them know how you feel about government regulations that discourage the development of alternate energy resources and encourage foreign oil dependency. Hold their feet to the fire on a fairly regular basis so they are constantly reminded that we’re not going to let them off the hook this time.

• Go to the T. Boone Pickens website and read about and support his plan for alternate energy development. He’s a smart guy who knows a little bit about energy development from the oil side of things, which gives him a unique perspective in exploring the other energy options that could be made available to us.

• Walk more places and commute via bus or bike every once in a while. The less we purchase fuel, the lower the prices will get AND the less wear and tear on your vehicle—hence lower maintainance costs for you in the future. This is not an endorsement of the Global Warming theory—I think that’s phony science guided by political forces. I’m just saying that it’s a kind of boycott of the auto and oil industries every time you choose to reduce your driving. This summer, for the first time in many years, our nation’s fuel consumption declined. That in turn helped force the prices downward. You know, that old law of supply and demand thing.

• Notice how sales of SUVs and pickups have declined significantly? It sure made the auto industry sit up and pay attention for the first time in like, forever. They are ready to listen to us tell them what kind of cars we will buy rather than the other way around. Write letters to the captains of industry and let them know what your car buying plans are. I’ve got no problem purchasing a Suburban from GM as long as I can run natural gas in it. Make sure they understand that YOU understand the foolishness of the whole government mandated ethanol thing. They need to know that you know why food prices are so high, and why turkey farms had to kill all their turkeys days before Thanksgiving because they couldn’t afford the corn to feed them with. An educated electorate is a very powerful electorate!

So don’t let them fool us again this time. I’ve got no problem with raping and pillaging our own soil and coastline a bit more than we do right now in order to take care of our own fuel needs, rather than being held hostage by foreign governments. I’m not even convinced that we should consider oil based fuel to be a long term strategy for the United States. But we do need to start NOW to develop the alternative energy resources that will give us the edge once again.