Conservatively Speaking
State Senator Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin) represents parts of four counties: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, and Walworth. Her Senate District 28 includes New Berlin, Franklin, Greendale, Hales Corners, Muskego, Waterford, Big Bend, the town of Vernon and parts of Greenfield, East Troy, and Mukwonago. Senator Lazich has been in the Legislature for more than a decade. She considers herself a tireless crusader for lower taxes, reduced spending and smaller government.
Is Santa conservative?
This is an 1863 print done by Thomas Nast that is considered the first image of Santa Claus, taken from the January 1863 issue of Harper’s Weekly.
The print illustrates a family torn apart by the Civil War. On the left, you see a woman kneeling in prayer on Christmas Eve. She is gazing out the window looking at the nighttime sky, contemplating the absence of her husband who is seen on a picture on the wall.
On the right, the woman’s forlorn husband is depicted sitting around a campfire with his rifle, in his hand a photo album with pictures of his wife and children.
Take a look at the upper left hand corner of Nast’s print. Even though it is quite small, you can see Nast’s image of Santa Claus getting into a chimney. Santa in his sleigh with reindeer, one of the first images of this Christmas tradition, can be seen in the upper right corner.
Down in the lower right corner, you see ships at sea, and in the lower center, graves of soldiers killed in action. The entire collage is a magnificent and historic work by Nast.
Nast, a Republican, was called the Father of American Caricature. He designed the elephant symbol for the Republican Party and also came up with the donkey for the Democrats. One of Nast's cartoons reportedly helped re-elect Abraham Lincoln in 1864, and Lincoln himself said that Nast was his best recruiting sergeant.
Nast is credited with creating the image of Santa Claus as a jolly, fat man.
Read more about Nast here.
So, is Santa conservative? Columnist John Andrews thinks so. Andrews wrote a piece last December outlining how everything the left stands for is, “a total repudiation of St. Nicolas,” and “the exact opposite of ‘be good for goodness' sake.”
You can read Andrews’ column here.
If you still have doubt, there’s that bright red suit.
Merry Christmas!
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