Maybe it is their ignorance of the actual origins of Santa Claus but are the child advocates’ beef over military jets escorting Santa Claus’ reindeer on the latest NORAD tracking animation groundless?
By: Ringo Bones
It may be just a coincidence that the present incarnation of
Santa Claus makes him appear to be a version of Ibn Battuta with supernatural
powers but in actuality, Santa has military origins and had began life as a
morale booster for the then US President Abraham Lincoln’s Union troops at the
height of the American Civil War. Political cartoonist Thomas Nast was
originally commissioned by Lincoln to create a cartoon that could boost the
morale of the Union soldiers caught in the quagmire of the frontlines of the
American Civil War.
Given that for all intents and purposes Santa Claus is an
American Civil War veteran – the only one left in fact that’s still doing
goodwill missions on an annual basis, a military jet escort is just par of the
course. A NORAD spokesperson said in a press conference that the military jet
escort on this year’s Santa Claus circumpolar tracking animation was meant to
give it an “operational feel”, it seems that child advocate groups appalled by
the over-militarization of Santa Claus might be clueless on the American Civil
War origins of Santa Claus. And before NORAD’s Cheyenne Mountain complex was
even built, the United States Air force were probably escorting Santa’s
reindeer sleigh with F-86 Sabers during the mid 1950s – back when the Saber was
the most advanced military jet in the USAF arsenal. By the way, NORAD had been tracking Santa Claus during the past 59 years.
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