In September of 1897, an eight-year-old girl wrote a letter to the editor of the New York Sun.  The girl wanted to know if there was a Santa Claus.  The letter and the editorial response from Francis Pharcellus Church have become a Christmas tradition.  Both are reprinted in the endnote below[i].

American Thinker has received a strikingly similar letter from a "descendent" of Virginia.  That letter and our editorial reply follow.

Dear Editor:

I am 28 years old.  Some of my comrades say that Obama is not Santa Claus.  My "Papa" -- which is short for "PAtronizing PAtriarch" -- is a middle-class capitalist.  He runs his own small business.  He has recently kicked me out of our home.  He says that I should repay the $350,000 in student loans I have taken out.

This, in spite of the fact that I've only just finished my Masters in Marxist Musicology and I have not been able to find a job in my chosen field: the folk music of Che Guevara.

Anyway, "Papa" says, "If you see it in American Thinker it's so."  Please tell me the truth.  Is Obama going to pay off my student loans and provide me a job?  Is Obama Santa Claus?

Virginia O'Hanlon IV

Last Address: Tent 4, Row F, Zuccotti Park, New York

VIRGINIA, your comrades are wrong.  They have been affected by their lack of employment in the Golden Age of Obama.  They do not believe what they see.  They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds and caused by greed on Wall Street.  All minds, be they men or children, are little (except Obama's).  In this great country of ours, citizens are mere insects, ants, in their intellects, as compared with the boundless intelligence of our President, as measured by his ability of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, Virginia, Obama is Santa Claus.  He exists as certainly as the billions of dollars he has "loaned" to the people who raised money for his first campaign.  Obama has given to their lives the highest beauty and joy: cold hard cash.  Alas!  How dreary would be the country if there were no Solyndras, Beacon Powers, and NextEra Energies to receive billions of dollars of your "Papa's" tax dollars!  It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAs protesting against Wall Street and ignoring the real corruption.  There would be no fraud, no poverty, and no mystical promise of nonexistent green energy to save the economy.  We would have real employment, and the unemployment numbers would not be constantly rewritten to look better than they are.

Not believe that Obama is Santa Claus!  You might as well not believe in fairies or Keynesian economics!  You might get your papa to vote for congressmen, who monitor all the loans and grants to Obama's friends, to catch Obama dropping money down the green energy chimneys on Christmas Eve.  But even if they did nab Obama distributing huge bundles of cash, what would that prove?  Nobody wants to admit that Obama is corrupt, but that is no sign that he is not Santa Claus.  The most real scams in the world are those that neither children nor congressmen can see.  Did you ever see fairies dancing on your lawn with huge checks from the Department of Energy?  Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there.  Nobody can conceive of or imagine all the Keynesian wonders that are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the Obama administration which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of the Tea Party, could tear apart.  Only truth, honesty, open-mindedness, and a firm grip on reality can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal lies, deceit, and self-deception beneath.  Is it all real?  Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else as real and abiding as the corruption of the political class.

Obama is not Santa Claus?  You should thank Obama!  The spending spree lives, and the deficit goes on forever.  A thousand years from now, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, your children will be paying for it.

Larrey Anderson is a writer, philosopher, and senior editor for American Thinker.  He is the author of the award-winning novel The Order of the Beloved and the memoir Underground.  He is working on a new book, titled The Death of Culture.

[i] DEAR EDITOR:

I am 8 years old. 
Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. 
Papa says, "If you see it in THE SUN it's so."
Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

VIRGINIA O'HANLON, 

115 WEST NINETY-FIFTH STREET

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.