A FEW OF MY FAVORITE CHRISTMAS THINGS

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Here are three of my favorite Christmas things as my gift to you on this Christmas Eve.

The In Excelsis Deo episode of the West Wing, Season 1, Episode 10. Aaron Sorkin is an absolute genius when it comes to combining imagery with music. 

If you're not familiar with the episode, a homeless Korean War veteran is found dead in Washington. He was wearing a coat Toby Ziegler had donated to Goodwill. His business card was in the coat, so someone called Toby. He visited the homeless encampment, located the man's brother and pulled some strings to arrange for a burial with military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. 

Mrs. Landingham, the president's personal secretary, tells Toby "you shouldn't have done that." "I know" replies Toby. "You absolutely shouldn’t have done that." "I know."

When President Jed Bartlet finds out, he takes Toby into the Oval Office and asks, "if we start pulling strings like this, you don't think every homeless veteran will come out of the woodwork?" Toby said "I can only hope, sir." 

As Toby leaves the White House to pick up the man's brother and go the funeral at Arlington, Mrs. Landingham says to Toby, "I'd like to come along." Her two sons had been killed on Christmas Eve in Vietnam. 

The climactic scene cuts between a children's choir at the White House singing "The Little Drummer Boy" and the funeral service at Arlington. We see first Toby, then Mrs. Landingham flinch when the honor guard fire their rifles. Just breathtaking television.

 

Next, A Charlie Brown Christmas. Exasperated by the commercialization of Christmas, Charlie Brown exclaims "Isn't there anyone who knows what Christmas is all about?"

There is.

 

 

Finally, Christmas Eve, 1968. It was the end of a difficult year of intergenerational strife, highlighted by civil rights protests and violence. America was running out of time to fulfill John F. Kennedy's pledge to land a man on the moon and return him safely to Earth by the end of the decade. Apollo 8 was the first Apollo mission to reach the moon. Astronauts Frank Borman, Jim Lovell and Bill Anders would orbit the moon in the Command Module and return to Earth. In a worldwide broadcast 240,000 miles out in space, the Apollo 8 crew read from the book of Genesis.

Merry Christmas and God bless all of you, all of you on this good Earth.