Secret Santa December 28, 2021December 27, 2021 But first . . . Anybody know Merrick Garland? If so, please forward this. (Sure, he’s probably already seen it; but still.) And now . . . It’s hard not to love this heartwarming story of Secret Santa handing out C-notes. But anyone who does find it heartwarming, it seems to me, should be supporting initiatives like Build Back Better that would greatly reduce the need for charity. A Secret Santa so rare he makes the national news — or even ten thousand of them who don’t — can’t possibly make a dent in the struggle so many of our countrymen and their children face. The pendulum has swung too far in favor of the ultra-rich at the expense of the working poor. Seeing the difference $100 bills make in their lives just makes vividly clear how urgently justice — and our success as a nation — demand we get that pendulum swinging back toward shared prosperity. Even if it means corporations and billionaires have to pay income tax at rates similar to what you and I pay. BONUS The Boys, by Ron and Clint Howard. I never watched either the Andy Griffith Show nor Gentle Ben, but what a warm, absorbing story their child stars, now 67 and 62, tell.