Naughty boys and girls

A local TV station showed some images this morning from the "Norad Tracks Santa 2007" Web site, and I see from a visit this morning that the jolly old elf and his crew are over Japan as I compose this brief note.

The only thing I found confusing is that the TV station showed a computer-generated image, presumably off the Web site, of Santa and his reindeer approaching the U.S. Congress building.

I can think of few people more deserving of lumps of coal than those congressional critters this holiday season. In fact, my inclination would be that Santa would have to avoid that entire area of the District of Columbia this year, as the U.S. government in general does not exactly register on the positive side of the naughty-or-nice scale.

Perhaps that is indeed the message being given, though - now that I think of it, the reindeer were flying over the congressional dome but did not appear to be stopping there.

On the other hand, if Santa is indeed bringing toys to our rulers, it's a sign of hope for freedom. If a surveillance system as sophisticated as Santa's could miss the naughty deeds of those people, then perhaps the ability to keep an eye on innocent citizens is not as pervasive as we've been led to believe.