Donald Trump, answering phone call from 7-year-old on Christmas Eve: "Are you still a believer in Santa? Because at seven it's marginal, right?" pic.twitter.com/VHexvFSbQ1— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) December 25, 2018
I did find that very funny... for a cluster of reasons:
1. I didn't think a 7-year-old, especially a 7-year-old who still believed in Santa, would understand the word "marginal."
2. The question "Do you believe in X?" doesn't imply that X is not real. People who ask "Do you believe in God?" are not implying that there is no God. The word "still" has some hint that you need to get smart and abandon that false belief, but it could just as well mean that I knew that you used to believe and I wonder if you've maintained your faith. You could ask someone "Are you still a Christian?" without expressing doubt in Christianity. Trump didn't lay that hard on the word "still."
3. I could see that the people who are always looking to attack Trump were jumping on what was at most a tiny glitch is a nice Christmas thing he was doing, and I think those people are so tedious. I have expressed sympathy for them, because they are missing so much humor, humor that I am really enjoying. But then I had to admit to myself that part of why it's funny to me is that I know a whole lot of people will just be steamed and outraged. Thanks, Trump haters. Thanks for honing the edge of Trump's transgression. Your grim that's-not-funnyism is making it funnier.
4. When all we have is Trump's side of the conversation we have to imagine what he's reacting to. I'd thought, based on his warm smile, that after he said "Are you still a believer in Santa?" he got a somewhat hedging answer from a knowing child, and he formed a bond with the child by saying, I get you, you still say you believe but you don't believe believe like a little kid. I thought Trump had a genuine moment with a specific 7-year-old individual.
But now I have to give up on #4, because the press seems to have found the 7-year-old, complete with video from her end, and she doesn't seem to be a knowing child getting into a charmingly confidential confession of marginal belief with Trump. She seems perfectly childish and she simply says "Yes, sir" to everything he says. But I am confirmed in point #1. She didn't understand the word "marginal." The main problem with Trump was that he was talking to her on too high of a level. Maybe his own children were a little more sophisticated at age 7. Whatever. I think it's funny. Still! Even though one of my reasons for enjoying it is shot to hell.
Bonus: I've been watching the box set of the entire series "Friends," and just by chance this is something I watched the other day. Joey's in the Trump position here, unwittingly blowing the child-woman's belief in Santa (which, at 27, is really marginal, right?):
Posts
73 comments:
#tdsds
Yes, Virginia, there is an Impeachment Clause.
"But then I had to admit to myself that part of why it's funny to me is that I know a whole lot of people will just be steamed and outraged."
It's the banana peel effect. Smart person winds up on his ass.
rhhardin said: "Smart person winds up on his ass."
That explains why so many seemingly smart people (like Victor Davis Hanson) have ended up on their asses for supporting Trump.
The banana peel effect is when a supercilious know it all takes a fall. Stupid is as stupid does.
my seven year old grandson , when asked "isn't it time for you to go to bed?? said, "is that a rhetorical question?" Kids develop a big vocabulary when they are talked to and read to. When they aren't, they don't.
The movie Polar Express is all about children believing in Santa and adults not believing-- and it's a children's book!
It's actually the theme of many holiday stories. Children manage to believe anyway. It's what kids do!
Where are the Trump's hiding Baron von Drumpfenspiel? We only see Donnie playing with strangers kids. Hiding him like Tiffany Sparkling?
I have to admit that it’s a good idea when you lose an election to use every other kind of means to win back power because that’s what democracy looks like. I used to think that using law enforcement and selective prosecution was banana republic stuff, but now I see that the benighted denizens of flyover country cannot be trusted with a meaningful vote and so we are only left with the methods proposed by sinz52 to carry out what is best for the people.
Democracy was always a pipe dream. Am I right?
Trump is playing a role here. The role is know-it-all big brother.
Small b big brother. I guess the armchair psychiatrists can put that in their bong and smoke it.
I really feel that a big reason for the polarization in politics in America is small families.
Small families mean fewer people have older siblings. Older siblings are useful foils for figuring out the world. Small families also mean smaller extended families. A big extended family means more weirdos in your personal orbit.
The banana peel effect is when a supercilious know it all takes a fall. Stupid is as stupid does.
Howard succinctly explains why it is so much fun to watch 2016 election night coverage.
E E Cummings has santa as love and death as science.
Also, if you keep losing elections, you should import a new electorate, because changing your ideas is clearly unacceptable.
The press is starting to become just a noise, somewhat like a saw in a mill cutting into a log. In other words, the press stories begin "Trump says X" and the story then continues in my mind as "and the press responds WHHEEEEMMMMMM". And "Trump signs bill" and "the press responds WHHEEEEMMMMMM." Trump talks about Santa and WHHEEEEMMMMMM. And Trump and WHHEEEEMMMMMM. And Trump and WHHEEEEMMMMMM. It's becoming just inhuman noise like the galleries during the Kavanaugh hearing. You notice that the government shutdown, however, means almost nothing, it's only a "wheeemm."
For our Hostess, it appears that "Friends" has that quality of Holy Writ in which a passage can be found in it that sheds light (of a sort) on nearly any aspect of human experience.
Behold the mystery of latter-day Revelation.
More DJT jokes for Althouse:
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/300928-trump-told-14-year-old-girl-hell-be-dating-her-soon
Exactly right, Tim. Literally and figuratively for double the fun.
Some people have their kids believing in Santa way too long these days. Seven *is* marginal, and what he said is hilarious. Everything is unsophisticated scolds tsk-tsking everyone now.
Meadehouse loved this knee slapper (according to them) too:
https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/300740-footage-surfaces-of-trump-making-questionable-remark-about-10
Stuff White People Like #101: Being Offended
Brilliant observation, Henry. Also, the massive reduction in violent crime due Roe v Wade has left Millennials less weary of dangerous situations.
Friends would be found deplorable if filmed today. Unwoke AF.
And, Wildswan, that was brilliant.
Just offhand I'd say dating you soon stuff is meant to encourage the kid - soon boys will like you - at an age where boys don't but girls are interested.
A Dem would ask the girl about her desires to become an astronaut.
Long ago when I first said that Trump would be entertaining little did I know how entertaining he would be and how wonderfully he would drive the right people crazy. He seems to greatly enjoy life.
Maybe his own children were a little more sophisticated at age 7.
sdharms at 8:01 is correct.
When you talk to children in a more adult manner and read them books beyond their chronological age....Not using baby talk. Explaining what concepts and words mean as you go along they will be more "sophisticated". Children have the ability to soak up concepts like sponges. Why give them slop to soak up?
Comparing to my 7 yr old grandson: he would know what the words marginal or rhetorical mean. Grandson has the goal to be a scientist...or a magician like Harry Potter. Either one is a great goal. I bought him a child's chemistry set that you can use to make a magic show for Christmas. Learning while entertaining his siblings and making a mess for his Mom to clean up. Ha...revenge :-D
(I had one at that age and loved it!!)
Bob Menendez, user of trafficked underage “hookers,” Democrat of New Jersey not problematic.
Next thing you know, somebody is going to say that the Impeachment Faerie isn’t real.
Or that they don’t believe in Russian Collusion. Or don’t believe that Michelle Obama is a stunningly beautiful fashion icon. The whole thing could fall apart if we start questioning child-like belief!
Which was worse, Trump implying some doubt about Santa’s existence or the press making a mad dash to the kid’s house to make a big deal about it?
Hint: only one of them is a funny story to be told years later.
Tim reverts to battered woman syndrome, sad.
They hyperventilate easy, dont they?
I found Brenda Lee's crypto-Marxist song about lassoing Santa Claus and redistributing the presents in a more equitable manner highly subversive. Is this what we want to teach our children? That Santa is unfair and deserve to be kidnapped and tortured. Is that some kind of Red Guard Christmas carol?
Geez, you would think lefties would at least be happy that Trump doesn't believe in White Santa like Megyn Kelly does.
It's like global warming.
There are "believers" and there are skeptics.
Blogger Howard said...
Tim reverts to battered woman syndrome, sad.
How so Howard? I am always willing to learn from a great mind like that of yourself!
Believers and heretics you mean.
Per Tim in Vermont: Next thing you know, somebody is going to say that the Impeachment Faerie isn’t real.
Heh!
That kid reminds me of this https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/5b0d9197-7110-4961-b320-7cef553d2d47
The belief in Santa Claus for parents is a real quandary.
1. If you tell your kids early that Santa is a fiction, then they will either tell their friends and be unpopular spoilsports and the other parents will hate you. OR.....they will have to go around pretending and living a lie. Something you tell your children not to do. Don't lie. Tell the truth.
2. When they find out eventually that Santa is not real, they are likely to be disappointed and wonder why you have been fooling them all along. On the other hand... a smart kid will realize there was an advantage. They got extra gifts! Keep pretending to believe and fool your parents.
3. If you take Santa away from them when they are little, they might miss out on the anticipation, fun and magic of believing in a fairy tale. Elf on a shelf. Rudolph the Red nosed reindeer. Santa presents. Cookies and milk as a bribe for gifts (really, is this a good idea?)
4. What about all the other magical children's beliefs in holidays that all their friends likely believe in? Easter Bunny. Tooth Fairy. Halloween. the GREAT PUMPKIN!
4. How long do you let this deception go on? When is a good time to break the news? How do you do that without looking like the biggest con artist in their lives? How do you tell them to keep up the pretense for their littler siblings.
What a quandary.
If a conservative won't dumb down his vocabulary to talk to a child, that must mean he doesn't want to form a connection, right?
I always used the same vocabulary to talk to my kids as I would talk to anyone else. They could figure out new words from the context or ask what they meant. I think that's the best way to talk to most people, as long as you aren't using jargon that is particular to your field of study but not common outside of it, people will tend to understand what you're talking about. Everyone understands more words than they commonly use themselves.
Watching "Friends". That strikes me as sad.
Boston Globe headline 12/25: "Did President Trump ruin Christmas for a 7 year-old?"
Boston Globe headline 12/26: "Girl who spoke to Trump still left milk and cookies out Christmas Eve".
Democracy Dies In Darkness™
Also, "Friends"???????
Let me get this straight. The 7 year old probably doesn't understand Trump's comment, so no damage done to her belief in Santa. The press races off to find the girl to destroy her belief in Santa. Nice going.
Yeah, 2nd grad is a little too old for believing in Santa.
But is trump *is* Hilarious.
I don't think ANY POTUS in my lifetime, even Nixon, would be attacked by the MSM for speaking to kids on Christmas Eve.
Ok, so now I listened to the whole thing. Trump isn't passing judgment. He's saying do you believe in santa because, a lot of 2nd Graders don't. Probably some do, and some don't. 3rd graders probably no Santa Believers. 5 y/o probably most do. In between, its "marginal".
Tim in V: I've got nothing for you: Stockholm Syndrome has no cure.
Henry wrote:
"Trump is playing a role here. The role is know-it-all big brother.
Small b big brother. I guess the armchair psychiatrists can put that in their bong and smoke it.
I really feel that a big reason for the polarization in politics in America is small families.
Small families mean fewer people have older siblings. Older siblings are useful foils for figuring out the world. Small families also mean smaller extended families. A big extended family means more weirdos in your personal orbit."
That is probably the most interesting thought I have read this week.
I stopped believing in Santa when I was five- I found all the presents in my parents' closet that Christmas and so the light clicked on for me.
It also helped that our house at the time didn't have a fireplace.
I spend every Christmas with a young niece and nephew, ages 5 and 7 at the moment. Neither talks about Santa Claus, and both know where their presents come from. However, it also doesn't appear that my brother-in-law and sister tried telling them Santa Claus exists.
7-year-old who believes in free stuff just for the asking: Adorably credulous
27-year-old who believes the same thing: Rising political star
Today, people believe in Stork, not to deliver gifts, but to relieve them of the burden.
I stopped believing in Santa when I was five- I found all the presents in my parents' closet that Christmas and so the light clicked on for me.
Me too about to turn 6yrs old.
We lived in a trailer (in the 1950's to early 60's), that we moved around in frequently from town to town, across the country for my parent's work. Until I "discovered" the presents which were later presented as being from Santa, I was always worried. It is hard to hide much of anything in a 35 ft trailer.
HOW was Santa going to find us?!? Not only did we NOT have a chimney in a single wide trailer we were never in any one place at any time. How could he know that we were goin to be in Ypsilanti this year for Christmas and were in Anaheim last year?
My parents figured it out and I was counseled to not tell my younger brother. Don't spoil it for him. I'm still conflicted about all that. Tell. Don't tell. Sad that Santa didn't exist. Happy that my parents went to all the trouble. Maybe a bit WTF, you made all this up and my worrying was for nothing?
Tim in V: I've got nothing for you: Stockholm Syndrome has no cure.
I have sad news for you, neither does a low IQ. Aping the “thoughts” of people you imagine are smart that you see on MSNBC is more of a symptom than a cure, Howard.
DBQ,
I had a younger sister at the time, I showed her the presents in the closet, but since she was only 2 at the time, I don't think it ruined anything for her. Later on, my two younger sisters came along who were 9 and 13 years younger than I was. They seemed to believe in Santa until they were around six or seven, but I wasn't paying that much attention at the time- I certainly didn't disabuse them of the notion, though I did consider at one time putting charred Santa clothes in the ash collector of our coal burning stove.
My 9yo girl still believes. To the point it's becoming difficult to keep it a secret. She's way more observant at 9 than she ever was at 3. The thing is she wants to believe, so she does. You know, faith.
She wouldn't have understood marginal in the context the president used. And there is no way would I have let her be interviewed afterwards.
I found out that Santa wasn't real when I was five. I had my suspicions and asked my mother. Instead of saying, "Yes, he's real," she gave a very long-winded answer about the spirit of Christmas, and so I knew that it had all been a charade.
I didn't tell my own kids that Santa was real.
I distinctly remember my brother being 11 or 12 and still "believing". He didn't really, of course, he just measured the marginal utility of "believing" versus not "believing" and figured he'd get better gifts if my parents were still trying to play Santa.
Fascinating word... "Marginal"...
Not telling kids Santa is real, instead insisting Jesus Rose from the dead is child abuse
That explains why so many seemingly smart people (like Victor Davis Hanson) have ended up on their asses for supporting Trump.
Apparently you missed the news about The Weekly Standard.
Howard: "..instead insisting Jesus Rose from the dead is child abuse"
Yep, thats usually where leftists end up.
You have to excuse Howard his little "so’s your mother” posts, he’s trying the best he can, bless his heart.
The relevant question is what harm does it cause? Does Santa exist in the scientific domain, the fantasy domain, or another logical space? Does a baby lose her life? Do children grow up to indulge in color judgments (i.e. diversity)? Will they be politically congruent (PC)? Will they stalk persons (and people) at their homes, in the restaurants, on the baseballs fields, etc., for purposes of redistributive change, for retributive change?
My explanation when the time came about Santa being real to a 6 year old child:
There once was a real person in Europe....long long time ago who would give secret surprise gifts to the children in his town on Christmas. Everyone naturally loved this. He was called Saint Nicholas because Nicholas was his real name and the church that he belonged to called him a Saint because he was so good and kind and did all sorts of other good things for the people.
Being a real person he couldn't live forever (we had already had the death discussion about a close relative and our pet dog). So instead of stopping giving gifts the people began to give some extra gifts in his name. Saint Nicholas.
The people in his town spoke a different language than we do and they had an accent (we had this discussion already regarding relatives from the South and from Mexico) so when they said his name it sounded like Santa Claus. (repeat both names a couple of times to see how they sound the same.)
(Answering lots of other irrelevant questions...sigh parenthood.) SOOOOO people started saying that the gifts were from Santa Claus because they felt that giving gifts was a good thing, made the children happy AND that Saint Nicholas would have like that. SOOOOOO....even though Santa Clause might not be a real live person. Saint Nicholas was and we continue on in his name.
You liked Santa Claus right? SO do do your siblings and friends who don't know yet. SOOOOO...lets not spoil the fun for them. Don't tell just yet. They will be smart like you in a few years (appealing to her smug sense of superiority) and then they will know too! You can help me wrap the Santa presents. Won't that be fun!!!
(I have no idea if that is a factually true story. The point was to try to explain in a way that a 1st grader could understand and feel good about. Didn't bring up the point that Santa was used as a bribe to make the children behave though. And thankfully she was too distracted by wrapping presents to think about the Easter Bunny etc )
TMI DBQ, KISS.
My parents never peddled that Santa crap. We knew who was bringing the gifts. Trump giving a dose of reality is a hoot. I love the use of “marginal”. Could be true, could not be true. You’ve got questions, right? You’re seven.
My sister told me when I was going on 8 that Santa Claus was really our parents. Then, years later, when my daughter was going on 8 and standing next to us, my sister said, "Do you remember how I told you Santa isn't real?" She got both of us!
When my younger brother was in third grade, our father asked me if he still believed in Santa. I didn't know, nor did I know how to ask.
At dinner, my father said, "So, Peter, what do you think about Santa Claus?"
"Well," Peter said. "I like to go along with the gag."
We celebrated Christmas with our nephew, who is going on 8. I believe my sister successfully kept her mouth shut on all Santa issues.
DBQ @12:52 PM:
I can relate to your "conflict", in that I have a big problem with lying to children.
Now, talking about Santa or Egbert the Elf are harmless enough, as far as it goes, but still. A nice thing about childhood is that you can acknowledge that something is "make believe", and everyone still enjoys it. But when children catch you in a lie, some children, some lies, the damage can be everlasting. So my ethic was don't lie.
By all appearances, as of two days ago, my nine year old granddaughter, and, perhaps, her 11 year old brother, still act like they believe in SC. Certainly the younger one followed "Santa's" track on the NORAD website all afternoon, and no harm done. I find this bizarre, but their parents aren't all that well fixed in reality either, so there you have it.
This was a great tweet.
@ComfortablySmug
Every time a US president has phoned a child to tell them Santa doesn't exist, the Dow Jones has gained a thousand points
12:59 PM - 26 Dec 2018
I believe this is what the left considers an impeachable offense. They will drag this little girl to the hearings.
I'm kind of joking.
Lots of kids know older kids don’t believe in Santa. “Still believe” is quite normal.
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