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In these times, there is clearly no way to make light of our ongoing political miasma. We cannot shrug off the unnecessary suffering that grips so many of our fellow Americans, as we take baby steps towards improving an economy in need of a 400-meter dash.

But in the tradition of others who have looked at the bleak social conditions that surround them and the corrupt institutions that seek not to improve things, I give you good satire. From Aristophanes to The Onion, it is this form of political dissent that can often engage people in the goings on of their troubled times. Bruce Kluger (full disclosure, a friend who I am helping promote this book) and David Slavin have released a new book, a 2010 version of Twas The Night Before Christmas, which clearly is capable of just that.

It will make you laugh, so you don't cry.

Kluger, satirist extraordinaire of NPR & USA Today, along with the similarly accomplished Slavin, uses this laugh-out-loud tome to point us in the direction of only the latest person to suffer on the altar of "Greed Is Good." Santa himself:

Early this morning, Santa Claus, the jolly icon of the holidays and legendary symbol of Christmas for more than 970 years, was asked to step down from his position as chief manufacturer and distributor of holiday toys and merriment. The announcement was made by a spokesman for GigantiCorp, the private equity firm that acquired Santa's Workshop earlier this year in a historic leveraged buyout.

GigantiCorp went on to announce that Claus will be replaced by "a more cost-effective team of regional Santas" scattered around the globe.

So apparently we should have broken up the banks and taxed gazillion-dollar bonuses. Who knew? In any case, this is a hilarious book and a great gift for the holidays for your progressive friends.