MICHAEL MEDVED

Lesson from Santa: Reward the nice, not the naughty

Dec 24, 2014, 8:57 AM | Updated: 9:01 am

In this festive season of the year, our leaders should learn from Santa to reward the nice and puni...

In this festive season of the year, our leaders should learn from Santa to reward the nice and punish the naughty. (AP Photo/file)

(AP Photo/file)

In this festive season of the year, our leaders should learn from Santa to reward the nice and punish the naughty. Unfortunately, the Obama administration seems perversely determined to do precisely the opposite.

Consider the new opening to Cuba: the administration means to reward the island’s aging Stalinists without even the slightest demand that they mend the anti-American excesses that characterized their misrule for fifty years.

At the same time, Obama hands disapproving lumps of coal to the best-behaved kids in the pre-school known as the UN – including Israel, Poland and other staunch allies.

In domestic issues, we reward dysfunctional behavior like rioting or homelessness with sympathetic attention, while reviling the so-called 1 percent who model hard work and productivity.

We should channel Santa’s wisdom, not just his warm-heartedness: rewarding bad behavior will produce more of it, while scolding good conduct means we’ll get less of what society needs.

Michael Medved on AM 770 KTTH
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Lesson from Santa: Reward the nice, not the naughty