Original poem fine

It seems to me that there are more influential and constructive ways to discourage tobacco use, other than omitting a stanza from the poem, “T’was the Night Before Christmas.”

Pamela McCord has mortgaged her house and spent $200,000 in her vendetta against these words in the poem, describing Santa Claus: “The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth, and the smoke encircled his head like a wreath.”

But I ask Pamela, why stop with just that verse? What about the words: “He had a broad face and a little round belly … he was chubby and plump and a right jolly old elf …” That means he was obese, Pamela. Obesity is unhealthy, so omit those words too.

Also, I think the words about Santa and his reindeer fooling around on rooftops should be omitted. That can be very dangerous in the wintertime – just ask Tim Allen.

Let’s keep Clement Moore’s beloved Christmas poem just as he wrote it!

Forrest Diehl

Spokane