What happens when big government meddles in Christmas? Find out in The United States vs. Santa Claus: The Untold Story of the Actual War on Christmas, the hilarious new book from The B.S. of A.’s Brian Sack and Jack Helmuth that will have you wondering what’s fact and what’s fiction. From IRS audits and unionized elves to gigantic reports on the environmental impact of stocking coal and reindeer farts, the government pulls no punches in its effort to bring Santa to his knees. Can a bumbling bureaucracy manage to sour even the jolliest of souls and ruin an entire holiday in the process? Spoiler alert: Totally.
Brain and Jack joined Glenn on radio this morning to talk about the premise behind the book that – believe it or not – actually came from Glenn. As Brian and Jack describe it, The United States vs. Santa Claus is “a crazy idea from Glenn Beck made funny and coherent by writers.”
“As small business owner, about two years ago, I was thinking, you know, these guys would regulate Santa out of business and do it for a myriad of reasons because he's using elves – and how dare he use elves that are not union labor and have them working all the time. And abuse of animals. And putting coal in stockings, you know, what damage is it doing to the environment. And I outlined this to Brian and Jack Helmuth, and it's really funny,” Glenn explained. “ I told them they should do a libertarian book, one that you just pick up and laugh... But also one you could give to your friends and they could laugh. And as they are laughing, you could say, ‘Why are you laughing.’ ‘Well, this is so funny.’ Yeah, it's kind of true. Gone to the extreme here with Santa, but it's kind of true, isn't it?”
Glenn has always been vocal about the importance of conservatives taking back our culture. While the left has Jon Stewart and just about every college professor in America, the right has, as Glenn describes it, “geeks or people that look angry all the time.” The goal of Mercury and TheBlaze has always been to deliver the truth, but it is important to present the truth in ways that will reach as many people as possible. Enter Brian and Jack. They turn the news-of-the-day on its head with their weekly sketch comedy show The B.S. of A. and their new book has a similar goal – deliver the facts in a funny, easy to comprehend way.
“It was fun to write, you know, to get out your frustration and aggression on what's happening in the country through jokes. I mean it's just a different way. And I think that conservatives and libertarians do issues really, really well. They do that sort of book well. But where's the humorous book in the Pantheon of these books,” Jack asked. “Glenn, you write like a thousand books a year. And they are fun, funny because you are funny. You know, the kids who write your books are funny! And this is a humorous book for an underserved market… Where's the laughter that is suitable that doesn't offend values? It's important to us and to our show, important in this book.”
“What I really like about this is it easily could have been done by Jon Stewart. The same thing easily could have been said by Jon Stewart, but they won't do it because it makes the case of a big out of control government. So, they won't,” Glenn said. “Not only, this is reason number one to buy it: It's just funny – lots and lots of laughs on every single page. Doesn't get bogged down in preaching or anything else. It's just laugh page after page. It's very funny. Number two reason: If you are trying to convince somebody that, ‘Hey, your world is starting to be insane.’ This is the back door to get them into it, to have the conversation.”
Order your copy of The United States vs. Santa Claus: The Untold Story of the Actual War on Christmas HERE. And watch the entire interview with Brian and Jack below: