Dear Santa: What I’d Really Like : A President who’s proactive, not reactive; welfare reality checks for Congress; positive news about Los Angeles.

It’s that time of year again, when the post office is besieged with letters written in stubby pencils, crayons and markers. These haphazardly stuffed envelopes are usually filled with the collective longing of children across the country, each hoping that Santa Claus will hear his and her individual plea.

It’s a safe guess that there will probably not be too many ponies staring in bewilderment as the automatic garage doors slide open to bring them face to face with a child struck dumb with happiness. Even in Los Angeles, that’s the stuff of movies. (There will be puppies and kittens adopted from the city’s animal shelters, however.) Some lucky kids will get exactly what they want--and more. Some, but not enough, will receive toys and clothes donated by the kindness of strangers who cannot stand to contemplate a presentless Christmas for a needy child. And, sadly, far too many will receive nothing, despite the best efforts of their parents, who are often impoverished and/or homeless.

We adults hope for things at Christmas, too, but few, if any of us, sit down and write to Santa. Maybe it’s the specter of all those children’s letters circulating in dead-letter limbo. Maybe it’s that we don’t have the time to write our real friends and relatives--let alone someone we’re not sure even exists. But faith, as St. Paul pointed out, is belief in the evidence of things unseen. Or, as countless parents have pointed out: Nothing ventured, nothing gained. So, keeping those two pieces of advice in mind, I’d like to submit the following, in the assumption that Santa has time to read the paper:

Dear Santa,

Here are some things I’d truly like to have for Christmas:

A President who really and truly makes up his mind and sticks to it; who stops being reactive and begins being proactive (horrible government word, that) once more. Even if it means he’s at his present address for only two more years.

An all-expenses-paid, two-week stay at the orphanage of his choice for the new Speaker of the House.

A month on welfare, in public housing, for each member of the House and Senate, so they can begin negotiations on welfare reform with proposals that, if not grounded in reality, have at least come into contact with reality before they’re written.

A concession speech--finally--from Michael Huffington, and a little book on losing gracefully, which he can read back in Texas, where he belongs.

A Los Angeles subway system that is actually completed on time, on budget--and is safe to ride.

Long hauls in minimum-security prisons for the people who knowingly constructed the shoddy, unsafe and unforgivably expensive underground rail system with which we are currently cursed.

No major magnitude quakes for another 12 months, while we continue to recover from the last one.

One week where we are relieved of hearing or reading any of the following names: Simpson (O.J., Nicole, you name it), Shapiro, Cochran, Clark, Garcetti, Ito, Fleiss.

Given the sad (and increasingly frequent) news of absentee and homicidal parents, a renewed pledge from adults everywhere to protect, nurture and guide the children in their lives on the right path.

A national adoption policy that respects the feelings of both adoptive and birth parents but places absolute priority on the well-being and security of the children in question.

A great thriller that lets Michael Douglas keep his wits about him--and his pants on.

A positive reason for Los Angeles to make national news.

It’s a lot to ask, I know. But (another thing the grown-ups used to always say) if you don’t ask, you don’t get. And Santa, I’d be happy with even a fraction of what I’ve asked for.

Your friend,

Karen