During the myriad talk show rounds being made by multiple folks in American politics, Dr. Antony Fauci was once again called upon to deliver the bad news.

On Face The Nation, the face of COVID panic was asked if Americans would be able to gather for Christmas. My colleague Nick Arama covered his response. Here is what the doctor ordered:

“It’s just too soon to tell. We just gotta concentrate on continuing to get those numbers down, and not try to jump ahead by weeks or months and say what we’re going to do at a particular time. Let’s focus like a laser on continuing to get those cases down.

And we can do it by people getting vaccinated and also in the situation where boosters are appropriate, to get people boosters, because we know they can help greatly in diminishing infection and in diminishing advanced disease, the kinds of data that are now accumulating in real time.”

And you know what? Fauci is absolutely correct here. It is far too early to tell whether or not we are going to be able to gather for Christmas. Why? Because it’s the beginning of October, and we still have two holidays to celebrate with friends and family before we get there.

I have long been opposed to the idea of Christmas even being mentioned this early, primarily because it keeps trying to usurp the glorious day that is Thanksgiving. Santa Claus is proof that imperialism is still alive and kicking, and he keeps trying to take over the fall months after spending hundreds of years dominating the winter. We must stand together and put a stop to it.

We do not need to be talking about Christmas. We should instead talk about the much more immediate concerns: Will I be able to tax my children’s Halloween buckets and will I be making homemade cranberry sauce or scooping it right out of a can? These are the questions that are most pressing right now, not whether or not we can gather for Christmas.

Here in the south where I am, the answer seems pretty obvious. We should be able to let our kids trick or treat this year. The numbers are trending downward and at the rate they are going, the end of the month should actually look comparatively good. In the other states, numbers are going up, and some fear the cancelation of Halloween celebrations, but the kids will be in colorful, cartoonish masks and don’t really transmit the virus all that much anyway, so it should be fine to let them score some candy.

More importantly, you as parents are required to prepare them for the real world, which means confiscation of earned treats. Especially KitKats.

When late November comes around, we’ll be seeing more cool weather and numbers still growing in other parts of the country. It might be rough and some will have to miss a family gathering due to sickness, but it’s not up to the government to decide whether or not you get to celebrate America’s greatest holiday. Gather together and celebrate. It’s the best time of the year and it should be treated as such.

But I agree with Dr. Fauci. Don’t think about Christmas right now. The media wants you to, because the media survives through advertising and Christmas is big for advertisers. They want you thinking about it already. Don’t fall into that trap, and don’t give in to Santa’s demands that we start the Christmas season earlier and earlier each year.

The war on Christmas is back, and once again I will lead the charge against it. We must reclaim autumn and its glorious holidays.