For half-a-century, January 1 meant Guy Lombardo and his Royal Canadians over CBS-TV from the Waldorf-Astoria. A comedian once told his audience, "I hear Guy says that when he goes, he's taking New Year's Eve with him." He did. Since his death in November 1977, New Year's Eve has not been the same.

Looking back, it was not just "The Sweetest Music This Side of Heaven" which seized my imagination. Nor soloists like Kenny Gardner, crooning "Seems Like Old Times" and the immortal "Boo Hoo" -- nor the Lombardo Trio, singing tunes like "Give Me the Moon Over Brooklyn" -- nor even the showman Guy, tall and gracious, playing to the camera and humoring his gentry, who made each New Year's so remarkable.

Their feats were -- forgive me -- instrumental. Yet only the evening's whole -- its horns and clamor and party hats and anticipation -- let Lombardo flood our memory. He etched continuity on the transient pulp of life -- becoming the very core of the rite of New Year's passage.

When I was young, my parents invited friends over each New Year's Eve. Perched on the upstairs steps, a sister and I heard America's bandmeister, a floor and generation away, count down the seconds to a new and unknown year.

Each January 1, I think of the solstices since 1978. Father Christmas had nothing on Guy Lombardo's Ghost of New Years still to come. Happy 2002.

You've heard of the Canandaigua primary school principal who wrote a memo denouncing the use of "Christmas," "Merry Christmas," or "Christmas tree." This bigot ought to be fired. But she is not alone -- indeed, is a poster child for a cultural assault on Christianity.

Item. In St. Paul, officials ban red poinsettias. Christian symbol, you know. Worse, two middle schoolers are chastised for wearing red and green scarves -- and saying "Merry Christmas" in a skit.

Item. A Frederick County, Maryland, employee is forbidden to pass out Christmas cards. A Pennsylvania fourth grader is stopped from giving them. In Massachusetts, two students are scolded for creating Christmas cards. Nazi Germany? No, supposedly the USA.

It gets worse. Pittsburgh invents a term "Sparkle Days" -- as if Christmas didn't exist. An Oregon superintendent rips religious decorations from student lockers. In Seattle, the county executive tells employees not to say "Merry Christmas." No wonder the Canandaigua principal thought that she'd ban Christmas. Sick people think this is how most Americans feel.

John Leo of U.S. News writes of "minorities assaulting majority sensibilities." Folks, this member of the majority has had quite enough. Let's make 2002 the year we put bigots -- and their hatred -- in the trash can they deserve.

Money talks. But can money make kids want to read, love to learn, become better citizens? A question worth asking as the Rochester school district rivals Bunglers on Parade.

In June 2000, city schools had a $34 million surplus. A year later they had $11 million. Where'd the rest go? The city won't say -- and the parents don't know.

Other numbers are worse: Last year the city envisioned a $21 million deficit, then $19, then $29, now $25 mil. You'd worry if the game involved Monopoly money. This game decides the future of our kids.

Education supervisor Clifford Janey says, "Let's not have a culture of blame" -- then blames Albany for short-changing the school district. OK. How about a culture of responsibility -- which means not short-changing children by talking only of cash.

Money is not schooling's millennium. If it were, no child would drop out or fail. We've spent more in the last 30 years on education than in the 200 years before -- for smaller class size. Bigger teacher salaries. More computers. None of it has worked.

Money can't instill discipline. Money can't guarantee phonics and memorization, nurture character, teach right and wrong. Money can't teach U.S. history and Western civilization -- what we are, and where we come from. The school district has it backward. What we teach matters more than how.

Money has become a code word for blocking real reform. Until that changes, we're rearranging deck chairs on education's Titanic.

Last year the Pope and Bill Clinton topped the Gallup Poll's list of most admired people with 6 percent apiece. This year George W. Bush won going away with 39 percent. The Pope placed fourth. Clinton? If the earth were flat, he'd have fallen off.

Clinton, of course, doesn't get that America no longer cares about him, recently telling the New York Post he could have done a better job than Bush fighting terrorism. Three problems, Mr. President. You had eight years, and didn't fight. No one save Chelsea thinks you'd do a better job. Almost no one believes a word you say.

Witness a speech at Georgetown Clinton gave in which he blamed "those of us who come from various European lineages" for September 11. Get this: terrorism was Arab payback for the First Crusade. I used to think immoral was the best word to describe Clinton. A better word is sick.

Last month he met with 15 aides to discuss how to fix his legacy. Mr. President, you already have a legacy. It's the dress. The blue dress, you know the one. The dress with your DNA. The dress that reminds us of the adulterer, obstructer of justice, perjurer, pervert, and deviant you were and evermore shall be.

No wonder Gallup says Clinton is going, going, gone. September 11 send an SOS for character. As always, Clinton's remains MIA.

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