Graft and thugs in the Santa union

I actually don't know if it's really a union. Also, not terribly important, but I thought it was funny.

From the WSJ:

Then, in August last year, Mr. Connaghan disclosed that he had signed a contract with a Hollywood production company for a possible movie on a Santa convention. Mr. Connaghan acknowledged he stood to retain as much as $25,000 as the film's consultant, but said the group would also get up to $50,000. Some Santas said he was personally profiting as head of the organization. "I told him that is a conflict of interest and because of that you should resign," says Tom Hartsfield, 69, a founding amalgamator living in Panguitch, Utah...

Mr. Trolli then ascended to the presidency. His detractors say he began ruling with an iron fist in a white glove. His board stripped about 20 Santas of their membership for offenses such as maligning fellow Santas on Elf Net, a Web chat group run by the Amalgamated Santas. In November, he got the remaining board to agree to confidentiality agreements concerning board discussions. Mr. Hartsfield, who didn't agree with the new rule, complained on Elf Net. The message board's administrator, Jeff Germann, banned him from Elf Net for 60 days.

"He broke the rule," says Mr. Germann, a 6-foot-4-inch, 300-pound Santa from Springfield, Mo., whom some dissidents accuse of using his size to intimidate fellow Santas. Mr. Germann denies the charge: "The problem with being big is they always call you a bully."

Things became physical that month, when a Santa who had been banished from Elf Net tried to crash a board meeting of Amalgamated Santas at Knott's Berry Farm Resort Hotel in Buena Park, Calif.