Everyone has something to be thankful for on Thanksgiving.
That’s the essence of this American holiday of remembrance.
And to truly celebrate it, there are things that you first need to forget!
Forget about the turkey and all those trimmings. Forget about the football games on TV. Forget about the respite from work and school. Forget about the backyard “turkey bowl” football games. Forget about the trip “through the woods to grandma’s house.”
Forget about Black Friday and all the maxi-commercialism that has usurped the real meaning of a day.
Remember instead that history records that our country’s early settlers (102 Pilgrims fleeing Plymouth England, some seeking religious freedom, others pursuing prosperity in the New World) surviving a treacherous, 66-day ocean voyage to land at the tip of Cape Cod in November 1620.
Remember, too, that those men, women, and children now living in a vast uncharted place, subsequently discovered Native Americans populating the land, befriended them, and later shared a simple time of feasting, friendship, trust and giving thanks those fleeting four centuries ago.
Remember also that the simple early plains gathering was first recognized as a “national harvest festival” by George Washington in 1784 by the urging of Congress. That festival was the genesis of the holiday we now call Thanksgiving.
Although the actual date of observance has long bounced around in officialdom (so what else is new?) it was to be observed on the last Thursday in November as proclaimed by President Abraham Lincoln. It was changed to the fourth Thursday in November, courtesy of President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 with Congress approving in 1941.
And that’s where it is today.
Date changes notwithstanding, the real intent and meaning of this revered holiday is still the same, or, at least, it should be.
Bottom line, putting all the “forgetful things” in proper perspective, Thanksgiving is first and foremost a special day (one that should be observed 365, 24/7) to ignore what you don’t have and thank God for what you do have, especially during times when so many places in our world appear to be thankless and desperately dark.
Seven “asides” for Thanksgiving
While waiting to enjoy your family Thanksgiving dinner (and, like us, with tongue firmly in cheek, consider these seven “aside dishes” to while away the time:
1) Money cannot buy happiness, but it’s more comfortable crying about it in a classic Caddy than on a bent-rim bicycle.
2) Forgive your enemies but remember those sons-of-a-gun’s names.
3) Help someone in trouble and he/she will remember you when he/she is in trouble again.
4) Many people are alive today only because it’s illegal to shoot them.
5). Alcohol does not solve any problem, but neither does milk.
6) Talk is cheap, except when Congress does it.
7) Thanksgiving Day, all over America, families will sit down to dinner at the same moment – halftime!”
Post-election opinion “dittos”
Editorial: Worries abound in wake of election
On November 9, Media News Group published an editorial: Worries Abound in Wake of Election. If you haven’t read it, you should.
The few excerpts that follow are good reasons why.
“Another Election Day is in the books, leaving politicians, voters, and observers with plenty to ponder as the so-called off-year cycle ends and a presidential election year begins. We see some significant areas of concern.
“For starters, turnout was predictably lackluster. Pennsylvania’s biggest race, a hotly contested battle for a state Supreme Court seat in which more than $20 million was spent, attracted around three million votes in a state with about 8.6 million registered voters. It’s even more troubling when one considers that the state has about 13 million residents, and winning candidate Dan McCaffery received around 1.6 million votes. The vast majority of Pennsylvanians were silent.
“The numbers are starker at the local level. Philadelphia elected a mayor with 28 percent of registered voters turning out. Cherelle Parker won her historic victory as the city’s first female mayor with around 210,000 votes in a city of more than 1.5 million. In Reading, a city with a population of around 95,000, Mayor Eddie Moran won reelection with a scant 3,200 votes, but the numbers are a sad commentary on interest in civic life beyond national politics.
“The good news was that most elections in Pennsylvania ran quite smoothly. Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt reported a minimal number of isolated issues with voting around the state.
“Officials did have to close a polling place inside Radnor High School in Delaware County due to a bomb threat. The polling place was relocated to Radnor Elementary School, and a Court of Common Pleas judge ordered the voting hours there extended.
And Northampton County had some problems linked to a clerical error by the voting system vendor. All voters’ selections were correctly tabulated, officials said.
“Far more people will be turning out at the polls and sending in mail-in ballots a year from now, with emotions running high.
“Shortly before this year’s vote a bipartisan panel of election officials warned a U.S. Senate committee that threats, and intimidation are driving experienced workers out of the
profession even as the biggest election of the four-year cycle approaches.
“The Senate Rules and Administration Committee hosted a hearing on threats to election administrators, and officials testifying said conspiracy theories have fueled a hostile
environment that has led many workers to quit, creating more challenges for the inexperienced new leaders.
“They’re more likely to make errors and make errors in an environment where everything is perceived as being intentional and malicious and seeking to change the outcome of the
election,” he said.
“Democratic and Republican election workers have been the targets of threats and abusive conduct, said Rules Committee Chair Amy Klobuchar, a Minnesota Democrat.
“In recent years, election officials have faced both cybersecurity threats and physical threats,” the panel’s ranking Republican, Nebraska’s Deb Fischer, said. “They have struggled to retain experienced poll workers and to recruit and train new poll workers.”
“If you’re not happy with the way an election is being administered, there are appropriate ways of expressing it. Harassment and intimidation are not among them. Respect for election workers is crucial to having a smooth voting process in what is sure to be a difficult 2024.”
************
Finally, nobody asked me, but watching the Congressional circus now performing under the DC big top, we’re beginning to question whether Thomas Jefferson had it right when he wrote in 1784: “with all the defects of our constitutions, whether general or particular, the comparison of our governments with those of Europe is like heaven and hell.”
Hmm.
P.S.: Nobody asked, but one wonderful thing about Thanksgiving is that it’s the only day of the year that you don’t object to somebody giving you the bird!
The Last Word: Good day, good luck, and a gobble of good news tomorrow!
Comments invited to mainlinebanter@verizon.net
