Happy Thanksgiving America

America has so much to be thankful for. 80 million Americans are thankful President Trump was not reelected 73 million Americans are thankful and grateful for everything President Trump accomplished during his four years in office. The Biden vote difference was the California vote and irregularities. Americans outside California are evenly split. Americans should be thankful for Big Pharma, the much reviled Big Pharma, who announced before Thanksgiving three vaccines for Coronavirus. Only the large pharmaceutical companies with their expertise and vast resources could have accomplished that challenge in record time. Americans should be thankful AOC and her Squad were not in charge. Americans should be grateful to President Trump for Operation Warp Speed which funded and pushed multiple approaches to fighting the pandemic, none of which the media would give him credit for. Americans should be grateful that the Trump Administration will distribute the vaccines through the military – masters of logistics. Americans should be thankful that by this time next year every American who wishes to be vaccinated will be vaccinated. Americans should be thankful that even though Vice President Biden won the presidency, Americans rejected the Democratic agenda at the state, local, and Congressional levels. Americans should be thankful for the country being in better economic and military shape than at the end of the Obama-Biden Administration. Americans should be thankful that the tragic George Floyd killing has forced the American people to confront the past history of racial inequality. Americans can still celebrate family gatherings, feasting, and football. The four day Thanksgiving weekend is still a time for parades, balloons, and shopping. Americans should be thankful they have free will and constitutional rights. Americans should be thankful many sheriffs and police chiefs will not enforce draconian gubernatorial Thanksgiving lockdowns. And yet the cancel culture can’t even leave Thanksgiving alone. Christmas will be next. Jason Johnson, a MSNBC guest host said: “I know in my family, I know seven people who call it ‘colonizer Christmas’ because they don’t really like what Thanksgiving stands for.” Thanksgiving is a secular holiday, but that does not stop the cancel culture warriors. Americans should be thankful that most Americans are not as ignorant as Jason Johnson and his ilk. The first unofficial Thanksgiving 399 years ago in 1621 was a feast and prayer by the Pilgrims thanking God for a good harvest. The Pilgrims shared the feast with Massasoit and his Wampanoags. The feast was nothing new in history. Harvest days have been a long tradition in agrarian societies celebrating the harvest. For example, Jews in the Torah celebrate Shavuot and Sukkot. Native Americans celebrated harvests. Several countries celebrate their own versions of Thanksgiving and Harvest Day. Several states and presidents including President Washington acknowledged a day of Thanks. President Lincoln proclaimed in 1863 a day of Thanksgiving for all states. 1863 was a dark year for the North during the Civil War. 2020 is a dark year for many Americans because of the pandemic, lockdowns and ensuing economic difficulties. Yet Thanksgiving is also a day of recognizing better days are ahead. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed a proclamation on October 31, 1939 designating the next to last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. Congress followed through on December 26, 1941 in the dire days following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor by designating the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. Two observations on the late November Thanksgiving. First, it is far past the usual harvests. Second, Presidents and Congress have often acted in darks days to signify hope for the future. Thanksgiving is an acknowledgement of the blessings of the past year and present and blessings for the upcoming year.