I’m not the biggest fan of Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, in contemporary America it has morphed into a day of football and feasts featuring turkey. No longer is it a celebration and opportunity to give thanks for a bountiful harvest. I’ll try and adjust that attitude a bit in the paragraphs below.

While I like football, it is down the list of my favorite sports to watch. I like turkey but likewise it is far from my favorite meat, let alone food. So, the modern American iteration of Thanksgiving does little for me. The thankfulness part is another thing. I have much to be thankful for even though I do a lot of (in my opinion well justified) complaining in my writing.

Perhaps the most memorable recent Thanksgiving for me is 2016. We gathered for a large family dinner and went around the table saying what we were thankful for. I said I was thankful that Trump was elected. Before you have that heart attack read my qualifying remarks! I feared it could have been much worse and we could be looking at a President Ted Cruz. I knew Trump was a crook – at that point I didn’t realize just how bad he would be – but at least, unlike Cruz, he was stupid and therefore less of a threat. I knew he really had no political philosophy and thought he could be bought off cheaply. It turned out I was pretty much correct on the former but really underestimated the latter. (Trump’s only political philosophy -and it aligned with that of the Republicans – was to give tax breaks to those who didn’t need them.)

Enough about me and the history of Thanksgiving. Here are a few things I am grateful for this year:

The 2022 mid-term results. For the most part the worst election deniers/foes of democracy went down to defeat above the House level. The Democrat kept the Senate and lost far fewer seats in the House than would be expected in a mid-term with a president of their party in office having such low approval ratings.

I’m certainly glad that Joe Biden is the president at this moment. He formed an alliance to help Ukraine and defend democracy. Few could have done that and certainly not a new kid on the block lacking foreign policy chops and relationships. He brought the economy back, regaining all the jobs lost in the pandemic and actually adding a few in less than two years. Sticking to the economy for another sentence, just compare his inflation numbers and that of similar countries – they look favorable. With divided government coming in January, he is one of the few who might actually be able to reach across the aisle and pick off a few Republican House members to get a thing or two through Congress. As it turns out he was the right person for the 2020 election and he may well be the right person for 2023 and 2024 governing.

The coming change in House Democratic leadership was due. The hidden gem in how it is happening is that Nancy Pelosi, Steny Hoyer and James Clyburn will all only be a short walk down the hall away if the new team needs a guidance chat.

Finally, I will give thanks that Donald Trump remains stupid. This “cat” has to run out of lives soon.

It’s a holiday. I’ll let you go. Regardless of what you do or eat, enjoy and don’t forget to give thanks in your own way.

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