Posted on 11/24/2009 4:09:23 AM PST by Kaslin
I have always loved Thanksgiving. It is my favorite national holiday. It reminds Americans how fortunate we are to be Americans. And it unites Americans around gratitude, the greatest human trait. Gratitude is the mother of both goodness and happiness. The ungrateful cannot be either happy or good.
So, it is with a heavy heart that I write that my mood on this Thanksgiving will not be the same as on any other I have ever experienced.
My gratitude will be marred by a dark cloud.
Not the cloud of economic crisis; Americans have lived through worse economic crises.
Not the cloud of war. America is at war in Afghanistan, and troops remain in Iraq in the war against Islamic terror; but Americans have fought far more bloody wars.
Not the cloud of politics; whatever an American's political persuasion, every American has lived through political battles and political losses.
No, this is a new cloud. This is the cloud of "transformation." This is what candidate Barack Obama promised; this is what President Barack Obama seeks to achieve -- nothing less than the transformation of America.
But those of us who love America and its unique value system don't want either America or its value system transformed. The former can always be improved, but should never be transformed. And the latter should always remain what it has been for centuries: the American Trinity -- E Pluribus Unum, In God We Trust and Liberty -- as well as limited government and individualism. It also includes an abiding belief in American exceptionalism, meaning that America has usually known better what is good for the world than any world body, that America's moral compass is generally more accurate than that of other nations, let alone the United Nations. This is not because Americans are born better or any such nonsense, but because American values have produced a particularly uncynical, idealistic nation, more willing to die for others than any nation in recorded history.
Every element of this is being transformed, perhaps permanently. The American economy and/or its health system may be fatally damaged if either the House or Senate health care bill is passed. America will descend under a mountain of debt that may permanently undermine the power of the dollar. If this happens, America will no longer be the preeminent economic power of the world. The terrible political and human consequences of this will be felt around the globe.
The abandonment of American exceptionalism -- President Obama said recently that he believes in American exceptionalism just as Brits believe in British exceptionalism and Greeks believe in Greek exceptionalism -- will lead to America becoming just another nation. When you no longer consider yourself special, you cease doing much that is special.
Here is the bottom line: I take nothing good for granted. That includes the future of the blessed country in which I live. A country as good as America is an aberration. There is no reason to believe that it will always remain an aberration; and those in power on Thanksgiving 2009 loathe the idea of America being different from all other nations.
Every great civilization has declined. There is nothing that guarantees America will be any different. And those in power on Thanksgiving 2009 see America more as a pompous civilization than a great one. So its decline from its self-perceived greatness is not only not a tragedy, but it's a welcome respite from arrogance.
The idea that people should first take care of themselves, then their family, then their neighbors and then other nations is also an American aberration. The norm, advocated by those in power on Thanksgiving 2009, is to want to be taken care of by the state, have the state take care of everyone else and abandon other countries (such as Afghanistan) to their fate, just as other nations are willing to do.
As it happens, I am in Africa this Thanksgiving, volunteering with my son to distribute mosquito nets and other lifesaving necessities to the poorest of the poor in Zambia and Zimbabwe. Not coincidentally, it is an American charity (Rock of Africa) that has organized this trip. While half a world away, my heart is in America this Thanksgiving. But for the first time, it is a worried and unsettled American heart.
Nevertheless, though my mood is dark, it is not pessimistic. The very narrow victories in the House and Senate on health care reform, despite Democrats' overwhelming majorities in both Houses, tell me that Americans are not ready to abandon the values that make our country unique. And that is something to be thankful for on this troubled Thanksgiving 2009.
This statement just about nails it, but it's the leadership that is pompous, and it's that fact that America is Great that annoys them. They believe that if they can destroy America with their law making, they will be looked upon as great.
Is Transform and Change a code word for some sort of Liberal Revolution?
If this is indeed the case, will there be a counter-revolution? I for one, think America is worth protecting. I for one, would like my children to grow up in a free land, untethered by ever increasing government controls that appear to do nothing but allow for a system of self-preservation of fat and corrupted politicians whose only interest is getting re-elected, and all the time, trying to convince us, that they are really trying to help the poor. People like Mary Landrieu, D-La., has learned all too well how to play the game. I don't like the fact, that we all had to bribe her with $300,000,000.00 just to get her vote for cloture, when in fact, she would have voted for it, for nothing!
Here we are, over 10 trillion dollars in debt, and the present administration wishes to add to this debt (Health Care Reform) to the tune of God knows, how much? 1,2,3...4,5 trillion more dollars? when in fact, just increasing each states medicaid participation would solve every problem we now face in our health care system: access for the unemployed, treating pre-existing conditions, portability, and lastly, not taking your home and savings from you for costly treatments... and at a fraction of the cost that will cost us, if the Federal Government gets involved. It's as if, these politicians are addicted to this idea, that more control means greater self preservation for their own lives.
This is Marxist code-speak.
Read up, y'all, on "Cambodia and the YEAR ZERO."
Indeed
On July 4, 1776, the entire legislative agenda of the British Crown was swept away and buried. Many who supported the Crown were either removed, shot, hanged, harassed or driven out of America. The only thing that stopped a terrific bloodbath of revenge against the loyalists was the leadership of the revolution who stepped in and told Americans to stop killing.
In anticipation of the hotheads who will fret that we haven’t stormed Washington yet, let’s be clear that it took the colonists 25 years to organize, build a political base and find leadership to take on the British Crown. A national movement doesn’t spring up in 11 months. It took the leftists 100 years to get to the point they’re at now. And for 100 years each succeeding generation did nothing about it.
Besides, the conservative mind respects the rule of law, which can be both a blessing and a curse, and that mindset is waiting to see how that rule of law mechanism plays out in the next few years.
Meanwhile, organizing is taking place. That’s good. It’s the first element the Founders established. From here, we’ll find our Committees of Correspondence, our Colonel Moultrie and our Sergeant Jasper.
Mr. Prager’s conclusion is on target: Americans are not ready to abandon the values that make our country unique. And that is something to be thankful for on this troubled Thanksgiving 2009.
I’ll be thankful when Obama is out of office.
I’ll be thankful when Obama is out of office.
It is not obama
it is the rats.
Things will return to normal if and only if the rats are out of power.
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