While watching the Democrat fight last week, a debate broke out…almost. I wanted to see if any of the Not Ready For Prime Time Players could appear presidential. They couldn’t. Barack, looking contemporary, was not nearly as prepared as he should have been and a couple of times I thought Billery was going to burst into tears. It was puzzling to watch their continued pummeling of the President; they seemed totally focused on him. Let’s keep it that way. Don’t anyone tell them that Bush is not on the ballot this time!
The problem I’m having with all the candidates is that I don’t see anyone, in either the red or the blue corner, that I’m completely comfortable with leading our country at this critical point in history. I look at the Republicans and see a long line of vice presidents. I look at the Democrats and don’t see anyone I’d trust to even sweep my sidewalk, although none of them look like they can handle a broom anyway. Despite her phony enthusiasm and lack of direct answers to most direct questions, I actually found myself agreeing with Billery about one thing…2008 may be the most important election in our history. This time, there are some stark differences that reach beyond Republican and Democrat. This election isn’t merely about Right or Left, it’s about right or wrong. It’s also about whether or not we’ll recognize this country in another four years.
With Thanksgiving upon us, we have more to be thankful for than ever. The economy is humming, we so far remain safe and enjoy the greatest standard of living in the world. The Liberals want to change that. They want to seize power, minimize our rights and make us wholly dependent upon government. They’ve been fooling around with first amendment rights for years; now they’re after the second amendment. Piece by piece the Left is trying to dismantle the bulwark of liberty and freedom created by our founding fathers.
Instead of celebrating the legacy of abundance and opportunity offered by this great nation, the schools in Seattle Washington are observing Thanksgiving as a dark day of mourning, playing upon the ‘injustices’ Pilgrims perpetrated upon the Indians. Native Americans? [I haven't seen any westerns about cowboys and Native Americans lately, have you?] No…Indians. Liberal educators are taking the lead from hack politicians and brainwashing our youth to believe in their gloom and doom scenarios instead of teaching documented, historical fact. There’s even a movement in the wind to do away with Thanksgiving, altogether, for the same misguided reasons. This year there’s P.C. and pumpkin pie on the table for Democrat dessert…plus the specter of socialism in America to make their perverse vision a reality.
Just to set the record straight, the Pilgrims set sail on The Mayflower September 6, 1620. During the arduous journey to the New World, their leader, William Bradford, set up a contract establishing fair and equal laws for everyone, irrespective of their religious beliefs. When the Pilgrims landed in New England in November, they found a cold, barren, desolate wilderness and during the first winter half of them, including Bradford’s own wife, died of starvation, sickness or exposure.
When spring finally came, the Indians taught the settlers how to plant corn, how to fish, and skin animals for their coats. Life improved somewhat for the Pilgrims but their situation remained difficult. The original contract the Pilgrims had
entered into called for everything they produced to go into a common store, and each member of the community was entitled to one common share. All they produced, even the houses they built, belonged to the community. They were, actually, employing a socialist system! Life was not improving. Bradford, who had become the governor of the colony, recognized that this form of organization was as detrimental to the Pilgrims as that first harsh winter had been. The most talented and able bodied were not motivated to work any harder than their neighbors, thus, there was little progress.
Bradford formulated a bold plan to attempt to remedy the situation. He assigned a plot of land for each family to work and manage, giving them the right to sell or trade what they produced. With the forces of competition and free enterprise as personal incentives, the colony began to flourish. The Pilgrims found they had more food than they could eat themselves, so they set up trading posts and exchanged goods with the Indians. With the profits they were able to pay off their debts back in England and their success attracted more Europeans in what eventually became known as the Great Puritan Migration. In other words, capitalism saved the Pilgrims, not the Indians!
Being people of strong religious background and conviction, the Pilgrims decided to thank God for all their good fortune. And that was originally Thanksgiving…neither praising nor oppressing the Indians but giving thanks for their prosperity [and, indirectly, for the capitalist system that saved their hides]. I’m willing to bet none of our kids will ever hear the whole story in school, especially in Seattle. Long before the existence of Karl Marx, the Pilgrims experimented with socialism, as have many societies since, with the common, predictable result of sluggishness or failure. Fortunately, they were smart enough to scrap the system.
This is what Billary, Barack Hussein, the lovely Jon Edwards and their cohorts are soft-peddling for America. Will the majority among us be wise enough to realize that the Democrat agenda is nothing but a journey into decline? Will we wake up in time to reject their false promises and remain the greatest country God has put upon this earth?
I watch what passes for debates, listen to the petty bickering and wonder, not which candidate has the most experience, but which cares more about our country than about his or her own self-interest. This Thanksgiving, let us give thanks for our liberty, freedom and prosperity…and celebrate the abundance with which we’ve been blessed. Let us pray that it may always be ours to enjoy.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
R.S.F.
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