In Thanks
By NewHampster on November 26, 2008 at 10:30 PM in Current Affairs
Yes, I am thankful. Not personally to any higher power but rather to America, my Friends in the loyal opposition and of course my family.
Even my dear wife who gets all giggly at the mention of Obama. It is mostly due to her hard work that we’ll be able to enjoy a turkey dinner at a Vermont Inn with our son and his girl friend. Yeah, I’ll get stuck with the bill but she paid for the propane to heat our house.
I am truly thankful that I live in the only country that perhaps values our transition of power as much as we value our form of government itself. Thankful that no matter what we each believe politically, we all believe more in continuity of the country. To witness the hateful Bush Administration bending over backwards to work with the incoming Obamas to insure a smooth transition, is, well, that is America. That is awe inspiring. That is what makes us different than everyone else.
Add to that the plain fact that we who still grieve for a stolen primary and the sexism that brought it on, we too are pulling for a smooth transition. In fact I know most of us who fought against the bastard and are waiting to call him out on his screw-up’s. We too wish him success and hope we are wrong about the man while still knowing we are right to detest the campaign that put him where he is.
Yes, I am Thankful this Thanksgiving.
I’m thankful for all the friends I’ve made who I may never meet in person. The incredible gang of Hillary supporters on DU who went our separate ways in the Diaspora and find ourselves back in touch yet again. That Flying Monkey Squadron Alegre brought me into at dKos is something I will forever be thankful for. I met and wrote with some crazy Hilbots and though we parted ways the last few months, I still count them among my online friends. In that same group, I met a woman named Susan who invited me to spread my snark to NoQuarter and damned if I’m not thankful to be counted among such a group of brilliant writers.
And the Partisans of my Partizane who want to go forward from this low point in history to never again lose focus on the goal of melting that Plexiglas ceiling once and forever. I am really thankful that the last 2 years have woken so many people out of their slumber. That a new movement is stirring. A new women’s movement that accepts old guys like me, with all our male faults. Thank you.
And of course I’m thankful for my family of Obama supporters who being Americans first, have accepted me the stray back into the family. That doesn’t mean we can talk about O but our family and our country come first. My daughter and her O’bot fiancé never put politics ahead of family. We are one and we are planning a wedding next spring. But no kids named Barack or Michelle. That’s where I draw the line.
I’m thankful for you my friends. That, in this great country we can shout and swear, piss each other off, troll bait each other, yet all be Americans. Yeah, I’m even thankful for the trolls. Heck some places I’m a troll. But trolls perhaps most of all, allow us Americans to never forget that we may not agree but we will fight to the death to defend the right to disagree.
Thank you for reading this old guy’s words, and may you have a Wonderful, Thankful, Thanksgiving.
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A wonderful article … and a Happy Thanksgiving to you too! Keep writing! Your thoughtful words are well worth reading!
off topic but I googled “obama’s birth certificate” on google news and found many articles, including one at the Christian Science Monitor (very surprising) and also this article at a much smaller, off the beaten track site which addresses the silence of the media on this topic. Worth reading:
http://www.tulsatoday.com/newsdesk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1799&Itemid=2
You know, the Tulsa Today article you posted had me going for a minute. It was sort of interesting, a helpful round-up of all of the attempts by various figures to obtain a real copy of the birth certificate.
But then, unfortunately, the writer completely lets his crazy out of the bag:
___________________________________________________
Perhaps the mystery goes back to 2004, when President Bush won his second term in office and in his first press conference in the White House said that he had “earned political capital and intended to spend it.”
Then – suddenly and inexplicably – he went into a year-long hibernation. He rarely appeared in public and gave no major speeches. Finally he reemerged – albeit weakly – in late November or early December of 2005
Could it be that shortly after the president’s reelection, he and major government officials received highly credible evidence from America’s ruthless Islamist enemies that they had a number of devastating (probably nuclear suitcase) weapons – set up and ready to be activated in as many as six-to-10 of our major cities – unless he (the president) tacked left and played nice for the following two years?
Was America taken hostage?
The president, one could speculate, had only two choices: (1) play “chicken” and possibly sacrifice the lives of millions of Americans and the destruction of major American cities, or (2) opt for the lesser of two evils, the second being to pave the way for a dangerous Trojan Horse – qualified or not – to capture the White House.
___________________________________________________
WOW. Wowee whooey. Just when the birth certificate folks are getting traction, they let out a pile of supercrazy nonsense like that, and blow their tiny but growing credibility into smithereens.
That article just gets a little TOO crazy for my taste. The following excerpt is why:
___________________________________________________
Perhaps the mystery goes back to 2004, when President Bush won his second term in office and in his first press conference in the White House said that he had “earned political capital and intended to spend it.”
Then – suddenly and inexplicably – he went into a year-long hibernation. He rarely appeared in public and gave no major speeches. Finally he reemerged – albeit weakly – in late November or early December of 2005
Could it be that shortly after the president’s reelection, he and major government officials received highly credible evidence from America’s ruthless Islamist enemies that they had a number of devastating (probably nuclear suitcase) weapons – set up and ready to be activated in as many as six-to-10 of our major cities – unless he (the president) tacked left and played nice for the following two years?
Was America taken hostage?
The president, one could speculate, had only two choices: (1) play “chicken” and possibly sacrifice the lives of millions of Americans and the destruction of major American cities, or (2) opt for the lesser of two evils, the second being to pave the way for a dangerous Trojan Horse – qualified or not – to capture the White House.
____________________________________________________
So now, Obama was allowed to become president because Al Qaeda (or whoever) was blackmailing the federal government and the media to do so? Wow. In that case, we’re f*cked already, aren’t we?!
I’ll stick to reality. It may be painful, but at least it’s real.
Hank, you’re multiplying the infraction with your response to Mandelay. Take it to open threads.
Mandelay, Thanksgiving notwithstanding, you ARE off topic. Please move it to open threads. New Hampster wrote an inspiring piece here and you squished it. CUT IT OUT but have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Hell NewHampster!
I’m very thankful this year. At the beginning of this year I was what you call an elitist democrat who firmly believed in the natural course of events. In this case the rise of Hillary and a new world where Women’s right would be addressed and maybe a world with peace.
I have a theory…The guys have really screwed up things why not give the women the chance to fix it.
As we all know my hopes for Hillary being the president were thwarted by a concerted effort to expel the Clinton’s from the highest office.
So why am I thankful…
Because I have found out who I am in this world and what I represent and am taking measures to make a difference for people and advance issues important to me.
Nobody owns me anymore. I’m unabashed and unafraid to believe in causes and reality which may fly in the face of hopeful Utopian unrealistic thinking.
So to all of you at NQ…Thank you for allowing Seattle Moss to grow and to articulate his message.
Happy Thanksgiving!!
and if course I meant
Hello NewHampster
How sweet! Thank you for that beautiful post. It was a soothing balm for aches
left by this crazy, agonizingly divisive election process we have all suffered though. I am thankful for people like you who can still be hopeful in our future as citizens of this awesome nation. We are blessed in so many ways. And I offer a special Thanksgiving prayer for the men and women of our military who will spend their holiday far from home.
And I’m thankful for this site and it’s collage of contributors. I truely would have lost it without our band of PUMA’s!
Happy Thanksgiving!
“Even my dear wife who gets all giggly at the mention of Obama.”
LOL…funny on a lot of levels.
Great article which sums up a lot of my feelings.
And congrats on the growing family…even if you are surrounded…lol
~~
Happy Thanksgiving!
http://phoenixwoman.files.wordpress.com/2007/02/rockwell_fourfreedoms.jpg
It has not been easy keeping my mouth shut when I’m with O-lovin’ friends. There’s so much they never learned about that man, or his contemptible campaign. I just state that I hope he does a decent job for my children’s sake (and nothing is more important to me than my kids). Why continue the fight with clueless friends … we probably will be making enough sacrifices if O is ultimately left to his own devices. I will fight without the O-friends involvement, and continue to be thankful for the input from wise people like New Hampster.
Happy Thanksgiving, and God Bless America.
O-lovin’ friends!
That’s nearly everyone in my office. I’ve often had to remind myself that Silence is golden. Apparently, it’s worked. We now banter back and forth about politics with no hard feelings. Of course the though bubble above my head reads, “You guys are clueless.”
Happy Thanksgiving!
I’m going to The Bohemian Cafe!
http://www.bohemiancafe.net/
Click the MP3 logo to listen to their jingle!
Thanks to New Hampster for this post. Thanks to all the other great posters. Thanks to Susan and Larry for all the behind the scenes work. Thanks to all the regulars here, Seattle Moss, Northwest Rain, Ferd, Galt, Uppity, American Girl in Italy, and others too numerous to mention. Your comments are amazing and help me keep my sanity. Thanks to our soldiers and their families who sacrifice so much on our behalf whether we agree with their mission or not. Thanks for Hillary, John McCain and Sarah Palin and family for trying. Don’t give up on America yet, there are still 55 million people who were not dazzled by That Ones bullshit.
That wouldn’t be The Vermont Inn near Chittenden and Rutland, would it? That’s my favorite inn in Vermont for turkey dinner — fabulous!
djmm
Echo Lake Inn
http://www.echolakeinn.com/
Before I partake of my next adult beverage… Let me add that I’m thankful to Galt for learning how to post emoticons on NQ! Fun!
Looks like I created a monster!
And thanks!
Happy Thanksgiving, Galt!
I’m having a tall cold one right now. This time I’ll keep down to one emoticon.
Thanks Galt.
What’s the fare at the Pizza Parlor this Thanksgiving? Or are you closed tomorrow?
Galt’s Pizza Parlor and 24 Hour Diner never closes!
Bravo!
As I said up-thread, I’m having Bohemian (Czech/German) food tomorrow. I’ll definitely order dumplings, but I’m still debating whether to go with the kraut. You recall last night’s thread.
I like kraut. I just don’t eat a huge portion and never have a problem.
Moderation in all things and…
Buon appetito!
Ciao!
My understanding, without google cheating:
A “Freudian slip” is when someone says something and by mistake substitutes another word which ends up revealing some inner thought or desire. I think the term initially was for things of a sexual nature, but has been expanded to the non-sexual. Freud was the psychiatrist who thought a lot of what people think is related to sex. And I should add, people use the term for typos with no real apparent inner meaning.
Here’s an example: Someone might want to say, “I bought two tickets to Pittsburgh,” but by mistake they say “I bought two pickets to tittsburgh.”
That kind of thing. I think the sexual Freudian slips are the ones most commonly pointed out.
if you add the two words “in bed” to the end of it (like reading a fortune cookie), good old Freud will sleep easier in his eternal rest.
Happy Thanksgiving all. Without Taylor Marsh cross posting Larry at her old site, I would never have stumbled upon this last refuge for free thought. “Free thought” doesn’t mean that everyone always agrees with you ….
Again, many thanks to you NH, and I’ll spare putting the joke here again.
…giving thanks,
…a very touching photo on CNN’s website reporting hostages from the Taj Mahal Hotel have been freed.
http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/11/26/india.attacks/t1wide.mumbai.people.ap.jpg
Have a Thankful Thanksgiving everyone…
Rmember those Starving in the World… The United states is still the best Nation to live in anywhere…because of people like all of you..
God bless
Just posted by the Associated Press:
I’m the official Thanksgiving Off Topic Policewoman. Please do’t offend the NQ writers and post this type of comment on Open Threads.
I’m the official Thanksgiving Off Topic Policewoman. Please don’t offend the NQ writers and post this type of comment on Open Threads.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone on this blog!
Thank you New Hampster, I am grateful for you all as well. It is and will be a wild and crazy ride in the country we love enough to fight about and for and with, God Bless America :0)
God Bless Everyone, Happy Thanksgiving
Great essay, New Hampster! We do have a lot to be thankful for–just have to sit back and ponder for a minute and it all begins to flow.
Happy Thanksgiving!
I am Thankful for all America has given me but I draw the line when it comes to making light about the Fraud. I will not cross that line and i hope others do not also. We allowed Bush to steal an election and it caused the deaths of hundreds of thousands. This i fear is worse.
Peaceful transition. Well I don’t want tanks in the streets, but an unbiased media, educated population and a qualified, under the law President, is that too much to ask for?
I will not go quiet into the night. My emotions are still raw. I remember Joe the Plumber and what the Fraud , Biden and the Media did to him. If we don’t fight this with everything we have we may very well never have the opportunity again.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone….!!
:Have a wonderful Thanksgiving :
: However you spend your time :
~~Enjoy each Moment~~
“Happiness is not so much in having as sharing”
“We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”
I have a great deal to be thankful for too..
First & foremost….
My amazing husband who tries to keep me on the straight and narrow and when I get off lets me know the calmer side of things that I feel are unjust…
Not that I always agree with him LOL
This year has been up and down in and out left and right happy & sad and for now we all have each other!!
Thank you all for who you are~~
May your days ahead be blessed.
Happy Thanksgiving everyone at No Quarter!! Heartfelt wishes for each of us, our families, and our country to be blessed.
My family now demands updates on what going on here. We feel this is one place that sanity prevails – believe it or not and Old Grumpy Guy has some new fans!
Safe journeys everyone,
Buzz Latte
I am thankful I can donate to the local food bank, where 50.00 can feed 200 people.
More people are hungry this year than last.
So again best to all.
Thank you, NewHampster for a beautiful post.
A very Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
Great piece, New Hampster. I suppose I’m grateful for our peaceful transition of power.
I’m thankful for all the laughs from the cockamamie conspiracy theories generated by the PUMAs throughout this election cycle. The Whitey tape. Obama’s Birth certificate. How he stole the primary election from Hillary. I mean, this stuff was priceless! This was a pretty tough year and I’m thankful for the unintentional humor from you folks that helped me get through it. God bless and may Santa leave you all new tin-foil hats in your stockings.
I am happy that you aren’t either of my ex-husbands. Love ya’ …. mean it!