2015-11-26 – There’s been a mini-furor this week over the following tweet by @JoyceCarolOates:

All we hear of ISIS is puritanical & punitive; is there nothing celebratory & joyous? Or is query naive?

The gist of the furor seems to be that liberals are out of touch, at best, or apologists for brutal evil, at worst. As a liberal, I would never tweet something like this about ISIS. And I would neither defend nor criticize Joyce Carol Oates because I have no idea what she is saying. But I would ask the following about us:

Is there nothing celebratory & joyous about the USofA?

With all the shouting and complaining in the media, you’d think the answer would be no. So it’s fortunate that today happens to be Thanksgiving. For today is the day that we should be answering that exact question.

For what are we thankful?

I know it’s a change of pace to even think this way. Maybe it isn’t cool. But at least we have a day to put aside all the anger and think about it. Is it really worth it?

For the turkey.

For the stuffing.

For the cranberries.

For the mud pie.

For family.

For being able to walk the streets without fear (for those of us who can).

For people who want to ease the fear (of those of us who can’t).

For purple mountain majesties above the fruited plain.

For ethnic restaurants.

For people working together to make a better life.

For friends (even on Facebook).

For being able to say or write or believe what you want—or not.

For science.

For art.

For music.

For jokes, especially bad ones.

For chocolate.

 

Okay, enough with the celebration and joy.

Stop it!

Now, get ready to shop!