Thanksgiving 2020

I am blessed.

And I have so much to be thankful for it’s hard to know where to start. So I will start with you - the MOTI who gather here. We are like family whose members don’t always agree and some frequently squabble but are nevertheless connected by a deep common bond. Unlike real families our bond isn’t blood but rather shared values and principles; the very ones our country was founded on. We are bound together by our Constitution, the guide to building an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and civil society flourish.

Here are a few of the specific things I’m grateful for:

I’m grateful I was born on the cusp of the 50s, when America was great and nobody was ashamed of that.

A Sears-Roebuck Dutch colonial – ‘colonial’ - you could never sell such a thing today!

I’m grateful to have been born to a world where individual freedom, self-reliance and personal responsibility were core values of everyone who aspired to be a good citizen - and that was nearly everyone.

The freedom of the open road was a siren’s call

I’m grateful that I was born when America was seen as a melting pot and that was a good thing, not bad. A time before ‘cultural appropriation’ was a thing and if used at all applied only to the Brits raiding of Egyptian tombs.

Taco Tuesday wasn’t a thing and tacos weren’t racist

I’m grateful for having received an education focused on reading, writing, math, citizenship and critical thinking rather than critical race theory and other social justice propaganda.

I’m grateful that I was raised in a time when people corrected true injustices like Jim Crow laws rather than inventing fake victims in order to exploit them for political gain.

When the fight for equal rights was not about defunding police

 

I’m grateful for having been young when I didn’t have to feel guilty about everything I ate, drank, drove, bought or dreamed about for fear of killing the planet.

Just because it was cool

For these, and

I’m also grateful that 50 million Americans are traveling to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families this year, despite being advised not to by the CDC.