Thanksgiving...

Like so many things, its original intent and its current interpretation are out of whack. Just like America. I went to hear Eugene Jarecki speak about his new book, The American Way of War: Guided Missiles, Misguided Men an a Republic in Peril and he explained the sea change that occurred in 1947 with the great expansion of the Executive branch of the government. It was supposed to be balanced with each branch counterbalancing the other. The Executive branch's fiscal and fundamental obesity epidemic is just one example of the misinterpretations.

I used to think that chicken was a protein but now that they are penned and caged they have become a fat, increasing that content threefold from lack of exercise and movement... sound like anyone you know... any ideas you know? The original idea was thanking God for the bountiful feast at the end of the harvest... or according to my fourth grade textbook, Thanksgiving was supposed to have been when The Pilgrims were saved by the Native Americans, that they had raped and pillaged, and that after being taught to plant corn -- maize -- the Pilgrims were so thankful that they invited the Indians to a supper... Bullshit.

We now know the truth about the Pilgrims and the Native Americans and instead we have turned this into an excuse to gather as families and eat until we are sick. Nice... No Native Americans or Iraqis, Iranians, or, in most white people's cases, African Americans. And certainly no French people present at the feast of reconciliation and gratitude. No, Just Uncle Frank who hates the fact that his brother carves the non-Palin-pardoned turkey poorly ( I betcha it was the one that still quaked in the background as she prattled on ) and that Aunt Alice thinks it is always "too dry" which she slurs during her fifth glass of boxed wine.

Real thanks and giving is from truth. Hard, ugly, painful truth, about ourselves and our families and our nation. So on this Thanksgiving let's try to count our blessings and not our calories, blessings not balance sheets, blessings not division, blessings not bombs.

Thanks to Barack Obama for his courage, for our children that they will get a chance to see real change occur, as Bette and Mae said, "Fasten you seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night ( few years )."

Blessings for our path-cutters... a favorite quote from one of those Greek Genius', "Civilization flourishes when great men plant trees under the shade of which they will never stand."

Blessings for the brave who first said "No, I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!" and put their lives and limbs on the line for us and the brave men, women and children who continue to fight for the right to fight for the right...

So this Thanksgiving let's fight for the right to disagree, to discourse, to dissemble the things that don't work and plant seeds of change whithin ourselves, our families, our communities, our Nation and our World, that they will bloom and grow and yield new truths that we will all hold... that are and should always be self-evident... That all men, women, children, of every race, creed, color, religion, sexual orientation, are created equal.

Equal for all.

Please God!

Read more Thanksgiving posts from HuffPost bloggers

Comments

[haimchaim]

I'm all for JC's wishes -
Lets Pray for Peace in our times.
God bless America...

[katocat]

I'm thankful for smart hotties like Jamie Lee Curtis.

[Levittown]

Jamie hits the nail on the head. One of the biggest failures of history reporting is that so many try to rewrite and twist the truth. The politicians have done so much damage in the school books that the young read and the teachers do not protest is bad for our educational system. The lies that alter history give a false sense of right and wrong to the young and continue on as they progress. Only lately are we becoming more aware of what went on in the early years of America because the facts were held back by the media, the media that has become so politically tainted. We have much to be thankful for and this past election result is the best news for the new year. Happy 2009.

[mystic]

Sorry, everything is eclipsed by Obama's clear intention to condone accountability for torture. Hard to be thankful for anything with that in mind. If he does so -- I can hear him say the economy is paramount or some such excuse -- Americans will always be blamed and reviled, and thought of as torturers because we are an apathetic nation and have never protested this topic. Thanks but no thanks.

[aborell]

You have actually just claimed that Obama intends to more or less hold 'torturers' responsible for their actions. And apparently this upsets you?

words have different meanings than you think!

[jamieleecurtisonline]

I don´t agree this time with your thoughts, Mrs Curtis.
I thank god that we´re are not all equal.
My people once walked all in equality, well, no, they marched in equality. Helding up their right arm in equality. I don´t like equaltiy. It just doesn´t work. Neither with marching nor with building a wall around a country.
I just think the magic thing is RESPECTING and ACCEPTING INequality.

[luvsmedatobama]

I don't think I can last until Obama is sworn in. It's not fair that we have to wait so long.

[huffingNpuffing]

Thank you, God, for Jamie Lee Curtis. What a doll!

[JeffDowd]

Great Blog Jamie!

Happy Thanksgiving.!

Please say hello to Chris for me.

I just did my first Huffington Post Blog:

CEO to Self: "What Do I Do at Work today? I Dunno?

We do! Imagine!

You can Cut and Paste to go directly to my Blog link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-dowd/ceo-to-self-what-do-i-do_b_146414.html

It is also archived for sure at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-dowd/

Thanks for all you do,

Jeff

The Dude Abides

www.jeffdowd.com
[e-mail]

[PhatP]

Jamie,
Much if not all of the injustice you speak of throughout our history came about from discrimination and oppression. Animal exploitation utilizes the unjust "might makes right" doctrine that allows one group to dominate another group without ever acknowledging the wrongful aspects involved. Racism, sexism, child exploitation, anti-Semitism and homophobia all employed the same prejudicial hype that because one group can hold power over another it somehow justifies the oppression and brutality involved.
Non humans are the subjects of horrible abuse brought about from this same way of thinking. Maybe this Thanksgiving thoughtful humans can reflect on our past history of violence and prejudice and truly begin to bring about CHANGE by allowing the same steps that brought us our new President to continue walking forward to include the animals of the world in our moral community. There are many reasons (human health, global warming, water pollution, grain shortages) to stop eating animals but ending the violence and ushering in a new era of compassion is real change and easy to do.
Go Vegan and nobody gets hurt.

[RenoSage]

Everyone has something to be grateful for on Thanksgiving Day, and every day.
The people in Santa Barbara who escaped with just the clothes on their backs in the Tea fire, are
grateful to be alive, and to have such a great community.
"We give thanks for our food, and remember the hungry."

[EstherEnterprise]

Being accountable to inclusion takes persistent self-honesty and courage. God seems to respond immediately to the least effort in this regard. It may not always feel comfortable, but it is a great way to connect with God. Cheers to the process!

[Dr. Robert Aziz - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you Jamie Lee Curtis

Unfortunately, it is all too often the case that the counting of blessings has far more to do with self-elevation and the stroking of one"s ego than it has to with genuine gratitude in one"s communion with God. Surely our gratitude and thankfulness to God should not be measured relative to our distance from the suffering of others"sufferings, I would add, in which individually or collectively we may even have had a hand. The power of your Thanksgiving blessing Jamie is in the power of its vision of inclusiveness.

[includere]

Thank you Dr. Aziz. I agree that Jamie's Thanksgiving prayer is for an America and world that will see all of us as God's children, protected and blessed.

[Over40]

Beautifully said. I agree ......... so many people today - who have so much - do so
with a sense of entitlement - often over others - spiritually this is very far from the
truth or God. Thank you.

[EstherEnterprise]

Being accountable to inclusion takes persistent self-honesty and courage. God seems to respond immediately to the least effort in this regard. It may not always feel comfortable, but it is a great way to connect with God. Cheers to the process

[Muriella]

Love the tree planting quote - I think I need to repeat it to myself several times each day to remind myself what life is all about. Thanks.

[greeniefromOH]

To me, the holiday evokes the concept of evolution, as in a spiritual evolution from that place (Colonial America) to the place we'd like to be now. Don't know if that makes sense..... but that's what her blog means to me. Let us celebrate & be thankful for NOW and for that in us which makes us capable of being the best that we can be. And let us also believe in forgiveness, and hope that we are more evolved than some of the early settlers who did harm to the native people of this land. We cannot move backward, only forward. Let us resolve to continue that evolution forward.

[arbabonie]

Great editorial Jamie.

The meaning of Thanksgiving is lost in time.

Some want to use Thanksgiving as a way to remind people how EVIL the WHITE Europeans were when they traveled to the New World.

Others want to use Thanksgiving as a day to remind others that turkeys are alive and should be protected. (As if vegetation is NOT alive. Plants are born DEAD and therefore; fine for consumption.)

Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate being able to survive. To "make it" for another year.
Hundreds of explorers died when they first arrived here in America. Half of the colony of Jamestown starved to death. So, being able to eat a bird and have some corn was a bright spot in the lives of these explorers..!!

Besides, Thanksgiving is one of the only paid holidays many of us working stiffs get. Just except the freaking day.

Eat a turkey, or a tofu burger. Watch football or watch "Christmas with the Kranks." (Great movie, by the way.)

Have fun with the day and don"t worry so much about it..!!

[quantumspin]

Hear, Hear.

[uclafan]

Best blog i've seen in a long time.