Posted on 11/19/2007 9:37:11 AM PST by Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus
Speaking as a misfit unassimilated foreigner, I think of Thanksgiving as the most American of holidays.
Christmas is celebrated elsewhere, even if there are significant local variations: In Continental Europe, naughty children get left rods to be flayed with and lumps of coal; in Britain, Christmas lasts from Dec. 22 to mid-January and celebrates the ancient cultural traditions of massive alcohol intake and watching the telly till you pass out in a pool of your own vomit. All part of the rich diversity of our world.
But Thanksgiving (excepting the premature and somewhat undernourished Canadian version) is unique to America. "What's it about?" an Irish visitor asked me a couple of years back. "Everyone sits around giving thanks all day? Thanks for what? George bloody Bush?"
(Excerpt) Read more at jewishworldreview.com ...
We're giving thanks, in fact, that we're not like Ireland.
World Should Give Thanks To America (Mark Steyn On American Exceptionalism Alert)
Europeans, because they've been so inept at exercising it, no longer believe in national sovereignty, whereas it would never occur to Americans not to.
America in a recession is better than any other economy in full speed.
I am a naturalized American who grew up in the socialist cess pool of India and this article hits home. My love affair with America and the sense of wonderment and appreciation just grows stronger 17 years after coming here.
Now if we could just get some of our liberal friends to understand American exceptionalism......
Nah, we give thanks for family, friends, and not living in places like ...Ireland.
Huh? In 1693?
Thanksgiving Day is my favorite holiday with my family. My entire {immediate} family congregates for several days of fine food and we never eat a meal without a Thanksgiving prayer. It is truly a unique American experience an I am eternally grateful for having had the good fortune to be born here.
Of course! There were settlements established on this continent in the 1600s. Columbus landed in 1492. Ever hear of the Socialist experiment called Roanoke?
“What’s it about?” an Irish visitor asked me a couple of years back. “Everyone sits around giving thanks all day? Thanks for what? George bloody Bush?”
Reply to Irish visitor: “For starters, we’re thankful for our independence from England. Think about it.”
I think what RegulatorCountry was getting at was that the Pilgrims landed in 1620, not 1693.
Ever read about when the Pilgrims actually landed at Plymouth Rock, lol?
There’s something very weird about how that statement was written ... “three hundred and 14 years,” spelling out three hundred and then reverting to numeric. I have a hard time believing that Mark Steyn actually doesn’t know this.
Sadly America has lost the true meaning of Thanksgiving as a time to reflect on the bounty God has bestowed on our land. Despite the MSM and liberals portraying the US as evil and a place where thousands starve on the streets, can’t get health care etc., no nation on earth has achieved what we have or has given its people such a high standard of living. If those in other countries want to denigrate the US, it is more out of envy than spite.
“What’s it about?” an Irish visitor asked me a couple of years back. “Everyone sits around giving thanks all day? Thanks for what? George bloody Bush?”
Yes.
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