Archive for November, 2009

Dan Calabrese

Thanksgiving is the best holiday we have, largely because it has strayed the least from its original intent. Most of us do, indeed, give thanks on Thanksgiving. More than than, most of us actually do give thanks to God.

Did he ever.

And we should. We give thanks for our abundance, for our liberty, for the boundless opportunity of our nation and for the relative peace in which we live almost all the time.

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Mark Watson

So much to be thankful for, so little time:

For many Americans, Thanksgiving is a mere gateway to the holiday season eventually culminating in the celebration of the new year. For others, this uniquely American holiday is a time of reflections of the true blessings citizens enjoy in this country.

Pretty awesome.

Wouldn’t it be nice if, at least on Thanksgiving Day, Americans offered thanks for some of the many wonderful things about this country?

Everyone can be thankful that 46 Thanksgiving Days have come and gone without this country’s president being assassinated.

American children no longer participate in mandatory air raid drills in anticipation of a Soviet invasion.

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Ashley Stinnett

Over 300 years ago, a colony of pilgrims and a group of Wampanoag Indians, gathered together for a celebration feast in what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts. The meal was a mutual “thanksgiving” to God, whom they highly revered as the nucleus of their journey to a distant land.

Providence.

It was only a mere 14 years earlier that the first official American colony was established in Jamestown, Virginia where one of the first and most successful Protestant churches was established. Both colonies appeared to hold deep Christian values, as did many who migrated from England during that era of new “discoveries”.

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Bruce Fisher

Before Hong Kong became a part of China again, it was a city-state that enjoyed fabulous prosperity, creativity and freedom. In the good old days, many a resident of New York City fantasized about how sweet the liberation would be if only Gotham could shed the dead weight of its Upstate country cousins.

Who needs it?

The late writer Norman Mailer ran a campaign for mayor premised on seceding from New York State. He said that, after the city went solo, the rest of the state could call itself Buffalo for all he cared.

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Bob Franken

Unlike the wide coverage given to the tedious meetings President Obama has held about Afghanistan, the planning for the White House State Dinner for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was conducted in complete secrecy.

It’s a pity. First of all, the president himself also convened these discussions, this time assembling his Kitchen Cabinet to help with the decisions.

A highfalutin' affair.

Actually, Michelle Obama sat at the head of this table, but it’s fair to say that Barack was the power behind this throne. As a result the meetings were interminable debates between those who favored one protocol or another.

Particularly valuable, as one might imagine, was the input from Hillary Rodham Clinton who brought a wide variety of experiences to the deliberations. Not only could she share her perspective as Secretary of State and former First Lady, she also spent those many years as Governor’s wife in Arkansas, so her knowledge of “Country Come to Town” society events was unmatched. Read the rest of this entry »

Mark Watson

When Democratic lawmakers struggled for majority status in the 2006 election, one word became their electoral mantra – transparency.  Transparency was to 2006 what hope and change were for the 2008 presidential campaign.

Coming soon: The vote-buying futures market.

Of course, the Democratic majorities in the Senate and House have been anything but transparent since gaining majority status – until Saturday.

Critics can no longer complain that the Democratic majorities have failed to act transparently after Saturday night’s rare Senate session as Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada), delivered a filibuster-proof, 60-vote win to proceed to debate on the misnamed health care reform proposal nicknamed ObamaCare.

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Brett Noel

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Large version for newspaper publication.

Grayscale version for newspaper publication.

Dan Calabrese

No, the hacked e-mails from global warmists at the University of East Anglia don’t prove that global warming is a lie. They only prove that some of its purporters are liars.

This damn thing doesn't work at all!

By the same token, a decade’s worth of global temperatures not rising does not prove that they won’t rise over the long term. It only proves that those who predicted this steady rise got it wrong for the past 10 years.

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Bob Franken

“Thank you for asking.”

If I am ever able to realize my dream to establish an Insincerity Hall of Fame that phrase will have a prominent place.

It’s the usually dismissive response from someone who has just been asked “How ya doin’?” I always want to fire back with “Thank you for answering” or “Thank you for thanking me for asking”.

A perfect place for the Insincerity Hall of Fame.

Come to think of it “How ya doin” belongs in this memorial to meaninglessness.

Truth is we don’t really don’t care how you’re doing. In fact the possibility you might tell us causes us to shudder.

“Nice to see you” is another one, almost always the automatic greeting from someone who is looking over your shoulder and doesn’t really see you at all. Read the rest of this entry »