Thanksgiving, our annual celebration of gluttony, shopping, dysfunctional families, and football.

“…If I cook it inside the turkey, is there a chance I could kill my guests? I’m not saying that’s necessarily a deal-breaker…”

Is this a great country, or what?

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone.

Hey, the turkey is in the oven and this is a more colorful scene.

Things I’m thankful for – Thanksgiving 2009:

Performers who lip sync for the nationally televised corporate shopping parade. Not really.

Politicians who we we worked so hard to elect in the hope that we could all create the change we so desperately need. Oh, wait…

Conspicuous consumption. Oh, wait…

The ads which made up the bulk of the Thanksgiving Day paper. You think shopping on Friday is gonna be fun?

A sane approach to national health insurance policy. Oh, wait…

Family (we gotta take ’em all), friends, and blogtopia (y, sctp!)…

President-elect Barack Obama’s remarks as prepared:

Remarks of President-elect Barack Obama

Thursday, November 27th, 2008

Good morning.

Nearly 150 years ago, in one of the darkest years of our nation’s history, President Abraham Lincoln set aside the last Thursday in November as a day of Thanksgiving. America was split by Civil War. But Lincoln said in his first Thanksgiving decree that difficult times made it even more appropriate for our blessings to be — and I quote — “gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people.”

This week, the American people came together with family and friends to carry on this distinctly American tradition. We gave thanks for loved ones and for our lasting pride in our communities and our country. We took comfort in good memories while looking forward to the promise of change.

But this Thanksgiving also takes place at a time of great trial for our people.

Across the country, there were empty seats at the table, as brave Americans continue to serve in harm’s way from the mountains of Afghanistan to the deserts of Iraq. We honor and give thanks for their sacrifice, and stand by the families who endure their absence with such dignity and resolve.

At home, we face an economic crisis of historic proportions. More and more Americans are worried about losing a job or making their mortgage payment. Workers are wondering if next month’s paycheck will pay next month’s bills. Retirees are watching their savings disappear, and students are struggling with the cost of tuition.

It’s going to take bold and immediate action to confront this crisis. That’s why I’m committed to forging a new beginning from the moment I take office as President of the United States. Earlier this week, I announced my economic team. This talented and dedicated group is already hard at work crafting an Economic Recovery Plan that will create or save 2.5 million new jobs, while making the investments we need to fuel long-term economic growth and stability.

But this Thanksgiving, we are reminded that the renewal of our economy won’t come from policies and plans alone — it will take the hard work, innovation, service, and strength of the American people.

I have seen this strength firsthand over many months — in workers who are ready to power new industries, and farmers and scientists who can tap new sources of energy; in teachers who stay late after school, and parents who put in that extra hour reading to their kids; in young Americans enlisting in a time of war, seniors who volunteer their time, and service programs that bring hope to the hopeless.

It is a testament to our national character that so many Americans took time out this Thanksgiving to help feed the hungry and care for the needy. On Wednesday, I visited a food bank at Saint Columbanus Parish in Chicago. There — as in so many communities across America — folks pitched in time and resources to give a lift to their neighbors in need. It is this spirit that binds us together as one American family — the belief that we rise and fall as one people; that we want that American Dream not just for ourselves, but for each other.

That’s the spirit we must summon as we make a new beginning for our nation. Times are tough. There are difficult months ahead. But we can renew our nation the same way that we have in the many years since Lincoln’s first Thanksgiving: by coming together to overcome adversity; by reaching for — and working for — new horizons of opportunity for all Americans.

So this weekend — with one heart, and one voice, the American people can give thanks that a new and brighter day is yet to come.

It’ll be nice to have a president who can speak in complete sentences. It’ll be even nicer to have a government that tries to do things other than enrich the cronies of those in power.

cookie jill posted this West Wing Thanksgiving clip at skippy. It reminded me that during four days in late August of 2000 at the Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles I saw four presidents up close. Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, Al Gore (hey, he won by 543,895 votes) and…

…Jed Bartlet.

…to one and all.

May your holiday be filled with joy and laughter and fun and family and friendship, and if football is your thing, add it to the list!

May you eat too much and have a nap and wake up and eat some more.

Here are some of the things I am thankful for today and every day:

My family – my husband, our son and daughters, our granddaughter and our extended families.

My friends – from those nearby, like Catherine in the corner unit to those far flung, like  all of you who have become  more than just text to me.

My home – not just the coop in the city, but my rural Missouri roots.  The grandparents who had a gaggle of grandkids swoop in on them for weeks every summer that kept us grounded and gave us a sense of permanence and place.

American citizenship – and the Constitution on which it stands.  While it has been cheapened and debased and degraded the last seven years, it is still worth fighting and dieing for, and it will take more than aWol Bush and Darth Cheney to destroy this country.  To that end, I am thankful that 1/20/09 is coming.

I am thankful for people who step up and serve.  People like my father and father-in-law, my husband, my nephew, my cousins and aunts and uncles and friends.  People who realize that there are things bigger than themselves and that those things are worth standing up for.

I am thankful for the internet that brings us all together, and lets us find our like-minded brothers and sisters.  I am humbled that so many of you come by here every day to read our ranting and offer your own feedback and perspectives.  I strive to inform, and it’s a two-way street – I learn from you all every day.   And for that, I am truly thankful.