Giving Thanks ... by J. D. Longstreet

Giving Thanks.
A Commentary by J. D. Longstreet
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In the spirit of full disclosure allow me to set the record straight: I am part Native American -- as are so many, many, Americans. BOTH my grandmothers were, at the very least, half American Indian... either Eastern Cherokee or Catawba. I suspect Catawba. As a youngster it was not uncommon to have the chief of the local tribe visiting at my grandparent's home. The reservation was just a short distance from my childhood home. A 15 minute drive would put one on reservation soil.

The point is, I did not grow up in an atmosphere in which the American Indian was seen as having been robbed of his land or his country. They were our neighbors and many were our relatives, making them family.

Now that you know the above, you will understand why I do not buy into the bovine scatology the lefties have been selling our kids for the past, oh, nearly two generations.

Yes, the American Indian has been screwed by the US government. That cannot be denied. On the other hand, so have you and I! Promises were made and never kept. Treaties were made -- and broken -- seemingly before the ink was dry on the paper. So, yes, the American Indian got a raw deal from the US government.

Nothing much has changed. Today as the Democrats in Congress ram through a National Healthcare bill they are making copious promises that will never be kept -- and --what is worse, they KNOW they won't be kept because they have no intention of keeping them. It is an attempt to fool just enough people, just long enough, to get the bill passed through Congress and signed into law by the President. So, if you think you have been screwed by the US government please take a number and/or get in line.

Thanksgiving is a time for solemn reflection on the blessings we DID receive. Yes, Obama is probably the worst president in the history of the United States, but it could have been worse. Mrs. Clinton could have easily won and we'd have Bill back in the White House again along with all the embarrassment(s) that follows along after him. So, I will not thank God that Obama won, I will, however, thank God that Mrs. Clinton did not!

Even in the midst of the recession America has so much for which to be thankful. The President's Afghanistan policy, unfortunately, is NOT one of them. Obama is to announce his plans for our military in Afghanistan early next week. Already reports are (I believe some are "trial balloons.") slipping out that the President's Afghanistan plan is a "minefield" for the administration. (As if the Administration even knows what a "minefield" is!) Until you have had your nose 18 inches, or so, from a mine while you delicately dig it from the soil with your bayonet, while trying, unsuccessfully, to keep the trembling in your hands to a minimum, you really are not qualified to refer to a piece of presidential policy as a "minefield." Whatever the President decides, I expect it will lead to a lot of things in Afghanistan, but victory will not be among them. Face it, America. We have won our last war. However, I WILL thank God, this Thanksgiving, that our troops have not been over run, by Taliban forces, while the President dithers around trying to formulate an Afghanistan policy that will make him look good in the eyes of the world.

I will thank God that His people, in Israel, are still standing tall against those nations that would wipe them off the map. I will pray, as well, that the Israelis know that our President's policy toward Israel does not reflect the feelings of the American people toward our only true friend in the Middle East.

And, finally, I will give thanks that we STILL retain the freedom to assemble and petition the government for redress. And -- I will, most earnestly, pray that the American people find their spine and begin to speak out against the godless socialist/communist leanings of our current government and commit themselves to the effort to return this nation to the constitutional representative republic intended by the Founding Fathers.

And allow me to close with this: I don't CARE who attended the first Thanksgiving and I care even less about who brought what to that first Thanksgiving table. I am just happy that representatives of both the races represented in my DNA were seated there in peace.

Happy Thanksgiving!

J. D. Longstreet