OPINION

Post-Thanksgiving Thanks

Written by Drew McKissick
Published November 30, 2006

It’s that time of year again (okay, past time) where we are reminded to recount and give thanks for all of those things we should be thankful for throughout the entire year, but usually take for granted. After being too busy with being thankful last week to write it down, here’s this year’s list:

I’m thankful for my church, my God, and the religious freedom we enjoy in our country, and mindful of the fact that it was pilgrims of the Christian faith that helped lay the foundation for that freedom. These are the same pilgrims who are today maligned as religious zealots.

I’m thankful for capitalism and the free market of ideas, products, and services, and the fact that it offers anybody the possibility to be or do virtually anything.  It’s the reason why people speak of “American ingenuity” as opposed to “French ingenuity”.

I’m thankful for the Internet and the incredible leveling power it provides. We may still be too close to its birth to truly appreciate its significance and its impact on just about every part of our lives. Like Guttenberg’s printing press, it has changed the world, only more so, and has the power to enable the development of still more tremendous changes.

I’m thankful for a system of government where “we the people” are actually the proprietors. I only wish more of our fellow stock-holders had a sense of duty to participate and become educated on how this outfit is supposed to run, rather than outsource the job to politicians that bribe them with their own money.

Then there is our Constitution to be thankful for, and the fact that we have a written one, even though most liberal judges don’t seem to be able to understand what it says. I’m thankful for the rights that it protects, especially those that John McCain doesn’t take seriously, like freedom of speech and freedom to lobby government for a redress of grievances. I’m hopeful that more people will actually take the time to read it occasionally and ponder whether or not out government bears any resemblance to the structure it proscribes.

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Drew McKissick is a Columbia, SC based political consultant and maintains a blog at Conservative Outpost. His column "The Right Side" is published weekly.
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Post-Thanksgiving Thanks
Published: November 30, 2006
Type: Opinion
Section: Politics
Filed Under: Culture: Holidays and Traditions, Culture: Society, Politics: Elections and Candidates, Politics: U.S.
Part of a feature: The Right Side
Writer: Drew McKissick
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Comments

#1 — November 30, 2006 @ 17:56PM — Dave Nalle [URL]

These are the same pilgrims who are today maligned as religious zealots.

These are the same pilgrims who ran a fanatical and oppressive theocracy where they ostracized, tarred and feathered and even lynched other Christians who were not of their brand of Christianity, not to mention having a nice big witch hunt in 1692.

They were intolerant then and their self-righteous ideological descendants are just as bad today.

Dave

#2 — November 30, 2006 @ 18:02PM — Baronius

Drew, I completely disagree with you about the... you should have... um, you didn't make fun of the Fr... oh, right. Ok, Spurier's a lousy coach. Whew! I'd hate to read a BC article and agree with every word of it.

#3 — December 1, 2006 @ 06:35AM — The Fifth Dentist [URL]

Drew--
What I find really galling about your "writing" is your inappropriately strident tone when writing about things like god, family, or our country. I honestly find it revolting.
Cheers.

#4 — December 1, 2006 @ 13:50PM — Arch Conservative

Oh so only leftist atheist revisionists are allowed to be "strident" fifth?

What I find revolting is that people like Drew and myself have to share this once great nation with people like you, Adam Ash and the rest of your ilk.

[Personal attack deleted by Comments Editor]

#5 — December 1, 2006 @ 13:58PM — Baronius

#3 and #4:

Hilarious. I thought I've recently seen signs of a post-election Blogcritics New World Order, where we were all so tired of yelling that we constructed well-reasoned arguments instead. Instead, you two get in a shouting match on a thanksgiving board. You've reminded me that we're all destined to fall into an eternal pit locked in a death grip, ala Gandalf and the Balrog.

#6 — December 1, 2006 @ 14:09PM — zingzing

and i'm thankful that archie here will never get his christmas wish. oh, archie, you and drew don't HAVE to "share this once great nation" with anyone... you can go away, or just disappear back into your hole in whatever rural soybean field you crawled out of. actually, drew isn't so bad... he's just confused.

hmm. fucking myself and shoving my "progressive agenda" (doesn't that sound sexy) up my ass... wish i could do both at once. are you saying that we are just "jerk offs, you jerk offs?" cause it's rather repeditive.

i'm glad we live in a country where we can be free to worship or not worship whatever figment of our imagination we choose to and no one really gets offended by it, and not too many of us really think it should be any different that way.

i'm also glad that we have a government by the people, and that when that government proves they are worthless, we can let the majority decide who should lead. (I'm thankful that when conservatives wield power, they cannot help themselves but to show the public what they really are - not what they claimed to be prior to an election - so we vote them out.)

i'm thankful that we have a constitution that protects freedoms instead of restricts them. and i'm thankful for judges that realize that and tell mighty christian soldiers to fuck off.

i'm thankful that i didn't eat fried turkey--cause that shit nasty. i also don't like yams or cranberries.

and i'm thankful for wake forest football. and the fact that we are actually winning. AND SHUT OUT FLORIDA STATE 30-0 IN TALLAHASEE! ahem.

#7 — December 1, 2006 @ 23:25PM — The Fifth Dentist [URL]

Regarding comment #4:

Dear Arse Conservative:
You sound like a real family values kind of guy. What with ordering people to f--- themselves, calling for the death of other contributors to this website, or requesting that people insert things up their anus. Normally, I'd hestiate to speak on behalf of Mr. McKissick or other self-described conservative. But on this occasion, I feel confident in asserting that neither he nor any other respectable person would feel comfortable having someone such as yourself [Personal attack deleted by Comments Editor] either speaking on their behalf or attempting to associate with them. Please save yourself further embarrassment [Personal attack deleted by Comments Editor].

Sincerely,
The Management

P.S., does anyone know where I pick up my award for comment of the day?

[No, but I do know the value of not allowing yourself to be dragged down to the level of others... Comments Editor]

#8 — December 2, 2006 @ 15:27PM — Arch Conservative

Yeah you and you leftist cronies have such a passionate zeal for legalized infanticide and rubbing it in the faces of people who oppose it and I'm the one suffering from a moral deficit?

In case I didn't make myself clear.......It's not all Democrats..........it's not all liberals.........it's not all who question the GOP......what it is is those on the far far far left......

Those who want to deny that truth that this nation was in fact founded by mostly chrisitans and judeo christian philosophy has had much much more of an influence on this nation's culture and government since it's creation

Those who purposely misinterpret the first amendment to claim that the separation of church and state means that no private citizen should ever be allowed to express their religion in public and then only object when Christians do it......


Those who think that having an abortion or pointing to someone that's had one and gleefully telling as many pro-lifers as they can about it is a sign of "progressive" moral values and not giving a thought at all for the life of that was taken by having had that abortion


Those who think that the government is obligated to fulfill every need or desire in a person's life no matter how obscure or minute

Those who do not believe in American soveriegnty

Those who call American soldiers baby killers or death brigadiers

Those who believe that every citizen is entitle to the same quality of life as every other citizen


You know....the far left

Yes I do hate them...........with every fiber of my being. I hate them 24-7. They make me sick and I do think that this nation, if not the entire world would be a much much better place without them.

If you have a problem with that Fifth......well that's just too fucking bad.

The comment policy says personal attacks are not allowed. SO then I'd like to ask the editors what is an acceptable way to express my sheer, all consuming, utter contempt and complete disregard for the welfare of these people when they feel the need to open up their big pieholes and attack someone who shares my values, like Drew.



#9 — December 2, 2006 @ 17:05PM — Sylvia Muffaleto

"Those who call American soldiers baby killers"

Isn't that what you and your ilk call a soldier who has had an abortion?

#10 — December 2, 2006 @ 22:14PM — The Fifth Dentist [URL]

Dear Arse Conservative:
Be thankful that there is a prohibition on personal attacks. It protects you more than you seem to realize. Moreover, I think we can all live with the fact that it forces you to internalize some borderline violent antisocial thoughts and tendencies (though it may seem to you that the world urgently needs to hear them.)

The version of "the far, far left" you put forward in your last email is the cartoon version of a "liberal." Ascribing ridiculous and unheld views to ones opponents enables one to avoid the mentally challenging process of engaging in a serious debate. The downside of course is that your own views never evolve into anything particularly sophisticated or capable of withstanding scrutiny.

#11 — December 3, 2006 @ 00:51AM — Ruvy in Jerusalem [URL]

Fifth,

"The version of 'the far, far left' you put forward in your last email is the cartoon version of a 'liberal.'"

I'm not jumping into the "issues" being debated. There are none. Mr. McKissick has written a piece of piffle, and when he puts down his beer fishing pole to defend it, I'll bother to comment on what he has written. The only thing one can say about his essay, is that no matter how strident his tone, at least he tries to be "thankful."

But regarding what you wrote above to Bing, I can't put my finger on anything specific right now - I still haven't had my first cup of coffee - but I've found that in the last decade or so, there has been more and more of a cartoonish quality to public debates and discourse, and more and more of a cartoonish quality even to the issues raised that get people angry. I still remember hearing the 'Backstreet Boys' (a pathetic knockoff of the Monkees, which were a pathetic knockoff of the Beatles) over and over again in the Burger King I managed, and thinking how cartoonish and unreal things seemed around me. Really! Replaying a CD without end to sell hamburgers!

It all seems epitomized by Dawn Olsen's article on the bare nether regions regularly displayed by the "skank" Paris Hilton and her new running buddy (I could use a lot more colorful terms), Britney Spears.

Honestly. Do you think that a decade or so ago, an article like that would have ever made it to a magazine on the "doings" of celebrities? Would a "celebrity" have done such a thing that an article could be written about it?

Let me get to that cup of coffee...

#12 — December 3, 2006 @ 01:02AM — Ruvy in Jerusalem [URL]

Bing,

You really ought to ditch the "arch conservative" moniker. Aside from portraying yourself in cartoonish terms, you leave yourself open to such jabs like "arse conservative"....

You do yourself a disservice.

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