Happy Thanksgiving

On this uniquely American holiday, so tightly linked to our history as a nation, I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude.

I am thankful for the wonderful, brave men and women of courage who left the safety of their homeland over 300 years ago to set sail into the unknown. They forged the original character of this fiercely independent and historically self-reliant nation.

I am thankful for the Founding Fathers, who, in their boundless wisdom, crafted the finest Constitution any country has ever known, granting, for the first time in histroy, true freedom to a people. Their sacrifices were epic, their vision unique and immutable.

I am thankful for all who have served to preserve our freedoms through the centuries, and to bring freedom to countless millions globally. The debt we owe them can never truly be repaid.

I am, of course, thankful for all of the traditional blessings of life, family and home. I am wealthy beyond belief, with a large, wonderful family, dear friends, a home I love and a job which affords me security and freedom from want.

This year I am perhaps more thankful than at any time in my life. This year I have discovered that there are, still, even in this age of decadence and failing morality, millions of God-fearing, red-blooded, brave, humble and dedicated patriotic Americans who still believe in and support the Constitution which is our greatest gift of all. I stood shoulder to shoulder with more than one million of them in our nation's Capitol in September, and will again next August. It is our greatest blessing of all in this era to have these wonderful souls who still possess the courage of the Founders and the strength of the original pilgrims, and are willing to sacrifice all that they have, including their very lives if necessary, to preserve the original vision that is this, the last best hope of the world.

As a firm believer that the "next right thing" always happens, I am even thankful for those in Washington, D.C. who have so obviously forgotten our history and the meaning our the founding documents, and seek to fundamentally transform this nation from the shining city on the hill into a ghetto of filth, poverty, misery and repression in the name of social and economic justice. Without them, the awakening from complacency and apathy that has been in place for the last century would not have occurred. Without their radical and absolutely un-American pursuits, true Americans would have slumbered on, allowing ever more of our freedoms and rights to be stripped away. The future is frightening and uncertain, but as long as good people who support good principles exist and refuse to remain silent, there is hope.

Thank you all. Happy Thanksgiving.