Another Thanksgiving. We are all supposed to give thanks for our blessings and eat ourselves into a coma. Perhaps watch some football and just enjoy the day with family and friends. Sounds good right. Well it's a known fact the many a Thanksgiving dinner is thrown into chaos by heated political discussions and this year should be no exception. Politics is a mess. We have become the laughing stock of the world. How could a person like Herman Cain even be remotely considered qualified to be president? How can a just and tolerant society tolerate someone like Newt Gingrich? The country is a mess. Tons of people watch FOX News which is a propaganda outlet for the far right. FOX has done great harm to our democracy.
However, what is even more disturbing this Thanksgiving is the income gap between rich and poor. The employment situation if a mess. Job market very weak and I bet lots of table talk will focus on who hasn't been able to sell their house. The decline in home values has dealt a body blow to the US economy and until (or if) that is turned around no robust economic recovery is possible.
Some table talk will surely turn to Penn State and how disgusting an episode that has become. Children were abused and it was tolerated because of the money brought into the school from big time college football. which is a cesspool of corruption. Maybe some folks will chat about the weather and how extreme it has become on a world wide basis.
And of course table talk will involve juicy gossip which was always my favorite topic and when I was a kid and it was dished by the best. I had one aunt who was called The Bronx Home News. She knew everything that was going on. In an Italian family there's a good chance there will be at least one fight and then the day will end with a card game.
I'm keeping my Thanksgiving dinner simple this year and while thankful for those I will share the day with, I am also aware that many perils lay ahead for our country and I'm nervous about the ability of our present society to confront those perils. Anyway Happy Thanksgiving!!