When we gather around our tables ...
to share the fruits of our blessings,
let’s remember what that means.
Let’s be grateful for what we have.
Let’s be mindful of those who have less.
Let’s appreciate those who hold a special place in our lives,
and make sure that they know it.”
- President Obama in his weekly radio address, Nov. 24, 2011
Somebody on facebook read my thoughts this morning, and posted this photo.
President Bush serves ... US troops stationed in Baghdad in 2003
In a review of George Bush's memoir, Decision Points, Alastair Campbell "lays down a challenge for Guardian readers to reconsider the legacy of George Bush."
.... As with virtually every post-Lincoln presidential memoir, Abraham Lincoln weaves his way through the pages. His father and Ronald Reagan are also major influences, as are Roosevelt and Truman. Perhaps wistfully, Bush points out that Truman left office deeply unpopular, with his ratings in the 20s, yet is today seen as one of the greats. Bush is unlikely ever to get near the Lincoln league. But a fair-minded assessment of his book should at least allow people a better and deeper understanding of him, the decisions he faced, and how he came to make them. The problem is that balance has for now gone out of the assessment. Tucked away at the end of chapter 6 is the observation that for seven and a half years after 9/11, America was not attacked again. Bush sees it as his "most meaningful accomplishment"....
I don't mean to be snotty or snarky in posting today's president's schedule for Thanksgiving Day. Mostly it is a nostalgic sadness that motivates me, as I remember a time when the concerns of the President were very grave, yet he could still - and always did - present a happy and friendly countenance toward the people of his country. George Bush governed with class and civility, which we took for granted, and he had a certain 'sympatico' with the military that was reassuring. That's why that photo of him is so dear. I think we all felt safer back then... and we probably were.
... The president — who said his family would spend Thanksgiving “eating great food, watching a little football, and reflecting on how truly lucky we are” — also gave thanks to the servicemen and servicewomen overseas and promised to help them reacclimate when they return home from duty. . . .
. . . . Obama acknowledged that for many Americans “this Thanksgiving is more difficult than most” because of the down economy and high unemployment. But the president repeated a line he has made countless times throughout his presidency:
“The problems we face didn’t develop overnight, and we won’t solve them overnight.”
{Sigh}
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