Of course, you knew that.

The tradition of celebrating a day of thanksgiving does go back to the Puritans of Massachusetts, but for the origin of a national Thanksgiving Day we look to the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln. In 1789, President George Washington had called for a day of thanksgiving and prayer on the last Thursday in November, but this did not give rise to an annual tradition. In 1863, President Lincoln first issued a proclamation for a Thanksgiving Day, also on the last Thursday in November. Let’s not forget that a Democrat president, Franklin Roosevelt, tried to change the date — to the second-to-last Thursday of the month — but an outraged public soon put an end to such tampering with tradition. In 1941, Congress established by law the date we Americans have celebrated ever since.

From Grand Old Partisan.

Related articles

• Happy Thanksgiving…A Time of Reflection (annarborundressed.com)
• Turkey Facts (bestofmotherearth.com)
• Thoughts on the First and Modern-Day Thanksgiving (friendseat.com)
• Lincoln’s Proclamation of the First Thanksgiving (thestrangedeathofliberalamerica.com)
• We Gather Together (narmer.wordpress.com)

Patrick Fleenor at CS Monitor answers: “The short answer is that his goal has always been to redistribute the economic pie – not necessarily grow it. That’s a shame, because he could have pursued policies that achieve both. Obama and Democrats will probably pay a high price next week for failing to see a pro-growth path to fairness. Will the presence of a Republican-led, pro-growth Congress persuade the president to pursue his goal of greater fairness in a way that helps economic growth? Our mutual prosperity depends on it.” Sucks to be a bonehead.

Related articles

• Final Nail in the Democrats’ Coffin (kudlowsmoneypolitics.blogspot.com)

Great interview! Angle is a down-to-earth traditional Conservative … she deserves to be sent to Congress.

J. Randolph Evans Column No. 1036 (10/1/10)

Already, people are talking about what went wrong for Democrats in the 2010 midterm elections and the elections have not even happened yet. Absent a dramatic shift in the political tides, there will be many explanations and most of them will be right. Many Democrats will undoubtedly blame history and they will, in part, be right. Historically, the party in power in the White House does lose seats in the Congress during the election years when the President is not on the ballot. Typically, these losses are in the range of twenty seats or so. This could explain some of the losses. Many commentators will credit the Tea Party and they will, in part, be right. No one can credibly ignore the huge impact that the Tea Party has on the 2010 elections. Incumbents have fallen; party structures have been changed; and the political landscape is now different. Many historians will note that it is all about the swing of the political pendulum back from the left toward the middle and right, and they will, in part, be right. Polls confirm that Americans overwhelmingly believe that President Obama and Speaker Nancy Pelosi are just too liberal for the country. There is no one thing that leads voters to this conclusion. Instead, it is the accumulation of many things. Many pollsters will insist that the economy doomed any hopes for Democratic success and they will, in part, be right. Voters do vote their pocketbook. Presidents Reagan and Clinton proved just how important the economy can be. President Reagan rode “stagflation” (high unemployment and high inflation) all the way to the White House. President Clinton did the same with one simple mantra – “it’s the economy stupid.” It is a political lesson that gets taught every decade, but never seems to get completely learned. Many Republicans will argue that they have earned the right to govern again and they will, in part, be right. As evidence, they will cite their steadfast opposition to the stimulus package, “cap and trade” legislation, and “Obamacare.” In addition, Republicans have offered a “Pledge To America” – a 20+ page booklet outlining the principles on which they would govern. While no “Contract With America,” it has stymied accusations that Republicans stand for nothing. The combination of solidarity of purpose with an actual written commitment to specific policies has separated them from the Congresses of the past. Many political party organizers will point to the relative energy level of activists in the various political camps and they will, in part, be right. As illustrated by a question at a recent town hall meeting by an Obama supporter, President Obama’s supporters are simply exhausted by the endless need to defend the President and the Democratic Congress. Just one mega-battle, like healthcare, can exhaust even the most active supporters. Multiple mega-battles saps all the energy of supporters, and all of their reserve, and then some. Political exhaustion is the death knell for campaigns. Yet, on the other side, opponents of the President’s policies have been energized by the real possibility of, oddly enough, change on election day. The gap between the energy of these groups spells trouble at the polls. Many in the Congress will blame the President’s staff for a litany of things and, they will, in part, be right. Indeed, die hard supporters will never consider the possibility that the message is wrong. Instead, the political woes of the moment must mean that the President and his staff failed to effectively deliver the message. One after the other, mainstream media personalities have quizzed the President on whether he will now “fight back” in the final days leading up to the election. The truth is that he has been fighting all along. It is not a delivery or packaging issue. Saying the wrong things louder, or more passionately, never makes things better. Indeed, recent polls suggest that it, in fact, makes things worse. An entire summer proclaiming a recovery that never happened – that is a message problem. Many inside the White House will blame the Congress, and they will, in part, be right. Democrats complain that the Congress has not done enough, notwithstanding overwhelming Democratic majorities in both the U. S. House and Senate, (indeed a filibuster proof majority for some period of time). Of course, Republicans complain that Democrats have done too much. The one thing on which an overwhelming majority of Americans agree is that whatever the Congress is doing, it is doing poorly and literally making our citizenry poorer. Disapproval ratings have never been worse. When no one is happy about the job Congress is doing, bad things happen on election day – whether for the Democrats in 1994 or the Republicans in 2006. So what happens when everyone is right – a tsunami. J. Randolph Evans McKenna Long & Aldridge LLP 303 Peachtree Street Suite 5300 Atlanta, Ga 30308

Good stuff … don’t forget to download the PDF.

From the Heritage Foundation: Compiled by a team of Heritage experts, Solutions for America identifies the nature and scope of our most pressing problems in 23 discrete policy areas, and recommends 128 specific policy prescriptions for Congress to consider. Some of the recommendations are groundbreaking. Others are familiar. Some are being debated right now. All have one thing in common: They would return power to the people. And, collectively, they will transform America, setting her back on the track to prosperity and greatness. Perilous times necessitate bold action. America is at a tipping point. To continue on the current path of ever-expanding central government will plunge us into a statist abyss of lost liberties, vanishing opportunity and dying prospects of a better tomorrow. But our nation can just as well correct course, as she has so often in the past. Americans by the millions have begun the process, rallying around the vision of the Founders. The policies articulated in Solutions for America are calculated to make that vision a reality, to build an America where freedom, opportunity, prosperity, and civil society flourish anew. LINKNAME.

I got my copy … did you get yours?