Reasons To Give Thanks

Despite the war, the ongoing struggle  to rebuild the Gulf Coast equitably and the far-right's lock on power in Washington, progressives have plenty to be grateful for. The blog team at the Center for American Progress  offers these reasons to give thanks this year:

We're thankful for our country's troops.

We're thankful for Rep. Jack Murtha for showing us it's patriotic to speak your mind.

We're thankful for 90 Senators who stood up to Vice President Cheney to say that torture is not an American value.

We're thankful for 79 Senators who demanded the Bush administration detail a plan for Iraq.

We're thankful that Sen. Bill Frist is not our physician.

We're thankful for the generosity of Americans, who raised some $2.3 billion to help victims on the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.

We're thankful all Americans can still rely on Social Security.

We're thankful for American Airlines, Verizon, and Nissan, who all agreed to Drop the Hammer.

We're thankful for Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald for conducting a "very serious" and "very dignified" investigation.

We're thankful for good friends.

We're thankful for the success of progressive talk radio.

We're thankful to the voters of Colorado for putting priorities like education, health care, and fiscal sanity over right-wing ideology.

We're thankful for autumn. Out West, where some PR readers vacation, the aspens will already be turning. They turn in clusters, because their roots connect them.

We're thankful Judy Miller won't be reporting on Iran's WMD program for the New York Times.

We're thankful we don't live in Samuel Alito's America...yet.

We're thankful for HorsesAss.org, for exposing (in such ironic fashion) ex-FEMA chief Michael Brown's checkered past at the International Arabian Horse Association.

We're thankful for Tai Shan, the National Zoo's newest celebrity.

We're thankful we're not Scott McClellan.

We're thankful for the residents of Dover, Pennsylvania for doing the right thing for their kids' education. (Don't listen to Pat, we've got your back.)

Views expressed on this page are those of the authors and not necessarily those of Campaign for America's Future or Institute for America's Future