Reasons To Give Thanks

Despite the war, the ongoing struggle [1]  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 [2]  offers these reasons to give thanks this year:

We're thankful for our country's troops [3].

We're thankful for Rep. Jack Murtha [4] for showing us it's patriotic to speak your mind.

We're thankful for 90 Senators [5] who stood up to Vice President Cheney to say that torture is not an American value [6].

We're thankful for 79 Senators [7] who demanded the Bush administration detail a plan for Iraq.

We're thankful that Sen. Bill Frist is not our physician. [8]

We're thankful for the generosity [9] 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 [10].

We're thankful for American Airlines, Verizon, and Nissan, who all agreed to Drop the Hammer [11].

We're thankful for Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald for conducting a "very serious [12]" and "very dignified [12]" investigation.

We're thankful for good friends [13].

We're thankful for the success of progressive talk radio [14].

We're thankful to the voters of Colorado [15] 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 [16].

We're thankful Judy Miller won't be reporting on Iran's WMD program [17] for the New York Times.

We're thankful we don't live in Samuel Alito's America [18]...yet.

We're thankful for HorsesAss.org [19], 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 [20], the National Zoo's newest celebrity.

We're thankful we're not Scott McClellan [21].

We're thankful for the residents of Dover, Pennsylvania for doing the right thing [22] for their kids' education. (Don't listen to Pat [22], we've got your back [23].)