Happy Thanksgiving, Washington Examiner readers. When a columnist’s piece runs on Thursdays, it would seem downright inappropriate to not write something about Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of November. So this year I’ve decided to share with readers the top five things I like most about the holiday. Why five? I have no idea, but here goes.
Number five: Abraham Lincoln.
He’s one of my favorite presidents, and the one who issued the proclamation that led to Thanksgiving being a national holiday celebrated on the same day by all the states. And yes, Lincoln remains one of my favorite presidents despite the dissing he’s gotten over the years, from those on the left and the right.
He was a racist, according to the lefties, and a dictatorial despot who trampled on civil liberties, some on the right have charged.
To me, Lincoln is the president who was oh-so-wrong about the nature of the Civil War when it started, but got it oh-so-right in the end. Lincoln swore when the hostilities began that his goal was to preserve the Union, and he’d do it even if it meant the continuation of slavery.
But when slaves in the Confederate states fled plantations and served the Union army as laborers, scouts, sailors, spies and soldiers, Lincoln realized what a valuable military asset they were.
He said as much in a Sept. 12, 1864 letter to a man named Isaac Schermerhorn. In the letter Lincoln pretty much said that had it not been for the slaves who served the Union cause, the Confederacy would have won the war.
For that, honest Abe, and for pretty much being the president responsible for making today a national holiday, here’s to you.
Number four: Football.
The Green Bay Packers face the Detroit Lions today in a traditional National Football League Thanksgiving game. The Dallas Cowboys host the Miami Dolphins in another. Later tonight, the San Francisco 49ers play the Baltimore Ravens some 40 miles to the north.
But it’s the traditional college and high-school rivalries that I love the most. Unfortunately, with the popularity of the pro game, college and high-school Thanksgiving Day games are fading out. I’d like to salute those that still survive.
Baltimore has one, pitting Catholic school rivals Calvert Hall and Loyola. Washington, D.C. has its famous Turkey Bowl, in which two public high schools vie for the city title.
Number three: TV marathons.
The Sci-Fi Channel has a marathon of James Bond movies today. (Go figure.) TV Land treats its viewers to a marathon of “The Andy Griffith Show”. BBC America has a marathon of “Star Trek: The Next Generation” episodes.
There is a cable channel called CLOO that, according to my DIRECTV satellite guide description, is “the only network solely devoted to bringing fans of crime and mystery dramas the shows they know and love.”
I know and love crime and mystery dramas. So why is CLOO running a marathon of John Wayne Westerns today?
I have no CLOO — sorry, I couldn’t resist! — but, as an avid Duke Wayne fan, I’m not going to question the decision. I’m also a bit of a Trekkie, and I’m an NFL fan, so today I face a TV dilemma: What do I watch?
It looks like the Duke might win out, but if there were a marathon of Audie Murphy Westerns on today, even the Duke wouldn’t stand a chance.
Number two: Being with family.
My clan gathers each Thanksgiving for dinner, and it’s a pleasure seeing them all. Even the ones from what I call the “open warrants” segment of the family.
Number one: Why, the vittles of course.
After all, this is Thanksgiving, isn’t it?
Examiner Columnist Gregory Kane is a Pulitzer-nominated news and opinion journalist who has covered people and politics from Baltimore to the Sudan.
