Enough of what President Nixon’s equally disgraced vice president, Spiro Agnew, called the “nattering nabobs of negativism.” This is Thanksgiving weekend, and we Americans, who have just combined to consume almost 50 million turkeys, have much to be thankful for, and reason for cheer. The political system, which was out of kilter, has returned to sanity. The Democratic left can no longer ram its policies down voters’ throats now that it has lost control of the House of Representatives, and the Republicans have a blocking minority in the Senate. And the Republicans, now that they have a share of power, can no longer duck the responsibility of developing alternatives to President Obama’s programs to “transform” America. Yes, divided government might mean a stalemated government, but even that would be better than the pell-mell dash to uproot existing economic institutions that has characterized the past two years of one-party rule. Balance is better.

We can be thankful, too, that they have not suffered another devastating attack from Islamist terrorists. In part this is good luck, in part it is due to the fine work of the U.S. security services, operating in cooperation with their counterparts in Britain and other countries, in part it is due to President Obama’s courageous decision to face down the left of his party and keep the heat on al Qaeda in Afghanistan – the best defense being a good offense.