The true meaning of Thanksgiving.

I was looking at Facebook this morning and I saw a post about how we should be ashamed of our history in relation to Thanksgiving. I am all for historical accuracy but I am not sure what it is that I need to be ashamed of. I wasn't there, no one I know was there, and in fact no one is even alive who was there. While it likely wasn't the picturesque setting of a giant table covered in food with the pilgrims and the Native Americans holding hands singing Kumbaya, how we celebrate this week has little to do with what happened that day. I celebrate Thanksgiving as a way to offer thanks to God for the many blessings I have in my life and for the many blessings he has bestowed on our nation. I wonder how we have strayed so far from the intent of this holiday as laid out below from President Lincoln:

 Washington, D.C.
October 3, 1863
By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation. The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God...They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union. In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth. By the President: Abraham Lincoln

I have heard many sermons and speeches in my day but there are few that leave me with more gratitude for the blessings and sweet oversight of God than this does. May we all show greater love for others, more charity to those who are in need and more compassion for those who suffer. And may we always be thankful for the bounteous blessings with which we are blessed each day.

This is why I celebrate Thanksgiving. Not because of what happened with America's earlier settlers but because I have been given much and I am forever thankful to our beneficent Father in Heaven.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Connecticut

There is nothing that can be said to relieve the agony and anguish that the nation and especially the parents feel after the shhoting thia week at Sandy Hook Elementary school. The unspeakable evil that took place there causes our hearts to break and our souls to ache.  We are left to wonder why and what we can do to make sure this never happens again.  Do we ban guns?  Do we lock up any with a propencity for violence? Do we arm school teachers?  No.  We greive, we show love and we support our fellow citizens who are suffering.
I am a big suporter and proponent of taking responsibility for your own actions and for ensuring that we do all we can on our own before we ask for help.  But i am also driven to help and assist those in need.  It is my obligation and responsibility to show love and support for others in need and to not force my opinions on them in their time of tragety.   I also can not use this tragety as an opportunity to push my personal agenga.   Of course Ihave opinions about what our country should do and the direction we should go but we need to show support and love to those who are suffering and let them greive without judginng the validity or appropriateness of their anguish.
There will be time for discussion later. Let's just support and love for a little bit.  It will help to heal our souls.

We are out of here!

I was interested by the wave of people petitioning for sessesion from the union.  Interested in the watching a train wreck type of interest.  The only thing more annoying than the political ads are the people who react to elections by saying that they are going to quit playing because they lost.  It is the old "i'm taking my ball and going home" attitude. 
Politics and people are tricky.  They both need to feel like they are important, they both need to be heard and they both need to take a deep breath when they do not get their way. 
We are all grown ups...well most of us are. We need to congradulate each other on a job well done and then we need to continue to work on finding solutions...not taking our ball and going home.

Election Recommendations for Nov. 2012

President and Vice President of the United States	Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan
United States Senator	Michael Baumgartner
United States Representative Congressional District No. 1	John Koster (Prefers Republican Party)
United States Representative Congressional District No. 8	Dave Reichert (Prefers Republican Party)
United States Representative Congressional District No. 1 1 month short term	John Koster (Prefers Republican Party)

Initiative to the Legislature 502                                                                NO
Concerns marijuana

Initiative Measure No. 1185                                                                       Yes
Concerns tax and fee increases imposed

 by state government

Initiative Measure No. 1240                                                                       Yes
Concerns creation of a public charter school system

Referendum Measure No. 74                                                                     Reject
Concerns marriage for same-sex couples

Engrossed Senate Joint Resolution No. 8221                                       Approve
Concerns implementing the Commission on State Debt

 recommendations regarding Washington's debt limit

Senate Joint Resolution No. 8223                                                             Reject
Concerns investments by the University of Washington

and Washington State University

I'm Back

I have taken the last year off to focus on family and to sort out some of what was happening.  It has been interesting to find out the lengths that some people will go to silence the opinions of those who are not in agreement with them.  For instance I found out that there was an official in Snohomish county who used his government position to do background checks on people, including me, and used that information in an attempt to embarrass or silence them.  I don't fear what is in my past so I don't worry about this.  If there are questions about my past all you need to do is ask.
So where do we go from here?  I am not really sure.  I plan on putting together a list of my voting recommendations and then see what comes next. 
Thank you to all of you who were concerned about what was happening.  Your messages have been appreciated. 
Here we go again.

Veterans Day

“Some people live an entire lifetime and wonder if they have ever made a difference in the world, but the Marines don't have that problem.” - Ronald Reagan

"Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return." – Colin Powell

"These are the times that try men's souls.  The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman." - Thomas Paine

From all of us who have benefited from and enjoyed the freedoms allowed in this great country, we thank our veterans.  These selfless souls who have sacrificed, suffered, bled and died for us are the true testament to the glory and greatness of the United States of America and the principles upon which it is founded.  Not only do we offer our thanks to you this day but we also offer our hearts, our devotion, our respect and our love.  We are and forever will be in your debt.

"I stepped in it."

Last night Texas Governor Rick Perry blew it.  He forgot a government agency.  Now there is something to be said for a keen intellect and the ability to get your ideas out to the public but is this the end of it?
I don't think that this gaffe is the end.  We all have made a mistake now and then and it appears that Gov. Perry just made his on live TV.
Now in all honesty Gov. Perry is not my first choice for President.  He is however helping the national debate and helping to clarify the direction the country should go.  The real key is to see how he reacts and handles this.  The media is making a big deal about this but we all have had this experience.  Let's judge on the content of the message and not whether or not he made a mistake while relaying the message.