Thanksgiving Represents Historic American Values, Hence: Not Republican
Schuyler was busy mixing Sapphire Martinis. He made them with Bombay Sapphire Gin and Parfait d'Amour. We're lucky that Schuyler has this wonderful hobby because almost every evening we have a cocktail we've never had before. Now that we have neighbors who don't like alcoholic drinks, Schuyler is also becoming quite an expert in mixing interesting concoctions for them as well. Everybody arrived just about the same time, so we kept him pretty busy. Thankfully, until Winter, we keep a pretty well-stocked drinks table on the porch for him so he doesn't have to do a lot of running around.

Jane couldn't believe some of the things the remarkably moronic radio talk show hosts and various and sundry pretend-preachers have let ooze from their foaming mouths; things like Progressives and Liberals would ban Christmas if they could. Well, people who live in a constant state of delirium will say anything, she said. What she was convinced of, however, was that the Republicans are hell-bent on wiping Thanksgiving off the calendar for the simple reason that it represents a historic American value, and that value, and this celebration above all others, represents the values of sharing, your plenty or your little, with others, whether those others have a lot or nothing. And that sharing and caring attitude is anathema to everything the republicans stand for.

Right Wing: private values; Progressives: public values
Alex added to Jane's comments by clarifying that republicans, the frightening extreme right wing party, believes in personal responsibility, thus unconscionably proclaiming that unemployment, hunger, homelessness, old age with no savings or resources, discrimination, etc. are all the individual's problem. They call that having private values. Republicans twist the language of responsibility to shirk responsibility, so Orwellian we none of us should be able to sleep peacefully while those cloven-hoofed people who stopped evolving morally way back in the dark ages have any say in the governance of this once shining beacon to the world.

Now, Alex said, if you so much as have one unfortunate at your Thanksgiving table, to share your great or your little bounty, you betray the republican party, all the born-again christians, and the entire religious right, because that one, lone unfortunate at your table is responsible for his or hers not having what it takes to have the wherewithal to afford his or her own Thanksgiving celebration, which after all, stems from the first liberals, the people who first began founding this country and sharing their bounty not only among themselves, but with the Native Americans. The premise, even then: thank some higher being for what you have to nourish you, and what you can do to help your neighbor enjoy the same nourishment. Again, anathema to republicans, born-again christians and the religious right.

Max was squirming in his chair, so we knew he was chomping at the bit to say something. Kindly, Alex asked him why he seemed so restless, and Max said that though the topic was Thanksgiving, and that because it represented sharing and caring for and with your neighbors, he knew it was a "holiday" the republicans were trying to remove from the calendar of U.S. special days. But more importantly, Max told us he wanted to talk briefly about the Declaration of Independence. Intrigued by what that revered document had to do with Thanksgiving, the republican's desire to eradicate that holiday, and turkey and cranberry sauce, we grew very quiet and ceded the "floor/porch" to Max.

Max told us that he was not going to go into a full-fledged lecture on the Declaration of Indepenence, but that he did want to go over a few points that have to do with values and true meaning of Thanksgiving. He said that some salient points in the Declaration of Independence touched on historic American values:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness." It proclaims public values, measurements of the quality of governments, not individuals.

Here, Max asked us to indulge him, because he was preparing to read a short text written by a great American progressive writer, Bernie Horn, senior director of policy and communications at the Center for Policy Alternatives. This is what Max read to an audience of farmers and ranchers who hoped they had only love in their hearts for their neighbors and for their country:

"First, progressives are resolved to safeguard our individual freedoms. We must fiercely guard our constitutional and human rights, and keep government out of our private lives.

Second, progressives strive to guarantee equal opportunity for all. We must vigorously oppose all forms of discrimination, create a society where hard work is rewarded, and that all Americans have equal access to the American dream.

Third, progressives are determined to protect our security. While forcefully protecting lives and property, we must ensure the sick and vulnerable, safeguard the food we eat and products we use, and preserve our environment."

Max, in closing, finished by telling us the last crucial point that Mr. Horn had written:

"Our progressive values differ fundamentally from those of conservatives. While conservatives work to protect freedom, opportunity and security only for a select few, progressives work to extend these rights to all Americans. Now that's morality."

Max's emphasis: NOW THAT'S MORALITY. Pity, conservatives, republicans, born-again christians and the religious right haven't one drop of that in their putrid, execrable veins. How, Max said aloud, can we explain to our new, foreign-born neighbors, that though this putrescent administration has dragged us into the cesspool, deep inside, half the country really are decent, loving, sharing, caring, good people? Maybe, with Thanksgiving thirteen days away, a few more Americans will see the light and change the error of their ways, and shed their cloven hoofs.

Liz, just before we were called in to dinner, told us that Dag Hammarskjold had once written: "I believe that we should die with decency so that at least decency will survive."

The Youngsters, The Dinner Gong, and An Esculent Dinner
Indulge me, and pull out your Oxford Dictionary of the English Language. Archaic in my horse-training methods, my language tends also to be archaic. Here, I'll give you a hint: esculent just means scrumptious, delicious, and I think it will be a very, very good dinner.

Shelley and Cathy prepared "Coddle Eggs with Cauliflower Purée" in ramekins. Because they used truffle oil, the dish was just above very special. They paired this wonderful first course with a Ruston Sauvignon Blanc from California. All we could think that was that this was going to be a very special dinner.

Though we always serve dishes that allow us to progress from the lightest white wines to the more substantial red wines, we trusted Beatrix and Jeremy with this break in our "natural progression" of wine pairing, and enjoyed their Castello di Gabbiano chianti Classico Riserva with a Leek, Carrot and Tomato Soup with plenty of fresh basil. With this "esculent" beginning, dinner was just getting more and more sublime.

Alex and Jane thought we might enjoy a different kind of fish course, and worked together to prepare and serve us wood roasted oysters. They paired the oysters with perfect smoked carrots and fresh green beans, paired with a 2000 Green Valley Russian Cuvée Sparkling wine, which had a hint of red Bartlett pairs.

For cleansing our palate, Max and Charlotte served us small dollops of strawberry sorbet, and then they served us an excellent brisket that Max had been grilling, then smoking, all afternoon, imitating the old practice of preparing meat in pits dug deep into the ground and cooked over red hot stones. The only vegetables they thought were necessary were Grilled Fingerling Potatoes and some Garlic Braised Collard Greens. For this course, they served an Ironstone 2001 Sierra Foothills Reserve Cabernet Franc.

As the ending of a heavenly meal came to an end, Barry and Kim served us Mini Soufflés of Pumpkin and Pear, which they served with a Hogue Cellars Late Harvest Gewürztraminer.

This meal was so flawless and satisfying, none of us could contemplate dessert, so we went back to the great room to join the teenagers for a few minutes while we enjoyed Max's after-dinner espresso with them. I think spending time with the kids is a dessert in itself. Later, sweaters doffed because it wasn't very cold, everybody left for their farms and ranches, and we prayed that we could celebrate Thanksgiving later on in the month in the spirit in which that day was first celebrated, notwithstanding the republicans fervent desire to do away with the true meaning of the day.

Summary:
Thanksgiving is approaching, and the republicans are attempting to wipe it off the calendar. Why? Because Thanksgiving represents historic American values, and that is something the republicans are determined to exterminate. Sharing? Caring? Helping? Rich and poor sitting at the same table? Over their collective dead bodies, say the republicans.

The poor deserve an empty table, because it's their own fault for being poor, and the rich deserve to be even richer. Oh, and Pat Robertson, why doesn't he sodomize himself with his head, or, is that what he does daily and makes him say such sodomite garbage daily, since there's no difference between his head and the part of his anatomy that he should sodomize?