Turkeys Don’t Vote for Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving 2010 is upon us. It nears the end of a year replete with catastrophes, wars, economic and political upheaval. The media successfully amplified issues, created pain and panic disguised as news, and pundits freely demonized others without restraint. Yet, above this soup of sadness are life, dignity, and the love we are capable of demonstrating. We hope that this Thanksgiving begins a better year and launches renewed opportunity and reminders of all that is good about life, …, personally, professionally, or collectively, as enterprises.
Positive opportunities always abound and finding the right lenses to see them and the strength to harvest them are for us to develop. General Motors is re-emerging and, with that, millions of lives can develop for the better. The answers to our challenges will never come from politicians or the phototropic entourages that swarm around them. Good government is not born from political biases or polarizing pundits, but rather, it comes from a demanding citizenry and a strong obsession to persevere and create new value.
I am thankful for our human capacity to solve problems and overcome calamities and our shared desire to create a better place for our children and grandchildren alike. I am thankful for the privilege and responsibility of free choice and also thankful that it is priceless and requires that we all pay a price. Scan me, frisk me, and make me twirl, I am thankful for the opportunity to fly. Tax me, ask of me, count me, even restrict me from doing some things; I am thankful to be here. Our security and safety is not achieved by spectators, comfortable in their chairs, pontificating and pulling at every thread. It comes from gladiators, in the line of fire and criticism, using the tools and skill available to keep us safe. Remember, the same critics that point at what is being done will flip like a penny and point at what wasn’t done if anything should go wrong.
The Thanksgiving, as a national holiday, became official in 1863. It became a holiday in the midst of the most horrific and devastating period in our national experience, the Civil War. Yet, it was born of our capacity to help one another and collectively find solutions to calamities and disasters. This capacity is one to be thankful for and we wish for it to become what redefines the coming year.
Happy Thanksgiving.