It was wise of George Washington to proclaim the first national day of thanksgiving in 1789, as it was wise of his many before and after him, in the U.S. and elsewhere, to set aside days to give thanks. This is because expressing gratitude is something that doesn’t come easily to many of us. It is easy to look around and see everything that is wrong: the jihadists are more active and aggressive than ever, American blood and treasure continues to be prodigally wasted on a self-defeating exercise in Afghanistan, telling the truth about the jihad threat is increasingly “controversial,” as the weak and timid (who are in the vast majority) flee from discussing it at all, while the clueless and compromised among the mainstream media (who are also the vast majority) actively retail the idea that resisting jihad terror and reporting accurately about the jihadists’ motives and goals is “bigotry.” It is harder for some of us to look around and take stock of what we still have, and to recall how grateful we should still be for it all.
Dum spiro spero goes the old adage, and there it is: while I breathe, I hope. All is not lost, because all is never lost. The Leftists and Islamic supremacists may win every victory, but even then they are still weak and vulnerable, for their position is built on a quicksand of lies. Ultimately they can never win, because they are warring against the truth — that is why they are so desperate to destroy, defame, discredit and muzzle their foes, and cannot and will not engage them in rational debate. They dominate the public discourse today, but the fact that their empire is built on lies is the source of our strength. As Lincoln said, “No man has a good enough memory to be a successful liar.” Their task is hard, as they have to craft the Big Lie and pump it out endlessly, for they can only put it over by means of constant repetition.
Our job is vastly easier. All we have to do is keep on recalling and calling attention to the truth. All we have to do is stand for the truth, and for freedom, and for the dignity of every human being. Today, we should be grateful for having been given the opportunity to do this, for that opportunity is in itself ennobling. In this age of general and pervasive lies and cowardice, let us with gratitude and humility seize the chance to be among the few not to succumb to the spirit of the age, hold fast to the truth, and stand.