Remorse ~ the Cost of Thanksgiving

” I swear on my Mother’s grave that I thought turkeys could fly.”
~Mr. Carlson – WKRP in Cincinnati

Going Rogue

Are you looking forward to getting together with family and friends to give thanks but lament that the voice of reason in public discourse is all but gone? Are subjects that were once fair game and fodder for small talk, now taboo? Has your desire to connect with family and community been impeded by the actions of rogue bureaucrats, administrators and elected officials that neither respect our boarders, language and culture, the laws of the land, nor the will of the people?

Sorry for that momentary lapse. For a brief moment, I though we still lived in a free society.

Some memories have a way of casting aside thoughts of gratitude or of thanksgiving and replacing them with pangs of remorse. Whether we are demoralized or euphoric at the outcome of the previous election debacle, it’s difficult to deny that the information, feelings or prejudices, that some may have used to make their decision was incomplete, inaccurate, biased or otherwise flawed. Whether it was conscious or unintended, some may have ignored that which they knew to be true, and acted on a wish and a prayer. 

What happens in Cincinnati

There is a tragic lesson that Mr. Carlson, along with the traumatized shoppers in a plaza in Cincinnati, painfully learned; domesticated turkeys, can’t fly. Their physique has been altered to meet a need; that is to be consumed. They are the main course for a holiday meal, bringing with it a food-coma, lethargy and unwelcome “leftovers” that are neither as satisfying nor as fulfilling.

In contrast, wild turkeys can fly, they are cunning, illusive and protective of their flock. Ben Franklin described them as “a much more respectable bird, a true original to native America, a bird of courage.” Mr. Franklin understood the threats of his time and felt the wild turkey symbolized characteristics indigenous to the surroundings that a fledgling nation to replicate .

Freedom Ain’t Free

Actions have consequences, and as a free people, we have a unique privilege unimaginable to most of the world. However, with rights come responsibility, with responsibility the inevitable consequences, and with consequences the horrors of well intentions and naiveté gone bad. Sadly, nothing short of a scraper and a fire hose can rid the landscape of the effects of a feckless leader, however, the memories will foster remorse in a way that only reality can.

This Thanksgiving, do you carry the burden of disillusionment or shame? Are you now overcome with a sense of hopeless and despair, uncertain if there is anything for which to give thanks? Maybe the root cause isn’t from our emotional baggage, maybe it stems from our political leanings.

Maybe we our ballot for the wrong damn bird.

[Gobble…Gobble]