Ah, Thanksgiving: that joyous time of the year when families get together, have a wonderful dinner, catch up on what everyone else is doing, give thanks for all they have, and perhaps watch some football.
Challenge This
This Thanksgiving might prove to be a challenge for many people. For one, the cost of the turkey, the bird traditionally served, in some locals costs between 50% to 80% more than last year, and the turkey was already expensive.
Among your relatives, a few might be vegans or vegetarians. If you have a vegan enforcer in the family, this person will rail on and on against eating meat and about how turkeys have lives just like we do.
One of your vegan or vegetarian relatives might offer a discourse on how cranberries should be harvested a different way, the dangers of turkey stuffing, the problem with vegetables that you might be serving, the risk of having too many starches – potatoes or rice – and the evils of wine, beer, and other alcoholic drinks.
Politics to Avoid
The politics to consider abound. Since roughly half of the country votes Democrat and half votes Republican, the odds are overwhelming that you will have somebody with opposing politics at the table. During Trump's years as president, many families had to navigate around the topic of the presidency and prevailing policies. And so on.
Today, while there's no question that Joe Biden is utterly insane as a leader, the exact delicate navigation needs to occur. As miraculous as this might seem, some on the left actually approve of what Biden has been doing; note: don’t be concerned about the Biden family going hungry. With all those under-the-table payments from Ukraine and China, They can EASILY afford a huge, expensive turkey with all of the trimmings.
If you can avoid discussing the eight million invaders illegally crossing our borders, rampant inflation, the U.S. Afghanistan withdrawal, the crisis in Israel and potential for World War III, drag time story hour for children, transgenderism, the bogus lawsuits against Donald Trump, the unending crimes of Hunter Biden, the payola to Joe Biden, FBI corruption, the historic unpopularity and ineptness of Kamala Harris, and about 30 or so other topics, your dinner should go smoothly. Enjoy!
A huge current wrinkle on the political scene is that recent surveys reveal at least one-quarter of Democrats actually approve of Hamas, atrocities and all, and side with Palestine on all issues, large and small. They believe that Israel is an apartheid state and that Jews are today's Nazis. Apparently, they've never visited Israel and have no Jewish friends.
Depending on how many Democrats attend your Thanksgiving gathering, if it's four or more, mathematically speaking, you have a decent chance that one is a pro-Hamas Democrat. Wooo... Now, you have to stay clear of current issues, or your dinner table might be as inflamed verbally as the Middle East is with armaments.
Stuff It
After everyone is stuffed with turkey, veggie burgers, or whatever the people who like rabbit food eat, you might sit in the den and turn on a football game. Quickly, you'll have a stark reminder of how far political correctness has infected society.
If the Washington Commanders are playing, it's hard to forget that they used to be called the Washington Redskins until the wokesters among us demanded that the name must be changed. Not so ironically, 90% of native Americans actually want the name Washington Redskins reinstalled and are currently petitioning for it.
In baseball, the Cleveland Indians “had” to be renamed to the Cleveland Guardians. Potentially, there's no end of this malarkey. Should the Minnesota Vikings change their name? After all, people from Scandinavia might object to the term “Vikings.” While we're at it, consider college basketball. If you're on the Left, the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons are due for a name change. So, too, the Duke University Blue Devils, the Arizona University Aztecs, and on and on.
Land Mines to Avoid
You have to be on guard with all these potential land mines to sidestep and all the ways that otherwise pleasant conversations on a pleasant day could occur.
Nevertheless, I wish you and yours a happy Thanksgiving. May you survive the day, fully intact and ready to have a decent Black Friday.
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