In times past certain traditions were enough to define enough of a common bond between most of us as Americans to render unthinkable that the republic could fly apart at the seams. Not so much today. The biggest detractor of America, the idea and the reality, is its President. He is surrounded by a coterie of like minded souls with the same objective: Take the US down a peg or two so we can be like everyone else - intellectually incurious, morally lethargic, materially overindulged. A steady assault on the facts and meaning behind Thanksgiving and Christmas, not to mention patriots and Christians, has taken a toll. Our defenses to the allure of the "servile temptation" are weakened.
Yet I will be thankful this season that for the first time in decades there are more people reexamining the underlying principles of the Founding and taking a sober look at the history and enduring promise of America. If the Republic still fails, there should be more than enough people left to know where and how to continue on.
