When my family and I sit around the table tomorrow, just like
millions of other families across America, we'll take time to give our
thanks for many blessings. But we'll also remember this is a time when
so many members of our American family are hurting. There's no question
this has been a tough year for America. We're at war. Our economy is
emerging from an extraordinary recession into recovery. But there's a
long way to go and a lot of work to do.

In more tranquil times, it's easy to notice our many blessings. It's
even easier to take them for granted. But in times like these, they
resonate a bit more powerfully. When President Lincoln set aside the
National Day of Thanksgiving for the first time -- to celebrate
America's "fruitful fields," "healthful skies," and the "strength and
vigor" of the American people -- it was in the midst of the Civil War,
just when the future of our very union was most in doubt. So think about
that. When times were darkest, President Lincoln understood that our
American blessings shined brighter than ever.

This is an era of new perils and new hardships. But we are, as ever,
a people of endless compassion, boundless ingenuity, limitless strength.
We're the heirs to a hard-earned history and stewards of a land of
God-given beauty. We are Americans. And for all this, we give our humble
thanks -- to our predecessors, to one another, and to God.

So on this quintessentially American holiday, as we give thanks for
what we've got, let's also give back to those who are less fortunate. As
we give thanks for our loved ones, let us remember those who can't be
with us. And as we give thanks for our security, let's in turn thank
those who've sacrificed to make it possible, wherever they may be.

--Barack Obama



--
If you are flajim, herring, loogy, GC boater, johnson, topbassdog, rob,
achmed the sock puppet, or one of a half dozen others, you're wasting
your time by trying to *communicate* with me through rec.boats, because,
well, you are among the permanent members of my dumbfoch dumpster, and I
don't read the vomit you post, except by accident on occasion. As
always, have a nice, simple-minded day.