My Thanksgiving thanks

As I head into Thanksgiving week, I find myself looking back on the things that helped me get through the long, long Bush administration.

I know what's ahead will be tough and that Obama is not the Messiah. But, hey, I honestly can't imagine facing the tough times ahead with our current, and now departing, axis of evil.

So today I want to take a moment to thank a few of those that helped me get through the last 8 years.

West Wing and 24

For many years, I led a fantasy life where I imagined that Jed Bartlet was President...

and Jack Bauer was in charge of Homeland Security.

Jed and his expert team could be counted on to do the right thing. And Jack could always be counted on to set up a perimeter and save the day. It was a happy alternative to the daily horror mill of Bush, Cheney, Rummy and the gang.

And thanks to Dave Barry's blog, I laughed my way through the increasingly ridiculous scenarios on 24...until I realized the entire thing was a maniacal, Fox-controlled effort to, through sheer repetition, make Americans more comfortable with torture - which our real government was institutionalizing all over the world. Alas.

So I quit 24 sometime in 2006. West Wing went off the air that same year. And many of us set our sights on ending the long nightmare of W.

American Idol

My guilty pleasure each year. Sucked in by another brilliant, dastardly Fox production.

Over time maybe it dawned on us that if we could get that many people to vote for amateur singers, then eventually enough people might hike their American butts off the couch and cast a vote for change.

Jon Stewart and the Daily Show

It's the Bush years and you need some news? Forget CNN, Fox, and the networks. If you want real news reporting in context, tune into the The Daily Show.

In recognition of this fact, in 2003 and 2004 Jon Stewart's Daily Show was nominated not just in comedy, but also for OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN NEWS & INFORMATION by the Television Critics Association.



Thank you Jon, for calling it like it is. It ALMOST made me forget about how the rest of the US press corps rolled over.

Keep an eye on what happens with the Dan Rather lawsuit.

Stephen Colbert

In medieval times the fool was the only one who dared tell the king the truth. During the Bush years, we had Stephen Colbert.

2006 - No one expects him to speak right to W this way. But he does.



For keeping me informed, my thanks go to:

• BBC News
  
• NPR
• PBS
• NY Times
  
• Huffington Post
• The New Yorker
• The Atlantic
  
• Obama campaign - Thank you Blue State Digital
• Andrew Sullivan
• Real Clear Politics
• Fivethirtyeight.com

To Barack Obama, thank you for making us believe in ourselves again. Thank you for being level-headed, for hiring experts that want to lead instead of lining their pockets, and thank you for speaking in complete sentences. May you continue to make good decisions.

But most of all, I'm thankful for America and thankful that we know that this is our time. This is our moment.

The years ahead will test us. But if we reach deep, work together, volunteer, and keep our children's futures in mind, we will reveal the "better angels of our nature."

And thank you Chicago.