IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed,

--That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

All my life, I have always thought it was the coolest thing on planet Earth to be an American. I have been to something close to 200 countries and political jurisdictions in the world, and whenever someone asks me, "Where are you from?" it is a special thrill to be able to answer, "America - I'm an American."

Thanksgiving is the unique American holiday. We share Christmas and Easter with every other Christian nation. Most every country celebrates its Independence Day, and the birthdays of their founding heroes. Thanksgiving is ours, where we give our deepest thanks to Providence for the extraordinary gift of America to mankind.

Other countries have their special times to celebrate their uniqueness, when their citizens take justifiable pride in their country's achievements, and all to the good. Thanksgiving is America's Day, the time when all Americans - all - get to celebrate the achievements of the most successful society in human history.

Tragically, however, there are  two groups of Americans for whom Thanksgiving will be bleak.  Liberals and pessimists.

The purpose of Thanksgiving is to be thankful for being American. Thankful with no buts. This is the day to celebrate the goodness of our country - the moral goodness, the moral decency of American institutions, American history, and the character of the American people.

No whining and moaning about what happened to the Indians, or about slavery and poverty and racism. No buts. Think that liberals can do this? Let's see.

The response we've gotten regarding our To The Point Rendezvous announced last month has really been gratifying.  Here are the latest details.

You know when and where:  Las Vegas, Nevada - starting Friday evening, January 26^th and ending Monday morning, January 29^th.  There is no conference fee and folks are free to stay where they want.  Costs (meals, activities, etc.) are Dutch Treat.

Yet we've been swamped by emails asking where am I staying and where will we congregate.  The answer is Mandalay Bay. 

If the folks in Hollywood didn't allow their rabid hate-America passions to overcome the functioning of their business brains when they watched the Blackwater hearings in Congress yesterday (10/02)*, they must have been transfixed by Blackwater CEO Erik Prince and seen nothing but dollar signs.

It was a scene straight out of a movie.  The witness was straight out of central casting - Hollywood handsome, all-American clean-cut wholesome, a rawhide-tough former Navy SEAL who can easily think faster and smarter than anyone in the room.

Up against him was a collection of Democrat contributors to Congress' record low 11% approval rating, determined to demonstrate how they earned such public disgust, and led by that quintessence of corruption, Henry Waxman (D-CA), whose eyes bulging out of his sockets and huge buck teeth bulging out of his mouth below his hairy lips make him look like a creepy rat.

Hollywood casting again.

If you watch Erik's face closely (the hearing was broadcast on C-SPAN3*), you can see how hard he is trying not to grimace in revulsion or laugh out loud at the charade.  You just know what he really wanted to say:

"Congressman Waxman, I would like to ask you a question:  Why are you in league with the chief Shiite terrorist in Iraq, Moqtada al-Sadr?  He controls the Ministry of the Interior (MOI), and it was MOI police who attacked us on September 16.  All of the "witnesses" claiming we opened fire and killed 11 Iraqi civilians are Iraqi police with the MOI.  Are you just using their lies to smear us or are you in active cooperation with al-Sadr to hurt the war effort in Iraq?  If so, perhaps you would be more appropriately addressed as Congressman Moqtada al-Waxman."