Gen. George S. Patton, the legendary World War II hero, had a policy of always advancing.
“We’re not holding anything,” he famously told his troops. And later, “I don’t like paying for the same real estate twice.”
That’s a fine attitude for a warrior, but it doesn’t always come easy for the rest of us — particularly when it comes to things beyond our capacity to control.
As we approach Thanksgiving, for example, it’s tempting to look back on the year coming to a close and conclude there were precious few blessings to count in 2021.
We’re still dealing with a stubborn pandemic — accompanied by the insatiable desire by our elected leaders to exploit our misfortune for their own political gain.
On the national level, the new president is following through on at least one campaign promise by making his the most accommodating administration in history to the ideals of socialism and organized labor.
Our taxes are soaring again, as is the cost of everything from gasoline to toothpaste.
Meanwhile, public schools are openly teaching our children to hate based on race, city streets are littered with broken lives and the media happily suppresses anything that doesn’t conform to its myopic elitist narrative.
At such times, it’s difficult to find anything to be thankful for, let alone the inspiration to advance boldly into the future.
But in our despair, let us not forget there is still so much to be grateful for.
Like any living organism, countries sometimes veer off course. The difference is that when ours makes a mistake, it does so at the insistence of its citizenry rather than over their objections.
But we also have the right to correct that course, and the time for doing so is never far off in the grand scheme of things.
However flawed it may be, we still live in the only nation the downtrodden from every corner of the earth flock to even when it means crawling under fences their country has erected to prevent their escape or braving violent seas in a makeshift raft.
Despite the determined efforts of our enemies both foreign and domestic to suppress them — and our own lamentable penchant for taking it all for granted — we still have more rights and greater liberty than any other people on the planet.
And we have brave, determined patriots who will never ignore their responsibility safeguard these ideals and pass on an even stronger, freer and more prosperous America to their children.
Such people make the Freedom Foundation and all it endeavors to accomplish possible.
Whatever we’ve lost this year can be recovered — and quickly — as long as we have hope, and the resolve to fight for our freedoms.
With you by our side, we’re determined to continue the struggle and confident of our ultimate victory.
And that’s more than most people have to be thankful for in a lifetime.
From the Freedom Foundation, here’s wishing you and your loved ones a blessed Thanksgiving this year and every year.
