Brunswick Beacon, 11.24.22
After the United States Constitution was ratified, our new government opened for business on March 4, 1789. President George Washington proclaimed Thursday, November 26, 1789 as a National Day of Thanksgiving “for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted.”
During the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a Day of Thanksgiving “to heal the wounds of the nation.”
This year, we should give thanks for the millions of voters who defied predictions and stood up for democracy, the constitution and the rule of law. Across America, in every battleground state, Americans rejected election deniers who undermined trust in free and fair elections by spreading Donald Trump’s Big Lie.
Trump made election denialism the cost of admission in today’s GOP. Arizona, which Trump lost in 2020, became Ground Zero, with three election deniers in key races. Mark Finchem was at the Jan. 6 Insurrection. He ran for Arizona Secretary of State saying the 2020 election was stolen and Arizona’s results should have been decertified. Blake Masters ran for Arizona Senator, saying: “I think Trump won in 2020.” Trump told Masters: “If you want to get across the line, you need to be stronger on that one thing…look at Kari [Lake]. If they say, ‘How is your family?’ She says, ‘The election was rigged & stolen.’” Lake ran for Arizona Governor. Finchem, Masters and Lake all lost.
Nancy Pelosi said: “Last week the American people spoke and their voices were raised in defense of liberty, of the rule of law, and of democracy itself. With these elections, the people stood in the breach and repelled the assault on democracy. They resoundingly rejected violence and insurrection and in doing so gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.”
Every American should give thanks for that.
Claudia Tidwell
Leland