The Patriot Post® · Political Cease Fire Is the Perfect Thanksgiving Recipe

As we prepare for this wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, a number of media pundits have come out with suggestions and instructions on the best way to for leftist anti-Trumpers to debate politics with their less enlightened, racist, conservative Trump-supporting relatives between bites of turkey and passing of gravy. Well, we think we have a far better plan than MSNBC’s Joy Reid or The New York Times.

Don’t. Just don’t.

If you believe, even for a moment, that a political debate will lead to contention during the holiday festivities, don’t start. Your family relationships and the love you share for one another are far, far too important to put in jeopardy by fighting over Donald Trump, Nancy Pelosi, Adam Schiff, or any of the other cast of characters in the ongoing drama that is the DC swamp.

Have we not politicized enough in American life without politicizing the dinner table as well? Religion, sports, television, movies, and even chicken sandwiches are now the subject of raging political debate.

Where is the humility? Where is the grace? “Where is”, as the Black-Eyed Peas sang, “the love?”

MSNBC’s Joy Reid wants to see hostilities between family members. She recently disparaged the “food holiday” and it’s “problematic history,” instructing good progressives everywhere that is their duty to engage in verbal combat with any Trump-supporting relatives, of whose intellectual and moral capacity she thinks very little.

Reid says, “Here’s a hint: Do not worry about trying to explain the cast of characters … or the very overused term, ‘quid pro quo.’ … Most people can’t say it, spell it or understand it. What we’re actually talking about here is not a pithy Latin phrase. It’s something a lot simpler: Bribery and extortion. Beyond the whistleblower and over 100 hours of testimony backing up that fact, Donald Trump admitted to it, and even released edited notes from his call with the Ukrainian president — which, by the way, is not a transcript — that actually proved he did it! Even Uncle Roscoe and Auntie Carol ought to understand that.”

The fact that Reid is wrong on every single one of those points doesn’t seem to matter to her. In fact, it may not even have occurred to her. To Reid and her comrades, only the goal matters; beating those knuckle-dragging, pro-Trump relatives into submission.

This desire in anti-Trump leftists runs so deep that one random Twitter user’s tweet went viral among progressives, gleefully declaring, “I will be changing my wifi password to ‘IMPEACH45’ this Thursday so that my MAGA family members have to put that in their devices to have some of my delicious WiFi.” How sad and pathetic.

This type of maliciousness seems to run deep for political Southpaws. Barack Obama called us “bitter clingers,” Hillary Clinton called us “deplorables” and “irredeemables,” and leftist philosopher Noam Chomsky, beloved by Democrats everywhere, referred to the Republican Party as “the most dangerous organization in world history.” More dangerous than the Soviet Politburo or the Communist Chinese Party Central Committee or the Nazi SS? More dangerous than the KKK or ISIS? That seems a bit of a stretch.

Slate columnist Jamelle Bouie openly laid out the leftist view of those of us in “flyover country,” asserting, “There’s no such thing as a good Trump voter: People voted for a racist who promised racist outcomes. They don’t deserve your empathy.” The Left has made it clear they believe we conservative, Christian, Republican, pro-Trump Americans are not just wrong, we are evil.

And lest some argue these are the comments of isolated individuals, please note that Bouie’s column garnered more than 100,000 shares on Facebook, and Hillary received the votes of more than 65 million Americans after relentlessly portraying Trump supporters as awful human beings. Never mind that of the 700 U.S. counties that twice voted for Obama, 209 voted for Trump. How does one go from voting twice for a black man for president to suddenly becoming a rabid racist by voting for Trump? Is it possible that reasons other than racism, nationalism, and xenophobia drove tens of millions of Americans to vote for Trump?

Luckily, as it turns out, most Americans are ignoring the exhortations of the division-seekers like Reid and the NYT. A 2017 HuffPo/YouGov survey found that just 3% of Americans said they were “very likely” and 8% “somewhat likely” to get into a political argument with family members during Thanksgiving.

Maybe most Americans are well-schooled in etiquette, and hearkened to the counsel of Lizzie Post, co-president of the Emily Post Institute, who advised, “Not bringing it up is better. … There’s nothing wrong with saying in a really polite and friendly way that ‘I hope you’ll understand, but I’ve actually decided to take a break from politics this holiday.” Or maybe they are just decent human beings who have no desire to bludgeon family over politics.

So, as you enjoy the turkey, stuffing, and pecan pie around the Thanksgiving table remember, you don’t have to engage in political debate. Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate those things that bring joy to our life — family, friends, faith, football, and our love for the greatest nation in the history of the world.

However, if you choose to debate politics, or are dealing with a relative who will not take no for an answer, remember that good and decent people can have opposing opinions, so we can discourse about controversial topics without being contentious.

Or you can, as Andrew Klavan satirically writes, civilly debate your opponent until they are dead.

Happy Thanksgiving!