Howdy everyone, I pray all y'all [the plural version] had a wonderful and enjoyable Thanksgiving with family and friends. Of course, those who know a little about pop culture will recognize the title of this missive from one Kansas City Chiefs fan, Taylor Swift. Sadly, I use this title coming out of Thanksgiving weekend. It would be one thing if I were applying this reference to the past college football weekend known as “Rivalry Week.” It is when those end-of-the-year college football games pit the most hated and despised teams against each other — Ohio State vs. Michigan, USC vs. Notre Dame, South Carolina vs. Clemson, Alabama vs. Auburn, Florida vs. Florida State, Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, Oklahoma vs. Oklahoma State (Bedlam), Texas vs. Texas A&M, and Ole Miss vs. Mississippi State (the Egg Bowl). These are the type of rivalry games that lend themselves to the famed vehicle license plates, “A House Divided.”

The first Republican President, Abraham Lincoln, who, when running for the U.S. Senate as a Republican from Illinois (which he lost), used those words in a speech. Those words actually come from the Gospel of Mark, Chapter 3, verse 25, “And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”

This past Thanksgiving, we welcomed into our home some dear friends who had been disinvited by family for Thanksgiving. When I was told about it, immediately my response was to invite them into our home. The woman whose family had told her not to come was so humble in not wanting to interrupt our family, but I put aside her sentiments. And so she and her husband came over and enjoyed a delicious West Family household Thanksgiving dinner featuring my traditional southern fried turkey and honey-glazed fried spiral ham. The woman knew that politics was not something her family wanted to discuss, and she told us that she had purposefully not gloated or spoken of the results of the 2024 election with her family…but they knew she was a strong conservative.

But even before Thanksgiving Day, on Tuesday I was at a local grocery store getting a turkey to fry for some friends and my ham, along with some fixings. As I stood in line there was an older Black couple ahead of me. It is that season when we speak to people and spread the blessings of Thanksgiving, so we struck up a conversation. Come to find out that they were from Atlanta and were visiting their daughter here in Dallas. Of course, we talked about my being from Atlanta and shared some Thanksgiving stories. Then they shared with me that they had come out to Dallas to cook Thanksgiving dinner for their daughter, who was too depressed after the 2024 election. I responded by saying, tell your daughter that America is a great Nation, and we have been blessed and have so many reasons to give thanks. I told them that there were men and women serving our Nation in faraway places away from their families. That should give her a reason to be thankful and proud, not depressed.

Yes, this past weekend, we sat and watched our favorite college football teams take the field against their hated foes…but it is just an expression. Our lives go on, and we may be bitter about the loss, but we do not seek or allow the results to fundamentally transform our lives.

Here it was Thanksgiving weekend, and we read stories about nominated members of President-Elect Trump’s administration being targeted for threats of violence, including this thing called “swatting.” We can recall how conservative members of the U.S. Supreme Court were targeted for acts of violence. We witnessed a real-time assassination attempt on a former President and presidential party nominee. And that was followed up with another attempt that was fortunately foiled…but the manifesto letter from the failed assassin implored others to do the same.

We have seen parents referred to as domestic terrorists just because they want their children educated, not indoctrinated with a certain ideology and governing philosophy. People who believe in the sanctity of life have had their homes raided and been arrested for believing in such. We have seen certain people take to the streets, riot, burn down buildings, attack police stations, and even kill, yet they suffer no consequences. We have throngs of people violently protesting and supporting an Islamic terrorist organization, issuing threats to people just because of their race and religion. All this while others are hunted down and arrested, their rights violated, for just being in a certain location.

We hear some people use the words “tamp down the rhetoric,” but do they truly mean it? The evidence clearly says no. And I find it utterly laughable, complete and total hypocrisy, when the progressive socialist leftists ramble on about weaponizing the government…something they have perfected going back to the Obama administration and the IRS. Remember Lois Lerner?

When Joe Biden won back in 2020, I do not recall conservative women cutting off their hair or having screaming sessions on the banks of the Great Lakes. I do think we can all raise an eyebrow at the mysterious disappearance of 10-11 million Democrat votes from the 2020 election to the 2024 election.

Yes, the hate has to end; we see these nice little commercials during NFL football alluding to such. But, let’s be honest, this has been a one-way street. And I have often said, “When tolerance becomes a one-way street, it leads to cultural suicide.” When you use language and the rhetoric of hate consistently in describing your political opposition, or, as Obama once said, you have to “punish” your political opponent, the results are deadly.

The leftists in America must stop being the haters who hate. They must cease using language that dehumanizes and denigrates any political opposition, making it acceptable to enact violence. Let’s not forget the Bernie Sanders, MSNBC patron, who shot up the Republican Congressional baseball team at a practice. We were supposed to tamp down the rhetoric, remember? The tactics of using fear, coercion, intimidation, threats, and, ultimately, violence must end.

Instead of leftists tripling down on the same failed blather of demonizing their opposition, doggone, look at yourselves and figure out why you lost. Screeching at the water’s edge, chopping off your hair and swearing to celibacy, disinviting relatives from Thanksgiving, feigning depression, and all the other imbecilic sophomoric antics are reflective of a spoiled child…but a dangerous one. There comes a point where such behavior becomes abhorrent and firmly rejected, as was the case in the 2024 election.

This past rivalry weekend, one team lost. They must wait for an entire year to rectify that loss, but they will think about what they did wrong in that game and be inspired to do better the following year. To those progressive socialist Marxists out there, figure out why y'all lost. In two years you can evidence that you learned from this defeat.

If not, and you choose to just be haters…well, haters gonna hate, and you will keep losing. And actually, that would not bother me, and most of America, one doggone bit.

Steadfast and Loyal.