November 13, 2019 | The Clarion
Opinion
Page 7
Thanksgiving nowadays
ByAlyssa Hetherington
Contributor
As the holidays come hurtling toward us
faster each year, Thanksgiving is becoming less
recognized each year. Though this holiday has
a controversial past, Thanksgiving is a holiday
about being around family and recognizing
all the things in your life that you should be
thankful for.
Thanksgiving is based off the story of a group
of surviving pilgrims from the Mayflower
and a group of Native Americans from the
Wampanoag tribe coming together in the fall
of 1621. They held a festival that lasted around
three days and each party came together to
celebrate the good com harvest. It was first
recognized as a holiday in the year 1863 by
former President Abraham Lincoln.
The darker part of the story is that this
appreciation for each other did not last long.
Years following brought battles which later
turned into wars, which caused huge casualties
on both sides but which were particularly
devastating to the Native American side. This
part of history is usually forgotten or overlooked,
but is just as important to acknowledge.
Nowadays, the holiday centers around a turkey
dinner with a group of family and friends coming
together. A traditional turkey dinner with sides
such as mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry
sauce, gravy and sweet potatoes—just to name
the more traditional ones. The next day involves
eating the leftovers and creating some amazing
sandwiches that includes all the sides and the
turkey placed inside two pieces of soft bread.
Another tradition associated with Thanksgiving
is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and the
start of the holiday season. The iconic Macy’s
Thanksgiving Day Parade involves giant
balloons of beloved characters, floats carrying
famous singers, broadway snipits, bands, and
people dressed up. At the end of the parade
Santa Claus is seen riding his sleigh and is
symbolizing the bringing in of the holiday
season.
A newer tradition that is becoming popular
with younger generations is Friendsgiving.
Friendsgiving is when a group of friends
celebrates with a smaller scale Thanksgiving a
week before or after the actual Thanksgiving.
Friends come together and bring all sorts
of food, traditional or not, and have a party
celebrating their friendship.
Whether or not you choose to celebrate this
holiday, the idea of being thankful for what
you have is something to reflect on no matter
the season.
Democrats, it is time to
puli it together already
By Julie Carter
Opinion Editor
I really, really don’t feel like writing about the
upcoming 2020 presidential election. However,
I feel like something must be said at this present
moment about the dangerous territory that
Democrats are approaching for this year.
To keep it brief: Democrats are, for all intents
and purposes, at a very big risk of losing.
1 don’t even think it’ll be a close race. Donald
Trump will assume office on January 20, 2021
by a large margin.
Now, I’m about as liberal as they come. The
mere thought of Trump being president for
another four years causes the same reaction in
me as drinking an entire cup of vinegar would.
However, I must face the facts.
With that being said, some fellow liberals may
be asking me “how could you say that about
Trump?” It is easy. I am not throwing him to
the side anymore. I did that in 2016 and look
how that mrned out. He is a serious political
contender with a massive base.
I assure you that I see in him numerous
flaws. However, these flaws mean nothing to a
large base that foams at the mouth at whatever
nonsense comes out of his mouth.
Then, there are his sworn enemies that
immediately hear the man’s name and won’t
listen to what he is saying. A high percentage
of it is complete insanity, but one cannot
automatically brush it aside as far-right cannon
fodder.
How did Trump get elected in 2016? Easy.
People liked him enough to vote for him. People
didn’t just vote for him because they didn’t like
Hillary. They liked him. Period. Also, it is a
much larger group of Americans than some of
us are willing to accept.
There is another large issue that many
Democrats are ignoring. No one really cares
about their nominees. The number of die-hard
supporters for specific candidates is so small.
Bemie Sanders maybe has the largest base, and,
once again, how did that turn out in 2016?
Just from listening to fellow liberals, I can tell
a few things. Most have a handful of candidates
they “like” or “are okay with.” This attitude is
not going to beat Donald Trump. It just isn’t.
All the candidates are essentially having a
pissing contest as to who is the most liberal. This
is not the point. No one gives a damn. They are
just looking like carbon copies of each other.
No one stands out.
All the women are rather robotic, being written
off as Hillary Part II. Joe Biden is viewed as
annoying, especially to young liberals. The only
thing people know about Pete Buttgieg is that he
is gay, and, honestly, most people are not ready
for a 37-year-old gay mayor from Indiana to be
President of the United States. Sorry, not sorry.
As Senators, all of these people would be
great. They are not ready to be president. They
need to stay in their lane. There is no shining star
in the Democratic Party at the present moment.
It is 2016 all over again.
Now, Donald Trump evokes a response.
Negative or positive response does not matter
as long as it is something. He will bulldoze his
way into the office for another four years, and
no one is strong enough to stop him right now.
So, fellow liberals, what are we going to do
about it? Are we going to learn our lesson from
2016? Are we going to fight with each other
over who is the most liberal, ignoring the middle
ground vote? Or are we going to put on our big
boy pants and fight our way to getting this manic,
out-of-touch strongman out of office?