Sunday, November 18, 2007
I celebrate Thanksgiving every day. I must.
I wake up in America a free man. I thank God each and every day that I was born here.
I am so very thankful that America's Founding Fathers had the wisdom and intestinal fortitude to write down self-evident truths and God-given rights in case anyone conveniently pretended to forget why we came to this land. We came to escape slave drivers, dictators, kings and tyrants.
* I give thanks that my parents were strong, loving, nurturing, hard-working disciplinarians. They taught me to be the best that I can be and to always do the right thing.
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* I thank God for Chuck Berry and Bo Diddly and Les Paul.
* I am very thankful that my hard work continues to pay off and I can be my own boss and provide for my family in dream careers that make me very happy and fulfilled.
* I thank God for my wonderful children and my amazing wife who so lovingly put up with me.
* I deeply appreciate my supporters who have provided me with a life-long, gravity-defying career, with the best, most intense rocking tour of my life coming in 2007, 50 years after my first concert.
* I bow my head and pray, thanking the warriors of the United States military for their selfless dedication and sacrifices as they lay down their lives for freedom and security against evil.
* I thank our president, George W. Bush, for waging an effective war against terrorism, keeping the evil monsters of Sept. 11 at bay for seven attack-less years.
* I give thanks for heroes of law enforcement who combat the scourge of law-breakers so that our families can work and play without fear or danger.
* I thank America's hunters, fishers and trappers for fighting for and paying for the greatest conservation success story in the history of mankind.
* I celebrate and give thanks for another astonishing hunting season across America with game galore — God's annual bounty of life-giving renewable resources — the amazing whitetail deer and all spellbinding creatures that provide me with astonishing, unlimited challenge, stimuli and protein.
* I give thanks for the dedicated men and women of the fish and wildlife departments for their guidance and professional management.
* I thank Fred Bear for turning me on to the mystical flight of the arrow, archery and bowhunting. He is my spiritual guiding light, inspiring a higher level of awareness and sense of stewardship duty to the good Mother Earth and all her creatures.
* I thank the farmers and ranchers of America who work so very hard to feed the world and fill up every grocery store with more delicious, nutritious food than one can imagine.
* I thank American entrepreneurs and workers for their productivity and work ethic as they fuel the greatest economy and quality of life known anywhere anytime.
* I give thanks to the medical professionals who take good care of us and continue to increase our health and longevity, as long as we make intelligent lifestyle choices.
* I thank the teachers who educate and inspire our children to follow their dreams and fortify themselves for an adventurous life.
* I thank the families and their children who so generously bless me by inviting and including me in the celebration of the last days of a terminally ill family member — to share their last campfires with this old guitar player.
* I thank the myriad of American charities that care for, feed, clothe, love and help the needy around the world.
* I thank God for the Labrador retrievers that shiver in the duckblind with me, dashing out into the blowing snow and into the ice-cold water to fetch the fowl I shoot.
* I give thanks for my good neighbors and fellow Americans, who are so kind, friendly, giving, hospitable, generous and fun to hang around with.
Thanksgiving should be celebrated every day by every American, because when you honestly look around this great land, we've got it made if we use our heads.
Godbless, America. Give thanks.
Ted Nugent is a Waco-based musician and television show host. Communicate with Ted directly at tednugent.com.
