Happy Thanksgiving

11/24/2005

Paul Munnis

We would like to wish a happy Thanksgiving Day to the readers of The Rochester Democrat. All of us have much to be thankful for and we have much to work towards in the coming years.

We are thankful for a good community, good people who make our community work, moral and ethical people who populate our communities in a law abiding manner, and the shower of blessings that we have personally received from God’s grace.

As a people we are free, empowered in government, our employment picture is good when it is compared to much of the rest of the nation and we are free of community health problems, while we have access to quality health care, just to mention a few of the many blessings that we experience.

As a Political Party we Democrats have made progress in electing good people to public office; for example breaking a 32 year drought here in Rochester of State representation for Democrats. We have charged these folks to set a good example in government for others while at the same time working to forge a quality social contract for those whom they represent.

As we look ahead we ask for the grace to be constructive of our criticisms of those holding office, avoiding personal attacks upon them and their character, and we ask for the wisdom and the character to show how we might be able to lead in a forthright manner to form a more perfect nation and community. In a time of major social change this call to quality in government is a serious challenge to all of us.

A major challenge that we all face as a community is working to preserve and extend employment for our residents, and in providing food, clothing, and shelter for our fellow Americans. We recognize that when help those in need to help themselves we are actually helping ourselves since we are all in the same boat and are highly dependent upon one another.

Healthcare is of special concern to all Americans in the year ahead from two viewpoints. It is a dominant industry in our community and as health care insurance coverage declines so does income used to pay healthcare workers. Second, we do not want to see anyone in need of treatment denied it. Working to improve this aspect of the social contract between Americans, our government, and employers, is a major challenge. We ask for the strength of character to address these issues leaving our nation stronger as a result.

In closing, we cannot forget the men and women in the military of America who are serving in foreign lands. Many of them will be facing danger and death. We ask that they be spared injury and death and that the issues that keep them deployed in combat be resolved so that they might return to the comfort of home and family. We ask for peace for our nation and we are seeing signs of that blessing beginning to glimmer on the horizon of international politics. We are very thankful for that sign of peace ahead today.

To all of our readers we wish you a HAPPY THANKSGIVING.