This Thanksgiving a grateful, hopeful, and joyful nation will gather around tables across the country to give thanks for another opportunity for freedom. The past few decades our freedoms and rights have been severely eroded by an ever-expanding federal bureaucracy gobbling up power and money. Untethered by careless and spineless legislators, government has ruthlessly and steadily encroached on every aspect of life from business to education to home life to religion.

Legislators at all levels have learned that the secret to remaining in office is to do “nothing,” so they avoid conflict and retreat from responsibility. The only real duty they fulfill is passing a budget usually with a lot of smoke and mirrors. Beyond attending luncheons and proclaiming “donut day” or whatever triviality, legislators have generally ceded their authority to unaccountable, unelected, and unknown bureaucrats to govern the people, and they have little or no regard or respect for the citizens.

Drunk with almost unbounded power, regulatory agencies have run amok. Running a business has become incredibly expensive due to the extra time and money it takes to comply with mostly nonsensical rules and regulations,

and average Americans can forget about starting a new business because only the rich can afford the capital, legal, and holding costs to overcome the ridiculous obstacles government hurls at entrepreneurs. There is surely an overabundance of gigantic and vicious bureaucratic beasts but hope springs eternal that Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy will finally gut these bloated brutes – the task is immense!

Since landing on this wilderness continent, Americans have educated our youth with focus on Biblical teachings and that noble notion survived over three centuries. Sadly, about a half century ago, we drove God out of public schools and the public square which resulted in a steady and now precipitous decline in morality and mental health. Parents can no longer trust their children to government schools because they may likely be taught to embrace Marxism, explore perversion, and hate America.

School choice laws and movements are gaining momentum in many states, but Americans must wrest education from the government and return it to parental control under the auspices of the church or community. The about half century decline of education coincides with the creation of the Department of Education, so President Trump’s plan to abolish this detrimental department gives Americans hope that education can be returned to the rightful stakeholders – parents.

Under crushing inflation, just trying to live and provide for your family has become extremely daunting and difficult. Beyond all the blather about climate change, cheap gas is the lifeblood of a thriving economy and liberty for the poor who could otherwise not afford to heat their homes or get to work. We don’t need government edicts about lightbulbs or fracking. The prospect of beating the government back to its Constitutional limits is very inspiring.

The foundation of American freedom was wrought in the pursuit of worshipping God. That’s why leftists always target religion; they cannot tolerate the people having obeisance to any power above the state, so religion must be minimized or eliminated. The militant LGBTQ+ movement is in retreat because finally adults are returning and insisting men cannot use restrooms with little girls or boys for that matter. Abortion is still available in many states, but Americans are encouraged that those who find killing babies morally repugnant will no longer be forced to support it.

America as a nation may not yet be turning back to God, but many Americans are turning back to God and are relieved that the tyranny of “woke” lunacy in business, entertainment, and government is finally waning. “Cancel culture” is on the run and folks believe politically correct persecution can now be defeated because we have a champion returning to the White House who believes America can and should be great again.

There is still much work to be done, but this Thanksgiving Americans are giving thanks that with the return of a resolute President Trump we have another opportunity to make America great again. Pray for protection for Trump and his cabinet. Pray for God’s providence for America to once again be a God-fearing nation and give thanks for His manifest blessings. It will indeed be a Happy Thanksgiving.

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD; and the people whom he hath chosen for his own inheritance” (Psalm 33:12).

Pete Riehm is a Navy Veteran, conservative activist, and columnist in south Alabama. Email him at peteriehm@bellsouth.net or read all his columns at http://www.renewamerica.com/.