Legal Insurrection Authors Give Thanks This Thanksgiving

Legal Insurrection Authors Give Thanks This Thanksgiving

It’s been awhile, too long probably, since I’ve compiled a post of thoughts from the LI team. If ever there was a day for it, it’s today.

And so, our thoughts this Thanksgiving:

Professor William Jacobson

While 2020 has been a terrible year in many ways, I’m thankful that this year will deliver two granddaughters to me, one last June and one coming up any day. That makes three. And next year a grandson on the way. That makes four. No need to stop, keep it going! I’m also thankful that the wife has been doing much better, I appreciate past years’ wishes and encouragement from readers.  I’m hesitant to say anything about good health in this age of pandemic, for fear of jinxing myself. So I won’t say anything about being thankful for my good health and that of my immediate family so far.

The Legal Insurrection authors really have stepped up to the plate this crazy year, they deserve a day off (not today, of course, but “a day” eventually).

I’m also thankful for the many people I connected with and reconnected with after attempts to “cancel” me. The outpouring of support was overwhelming, and helped me emerge vindicated and unbowed: Throughout it all, I often thought of Psalm 30: “I will extol thee, O Lord; for thou hast lifted me up, and hast not made my foes to rejoice over me.”

Kemberlee Kaye

Happy Thanksgiving! How fortunate we are to live in a country who yearly celebrates the Providence and blessings bestowed upon us by our Creator.

I am so thankful that this year, we will be able to celebrate Thanksgiving with our tiny man (who spent his first Thanksgiving in the NICU) Baby Walt.

I’m thankful for the LI team who are a fabulous group of people both in work and character. Love y’all.

I’m thankful for the blessings of motherhood and wifedom. Despite their challenges, they’re my two favorite things.

I’m thankful for my husband. He has a very particular gifting, unique view of the world, immense care for the wellbeing of others, loves us well, and never ever gives up.

I’m thankful for my family and friends who have been kind, caring, giving, and supportive of us this last year.

This last year has been the hardest, most trying year of my life (as it has for many), but it’s afforded me the wonderful opportunity to grow in faith and love, and to nestle under the wings of Almighty God, whose love is vast and perfect.

And I’m thankful for you. There are plenty of places to spend time online and I’m grateful you choose to spend your time here with us.

Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving. May the Lord’s goodness, grace, and love envelop you today and in the year to come.

Mary Chastain

2020 has sucked so far. But I’m thankful for my health, but especially the health of my family. My mom had open-heart surgery in August. She has progressed so well and I love it. I love my mama and want her around as long as possible. The 8 weeks I spent with her helped us grow closer.

I’m thankful for the Legal Insurrection team and everyone who reads the blog. We wouldn’t be here without you guys.

I’m thankful COVID-19 and the flu have not touched my family.

Please get the COVID-19 vaccine when you can. Please get the flu and pneumonia vaccine. Please make sure you’re up-to-date on all vaccines. Let’s all end 2020 and begin 2021 on a healthy note.

Fuzzy Slippers

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. In truth, I like all of the “big” ones, Christmas, Easter, Independence Day, even Halloween (though much of the fun of it has been sucked out by the joyless “woke” left).  But this day, Thanksgiving Day, is special because it is one that I remember so fondly from my youth.

I’ve been working this year on developing a thankful attitude, of taking time each day (or when I remember) to thank the Lord for all of my blessings, both the large and the small.  On some days I have to really reach for something new for which to express my gratitude to God; for instance, I have been known to thank Him for a green light streak (you know the awesome of hitting every green light on your way somewhere) and for air conditioning in the midst of a stifling “air you can wear” type of day in Florida.  Actually, that’s a pretty good thing to be grateful for, so I am decidedly not grateful that anti-air conditioning nutcase John Kerry could actually be the nation’s “climate czar.” But today I am determined not to think too much about the horrors that may be coming our way under a Harris-Biden administration.

To that end, I am grateful that the Democrats have nothing even vaguely resembling a mandate, that their godless, socialist agenda was rejected by the American people, and that they know it and will have to rein in their worst tendencies at the legislative level.

I am immensely grateful that our second LI baby, our miracle Baby Walt, is doing so amazingly, miraculously well. If you haven’t had a chance to read Kemberlee’s beautifully-written, heart-felt, deeply-meaningful post, please treat yourself to a Thanksgiving gift.  I am grateful that Baby Walt is thriving and that his story—his young life—is such an inspiration not only to me but to our entire LI family.

I hope you are enjoying this Thanksgiving with your family and as many of  your friends as possible.  If you’re not due to onerous, tyrannical restrictions in your state, consider spending your next holiday with family and friends in Florida. Indeed, Illinois gov. Pritzker planned to spend his Thanksgiving here in the state of the free . . . until he got busted for running out of his state to escape his own ridiculous dictats.  I can’t even begin to express my gratitude for our governor, Ron DeSantis.  Facing incredible pressure, he is standing strong and holding the line against the lockdown tyranny that seems to have swept so much of the nation.

And finally, I am beyond thankful for Professor Jacobson and Legal Insurrection.  I feel near to bursting with gratitude when I think of the wonderful people with whom I am blessed to work and of our readers who make our work not only possible but so much richer and more meaningful.  I am also thankful that we are all going to be marching into an uncertain future together.  We are not alone, and for that I thank not only God but each of you.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Leslie Eastman

I must admit, this year I am struggling to find the “holiday spirit” in the wake of all of the challenges in 2020.  That being said, I am very thankful for the Legal Insurrection editors, authors and fans who have reached out to me for support and friendship over the course of the year, especially the last few weeks.  I can’t express my gratitude enough.

I am also grateful for my son, who has successfully completed his first semester at the US Air Force Academy.  He should be on his way home in a couple of weeks, so we will have Christmas together.

One of my favorite bits about the Thanksgiving weekend is that I team up with Fuzzy to cover the news!  She and I have a good time exchanging story ideas, and that is a blast.

This year, for the first time, I am preparing the Thanksgiving meal for my family.  Per the request of my wonderful mother-in-law, I will be serving lamb.  Also, I bought pecan pie…which is my Thanksgiving “guilty pleasure”.  This is certainly not a traditional meal for this day…but, hey, it’s 2020 and there are no more norms.

May God bless and keep us all.

Mike LaChance

I’m thankful for my family, my dog Finn, and my life. Happy Thanksgiving to my Legal Insurrection colleagues and all of our wonderful readers!

Stacey Matthews

Though it’s unclear at this point how the Trump campaign’s legal challenges will ultimately play out in the courts, Republicans have much to be thankful for here at Thanksgiving.

Thanks to President Trump, the Supreme Court now has a conservative majority. In addition to that, the unexpected gains Republicans made in the House will ensure that Speaker Pelosi will have a harder time getting her radical legislative priorities rammed through in 2021. And because Republicans did so well in state legislative races, the redistricting battles looming in states across the country are going to give Democratic lawmakers, governors, and their high-priced teams of super-lawyers many, many nightmares for years to come.

On the Senate side, Republicans have two more races to go — in Georgia on Jan. 5 — to find out if they’ll maintain their control in 2021.

On a personal note, I’m extremely grateful for the Legal Insurrection community this holiday season, and for the time I’ll be able to spend with family on Turkey Day. Stay safe and have a great Thanksgiving, y’all. Cherish every single moment.

New Neo

I happen to like Thanksgiving. Always have. And although we’re wrestling with some extremely somber and sobering things this year, all of us probably still have a lot of things for which to be thankful.

This year for me Thanksgiving is going to feature a two-person gathering. And so there won’t be a stuffed turkey, there will be turkey parts and a modest amount of stuffing cooked outside the turkey. It won’t feature this particular stuffing, which is something my family used to make quite a bit.

But I’m putting up the recipe anyway, in case you’re having a regular turkey and want something quite different. Or for next year. It’s sweet; I think it was originally supposed to be for duck or goose. But it’s very yummy. I don’t have an actual recipe with amounts, because it varies according to your needs and your tastes, but here it is: a large quantity of cut-up Granny Smith or any variety of tasty apples, cooked in a large pan in a fair amount of sherry as well as a ton of butter till a bit soft; and then mixed with prunes, almonds, and Sara Lee pound cake reduced to small pieces by crushing with the hands. That’s it.

For me, ordinarily (although not this year) there is one traditional requirement—besides the turkey, of course. There has to be at least one pecan pie, although eating it in all its sickening sweetness can put an already-sated person right over the top. And the cranberry sauce has to be made from fresh cranberries (it’s easy: cranberries, water, and sugar to taste, simmered on top of the stove till mushy and a bright deep red), and lots of it. It’s good on turkey sandwiches the next day, too.

Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays that has a theme that’s vaguely religious – giving thanks – but has no specific religious affiliation. It’s one of the least commercial holidays as well, because it involves no presents. It’s a home-based holiday, which is good, too, especially this year.

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving Day, with friends and/or family of your choice, and just the right amount of leftovers.

Leah Baldacci

Thanksgiving is an exceptional American holiday, because, instead of celebrating a person or an event, it celebrates a virtue: gratitude.

To take time, as a country, to acknowledge and give thanks to the blessings in one’s life, demonstrates grace and humility. On October 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln announced, following a Union Army victory in Gettysburg, that Thanksgiving would be an official United States holiday. Even in the midst of a bloody civil war, Lincoln saw the honorable nature of a national day of thanksgiving and prayer, and its unifying potential during a time of division.

Seventy-four year previously, in 1789, President George Washington had also called for a day of thanksgiving, following the ratification of the U.S. Constitution; thus, the importance of the virtue of gratitude has long-been elevated by the great leaders of America.

This year, I am most thankful for my husband, Jack. Marriage between two individuals, who share the same values, who are loyal to each other in every way, and who honor their wedding vows each and every day, is among one of the finest things in life, and I am grateful to have found this blessing in my life. My husband encourages and strengthens me, and he deeply enriches each of my days with his wisdom and his support. I am truly grateful for the love we share and our beautiful marriage.

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