Last week’s curation at RealClear’s American Civics portal begins with Anthony Hennen’s reflections on Thanksgiving at City Journal. Hennen calls Thanksgiving “a pan-American holiday” that celebrates both “country and family,” as well as equality and liberty: “The colossal turkey knows no creed, only love of place. At the table, we are all equal.” He cites O. Henry, the famous American writer of short stories, who wrote in “Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen” of the place of “pioneering tradition” in keeping the national holiday going: “In order to become picturesque we must keep on doing one thing for a long time without ever letting it get away from us. Something like collecting the weekly dimes in industrial insurance. Or cleaning the streets.” Hennen writes that Thanksgiving gives us the opportunity to count “our blessings and showing gratitude,” which he says “goes a long way toward moderating the passions.” “Perhaps Thanksgiving doesn’t have the dramatic conflict and feeling of Halloween and Christmas,” he concludes. “But it carries a different message of caring—for family, for community, and for the traditions that support them.” At Public Discourse, Allen Guelzo writes about Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, perhaps the most famous speech in American history. According to Guelzo, “Lincoln’s Address was a hugely concentrated essay on why the American democracy had been founded, why it was worth sacrificing to preserve, and what we could anticipate if it emerged whole from the conflict.” Similar to “the new birth revival preachers had exhorted people to embrace,” Lincoln’s “new birth of freedom” was aimed at revitalizing “the original purpose of the American Founding” and “turn this government back into the channel in which the framers of the Constitution originally placed it.” As Guelzo implores, “We must not shake our heads at the echoes of past eloquence and wonder why we hear so little of it in our own ears, but instead we must take Lincoln’s words and repeat them, until they become our words, and become our children’s. In the News Christopher Flannery, The American Mind Anthony Hennen, City Journal Mindy Belz, Wall Street Journal Nate Hochman, National Review Christopher Lingle, American Institute for Economic Research David Stowe, Conversation Brian Parsons, Idaho State Journal Kerry Byrne, Fox News Hanna Seariac, Deseret News Salena Zito, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Robert Maranto, RealClearEducation Scott Powell, The Federalist Casey Chalk, The Spectator World Daniel J. Mahoney, RealClearBooks Patrick Malcolmson & Joseph R. Phelan, The American Conservative The Learning Curve This week on “The Learning Curve,” Cara and Gerard talk with Nathaniel Philbrick, historian, winner of the National Book Award... David Bobb, Bill of Rights Institute We all owe teachers a debt of gratitude for the life-changing work they do each day. Bill of Rights Institute President David... Common Good Collaborative Across the country, we know that parents and educators want their students to gain the knowledge and concrete skills that come from high-quality civic education. Bob Woodson, et al., Pepperdine School of Public Policy Of course, America's founders along with its observers from Tocqueville to Robert Nisbet understood the importance of this "communitarian"... Carl Cannon's Great American Stories It's Friday, Nov. 25, the day of the week when I pass along quotations intended to be uplifting or thought-provoking. ... It's Friday, Nov. 18, the day of the week when I pass along a quotation intended to be uplifting or ... Friday is the day of the week when I pass along a quotation intended to be uplifting or thought provoking. ... |