The Matt Walsh Show - What I'm Thankful For This Thanksgiving

00:00:00.000 Well, you know, Thanksgiving is a wonderful time.

00:00:02.360 It's my favorite holiday.

00:00:03.800 It's a time for celebration, gratitude,

00:00:06.940 time to gather around the table with your family,

00:00:09.740 enjoy a wonderful meal,

00:00:11.440 reflect on all the things that you're thankful for,

00:00:13.860 unless you are a deranged leftist. 0.53

00:00:17.840 Thanksgiving doesn't exist.

00:00:19.600 We're going to raise our voices high that we are still here.

00:00:25.580 In which case, you will insist that Thanksgiving is not so simple.

00:00:29.340 There are nuances, as you like to say.

00:00:32.340 The word is nuance.

00:00:34.940 Thanksgiving is deeply problematic.

00:00:37.160 And that's why every year around this time of year,

00:00:39.740 you'll start seeing articles like this one,

00:00:41.660 which was just published in The Nation,

00:00:43.100 headline, Should America Keep Celebrating Thanksgiving?

00:00:46.300 Now, the article presents two competing perspectives.

00:00:48.540 Both sides of the discussion are put forward,

00:00:50.580 and you have to give The Nation credit at least

00:00:52.200 for giving both sides of the debate.

00:00:54.440 Hey, good job, son.

00:00:57.080 As dumb as you might think the debate is,

00:00:59.980 at least they gave both sides.

00:01:02.080 And, you know, that's honestly more than I would expect from this publication.

00:01:06.380 So here's the first argument,

00:01:07.680 presented by a guy named Sean Sherman.

00:01:10.140 Quote,

00:01:10.340 The sanitized version of Thanksgiving neglects to mention the violence,

00:01:14.400 land theft, and subsequent decimation of indigenous populations.

00:01:18.320 Needless to say, this causes tremendous distress to those of us

00:01:21.340 who are still reeling from the trauma of these events to our communities.

00:01:25.860 Thanksgiving's roots are intertwined with colonial aggression.

00:01:29.120 One of the first documented Thanksgivings came in 1637,

00:01:32.640 after the colonists celebrated their massacre of an entire Pequot village. 0.96

00:01:36.520 I do not think we need to end Thanksgiving,

00:01:40.260 but we do need to decolonize it.

00:01:43.120 That means centering the indigenous perspective

00:01:45.140 and challenging the colonial narratives around the holiday

00:01:48.120 and every other day on the calendar.

00:01:49.820 By reclaiming authentic histories and practices,

00:01:52.660 decolonization seeks to honor indigenous values, identities, and knowledge.

00:01:56.480 This approach is one of constructive evolution.

00:01:59.620 In decolonizing Thanksgiving,

00:02:00.780 we acknowledge this painful past

00:02:03.020 while reimagining our lives in a more truthful manner.

00:02:07.580 Now, by the way, in case this wasn't clear,

00:02:10.340 that was the pro-Thanksgiving side of the debate.

00:02:13.680 Yeah, right.

00:02:14.580 So they have two sides of the debate.

00:02:16.320 That's what the pro-sound side sounds like.

00:02:19.840 Wait, are you serious?

00:02:21.320 The Thanksgiving defender is a guy who thinks

00:02:23.940 that the European settlers were evil, genocidal colonizers.

00:02:28.500 So if that's what he thinks,

00:02:30.820 here's what the opponent of the holiday has to say.

00:02:33.460 You want to give thanks?

00:02:34.840 Give thanks to native nations

00:02:36.120 who granted settlers some form of legitimacy

00:02:38.200 by entering into treaties,

00:02:39.880 recognizing them to be in our homelands.

00:02:41.960 Those treaties recognize that Americans

00:02:43.420 are now under our spiritual custody

00:02:45.120 and have rights to pass through our country.

00:02:48.060 As soon as Americans were able to impose their will 0.96

00:02:50.700 on indigenous nations,

00:02:52.040 the treaties were violated.

00:02:53.580 Some indigenous nations do not have treaties.

00:02:55.800 And legally, this means their nation should be intact.

00:02:57.900 Those of us who have treaties

00:02:59.360 have defensible legal claims to lands

00:03:01.720 that are now occupied

00:03:02.600 by private American settlers under U.S. law.

00:03:05.460 November is already Native American Heritage Month.

00:03:08.620 Thanksgiving could be something better,

00:03:10.400 a day to appreciate the truth

00:03:11.640 of the Native American history

00:03:12.620 and Native Americans' contributions to our lives.

00:03:15.760 Let's tell a different story

00:03:17.120 by dropping the lie of Thanksgiving

00:03:19.020 and begin a truth-giving.

00:03:21.580 Yes, let's tell the truth of Thanksgiving, he says.

00:03:25.620 Let's tell the story that no one's ever heard before.

00:03:29.540 And that's why every year around this time,

00:03:31.360 there are dozens of articles and videos

00:03:33.520 talking about the alleged truth

00:03:35.640 that nobody is allegedly talking about.

00:03:38.720 You find this narrative everywhere now.

00:03:41.200 Even the website delish.com,

00:03:43.080 which is usually a website

00:03:44.160 where you post recipes and cooking tips.

00:03:46.160 It's so thick.

00:03:48.240 Well, they have an article titled

00:03:49.160 The Dark Truth Behind the Origins of Thanksgiving.

00:03:52.220 The real story isn't what you learned in school.

00:03:55.040 A few years ago, Teen Vogue celebrated the day

00:03:57.020 by gathering around a group of sullen, surly,

00:03:59.880 Native American girls to scowl at us 1.00

00:04:02.020 and tell us, quote,

00:04:03.360 the real history behind Thanksgiving.

00:04:05.960 Watch.

00:04:07.040 Happy Thanksgiving, America.

00:04:08.860 I'm Donette, and I'm here with my friends

00:04:10.520 to tell you the real history behind this holiday.

00:04:12.940 Growing up, I knew that what they told you in school

00:04:17.520 about Thanksgiving wasn't true.

00:04:19.760 That's not the true story.

00:04:21.820 The true story behind Thanksgiving was

00:04:23.560 after every killing of a whole village,

00:04:26.580 these European settlers celebrated it,

00:04:29.000 and they called it Thanksgiving.

00:04:30.480 But it wasn't until Abraham Lincoln became president

00:04:33.060 that it became an official holiday.

00:04:36.100 Jeez.

00:04:37.700 Cheer up, ladies. 1.00

00:04:38.720 This is what you're celebrating, though.

00:04:40.140 You think you're celebrating family, togetherness,

00:04:42.380 and all that happy stuff,

00:04:43.640 but that's not what you're celebrating.

00:04:45.060 These unhappy Native American girls, 1.00

00:04:46.820 they will tell you what you're celebrating,

00:04:49.000 and they say that you are celebrating murder and death.

00:04:53.260 Which, I mean, you know, how many,

00:04:54.840 I guess they're right.

00:04:55.960 Like, how many times, countless times,

00:04:58.220 that we've all been sitting around the Thanksgiving table,

00:05:01.360 and someone says, you know,

00:05:03.140 let's go around the table

00:05:04.140 and talk about what we're thankful for.

00:05:05.980 We go around the table and say what we're thankful for.

00:05:08.680 Oh, that's not necessary, Clive.

00:05:10.280 I'll start.

00:05:10.740 And then, you know, everybody says,

00:05:12.760 well, I'm thankful for murder and death.

00:05:14.840 I'm thankful for murder and genocide. 0.99

00:05:19.000 Happens all the time, right?

00:05:20.320 And that's why Thanksgiving has been declared,

00:05:22.240 by some, a national day of mourning.

00:05:25.300 Here's the ABC affiliate in Boston

00:05:27.440 explaining this day of mourning.

00:05:30.320 Watch.

00:05:32.400 Raising their voices to be heard

00:05:34.440 after feeling silenced for centuries.

00:05:36.860 Why do we gather today?

00:05:39.220 400 years later,

00:05:40.540 we join to raise our voices high

00:05:42.280 that we are still here.

00:05:44.200 We are not conquered and we are not defeated.

00:05:46.660 As many were enjoying the Thanksgiving parade,

00:05:49.560 indigenous people of Massachusetts

00:05:51.320 protested the holiday

00:05:52.900 that for them is not one to celebrate.

00:05:55.960 Plymouth is rich with history,

00:05:57.600 but not the truth of the Indians.

00:05:59.440 I don't know if you saw there,

00:06:00.440 I think that was,

00:06:01.320 the woman's name was Chief Ladybug. 1.00

00:06:04.500 And she was dressed as a ladybug. 1.00

00:06:07.060 This is apparently what the day of mourning consists of.

00:06:09.280 First of all,

00:06:09.600 I don't think it's appropriate

00:06:10.640 to wear,

00:06:11.660 to dress up as a ladybug

00:06:12.800 for the day of mourning.

00:06:14.220 This is a day of mourning.

00:06:16.040 The tonal shift there doesn't feel right.

00:06:18.460 But you can, you know,

00:06:19.340 you could do this.

00:06:19.900 You can choose to sit at the table

00:06:21.260 and eat delicious food

00:06:22.280 and have a great time with your family.

00:06:23.600 Or you can take part in the day of mourning,

00:06:26.080 which means listening to various Native American people

00:06:28.400 lecture you about alleged atrocities

00:06:30.580 committed hundreds of years ago.

00:06:32.140 Do you want turkey

00:06:32.880 or do you want an ill-tempered lecture?

00:06:35.700 It's a tough choice.

00:06:36.900 Here's what the lecture sounded like

00:06:38.580 at a different day of mourning event last year.

00:06:41.340 Listen.

00:06:41.640 The Pequot people were burned alive 1.00

00:06:44.640 in the middle of their sleep at night

00:06:46.440 in 1637.

00:06:50.660 Mass Bay Colony,

00:06:51.920 Plymouth Colony,

00:06:52.700 Providence Plantation,

00:06:54.520 Mystic Seaport,

00:06:55.740 all English colonies

00:06:56.860 banded together

00:06:57.660 to burn women and children 0.99

00:06:59.380 while they slept in a village at night.

00:07:02.060 They barricaded the exit.

00:07:03.840 They did not allow anyone to leave.

00:07:05.700 They wanted them to burn.

00:07:06.920 They were proud that they burned.

00:07:08.560 This country was proud to write.

00:07:11.740 We could smell their burning,

00:07:13.260 rotting flesh for over a mile away.

00:07:15.520 It's written, folks.

00:07:16.780 Please read it on your own.

00:07:18.120 I am not making this up.

00:07:19.580 I like how he's trying to convince the crowd.

00:07:21.840 Listen, folks.

00:07:22.700 The white man,

00:07:23.620 they're evil.

00:07:24.320 I'm telling you.

00:07:25.060 These are people that came to a national day of mourning

00:07:27.600 on Thanksgiving.

00:07:28.880 So I'm pretty sure they're already on your side.

00:07:30.680 I don't think you need to convince them.

00:07:31.780 Nothing said.

00:07:33.360 They're already,

00:07:34.320 they wouldn't be there

00:07:35.000 if they didn't already agree.

00:07:36.440 Now,

00:07:36.600 he says that

00:07:37.160 this country was proud to write

00:07:39.080 that we could smell

00:07:39.940 their burning,

00:07:40.680 rotting flesh

00:07:41.200 from over a mile away.

00:07:42.520 This country wrote that.

00:07:44.100 This entire country,

00:07:45.460 which didn't even exist

00:07:46.500 as a country at that time,

00:07:48.260 apparently wrote that phrase

00:07:49.520 and committed that alleged atrocity.

00:07:52.600 That's why we need to have

00:07:53.540 a national day of mourning

00:07:54.580 instead of a day of Thanksgiving.

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00:09:04.160 Now,

00:09:05.160 let me make two points

00:09:06.160 about all this.

00:09:07.880 First of all,

00:09:09.220 it's true

00:09:09.800 that the traditional story

00:09:12.220 of Thanksgiving

00:09:12.740 that they used to tell

00:09:14.820 young children in school

00:09:15.960 decades ago

00:09:16.840 is simplistic.

00:09:18.780 And there's probably

00:09:19.300 a certain element

00:09:20.120 of legend to it.

00:09:22.060 Every country

00:09:22.620 has its legends.

00:09:23.600 Every country

00:09:23.980 has its foundational myths.

00:09:26.660 There is nothing sinister

00:09:28.420 about that.

00:09:29.820 Stories are passed down

00:09:31.160 through the generations.

00:09:32.380 Details are lost

00:09:33.320 over time.

00:09:34.400 Sometimes details

00:09:35.080 are added.

00:09:36.400 All to preserve

00:09:37.360 the central theme

00:09:38.540 or message

00:09:39.180 in the story.

00:09:40.220 Every culture

00:09:41.300 has its legends.

00:09:43.100 And really,

00:09:43.720 our understanding

00:09:44.420 of all historical events

00:09:46.300 from centuries ago

00:09:47.260 is at the very least

00:09:49.200 incomplete.

00:09:50.820 We don't have camera footage

00:09:52.180 to review.

00:09:53.240 So we can only go

00:09:55.320 by what people involved

00:09:56.740 said happened

00:09:57.800 or what people

00:09:59.560 who talk to people involved

00:10:01.000 said happened.

00:10:03.300 None of this is revelatory.

00:10:05.020 We all understand this.

00:10:08.800 Okay, so every time

00:10:09.780 they say,

00:10:10.760 well, did you know

00:10:11.380 what they told you

00:10:13.120 in second grade

00:10:13.740 about Thanksgiving?

00:10:14.460 Did you know

00:10:14.640 that wasn't the whole story?

00:10:15.820 Of course it's not

00:10:16.360 the whole story, you idiots. 0.96

00:10:17.900 It was in second grade.

00:10:18.940 I assume it wasn't

00:10:19.900 the whole story.

00:10:20.780 Oh, duh.

00:10:22.660 Exactly.

00:10:23.560 None of that changes

00:10:24.560 the basic meaning

00:10:25.600 of Thanksgiving

00:10:26.260 or undermines

00:10:27.900 or debunks

00:10:28.580 the basic central story

00:10:30.260 of Thanksgiving.

00:10:31.380 Thanksgiving.

00:10:32.780 Besides,

00:10:33.700 the old simplistic story

00:10:34.780 of the holiday

00:10:35.300 has now been replaced

00:10:36.820 with a new simplistic story.

00:10:39.840 In the new simplistic version,

00:10:41.780 the Native tribes

00:10:42.440 were all a bunch

00:10:42.980 of peaceful tree-hugging hippies

00:10:44.740 in tune with the earth

00:10:45.800 and nature,

00:10:46.840 singing kumbaya

00:10:47.700 when they were viciously

00:10:49.480 slaughtered

00:10:49.960 by the white man.

00:10:50.940 The pilgrims overtook

00:10:52.240 the Native Americans

00:10:53.160 and took everything

00:10:55.260 that they had worked

00:10:56.020 so hard for.

00:10:56.880 The actual truth

00:10:57.520 is that the Native tribes

00:10:58.380 were in a constant

00:10:59.180 state of war

00:10:59.900 long before any white 0.99

00:11:01.280 man set foot

00:11:01.900 on these shores.

00:11:02.780 Violence was an integral part

00:11:04.320 of so-called

00:11:04.960 indigenous culture,

00:11:06.200 all indigenous cultures,

00:11:07.680 because it was not

00:11:08.140 just one culture.

00:11:09.760 These were disparate tribes

00:11:11.540 stretched out

00:11:12.360 all over the hemisphere,

00:11:13.380 and violence was

00:11:14.400 an integral part

00:11:15.280 of all of them,

00:11:16.960 no exceptions.

00:11:18.840 As for their contact

00:11:19.900 with European settlers,

00:11:21.240 sometimes the contact

00:11:22.100 was peaceful

00:11:22.620 on both sides.

00:11:23.860 On some occasions,

00:11:24.780 the settlers

00:11:25.220 committed atrocities.

00:11:26.500 On some occasions,

00:11:27.520 the Indians

00:11:27.940 committed atrocities.

00:11:29.200 On some occasions,

00:11:30.100 the atrocities

00:11:30.640 on either side

00:11:31.300 were basically

00:11:31.840 unprovoked.

00:11:32.680 On plenty of occasions,

00:11:33.760 there was mutual combat

00:11:35.440 between the two sides.

00:11:37.300 The Pequot people 1.00

00:11:38.320 mentioned in that last video

00:11:39.520 were not helpless victims.

00:11:41.240 They were at war

00:11:42.040 with the colonists.

00:11:43.260 They lost the war.

00:11:44.700 They were conquered.

00:11:45.640 Such is the way

00:11:46.320 of history.

00:11:47.380 Such is the law

00:11:48.180 of conquest,

00:11:48.860 which the Pequot,

00:11:49.720 like all Indians,

00:11:50.520 well understood.

00:11:51.600 They had done plenty

00:11:52.400 of conquering themselves.

00:11:53.480 In fact,

00:11:53.860 and this was a very

00:11:54.420 common occurrence,

00:11:55.420 the colonists

00:11:56.200 had Indian allies

00:11:57.600 in their fight

00:11:58.640 against the Pequot.

00:11:59.760 And the tribes

00:12:00.560 allied with the colonists

00:12:01.620 were the ones

00:12:02.360 that the Pequot

00:12:03.260 had previously conquered

00:12:04.380 and slaughtered.

00:12:05.520 And so they were

00:12:06.440 a little bit miffed

00:12:07.360 at the Pequot.

00:12:09.320 Of course,

00:12:10.040 the Native American dude

00:12:11.060 up on stage

00:12:12.520 for the day

00:12:12.880 of mourning festivities

00:12:13.720 or any of the rest of them,

00:12:17.160 they don't mention

00:12:17.960 any of this.

00:12:19.040 They never do.

00:12:20.340 They never acknowledge

00:12:21.200 even one

00:12:22.060 of the many,

00:12:23.120 many,

00:12:23.440 many countless

00:12:24.600 instances

00:12:25.320 of Indian tribes

00:12:26.460 inflicting horrific,

00:12:28.320 savage violence

00:12:29.420 on innocent colonists,

00:12:31.380 including women 0.69

00:12:32.100 and children

00:12:32.680 and on each other.

00:12:35.380 They never acknowledge

00:12:36.300 it because they don't

00:12:37.060 want you to realize

00:12:38.000 that this land

00:12:38.860 was not stolen.

00:12:39.900 It was conquered

00:12:40.720 fair and square.

00:12:42.420 The previous conquerors

00:12:43.660 of this land

00:12:44.240 were then themselves

00:12:45.220 conquered.

00:12:46.520 That's the way it goes.

00:12:49.160 Second,

00:12:50.460 you know,

00:12:50.720 even if it's true

00:12:51.660 that most of the settlers

00:12:53.360 were peaceful

00:12:54.060 and that oftentimes

00:12:55.680 they were the victims

00:12:57.740 of brutal violence

00:12:58.940 by the Indians

00:12:59.640 and that there was

00:13:01.040 mutual combat

00:13:01.920 between the two sides

00:13:02.800 and the Indians

00:13:03.440 simply lost the battle,

00:13:04.760 they lost the war.

00:13:05.620 It was a war

00:13:06.120 and they lost.

00:13:08.040 Sorry,

00:13:08.860 but you lost.

00:13:10.580 Even if all that's true,

00:13:12.860 does it justify

00:13:13.860 whatever actual atrocities

00:13:16.040 the settlers committed?

00:13:16.960 No,

00:13:17.100 of course it doesn't.

00:13:18.600 Do I deny

00:13:19.260 that such atrocities

00:13:20.040 were committed?

00:13:20.660 No,

00:13:20.900 of course I don't.

00:13:21.500 But here's what I do say

00:13:24.180 about those cases

00:13:25.220 and I'll put it

00:13:26.980 as gently as possible.

00:13:29.660 Get the hell over it.

00:13:31.880 Move on.

00:13:33.020 Just,

00:13:33.300 just,

00:13:34.040 yeah,

00:13:34.380 move on.

00:13:35.280 Are you saying

00:13:35.600 we should just get over

00:13:36.360 and move on?

00:13:37.000 Atrocities that were committed

00:13:37.840 hundreds of years ago?

00:13:38.920 Yeah.

00:13:40.060 Basically,

00:13:40.720 just like get over it.

00:13:43.100 The guy in the last video

00:13:44.440 was complaining about something

00:13:45.580 that supposedly happened

00:13:46.440 in 1637.

00:13:48.660 That's nearly 400 years ago.

00:13:53.460 You cannot actually be angry

00:13:55.580 about something

00:13:56.100 that happened 400 years ago.

00:13:59.480 If you are,

00:14:00.460 then you are insane.

00:14:01.820 You are an insane person

00:14:03.480 if you're actually mad

00:14:05.380 about stuff that happened

00:14:06.680 four centuries ago.

00:14:08.720 I feel like I'm taking

00:14:09.620 crazy pills.

00:14:11.540 That is 16 generations.

00:14:14.000 We are as close

00:14:15.020 to the pilgrims today

00:14:16.340 as the pilgrims were

00:14:18.560 to the crusades.

00:14:20.260 That's the amount of time

00:14:21.640 we're dealing with.

00:14:23.800 And yet we have people

00:14:24.440 in this country

00:14:25.020 so young

00:14:25.920 that 9-11

00:14:26.900 is ancient history to them

00:14:28.120 pretending to be distraught

00:14:30.100 and devastated

00:14:30.880 by events that occurred

00:14:31.900 150 years before

00:14:33.200 the Declaration of Independence

00:14:34.240 was written.

00:14:35.380 Do you realize

00:14:36.140 how crazy that is?

00:14:38.600 Pretending to be

00:14:39.440 actively traumatized

00:14:40.660 about stuff that happened

00:14:41.560 centuries ago

00:14:42.620 is psychotic. 0.57

00:14:44.140 What are you then,

00:14:44.720 I ask you?

00:14:45.120 What?

00:14:45.960 Mental ill.

00:14:47.340 Imagine if you found me

00:14:48.640 in the corner

00:14:49.520 sobbing

00:14:50.840 and you asked me

00:14:52.160 what was wrong

00:14:52.580 and I said,

00:14:53.280 I'm just really upset

00:14:54.420 about the burning

00:14:55.560 of the Library of Alexandria

00:14:56.940 in 48 BC.

00:14:58.920 By the way,

00:14:59.460 I've got news for you.

00:15:00.640 400 years ago,

00:15:01.880 almost everybody's life

00:15:03.220 was brutal and tragic.

00:15:04.900 If we're supposed

00:15:05.660 to be sad about

00:15:06.360 misfortunes suffered

00:15:07.260 by people we never met

00:15:08.500 way back in the distant past,

00:15:10.660 then we will never

00:15:11.380 stop being sad.

00:15:12.320 Almost everyone everywhere

00:15:13.900 suffered greatly

00:15:14.880 back in those days.

00:15:16.300 There are plenty of people

00:15:17.200 still suffering greatly today.

00:15:18.680 If you want to empathize

00:15:19.620 with people's pain,

00:15:20.660 maybe choose people

00:15:21.440 who are currently living,

00:15:22.520 not people who had decomposed

00:15:23.860 in the ground

00:15:24.440 400 years ago.

00:15:26.320 Not people who died

00:15:27.420 300 years before

00:15:28.420 the automobile was invented.

00:15:31.540 Now, in final analysis,

00:15:33.740 history contains

00:15:34.660 an essentially

00:15:35.440 infinite amount

00:15:36.580 of suffering

00:15:37.260 and atrocities

00:15:38.120 and outrages

00:15:38.800 and injustices.

00:15:39.540 It also contains

00:15:41.120 heroism

00:15:41.700 and sacrifice

00:15:42.400 and courage

00:15:43.180 and achievement.

00:15:46.140 It is up to us

00:15:47.260 to decide

00:15:47.800 which of those things

00:15:49.280 in our national history

00:15:50.560 we will focus on.

00:15:52.120 I contend

00:15:53.000 that the healthiest category

00:15:54.220 to focus on,

00:15:55.000 the thing that you focus on

00:15:56.120 if you want to be

00:15:56.820 a thriving and happy

00:15:58.100 and healthy society,

00:15:59.300 is the latter.

00:16:00.820 Which isn't to say

00:16:01.440 that we outright deny

00:16:02.440 and never discuss

00:16:03.460 the former.

00:16:04.020 Of course we acknowledge

00:16:04.820 that bad things

00:16:05.520 were done in our history.

00:16:06.760 We shouldn't try to erase

00:16:07.880 that from the history books

00:16:08.840 and nobody is.

00:16:10.100 But ultimately,

00:16:10.900 you will look back

00:16:11.640 on your history

00:16:12.260 with pride and gratitude

00:16:13.600 or with resentment

00:16:15.660 and despair.

00:16:17.060 You will focus

00:16:17.640 on the triumph

00:16:18.400 or the tragedy.

00:16:20.620 The people of all

00:16:21.640 other nations

00:16:22.160 across the world

00:16:22.800 or at least

00:16:23.180 the non-Western world, 0.91

00:16:24.760 they choose to focus

00:16:25.900 on the triumph

00:16:26.920 of their ancestors

00:16:28.020 which breeds

00:16:28.660 national pride

00:16:29.740 and patriotism

00:16:30.580 and gratitude.

00:16:32.440 In the modern West,

00:16:33.440 we are the only ones

00:16:34.700 who have decided

00:16:35.700 to basically ignore

00:16:36.840 all of the positive

00:16:37.860 and concentrate

00:16:38.920 almost exclusively

00:16:40.040 on the bad.

00:16:41.940 So much so

00:16:42.700 that even our day

00:16:43.460 of Thanksgiving

00:16:44.120 has become,

00:16:45.020 at least in some corners,

00:16:46.380 times of mourning.

00:16:48.380 And what has that strategy

00:16:49.460 gotten us?

00:16:50.600 It's only made us

00:16:51.360 resentful,

00:16:52.380 sullen,

00:16:52.760 depressed,

00:16:53.320 ungrateful.

00:16:55.020 It has made us

00:16:55.960 worse people

00:16:56.920 and our country

00:16:58.420 a worse country.

00:17:01.200 That's why I will not

00:17:02.220 partake in this

00:17:02.860 historical self-flagellation.

00:17:04.720 Instead,

00:17:06.460 I celebrate

00:17:07.120 the incredible

00:17:08.400 valor and intrepidness

00:17:09.800 of my ancestors.

00:17:11.680 I take pride

00:17:12.960 in this country's history

00:17:13.940 and those who made it

00:17:15.920 possible for this country

00:17:16.920 to exist in the first place.

00:17:18.900 I am happy

00:17:19.960 that they came here

00:17:20.860 and that they conquered.

00:17:22.620 I am thankful

00:17:23.880 for their conquest.

00:17:25.980 I will give thanks

00:17:27.140 for it on Thanksgiving

00:17:28.060 and for so much else.

00:17:30.780 And for everybody else,

00:17:33.900 I will say,

00:17:34.820 they are, today,

00:17:36.700 cancer.

The Matt Walsh Show - November 23, 2023

What I'm Thankful For This Thanksgiving

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