Thanksgiving wishes from Lincoln, Truman, Reagan and -- now -- Obama

On Thanksgiving, our most home-grown of holidays, we at The Ticket would like to offer you a helping of history along with that turkey.

We call it the Ghost of Thanksgiving Past. It's a collection of some of the more interesting presidential proclamations relating to the holiday.

Most schoolchildren in this country know that the first Thanksgiving was held in 1621, when the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag Indians feasted together to celebrate the burgeoning colony's first successful harvest.  

But it wasn't a national holiday until 1863, when, in the middle of the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be celebrated on the last Thursday in November 1863:

The year that is drawing toward its close has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever-watchful providence of Almighty God.

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.

No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that...

Weekly remarks: GOP warns of new Obama taxes; Obama says reforms needed to help all

Remarks by Rep. Mike Pence of Indiana, as provided by the Republican National Committee

This week, like most Americans, my family came together to break bread, give thanks and celebrate our blessings.

Even in these times of struggle and trial, we have much to be thankful for, beginning with our men and women in uniform, many of whom will spend this holiday season away from hearth and home. The tragic events at Fort Hood remind us that whether they serve at home or abroad, we owe our soldiers and their families a debt of gratitude we will never be able to repay.

This past Thursday, while empty chairs for America’s defenders were placed at Thanksgiving dinner tables in many homes, many other seats were filled with anxious Americans who are facing their own personal battles and struggles.  Millions of families have seen jobs and careers vanish in the midst of this recession.

Many are asking, ‘when will things get better?’ Many more are asking, ‘where are the jobs?’

President Obama told the American people that his last $787 billion ‘jobs bill,’ the so-called ‘stimulus’ package, would ensure that unemployment would not go above 8 percent.  And the Administration continues to insist their stimulus plan is working. But unemployment is now at a heartbreaking 10.2 percent.

In the city and on the farm, as millions of American families struggle to balance their checkbooks this holiday season, they watch in astonishment as Washington spends billions of dollars it doesn’t have.

And what is the White House’s answer to our struggles? Another meeting next week. A ‘jobs summit,’ and....

On Thanksgiving eve, Obama issues special Hajj message to world's Muslims

(UPDATE: A news video update on the Hajj has been added below.)

Statement by the President on Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha, as provided by the White House
Michelle and I would like to send our best wishes to all those performing Hajj this year, and to Muslims in America and around the world who are celebrating Eid-ul-Adha. The rituals of Hajj and Eid-ul-Adha both serve as reminders of the shared Abrahamic roots of three of the world’s major religions.

During Hajj, the world’s largest and most diverse gathering, three million Muslims from all walks of life – including thousands of American Muslims – will stand in prayer on Mount Arafat. The following day, Muslims around the world will celebrate Eid-ul-Adha and distribute food to the less fortunate to commemorate Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son out of obedience to God.

This year, I am pleased that the Department of Health and Human Services has partnered with the Saudi Health Ministry to prevent and limit the spread of H1N1 during Hajj. Cooperating on combating H1N1 is one of the ways we are implementing my administration's commitment to partnership in areas of mutual interest.

On behalf of the American people, we would like to extend our greetings during this Hajj season – Eid Mubarak.   ###

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Photo: Associated Press (Mecca)

What Sarah Palin is confiding to her 1,069,089 closest friends (Updated)

If you thought "Going Rogue" would be the end of Sarah Palin's written rants, you probably don't follow the former Alaskan governor's fan page on Facebook.

The Republican has been blogging like crazy recently with her nearly 1.07 million Facebook fans. (See new video below of the campaign-like scenes.) And getting thousands of comments back.

In addition to pictures from her "Going Rogue" book tour -- of happy children, grinning U.S. troops and flags of the American variety -- Palin gives a more personal look behind her many interviews and individual visits with fans and customers.

According to a new industry sales report, her book is coming up on half a million copies sold in its first five days on the market, a sales rate of about 4,000 per hour around the clock. Which ought to keep her in moose chili a while.

Her Facebook page also has some touching photos of memorabilia that fans give her when buying the book. Plus, of course, the long lines of eager book-buyers at stores and malls along the way on her strategically planned 25-state tour.

Also behind-the-scenes looks at her unscheduled visit with the Rev. Billy Graham.

Her legions of Facebook fans are growing by a couple of dozen every few minutes. They grow each time you refresh the page.

In one recent post, the Republican calls Fox News' Sean Hannity "a great American." Oh, and an apology for leaving 100 fans at a book signing in Indiana.

But the main focus of her blog posts lately has been about Congress -- things like war spending and "Obamacare," her pet name for the healthcare bill.

Palin blasts the healthcare "scheme" for taxing everyone starting next year. The actual legislation, however, plans to ramp up taxes in 2011 and on a sliding scale, where richer residents are taxed more and the modestly wealthy get a 0.5% hike.

On Tuesday night, Palin was bothered over "liberal Congressional proposals" that would institute a tax to fund the war in Afghanistan. Palin supports the war and the troops but not the idea of paying for it with new taxes.

"With Congress and President Obama spending money on everything at breakneck speed, it’s interesting that they are only now getting nervous about ...

... spending," Palin writes, "but only when it comes to providing the necessary funds to complete our mission in Afghanistan."

This qualm about the government proposing taxes on war and nothing else comes less than a week after she complained about the government proposing taxes on healthcare.

The early-stage war tax proposal called the "Share the Sacrifice Act," which House Speaker Nancy Pelosi says she may support, would fund a U.S. troop escalation in Afghanistan that Rep. David Obey estimates will cost $1 trillion over 10 years. [Note: An earlier version of this post called Obey a senator.]

That would buy a lot of books.

(Update: Palin, whose father was her high school track coach, has now Twittered to followers that she's leaving the book promotion trail over the Thanksgiving holiday to travel to Kennewick, Wash., for a 5K Red Cross charity run with numerous relatives before a book appearance Sunday in nearby Richland.)

Related:

Sarah Palin vs. Barack Obama: Their various poll numbers near each other

-- Mark Milian

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Photo credit: Top, Sara Davis / Getty Images

Obama pardons turkeys Courage and Carolina -- who started this silly White House tradition anyway? [Updated]

Last night they stayed at the posh Willard hotel in Washington.

This afternoon they fly first class to California, where they will be honorary grand marshals for Disneyland's Thanksgiving Day parade. 

But today, a turkey named Courage -- and an alternate named Carolina, in case Courage is unable to complete his duties -- received President Obama's first presidential pardons. 

Flanked by his daughters, Malia and Sasha -- who he said lobbied for the pardon -- Obama said the two turkeys had been spared the "terrible and delicious fate" of being served for dinner. You could tell he was tempted to eat Courage. As for his daughters, Malia observed astutely that Courage looked like a big chicken.

"There are certain days when I'm reminded why I ran for this office," Obama quipped. "And then there are days like this." On a more serious note, he called Thanksgiving a quintessentially American holiday, and an occasion to give thanks to soldiers separated from their families by war. You can read his remarks below.

But if the president thought the event a little light, the young aides in his White House were so tickled by its role in this odd tradition that they posted this preview on whitehouse.gov.

The silly tradition is often attributed to President Truman, but the Harry S. Truman Library and Museum says it can find no documentation of that. In fact, says the presidential library, "Truman sometimes indicated to reporters that the turkeys he received were destined for the family dinner table." In fact, what probably accounts for this rumor is that the National Turkey Federation started giving a turkey to presidents in a White House ceremony beginning in 1947.

In November 2001, George W. Bush said some believe President Lincoln started the tradition by pardoning his son Tad's pet turkey. But that may be more Lincoln myth than fact.

President Kennedy never issued a presidential pardon to a turkey, but on Nov. 19, 1963, just three days before his assassination, he observed, "Let's just keep him."

In fact, most historians believe the tradition of a formal pardon began with Bush's father, 41, the first President Bush.

Presidential pardons for turkeys are rare. According to the folks at the National Turkey Federation, an estimated 273 million turkeys were raised this year for consumption on American tables.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo credit: The White House

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Global warming, the next partisan divide [Updated]

It's true that we have not yet seen the finale on healthcare reform.

Nor have we heard the last about President Obama's Afghanistan policy. Or about financial regulatory reform that could pit Main Street against Wall Street.

But you can tell that the next issue on the horizon, after the smoke has cleared from the current debates, is global warming.

Already, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has mustered its considerable heft against a cap-and-trade bill moving through Congress. And Republicans have been unstinting in their criticism of what one congressman, Louisiana Republican Steve Scalise, called "the global warming Gestapo."

A new poll will probably give fodder to partisans on both sides. The Washington Post-ABC News poll finds that fewer and fewer Americans -- though still a majority -- believe that global warming is a real threat. According to the poll, 72% of the public now thinks climate change is caused by people, down from 80% last year. 

Since its peak nearly four years ago, belief that people are causing climate change is down sharply among Republicans -- 76% to 54% -- and independents -- 86% to 71%. Even Democrats are growing more skeptical; their number is down from 92% to 86%. Maybe Al Gore needs to bring his movie back for reruns.

Still, whether climate change is man-made or cyclical, a majority of poll respondents (53%) support legislation to control emissions. And one analyst thinks the slippage may be due less to skepticism over global warming than concerns about the economy.

"The majority of people view it as an economic issue," said David Winston, who has polled for the House and Senate Republican leadership on the issue.

[Updated at 8:41 a.m.: As if anticipating the coming debate, the White House plans to announce today that the United States will commit to reduce its gas emissions "in the range of" 17% below 2005 levels by 2020 -- the target set out in the climate bill the House passed in June.]

-- Johanna Neuman

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Lou Dobbs was against alien amnesty before he was for it

In the surest sign yet that the newly former CNN talker seriously plans to enter politics, Lou Dobbs has already flip-flopped on the question of amnesty for people illegally living in this country.

Having created much of his fame and infamy out of controversial statements on the unacceptable presence of an estimated 12 million undocumented workers in this country and the federal government's ineptitude in addressing the problem, here's what Dobbs now says:

We need the ability to legalize illegal immigrants under certain conditions.

His surprising switcheroo barely two weeks after departing his network of nearly 30 years came during an interview with the Spanish-language network Telemundo, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, Dobbs, a Texas native and graduate of Harvard, lives on a 300-acre farm in northwest New Jersey, where he could run for a U.S. Senate seat. 

Or possibly launch a presidential bid for 2012, trying to tap into the kinds of conservative populist anger that has confounded the Republican party and fueled so-called "tea parties" across the country this year, protesting taxes, spending and deficits.

"Whatever you have thought of me in the past," Dobbs told Telemundo's Maria Celeste the other day, "I can tell you right now that I am one of your greatest friends and I mean for us to work together. I hope that will begin with Maria and me and Telemundo and other media organizations and others in this national debate that we should turn into a solution rather than a continuing debate and factional contest."

The Garden State usually votes firmly Democratic. But earlier this month voters there rejected the reelection  Democrat Gov. Jon Corzine -- who had ample money and the frequent campaign support of President Obama -- and elected a Republican on a "taxes-are-too-high" platform.

The next U.S. Senate election in New Jersey comes in 2012, when incumbent Democrat Robert Menendez is up for reelection for the first time.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Screen shot of Lou Dobbs on CNN. Credit: Tony Pierce / Los Angeles Times

Today's a big day for Obama's turkeys (no, not Biden and Geithner)

As mentioned in this space Tuesday, President Obama, who seems rather fond of photo ops that get him out of that oval Oval Office, gets the best one of this week today.

White House. A backyard table. Two turkeys. Trained (really!). He spares their lives. Cameras click and roll. Smiles. The heartwarming cliched scene reminds millions of Americans to take their dead birds out of the freezer for Thursday's oven.

Obama then goes on about his business of waiting another week to announce his troop deployment decision on Afghanistan next Tuesday because, well, apparently nothing can interfere with a long holiday weekend and "Monday Night Football."

The pardoned turkey pair, meanwhile, fly with a sober United Airlines pilot to appear in the Disneyland holiday parade, for some reason, and spend the rest of their few months of life in well-fed comfort at the resort.

PETA, meanwhile, has petitioned the commander in chief to send the creatures instead to an animal sanctuary. And while he's at it, have a vegan Thanksgiving dinner.

Good luck with that one.

But here's the best part. So pampered are these two White House-bound birds that they spent Tuesday night in a deluxe room, No. 326, of the historic nearby Willard hotel. Not kidding. Details here.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo credit: Associated Press

Who Obama invited to his first White House state dinner instead of you

It took nearly 11 months, but tonight finally the not-so-new Obama administration had its first state dinner at the White House.

Well, actually it was outside the White House on the lawn in a tent.

A very exciting time. You can see in the official guest list below that the president invited some Chicago friends, a lot of celebrities, as we reported earlier today, some Congress people (even a couple of Republicans), a bunch of Guptas, a whole lot of people called Honorable and Katie Couric.

In case you might want to steal some of the lines for your own Thanksgiving toasts Thursday, here are the official words spoken by the two countries' leaders and the crowd of official diners, both as provided by the White House.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Toasts by President Obama and Prime Minister Singh

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Good evening, everyone. On behalf of Michelle and myself, welcome to the White House. Aapka Swagat Hai. (You are all welcome in Hindi) (Applause.)

Many of you were here when I was honored to become the first president to help celebrate Diwali -- the Festival of Lights.  (Applause.)  Some of you were here for the first White House celebration of the birth of the founder of Sikhism -- Guru Nanak. (Applause.)  Tonight, we gather again, for the first state dinner of my presidency -- with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Mrs. Gursharan Kaur, as we celebrate the great and growing partnership between the United States and India.

As we all know, in India some of life's most treasured moments are often celebrated under the cover of a beautiful tent. It's a little like tonight.  We have incredible food and music and are surrounded by great friends.  For it's been said that "the most beautiful things in the universe are the starry heavens above us and the feeling of duty within us." 

Mr. Prime Minister, today we worked to fulfill our duty -- bring our countries ...

Scandal haiku: Ensign affair revealed by love note

If politics doesn’t work out, Sen. John Ensign can always turn to poetry.

The embattled Nevada Republican took another beating this week when Doug Hampton appeared on ABC’s “Nightline.” Hampton was Ensign’s best friend and top aide until the senator had a months-long affair with Hampton’s wife, Cynthia, who also worked for him.

Though the program Monday night revealed few new details about Ensign’s extraordinary efforts to keep Hampton quiet, it created a whole new round of unflattering headlines for the onetime GOP golden boy. (Ensign, in a statement, said he had not “violated any law or Senate ethics rule” in his dealings with the Hamptons.)

It also showed Ensign to be something of a poet.

Hampton said he found out about Ensign’s affair with his wife by intercepting a text message the senator had sent to Cynthia Hampton.

How wonderful it is.

Can’t believe, it’s like a kid.

Scared but excited.

It’s one syllable from being a haiku, a poem with five syllables in the first and third lines and seven in the second. May we suggest another – with the proper amount of syllables – in anticipation of Ensign’s 2012 reelection bid?

Dreading my next race.

Can’t believe all the damage.

 Scared but … yeah, still scared.

-- Ashley Powers

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Illustration: Woodblock print by Ikeda Eisen from the 1820s. Credit: Santa Barbara Museum of Art

Guess who's coming to the Obamas' first state dinner?

The East Room only seats 140 guests.

So President Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama are hosting their first State Dinner on the White House lawn, under a tent, a move borrowed by the Clinton White House that allows the guest list to expand to 320.

Even so, tickets for the State Dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh are as hard to find as bipartisan consensus. The menu should be interesting too, since Singh is a vegetarian.

Jennifer Hudson, Academy Award-winning diva songstress, is set to headline the entertainment. Hudson's life was touched by tragedy a year ago when her mother, brother and nephew were found slain in Chicago. Since then, she has returned to the spotlight slowly. This week, she was tapped to play Winnie Mandela in an upcoming biopic.

As for the invitation list, the White House plans to release details later, but one website is predicting that "Hollywood, Bollywood, stuffed shirts, fancy pants and political top dogs will converge" on the White House lawn. And Politico is leaking names as soon as they have them, including Hollywood director M. Night Shyamalan and Sanja Gupta, the CNN medical reporter first tapped by Obama to be his surgeon general.

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo: Associated Press

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Republicans' new litmus test for 2010 candidates: only conservatives need apply

In an attempt to reclaim the Grand Old Party for conservatives, a group of Republican National Committee members is circulating a 10-point platform for the 2010 elections. The platform opposes gun control, abortion, gay marriage and President Obama's healthcare reform, among other issues. The catch: Only candidates who agree with at least eight of the principles would get funding from the Republican Party.

"The goal of the resolution is to take a position ... towards reclaiming the Republican Party’s conservative bona fides,” said Committeeman James Bopp, who authored the resolution. “We are open to diverse views. But you have to agree with us most of the time.”

Conservatives like former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin clashed with party officials last month by backing a conservative over the party's nominee in 23rd Congressional District in New York. The effort to further purify the party ideologically could pose new problems for Chairman Michael Steele as he tries to recruit centrist Republicans to run in congressional districts that lean Democratic.

But conservatives within the party are adamant. They want candidates to abide by a litmus test they are calling Reagan’s Unity Principle. Here's the full list.

(1) Smaller government, smaller national debt, lower deficits and lower taxes by opposing bills like Obama’s “stimulus” bill;
(2) Market-based healthcare reform and oppose Obama-style government-run healthcare;
(3) Market-based energy reforms by opposing cap-and-trade legislation;
(4) Workers’ right to secret ballot by opposing "card check";
(5) Legal immigration and assimilation into American society by opposing amnesty for illegal immigrants;
(6) Victory in Iraq and Afghanistan by supporting military-recommended troop surges;
(7) Containment of Iran and North Korea, particularly effective action to eliminate their nuclear weapons threat;
(8) Retention of the Defense of Marriage Act;
(9) Protecting the lives of vulnerable persons by opposing healthcare rationing and denial of healthcare and government funding of abortion; and
(10) The right to keep and bear arms by opposing government restrictions on gun ownership

-- Johanna Neuman

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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