Thanksgiving is only days away, and it's already clear what Democrats will be giving thanks for: another opportunity to use their Covid-enhanced political power to make people miserable.
Around the country, Thanksgiving gatherings are being limited in terms of the number of people who can attend, the number of different families (ie, from different households even if the same biological family), and duration of the event - no hanging around for seconds, televised football games, or asking people if anything happened in 2020 to be grateful for. Not that it would take a long time to answer that last question.
The most draconian mandate we've heard so far is limiting the Thanksgiving dinner to only 6 people. Which makes us wonder what our niece's family of 8 (under one roof) is expected to do. Will they draw straws to see who has to stand outside while the rest of the family bow their heads in prayer? Can those losers eventually be fed, or must leftovers be destroyed in the interest of national health? And will the excluded family members have to file a federal lawsuit to allow them to recount their blessings?
We don't know, but we're certainly getting tired of government overreach and bureaucrats who order us to grab our ankles so they can give us a good stuffing. And we're not talking Pepperidge Farms.
SIDE DISH
As long as we're talking about Thanksgiving and actively avoiding the alleged "news," here's an old food-themed doodle from the hand of Stilton Jarlsberg. It is unknown if there will be a similar cartoon in the coming days about green bean casserole.
22 comments:
Sounds like Joe Potatohead's Thanksgiving grace: "I yam the Democrat Party."
Truer words were never spoken.
Where is Popeye when you really need him? Also, what about Olive Oil, or is that too slick? I yam what I yam indeed. What kind of taters do the girls really like. (The big ones, of course.) What? Not just a common tater. What do you think I yam?
I wish my kids liked sweet potatoes, none of them do unfortunately. I love the gooey sweet marshmallow kind but the plain mashed are pretty damn good!
Unfortunately this year is going to be pretty slim in more ways than one for us. Youngest daughter and her SO won't be at anything, she is preggers (at least one thing to be thankful for this year) and they want to avoid large groups. Youngest son and wife won't be gathering unless it's with her family this year. Oldest daughter, who's house usually hosted our group is now living almost three hours away in, gasp, Texas, a little far to go, and oldest son and I will be staying home. I may have my youngest sister and mom, but we aren't sure yet. Rest of the family is doing the stay home with family thing, at least the ones in our area, one brother lives in New York now and we still aren't on speaking terms with middle sister (too stressful to be around her still).
Kind of a sad and bedraggled feast this year. I'm thankful that we at least have electric and food now. Oklahoma is still recovering from that unexpected ice storm before Halloween. I'm not sure everybody has electric back yet and there are still blips and problems as final repairs are being done. I know some of the family was at least two weeks without power due to breakages and unavailability of necessary parts. Internet was iffy, actually had that and no power for almost a week, lol. Thank God it wasn't horrendously cold and we do have gas on the stove and water heater so life was a little normal. I'm saying my prayers for those who don't even have those comforts for sure now.
Chicken needs to get wise:
You might enjoy this take:
https://tempestinateardrop.com/2017/11/20/proper-turkey-prepping/
I think most restricted states allow 25 people for a funeral, so I'd suggest the following announcement. "We are holding a funeral service for our beloved pet 'Tom' on Thursday. Refreshments will be served."
Happy Thanksgiving to all.
RayK
I don't know anyone that will pay attention to any mandate for Thanksgiving. That, and if someone did arrive to put an end to the festivities, they would be invited to the feast, and allowed to say grace. It would be the best thing, since it would be far more pleasant than staring down the barrels of a few dozen guns.
We have no Thanksgiving mandates here in Az. There still is a "mask recommendation", including the ridiculous rule that you must wear one when entering a bar or restaurant but can remove it immediately upon sitting. Evidently Covid is only airborne at a height of 5 feet or higher.
Other than that, we have almost returned to normal.
@Mamafrog: Amen to that. You truly have things for which to give thanks. :)
@Jess: Sounds like my kind of Thanksgiving.
As for my part...being something of an introvert, I'm just as pleased my nearest family is 1,200 miles away. We get along MUCH better that way, as a rule.
I plan on spending most of Thanksgiving with my cats. More turkey for us! Win-win! :)
Actually for the introverts among us (like yours truly), this is perhaps the only BENEFIT of a pandemic. We get to spend Thanksgiving privately in our homes with only the one or two loved ones most dear to us - with NO obligation to visit or host outlaws (oops, I mean inlaws) or sit around and listen to gossipy chitchat around a dinner table for hour upon endless hour when we'd rather be relaxing with a nice movie or better yet, out on a walk or bike ride.
My wife (bless her) is still going to cook the traditional stuff but the scattered, extended family (what's left of us) will not get together this time. That's NOT because that's how we've been "instructed"; that wouldn't work worth a damn. Two of the younger ones have already had Covid19 and recovered; many of us older folks are higher risk, and some of them are also dealing with other serious issues. So we're not gathering until a better time. We'll share or freeze the extra food. I might like to try but cannot eat it all.
It's also suggested any health department, officials or enforcers NOT come by to check on us; as I've had about all of that I'm going to take. @Jesse above: I admire your position on that but am just not that strong right now. It seems that all across this nation the stick matches are on the striking boards; and EVERYONE had better calm down and back off.
My daughter and I both decided we were not up for cooking the traditional dinner this year. Hours of cooking and preparation and it's over in 15 minutes with a ton of leftovers to try to cram into our fridges and a pile of dirty dishes. So we heard Blue Mesa Grill in Plano is having a Thanksgiving brunch special so the five of us are going to go and expose ourselves to all the other dangerous people eating there. And the bonus is two nice clean kitchens awaiting us at our homes.
A lot of this "overreach" (read: tyranny) sounds an awful lot like those issues that triggered both the revolutionary and civil wars...
Up here in our county in upstate NY the Sheriff told our rubber faced troll doll governor to stuff it. Said he's not going to waste time and manpower trying to enforce the newest set of stupid rules and that his men have much more important things to do.
@RayK, awesome idea and thanks for the laughs, the second one came seconds later when the "Tom" thing kicked in.
"Tom, why Tom?"...."oh DUH!"
We have three septuagenarians here, all with "hazardous" health issues, and lucky enough that the China virus has (so-far) left us alone. Living here in Arizona, it may well be January before Governor Doofus makes a decision on Thanksgiving socializing, though we don't know how Sheriff Deadzone will respond if he is directed to enforce dinner raids here in Maricopa County. We plan to gather with a small group of refugees from the Peoples Republic of Calizuela, and enjoy what time we have together.
We're not just "...getting tired of government overreach and bureaucrats who order us to grab our ankles so they can give us a good stuffing." What really pisses me off is that we are taking the Wuhan Flu far more seriously than the Progressive fascists who are imposing these lockdowns:
California Governor Apologises for Breaching his Own Covid-19 Lockdown Rules
California authorities insist people stay home -- meanwhile they're escaping to lavish getaway in Hawaii
By choice, Mrs. Econ and I will be foregoing our usual Thanksgiving routine with family to remain in isolation. Our community is currently experiencing the spike that we managed to avoid last spring, and our family includes too many people who are more exposed to the general population than we have been, and others more vulnerable that we'd never forgive ourselves for accidentally infecting. So it will be just the two of us since, well, forever. The same will also apply to our annual Christmas gatherings. It's going to be a long winter.
And yet our Progressive betters who are freely imposing these rules feel absolutely no compulsion to abide by them themselves, either in word or spirit. They're having a lot more fun than we are. And then when they get caught in their blatant hypocrisy, they lecture US about how WE "have to do better". To paraphrase David Burge @iowahawkblog, helicoptering in to a 3 star Michelin restaurant in Napa for a friend's crucial once-in-a-lifetime 50th birthday party while making it illegal for you to open your taco stand is some next level Animal Farm.
I'd compare Newsome to a televangelist who got caught with a prostitute, except a televangelist who gets caught with a prostitute can't throw you in jail for no longer sending in your payments to him.
"The cool thing about being an elected official is when you totally f*** up you can call it a "teaching moment" and then start lecturing everybody about how we all need to do better"
And then they wonder why we have absolutely no respect for them, or the laws they pass and supposedly try to enforce.
Except, they won't be enforced because law enforcement is pushing back:
Sacramento, El Dorado sheriff's offices say they won't enforce COVID-19 curfew
Because what law enforcement officer wants to be put in the position of having to arrest the governor?
This is all another big step towards banana republic status. Stupid laws will only be enforced against the politically unfavored. Friend of the governor? No need to worry about your holiday plans. If you're a "deplorable", watch out! If you're a feral BLM or Antifa thug, go ahead and rampage on other people's property. Go to church, off to the pokey you go. Venezuela is getting closer to our reality than most realize.
And the chicken says, “Eat Mor Terkie.”
@RayK,
Excellent idea! If the Large Gathering Police show up, I’ll act like Terry Kiser in Weekend at Bernie’s and let the grandkids drag me around.
@anonymous,
Hear hear! I always dread Thanksgiving because my son and daughter are of different ends of the political spectrum, plus Mrs. Muenster and I work from dawn to dusk cooking and cleaning. I’m trying to talk her into getting a smoked turkey bundle from Bojangles, and just make pies to send to the kids.
@Valvenator,
I strongly suspect that 99.9% of sheriffs in the country feel the same way as yours. Let’s see… go after those guys who just robbed a liquor store and shot the owner, or bust gramma for having (gasp!) 7 people in her house at one time! Hmmmm… decisions, decisions. I’m going to send a tweet to Roy Pooper on Thanksgiving Day that says, “Gov Roy, I have 14 people in my house today; better come and arrest me!”
@John the Econ,
Amen brother! Why the flying hell don’t progressives see the blatant hypocrisy in their chosen (ahem) leaders? “You gotta wear a mask!” says the guy not wearing an effing mask.
Here’s my hope… in the not too distant future, a Covid-19 vaccine will be available. The democrats HATE this because Trump was pushing the development so hard, so I hope the likes of Pelosi, Cuomo and Newsome refuse to take it and encourage their minions to do the same. Just think of a world where only liberals die from Covid. Yes, I’m an a-hole.
I'm a Southern man who isn't thrilled by sweet potatoes, however my California raised wife loves them. She's particularly taken with white sweet potatoes and their mild flavor.
Me? Give me a big baked white Idaho potato, with sour cream and heavily covered with fresh chives which we grow out on the deck in a large pot.
I've been practicing safe Thanksgiving for many years: I live alone and like it that way. However, if I could, I'd do Thanksgiving with as many people as I could find. I'd take pics and email them to whoever thinks they've got some kind of authority over me regarding the 'rona. The pics would be of everyone flipping off the governor or whoever it is and I'd dare them to arrest me.
After Grandma got too feeble to make them, I reverse engineered her candied yams. This will be the first year in ages I'm not making 3 gallons of them. Usually I do dinner w/ local family - the folks, my older bro (hosting) his kids (now well grown, livign in Mobile and LA, and not traveling this year because it's judged 'too risky') Cousins (and Aunt) from Grand Rapids are likewise in self isolation. Younger Bro is taking HIS family to CO (where she may still have family?) and other brother will be w/ his inlaws in MN. Or not, can't say as I really care, they never come any way. So, Thursday is a bust. Friendsgiving Friday with THAT bunch of people will surely be cancelled (too many people 'at risk' and co-issues) and I'll be on "DadWatch anyway, Fri / Sat eve if the crusty coot hasn't kicked it yet, so there goes the Saturday group as well. I know for years I've bitched about doing 3x Thanksgiving dinners in a row, but it would be kind of nice to do ONE...
NOT cooking a turkey (even just a 1/2 breast) just for me, tho - no WAY!
Dad did perk up when he heard Meijer has lobster tails on sale, so tomorrow I'm off to score one (and a steak) to split w/ him Thursday afternoon (neither of us eats much,any more) while we watch the Loins choke. SOME annual traditions shall continue!
Speaking of holiday Traditions, and people in Hawai'i, fell in LOVE w/ these guys over 30 ya, can NOT recommend them highly enough. The regular coffee is brilliant, the Macademia flavors are insane. I see the coconut Caramel is sold out for this year - sadface...
https://www.lioncoffee.com/our-coffee/flavors-of-hawaii/
and PatH, nothing wrong w/ a big fluffy spud, dolled up as you describe. WAY back in the day, "One Potato, Two" was a restaurant in College Station that did potatoes... as you describe, w/ taco (or other) meat, twice baked... quite popular the last year or three I lived there... (late 80s)
Then again, it was a college town - you can sell ANYTHING to students w/ the munchies..
"Eat Mor Chikin"
@Readers- I'm enjoying reading about your various Thanksgiving plans. We're doing it small this year with just the three Jarlsbergs (and two drooling dogs). There will be a turkey and side dishes, but much of the turkey will get frozen and the side dishes will be smaller and less numerous than usual. Still, I might park all three of our cars in front of our house just to make it LOOK like we're having a gathering and, if any cops show up, I'll give them a quick tour and a slice of pumpkin pie while my daughter stealthily pastes a "BIDEN: Not My President" bumpersticker on their cop car.
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