It is, simply put, fatiguing to be a part of the loyal opposition.  With more than a year now passed since Barack Obama was elected the 44th President of the United States – the final piece of the liberal hat trick that brought Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid to the leadership of the Congress – conservatives are beginning to learn that lesson. 
 
In a year when the right’s outrages have ranged from the specious (the birther movement) to the truly disquieting (hemophiliac spending, the public option, civilian trials for terrorists), indignation has become a default. But outrage is difficult to sustain over time – partially because of the energy expended, partially because the human capacity for indignation is relatively elastic (what makes our blood boil one day often seems like typical Washington nonsense by the next).
 
With President Obama ushering in the holiday spirit with the White House’s annual Thanksgiving turkey pardoning, perhaps it’s time to put righteous rage on ice – if only for a few days.  Thanksgiving, after all, was christened as a remembrance of how much there is to appreciate even in times of adversity.  And whatever the shortcomings of American life in 2009, we’re certainly not catching eel off the coast of Plymouth.
 
Yes, America’s economic system may increasingly look like something invented at Amway. Unemployment has soared, deficits are exploding and tax hikes are being proposed on everything from soft drinks to plastic surgery.  Yet try as they might, lawmakers haven’t yet managed to kill the goose that laid the golden egg.  Health care reform and cap and trade are facing a wide and growing opposition. Proposals to increase the size and power of government have given rise to the tea party movement, the most authentic (and powerful) grassroots revolt in recent history. The American people are refusing to move so far so fast.  We can be thankful that we live in a nation where revolutionary politicians inspire counterrevolutionary citizens.
 
In recent months, America’s international reach seems to have often exceeded its grasp. Whether the triumphant indifference of North Korea and Iran, the cat and mouse theatrics of Russia and China, or the acute indignities heaped upon Honduras and Tibet, it has been an era of inglorious headlines.  But muting the United States’ preeminence on the world stage is not the same as erasing it.  And with President Obama seemingly prepared to gird his loins for the war in Afghanistan, we can be thankful that we remain an unrivaled force for good in the world.
 
More than anything, we can be thankful to be residents of a nation whose constitutional elegance always triumphs over its occasional fits of political pique.  For as often as the Obama-Pelosi-Reid troika may seem like Three Stooges understudies, it’s notable that, as of this writing, the actual change they have been able to bring to America is incremental.  And every attempt they make to move the political needle further to the left only inspires greater popular backlash. 
 
This is not an accident.  Rather, it’s the hallmark of a system designed to withstand inept leadership. As James Madison put it in Federalist 10: “It is in vain to say that enlightened statesmen will be able to adjust … clashing interests, and render them all subservient to the public good. Enlightened statesmen will not always be at the helm.”
 
That’s just one more reason to be thankful this Thanksgiving.  The Founders designed a system meant to withstand the turkeys.