This year's Thanksgiving sentiments

Today is the annual Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S.

Americans mark this holiday by sharing a feast with family and friends and giving thanks for the things they are grateful for.

This year, as always, I am thankful to the universe for my health and for my friends, especially those close friends who have become my surrogate family. But these thoughts are selfish, and so I want to move on from the personal stuff.

On a larger scale, a more nationwide and worldwide scale, I am thankful for the fact that the American people have woken up from their fear-induced coma of the past 7+ years and have elected an astonishingly intelligent, articulate, and thoughtful man as our next president -- one who happens to be African-American. There may be hope for this nation after all.

Above all, I am thankful for the fact that George W. Bush will vacate the White House in just 54 days, and that Dick Cheney will be right beside him. Maybe now we can put an end to the cowboy-style foreign policy, the lying, the smirking, the torture, and an executive branch that believes itself to be above the law.

Maybe. Hopefully. Fingers crossed.

Happy Thanksgiving to all.