Downtown Dallas has a small, very well-hidden plaza area called Thanksgiving Square. This thing SERIOUSLY blurs the line between church and state - ok, it downright erases it. Long story short: it needs to be updated by a Proclamation of Thanksgiving by President George W. Bush. The "Proclamation Wall" currently has just two of these: the very first one, by George Washington, and one from President George Herbert Walker Bush in 1991 (I'm guessing that's when the Square was dedicated, but I'm not certain). The wall has a history of Thanksgiving in America dating back to the Pilgrims, going through the American Revolution (the first official act of the soon to be declared independent U.S. of A. by the delegates of the First Continental Congress was to give thanks to God, after much spirited debate about the subject), and on up through to present times.
The wall boldly states that it will contain proclamations from future presidents IN GOOD TIMES AND IN BAD, yet 1789 and 1991 are the only such proclamations to date. Apparently President Clinton's two terms didn't produce one, nor have either of this President Bush's. The timing right now would be perfect: George W. could join his dad on the wall; he is a deeply religious President who has no trouble merging the goals of church and state in certain instances (nor do I for that matter, as this country was founded on the rights of all to worship as they so choose and Presidents should not be excluded from this right); he is a Texan and it makes sense to have this in Dallas; this would be his last Thanksgiving in office before a new President-elect is upon us; while the first Bush and Washington were proclaiming in relatively "good" times, this would be an ideal opportunity for our nation to give thanks to God even during the darker days of our young people dying in a far away war, thanks that our nation is still what it always has been, which is a shining example of freedom and liberty for all nations to follow, as well as a defender of freedom for those unable to defend themselves.
And no, I didn't have a giant Stars and Stripes hanging behind me as I wrote this while "My Eyes Have Seen the Glory" played in the background (although that would have been really cool).
hey, i've been there. pretty rad, huh?
Posted by: Cassie | October 22, 2007 at 11:53 AM