Happy Thanksgiving 2011!

Hap­py Thanks­giv­ing, everyone!

Today we cel­e­brate a unique­ly North Amer­i­can hol­i­day steeped in tra­di­tion — a hol­i­day that began cen­turies ago as a sim­ple har­vest cel­e­bra­tion in colonies like Mass­a­chu­setts and Vir­ginia, and is now a day when mil­lions of fam­i­lies across this con­ti­nent come togeth­er to share a meal and count blessings.

We at NPI hope today is a day of peace and joy for you and your family.

From Pres­i­dent Oba­ma’s Thanks­giv­ing proclamation:

Though our tra­di­tions have evolved, the spir­it of grace and humil­i­ty at the heart of Thanks­giv­ing has per­sist­ed through every chap­ter of our sto­ry. When Pres­i­dent George Wash­ing­ton pro­claimed our coun­try’s first Thanks­giv­ing, he praised a gen­er­ous and know­ing God for shep­herd­ing our young Repub­lic through its uncer­tain begin­nings. Decades lat­er, Pres­i­dent Abra­ham Lin­coln looked to the divine to pro­tect those who had known the worst of civ­il war, and to restore the Nation “to the full enjoy­ment of peace, har­mo­ny, tran­quil­i­ty, and union.”

In times of adver­si­ty and times of plen­ty, we have lift­ed our hearts by giv­ing hum­ble thanks for the bless­ings we have received and for those who bring mean­ing to our lives. Today, let us offer grat­i­tude to our men and women in uni­form for their many sac­ri­fices, and keep in our thoughts the fam­i­lies who save an emp­ty seat at the table for a loved one sta­tioned in har­m’s way. And as mem­bers of our Amer­i­can fam­i­ly make do with less, let us reded­i­cate our­selves to our friends and fel­low cit­i­zens in need of a help­ing hand.

Here are some of the things we’re thank­ful for:

• We’re thank­ful that vot­ers defeat­ed Tim Eyman’s I‑1125, which would have jeop­ar­dized impor­tant trans­porta­tion projects like the new Ever­green Point Float­ing Bridge and Sound Tran­sit’s East Link light rail.
• We’re thank­ful that two reform-mind­ed edu­ca­tion activists, Sharon Peaslee and Mar­ty McLaren, will be join­ing the board of Seat­tle Pub­lic Schools in Decem­ber, replac­ing incum­bents Peter Maier and Steve Sundquist.
• We’re thank­ful that Belle­vue Col­lec­tion own­er Kem­per Free­man, Jr. failed to knock out Belle­vue City Coun­cilmem­bers Clau­dia Bal­duc­ci and John Chelmi­nak with dis­hon­est attack mailers.
• We’re thank­ful that pro­gres­sive activist John Stokes remains ahead of Aaron Laing in the con­test for Posi­tion #1, an open seat.
• We’re thank­ful for Cur­rent TV, the cable net­work co-found­ed by Al Gore, which is now the home of Count­down with Kei­th Olber­mann. Cur­rent will be adding two great new shows with­in the next few weeks: The Young Turks with Cenk Ugyur, and The War Room, with Jen­nifer Granholm.
• We’re thank­ful that we have an amaz­ing, artic­u­late cham­pi­on for work­ing fam­i­lies in Eliz­a­beth War­ren — who is now speak­ing truth to pow­er as a can­di­date for U.S. Sen­ate in Massachusetts.
• We’re thank­ful that Ore­gon Sen­a­tor Ron Wyden stands pre­pared to lead a fil­i­buster against a ter­ri­ble bill mov­ing through Con­gress that would destroy the Inter­net as we know it. (Learn more about SOPA and PROTECT IP).
• We’re thank­ful for the Occu­py move­ment, which has sparked a much-need­ed con­ver­sa­tion about cor­po­rate pow­er in the Unit­ed States as well as around the world… and inspired peo­ple to move their mon­ey away from Wall Street banks to cred­it unions and com­mu­ni­ty banks.

Final­ly, we’re thank­ful for all of the won­der­ful sup­port­ers who joined us at our two major events this year: our Spring Fundrais­ing Gala at the Mer­cer Island Com­mu­ni­ty Cen­ter, and NPI’s FallFest at New­mark Tow­er in Seattle.

Our donors make the work we do pos­si­ble, and we are very grate­ful to every pro­gres­sive who has helped sus­tain our projects and research.

Again, Hap­py Thanks­giv­ing to all.