Reagan wrong about Thanksgiving?!

How do you know when a teabagger is lying? When he opens his mouth.

Once again teabaggers have rewritten reality--this time to claim the Pilgrims' harvest of 1621 was bad. They think the first good harvest wasn't until 1623, when the Pilgrims switched to a private system of land ownership. In other words, they think the bountiful first Thanksgiving is a myth and we should be celebrating the third Thanksgiving instead.

Somehow the liberal/socialist/godless academia/media/elite must've gotten to conservative icon Ronald Reagan. Because he believed the same things most Americans believe. Here's what Reagan said about the Thanksgiving of 1621:Proclamation 4883--November 12, 1981

On this day of thanksgiving, it is appropriate that we recall the first thanksgiving, celebrated in the autumn of 1621. After surviving a bitter winter, the Pilgrims planted and harvested a bountiful crop. After the harvest they gathered their families together and joined in celebration and prayer with the native Americans who had taught them so much.

Proclamation 5098--September 15, 1983

Since the Pilgrims observed the initial Thanksgiving holiday in 1621, this occasion has served as a singular expression of the transcending spiritual values that played an instrumental part in the founding of our country.

Proclamation 5269--October 19, 1984

As we remember the faith and values that made America great, we should recall that our tradition of Thanksgiving is older than our Nation itself. Indeed, the native American Thanksgiving antedated those of the new Americans. In the words of the eloquent Seneca tradition of the Iroquois, "…give it your thought, that with one mind we may now give thanks to Him our Creator."

From the first Pilgrim observance in 1621, to the nine years before and during the American Revolution when the Continental Congress declared days of Fast and Prayer and days of Thanksgiving, we have turned to Almighty God to express our gratitude for the bounty and good fortune we enjoy as individuals and as a nation. America truly has been blessed.

Proclamation 5412--November 15, 1985

A band of settlers arriving in Maine in 1607 held a service of thanks for their safe journey, and twelve years later settlers in Virginia set aside a day of thanksgiving for their survival. In 1621 Governor William Bradford created the most famous of all such observances at Plymouth Colony when a bounteous harvest prompted him to proclaim a special day "to render thanksgiving to the Almighty God for all His blessings." The Spaniards in California and the Dutch in New Amsterdam also held services to give public thanks to God.Comment:  Will Limbaugh and other teabagger scum denounce Reagan the way they've denounced Obama? Because Reagan and Obama repeated the same myths uttered by every president since Lincoln.

Or will the party faithful rise up and denounce Limbaugh and company for their lies? Because Obama's Thanksgiving proclamation was exactly as valid as Reagan's were.

Don't hold your breath waiting for either outcome. As far as I can tell, there isn't a teabagger alive who has a shred of integrity.

For more on Ronald Reagan and Indians, see Name Alpine School for Reagan? and Rob's Reply to Reagan.