Every day I receive numerous emails from individuals from all over our country. Every now and then I get one that stands above the others, recently I received one that all Americans should read. I have said for a long time that we Americans take for granted our freedoms and liberties. In the email, a man was quoted about his observations on the status of our country.

This man gave his opinion about an opinion poll taken by Newsweek magazine. According to the poll, 67 percent of Americans are unhappy with the direction the country is headed and 69 percent of the country is unhappy with the performance of the president. In essence, 2/3s of the citizenry just ain't happy and want a change. He asked himself why we Americans are so unhappy. Is it that we have electricity and running water 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? Is our unhappiness the result of having air conditioning in the summer and heating in the winter? Could it be that 95.4 percent of these unhappy folks have a job? Maybe it is the ability to walk into a grocery store at any time and see more food in moments than Darfur has seen in the last year?

He made the point that we Americans are the envy of the world when it comes to our freedoms. We have the freedom to travel anywhere in the United States without having to present identification papers. We take for granted the services that are available to all citizens. If you are in an accident, there are professionals that are on call to take care of you. If someone is breaking into your home, there are law enforcement officers that will put their life on the line to protect you.

Even with all of our problems, our neighborhoods are free of bombs or militias raping and pillaging the residents. We are still free to worship as we please without fear of persecution. I want to use one of his most profound quotes, “we Americans are the most blessed people in the world who do nothing but complain about what we don 't have, and what we hate about the country instead of thanking the good Lord we live here.”

This great American philosopher is Jay Leno.

Thanksgiving is just around the corner; maybe we Americans need to relearn the reason for that national holiday. 

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