{"id":12492,"date":"2009-09-07T10:39:02","date_gmt":"2009-09-07T14:39:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.firstthings.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/?p=12492"},"modified":"2015-03-13T20:13:30","modified_gmt":"2015-03-13T20:13:30","slug":"happy-labor-day-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2009\/09\/07\/happy-labor-day-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Happy Labor Day!"},"content":{"rendered":"<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\">\n<html><head><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><meta http-equiv=\"content-type\" content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\"><\/head><body><p><strong>As you gather with your families today, for one last cookout<\/strong>, enjoying your easily-purchased beer, cold-transported from the brewer, your propane grill -probably invented by someone who\u2019d forgotten to buy the charcoal lighter fluid, some time in the past- texting on your phones and so forth, remember to be thankful; say a prayer for those who have less, particularly those people who dream of living the life you have <a href=\"http:\/\/online.wsj.com\/article\/SB125220655269889075.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">while facing oppression<\/a> in third-world countries, where their \u201cpresident\u201d is <a href=\"http:\/\/uk.reuters.com\/article\/idUKN0520744720090905\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">shutting down radio stations<\/a> and romancing <a href=\"http:\/\/apnews.myway.com\/article\/20090907\/D9AIEHHO0.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">the despots<\/a> and the <a href=\"http:\/\/news.yahoo.com\/s\/afp\/20090907\/ennew_afp\/entertainmentfilmvenice_20090907123613\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">despot-lovers<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Say a prayer for America, whose own president -eager to \u201cremake\u201d America- seems <a href=\"http:\/\/hotair.com\/archives\/2009\/09\/06\/uk-sources-obama-knew-about-the-lockerbie-bomber-every-step-of-the-way\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">disinclined to lead<\/a>, and appears to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnsnews.com\/news\/article\/51638\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">love the despots<\/a> while supporting <a href=\"http:\/\/hotair.com\/archives\/2009\/08\/27\/disgrace-state-dept-ready-to-cut-off-millions-in-aid-to-honduras-over-military-coup\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">those who try to usurp<\/a> their <a href=\"http:\/\/www.commentarymagazine.com\/blogs\/index.php\/rubin\/87461\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">own constitutions<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>And then feel badly for all the hard work you\u2019ve put into your life<\/strong>, because now you realize you are either an evil bastard yourself -or you\u2019re some stupid, exploited schmoe who has given your energy to some other evil bastard- because Michael Moore, the moral arbiter of the world, the exceedingly wealthy fellow who <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/interrogatory\/schweizer200510250827.asp\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">plays in the same stock market wherein you keep all of your 401K hopes<\/a> (and who owned stock in Halliburton! <em>Gasp<\/em>!); the exceedingly wealthy fellow who lives on the Upper West Side in the most exclusive of neighborhoods while costuming himself as an eternally adolescent, baseball-cap-wearing, \u201cman of the people;\u201d the exceedingly wealthy fellow who knows <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=DYnadAE685o&amp;feature=fvw\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">as much about marketing as does Madison Avenue<\/a> and as much about manipulation as Wall Street; the exceedingly wealthy man who flies private jets in order to hobnob with the \u201cfirst world\u201d monied swells who look down on you and me\u2026well, he says <a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/lifestyleMolt\/idUSTRE5850F320090906\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Capitalism is evil<\/a>.  And must be wiped out.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cCapitalism is an evil, and you cannot regulate evil,\u201d the two-hour movie concludes.  \u201cYou have to eliminate it and replace it with something that is good for all people and that something is democracy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><strong><br>\nPay no attention to the fact<\/strong> that when George W. Bush committed to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.firstthings.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2008\/04\/14\/abandoning-iraq-is-now-good-policy\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">helping the Iraqi people to become liberated from tyranny<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.firstthings.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2007\/05\/05\/when-abandonment-is-suddenly-good-policy\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">eased into<\/a> democracy, this same man, this very wealthy fellow, Mr. Moore, demonized him.  Pay no attention to the fact that Mr. Moore has in the past praised the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=o6ZH1ps20WA&amp;feature=related\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">communist island from which people routinely risk their lives<\/a> to flee toward America, freedom and democracy.  Just go to your nearest movie theater and plunk down ten dollars or so, in order to be fed Moore\u2019s manipulations while you feed his coffers.<\/p>\n<p>And if all that makes you feel like throwing up, just remember to thank a capitalist for the toilet as you flush.<\/p>\n<p>Everything <a href=\"http:\/\/www.firstthings.com\/blogs\/theanchoress\/2009\/09\/06\/it-is-consummated\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">really is an illusion<\/a>, after all.  We need to remember that.<\/p>\n<p>Moore aside, try to relax and enjoy yourself.  But really\u2026say your prayers, too.  Happy Labor Day.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Related:<\/strong> Ed Morrissey has <a href=\"http:\/\/hotair.com\/archives\/2009\/09\/07\/a-labor-day-tribute-to-the-troops\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">a Labor Day tribute to the troops<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Webster has<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/yimcatholic.blogspot.com\/2009\/09\/because-father-giussani-wrote-this.html\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">a terrific quote for Labor Day<\/a> courtesy, once again, of the indispensable <a href=\"http:\/\/www.aquinasandmore.com\/index.cfm\/title\/Magnificat-One-Year-Subscription-Renewal---Magazine\/FuseAction\/store.ItemDetails\/SKU\/61421\/\" class=\" decorated-link\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">Magnificat Magazine<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As you gather with your families today, for one last cookout, enjoying your easily-purchased beer, cold-transported from the brewer, your propane grill -probably invented by someone who\u2019d forgotten to buy the charcoal lighter fluid, some time in the past- texting on your phones and so forth, remember to be thankful; say a prayer for those [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,14,240,251,253,264,268],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-remaking-america","category-american-genius","category-socialism-doesnt-work","category-the-fourth-estate","category-the-perpetual-adolescents","category-us-military","category-video-faves"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Happy Labor Day!<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As you gather with your families today, for one last 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