Today is not turkey day. Today is Thanksgiving.

It is important that we keep the name of today’s holiday correct and respectful of what it represents. It is a day set aside for us to simply give thanks for what we have.

And we have plenty.

This is a day typically reserved for the colors of harvest gold and brown, the colors of fall. We should also remember three other colors that make this day special for Americans.

Red, white and blue.

We live in a great and prosperous nation. We are the world’s beacon for freedom and a land where millions truly have much to be thankful for each day.

Lately the red, white and blue has been under assault. There are those who are working hard on this very day to make sure we never again celebrate another Thanksgving.

America has faced such opposition before and we have always overcome. We will also overcome our current enemy, which chooses to hide most of the time.

They will not be able to impose their terror on us.

We have had to fight to keep our country great and prosperous. We have also chosen to be a nation that makes dreams become realities and a nation that stands behind the principles and values set up by its founding fathers.

Those principles have served us well over the years. Those guidelines, firmly established in the Constitution, allow people to be individuals. They are the freest set of guidelines ever given to people.

When we gather today as families and sit down for Thanksgiving dinner, we need to be truly grateful for the great abundance that is in America, Alabama and Selma.

It is a time for us to remember our past, to be thankful for the present, and to plan for the future.

Happy Thanksgiving.