Let me give thanks, first and foremost, to my wife, Jean, who is my lifelong Zoloft prescription, and to our three kids, and to my father (still hanging on at 89), and to my brothers and sisters and in-laws and cousins and nieces and nephews.

The whole mishpocha, as we say in Yiddish.

Let me give thanks to my colleagues at The Progressive, and to all of our writers, and especially to Terry Tempest Williams, who joined our stable this year with her artful and compassionate essays.

Let me give thanks to all of The Progressive’s subscribers and donors, who keep us going through thin and thinner.

Let me give thanks to The Progressive’s Board of Directors, for all its due diligence and wise advice.

Let me give thanks to the great folks at Audio for the Arts, who engineer Progressive Radio and my daily commentaries.

Let me give thanks to the activist community in Madison, Wisconsin, which retains its combative spirit, and does so with camaraderie and humor.

Let me give thanks to Russ Feingold and to Alan Grayson, who lost their seats but not their principles.

Let me give thanks to Andrea Lewis and to Howard Zinn, two friends and two progressive intellectuals who died this year and whom I miss dearly.

Let me give thanks to Noam Chomsky and Chris Hedges, for warning us about the risks of fascism in America.

Let me give thanks to Cindy Sheehan and to Ralph Nader, who keep daring us forward.

Let me give thanks to the poets Martín Espada, and W. S. Merwin, and Adrienne Rich, and to many more, who combine their art with political conviction and bring inspiration.

And let me give thanks to the pine siskins I saw on my bird feeders just this morning.

“I could wish my days to be/bound each to each with natural piety.” (Wordsworth)

Happy Thanksgiving!

If you liked this story by Matthew Rothschild, the editor of The Progressive magazine, check out his story "Lower, Not Raise, Tensions over North Korea."

Follow Matthew Rothschild @mattrothschild on Twitter