A lesson from Abraham Lincoln

By Charles Lane, The Washington Post

When you think about it, Thanksgiving Day is a paradoxical holiday for a country such as the United States.

Gratitude is nearly the opposite of grievance. Yet, despite the many reasons we may have to feel the former, our political institutions were consciously designed to protect, even encourage, the expression of the latter.

The right to take a day off each November to count our blessings, between mouthfuls of turkey and stuffing, isn’t actually in the Constitution; but our right to “petition the government for a redress of grievances” is.

Of course, this...