I’ll admit that over the last several decades, I would go through the motions ever year of mulling over my blessings. Good family. Good health. Good friends. Good times.

But until Donald Trump came on the political horizon and then the White House, I can’t say I’ve ever been truly, madly, deeply and desperately thankful like I am these days.
I hope much more than thank these days. I hope desperately that, one day, we’ll make it through the days of the Trump regime and laugh about all this.

For right now, it’s not funny. So to keep from having panic attacks, here’s what I’m thankful for this year:

• I’m thankful that, in my mind, I am certain that the Russians somehow cheated the election system and made it look like Donald Trump won the 2016 election. Because I still cannot believe nor fathom that millions of Americans, or even more than a few, would vote for him.

• I’m thankful that many Americans are greedy but not stupid. Remarkably, despite daily Trump antics, such as sucking up to malevolent dictators and ruthless thugs, his approval rating is about 40 percent to 45 percent. Even a cursory analysis reveals that some Americans are willing to not hate him as long as their IRA’s look good. Take their personal finances out of the equation, and the vast majority of Americans know The Donald for what he really is: Trumpella DeVil come out of his reality TV show and into a White House circus.

• I’m thankful that research is unequivocal that the more educated someone is, the more likely it is that they reject Trump and embrace liberal causes and leaders. I’m especially thankful the percentage of highly educated Colorado residents is mushrooming these days, and you’ve seen what that can do during elections. It’s pretty easy to see that if you want good advice, ask your doctor, or a doctorate.

• I’m thankful that even the meanest, nastiest, stingiest, greediest most hateful Americans couldn’t stand to see the Trump Regime set up immigrant concentration camps at the border and pull children apart from parents. Despite Trumpons like Sarah Sanders and Jeff Sessions supporting the Soviet-style stunt, the rest of the government forced Trump to end one of the most horrific acts of government since Japanese internment camps.

• I’m thankful people around the globe see Donald Trump as something forced upon us that we must suffer, rather than something we have forced upon the planet that everyone but us must suffer. As bad as he is for the world, he’s ever so much worse for us.

• I’m thankful that the harder Trump pushes against journalists and the First Amendment, the more people see how valuable we are, because as we’re all finding out, it really can happen here.

• I’m thankful for the 22nd Amendment and that recent polling that makes it clear we won’t have to worry about it.

• I’m thankful my friends and families who are farmers and ranchers think they’ll be able to hang on until Trump is gone and we can end his trade war, costing American families and the economy billions of dollars.

• I’m thankful that leaders in Colorado and a growing list of other states are working hard to keep the wheels on addressing global climate change and preventing industries from poisoning our air and water until the tent comes down on the Trump circus.

• I’m thankful that there’s virtually nothing Trump can do at this point to reverse the equal rights being granted the nation’s LGBTQ citizens, and that he’ll be gone by the time he figures something out.

• I’m thankful that honorable and honored former Republican and Democrat leaders and experts are perfectly willing to point out how corrupted Trump’s penchant for embracing malevolent dictators is. And I’m thankful they’re also willing to point out how dangerous it is for Trump to choose alliances with despots over members of the FBI, CIA, Department of State, and the U.S. military.

• I’m thankful that, for now, I’m still able to write these things without worrying that Trump will do to me what his pal Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman did to journalist Jamal Khashoggi, murdering him just for telling it as he saw it.

Follow @EditorDavePerry on Twitter and Facebook or reach him at 303-750-7555 or dperry@SentinelColorado.com