This is the time of year when people come together and express thanks for all that we have. My list this year is good and long.

I'm thankful for a Prez who has resisted the urge to hand out blame and has instead admitted his mistakes and taken full responsibility for the actions and statements of his assistants.

I'm thankful that through targeted programs and wise budgeting, we have managed to pull our nation out of recession without bankrupting the future.

I'm thankful that we have created a national energy policy that focuses on the future and not the ethanol boondoggles of the past.

I'm thankful we finally learned that the insertion of religion into political and governmental matters demeans the very faith espoused by equating the eternal with the temporal.

I'm thankful for a swift conclusion to the war in Iraq, and that through careful leadership we have managed to come a long ways toward shepherding a calm and peaceful Iraq.

I'm thankful that we have strengthened our air pollution laws so that my son will be able to see the mountains when he grows up.

I'm thankful that we have learned that the death penalty is fraught with too many racial and economic biases to be used as a punishment by an enlightened people.

I'm thankful that beer companies finally decided to start marketing their products with taste rather than tits.

I'm thankful that we have learned not just to tolerate but to celebrate our differences, that people today always look for ways to include rather than exclude.

I'm thankful that we found all of Iraq's chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, thus making the Middle East safe for the Pax Americana.

I'm thankful that our new national forest policy puts the needs of the forest and the people ahead of industry.

I'm thankful that health care is now a right of every citizen of this nation.

I'm thankful that the most pressing legal matter in this country today is the arrest and trial of the parents who let their son "stay over" at Michael Jackson's house.

I'm thankful for my 2004 season tickets for the World Champion Kansas City Royals.

I'm thankful that the people of this nation have come together, putting aside ethnic, religious and economic differences to create a more just and caring society.

I'm thankful that our show of force on the plains of the Euphrates convinced both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict to come together and work with us on the creation of a final peace treaty.

I'm thankful that we have managed to move from a me-first society to one where people consider the needs of others before feathering their own nests.

Most of all, I'm thankful that we have learned that freedom is much more valuable than security, that the more open and free our government and society are, the greater our nation will become.

Yes, God has truly blessed America.

Jon Worley is an atheist.