With apologies to all the other national holidays, we submit today that Thanksgiving is clearly the best.

Quite a risk, of course, to offer such a controversial position and take a perch on this holiday-themed limb. But we're willing to do so.

Here are five reasons why:

1. Thankfully, to coin a phrase, this is one holiday that hasn't been thoroughly beaten into the ground by premature jingles, too-early decorating schemes and otherwise crass commercialization. Thanksgiving is still the purest of holidays.

2. Familiarity is nice. Unlike many holidays, it's always on the same day, the fourth Thursday in November. And unlike Christmas, another contender for "best holiday," you never have to ask a friend, "Remind me, what day is Thanksgiving this year?"

3. The weather can be a rare treat at Thanksgiving, though this year it appears that won't be the case. Many years, though, Thanksgiving offers an unseasonable splash of decent weather, a final respite of sun and even warmth before we endure the long winter of Wisconsin.

4. We can't forget the two big things that fuel Thanksgiving in many households: food and football. Typically the best spread of food of the year and three pro football games on the same day. Need we say more?

5. Finally, there is the matter of, well, giving thanks. Even amid these challenging economic times, expressing thanks rings as true today as it did when George Washington first endorsed the idea and when Abraham Lincoln codified it as part of our national heritage.

All presidents since have carried on the tradition. President Barack Obama, in his annual Thanksgiving proclamation this week, tied together the key themes of the day, so we'll close with some of his words:

"I encourage all the people of the United States to come together, whether in our homes, places of worship, community centers, or any place where family, friends and neighbors may gather, with gratitude for all we have received in the past year; to express appreciation to those whose lives enrich our own; and to share our bounty with others."

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