Wednesday, March 27, 2013
My "Crossover Day" Deadline Deliberations
As the "Crossover Day" deadline looms large this coming week, for the West Virginia Legislature to pass legislative proposals (bills) out of the originating chambers (House of Delegates and Senate), it seemed prudent for me to pause and ponder anew this reminder from Valley Forge that helped persuade me to serve as a citizen legislator.
The spirit of a lone soldier in George Washington's Continental Army stands barefoot in the freezing snow. Shivering in rags, hungry, and blood-stained from battle; he holds his battered musket in bandaged hands.
There's fire in his eyes.
Looking over 200 years into the future, he tells all of us today,
"I gave to you a birthright of freedom, now enshrined in your Constitution, but your children graduate from high school too careless to read it. I fought in the icy winter, without shoes and with bloody feet, to give you the right to vote, but you stayed home on election day. I left my family destitute and hungry, so you could have the freedom to stand up and speak out for liberty, but you remain uninvolved. I orphaned my children, to give you a government endowed by God, but you have sat back and allowed others to hijack our rights and responsibilities."
And so, while the West Virginia Legislature remains in session, it nevertheless continues to remain up to each and every one of us, me and you together, to work to preserve our precious heritage of freedom, for which so many others have sacrificed so much.
Footnote: Please also take a moment to click on the "Why It Matters" as well as the other links listed under "Videos" on the right hand side of this website.
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"Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity,religion and morality are indispensible supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should subvert these great pillars."... George Washington
ReplyDeleteValley Forge was the crucible in which the Continental Army was formed. Less than 5,000 men racked by hunger, disease, cold and crass indifference by the body politic; remained an army in the field. Yet it has another facet, an out of work Prussian officer, came to drill those tenacious soldiers. Baron von Steuben trained a cadre of officers, non commissioned officers and soldiers in the drill of the Prussian Army of Frederick the Great. He taught fire and maneuver with the use of the bayonet.
ReplyDeleteOne would think that a Prussian martinet would have been the last man to train the Continentals. Wrong, he was a genius in that he recognized a trait of the American character. It was not enough to order a movement done, or even demonstrate a movement. The most important thing was to explain why it needed to be done that way. This method of teaching seems to have fallen by the wayside. Now, our leadership tells us just to obey without question. I guess I just a throwback to one of those Valley Forge soldiers-the guys that stayed the course.
Oh by the way, in 1778 this newly trained army met the British at Monmouth Courthouse, NJ. An all day fight in hot, humid weather; the Continentals held their ground with the bayonet. The corner had been turned, the road would lead to Yorktown.
It is unfortunate that our "liberal" leadership did not have to undergo the rigors of the American Revolution. They might have a greater appreciation for this state and the country.