Have You Thanked General Washington Today?

Recently, I began reading the thousand page tome, Washington: A Life, by celebrated biographer Ron Chernow, a birthday gift from my beloved daughter and her family. Citing this biography is particularly noteworthy because it's scope and breadth not only overshadow today's omnipresent global and domestic challenges but, also, frame a somewhat obvious and historically proven approach to meeting the challenges of 2018 and beyond. As the noted Thomas Paine, a Washington contemporary wrote..."these are the times that try men's souls". And, so do these times, 241 years subsequent.

The ENC website and companion blog are both written for the promotion of an Oklahoma City commercial real estate broker; thus, are intended to be and will remain apolitical. However, they are American, although, the Noyes & Pfenning clans were emigrants, coming from England and Germany a very long while ago. The achievements of General Washington and the American Revolution are time tested and uniquely American. "Both sides of the aisle" must shine a light on the American experience apart from, not in opposition to, the rest of the world. The national debate must be about American liberty, an unfettered constitutional republic and an absolute belief in the preservation of everything American. This promotion has to emphasize overpowering military strength, industrial & entrepreneurial might and unquestioned financial independence. We must find the wisdom and the will to relegate the most toxic political and religious ideologies to the ash pile of history.

On Christmas Eve, 1776, a tattered but inspired Continental army prepared to cross the frigid Delaware River for the second time in a month, this time from Pennsylvania into New Jersey, trudging through the snow to Trenton. On Christmas day, they defeated the British mercenaries in fewer than sixty minutes, capturing 900 Hessian combatants and seizing a much needed bonanza of arms. From that day, the tide turned in the quest of American liberty. The inspirational leadership of General Washington drove the ill fed and poorly outfitted Americans to victory when defeat was all but a foregone conclusion a month earlier. American independence from England was and is an example of American grit and exceptionalism whose embers burn brightly to this day, the eve of the battle at Trenton 241 years ago. And, for that, thank General Washington.

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