Strengthening Constitutional Self-Government

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Washington’s letter of resignation as commander in chief

All honor to George Washington! From today’s WaPo: "It was a a speech so moving the crowd wept. It was a speech so personally important George Washington’s hand shook as he read it until he had to hold the paper still with both hands. After the ceremony, he handed the thing to a friend and sped out the door of the State House in Annapolis, riding off by horse." The speech has been kept by a family for all these years, and now the state of Maryland has bought it.
Read the speech on line on our site, and say Thank You to the general.

Discussions - 16 Comments

Thanks for a terrific post. Michael and Jana Novak address the issue of Washington’s religiousness today here: https://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20070219/opledereligion64.art.htm

His farewell address to the army is equally - if not more - moving, for the actual words contained therein, if not for the context in which they were received.

https://www.rockingham.net/farewelladdress.htm

A great man.

Washington was a gift of God. Like Lincoln and like Reagan, long after him. That’s why it’s not worth the while for the GOP to pine after "another" Reagan, those type of men are gifts of God, and they’re usually only given when the times are momentous indeed.

Churchill was equal to his time, he saw the answer to trench warfare in the Great War, he saw the need to drive the Bolshevik out of power in Petersburg and Moscow in the aftermath. Reagan understood the moral imperative to end the Cold War victoriously.

Usually those type of men also indicate that the hour is truly upon you.

George Bush’s administration is a mess, {because he’s lost his way trying to ingratiate himself with those who will forever loathe him...}, and though the days darken and the clouds of war swirl about us, it’s not as bad as it will ultimately get.

Unfortunately, we’re still in the opening moves of this war, and our main muslim enemy has yet to be engaged.

Yes, it was having George Washington, just the right man, and just when we most needed him, that makes God’s providence for America most believable.


As tribute, I’ll bake a Georege Washington Cake on Thursday, which is Washington’s actual birthday.


Dan, I do hope you are right that such men will be with us when our hour of need is truly upon us. If you are right about things only getting worse, then there must be a great president, really a great man, due to show up pretty soon.

CPT Naum,

Is it appropriate to offer congratulations? Maybe I am the last to know, but you appear to have been promoted.

...and decorated, too

Thank you, Fung. I was promoted. Apparently, even the proverbial blind squirrel finds a nut every now and then (or does the nut find a blind squirrel?). Sorry I didn’t call you!

wm, you should see the tinsel and ribbons! They look especially nice with the large multi-colored lights! Thankfully, (since we’re on the topic of the greatest American who ever lived) I wasn’t decorated with the first medal ever issued to US soldiers: https://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/faq/purhrt.htm

By the way, wm, I was clearing my driveway of (deadly) ice and snow the other day, and realized that the shovel I was using looked very familiar (and very much not like anything I have ever purchased). I fear that I accidentally stole a chattel from you (which, I guess, is legally impossible). At the very least, I am in the process of wrongfully converting it! We must arrange a proper repatriation.

my elite squad of ninja assassins has already been dispatched to PA. I’m afraid we’re going to have to make an example of you - medal or no...

Speaking of PA, I conducted research at Penn for a year. I hated nearly everything about the experience, much of which resulted from having a growing family and a tiny fellowship.

But, the highlight of our time in Philly was a trip to Valley Forge. The sun was out, my two-year-old chased butterflies and climbed on cannons, and I felt a quiet awe just to stand where George Washington had stood and held this country together through such a terrible time. Later, we stood on the steps of Independence Hall, and stood (again) where Washington had stood, as well as many others.

It is good to remember true American heroes.

how true

... nice to be able to agree with Fung once in a while

Thanks for the Valley Forge tip. I’ll be staying in Valley Forge next week for two nights, struggling through my own (insignificant) winter trials (the PA bar exam). I intend to take some time after the exam to reflect on more important things. Fortunately for me, the hallowed ground of Gettysburg is also just a short drive away.

Pennsylvania is a fine place, full of truly wonderful people. The government on the other hand ... well, I’ll avoid (formerly) red-state (Ohio) political posturing in an effort to retain civility with my new-found symbiont, Fung (and, because I’m frankly tired of what it has done and is doing to Washington’s nation).

Captain Naum, don’t sweat the Pennsylvania Bar.

If you’re in the region, you should check out the new sites on Independent Square, such as the National Constitution Center and the Liberty Museum.

Should also check out a couple of the bars, so as to keep a better mindset regarding THE Bar.

But THE site to visit in Pennsylvania has to be Gettysburg. During the anniversary of the battle, Pennsylvania Cable Network provides video of the various Park Service Tours of the battlefield. Those tours are amazing. Those that provide the lectures during the tour are FULLY versed on just all aspects of the battle. The tours are detailed, one I watched last year focused exclusively on the use of artillery by the Union, specifically on General Hunt, the Artillerist General for the Army of the Potomac. It was awesome.

I couldn’t agree more about Gettysburg. I’ve had the fortune of experiencing many detailed tours of the battlefield (and have even given a number of my own, unlicensed, versions). There are few thrills greater for me than to walk the ground of Longstreet’s Assault, Sickles’s battle-saving blunder, Greene’s magnificant defense of Culp’s Hill, Barksdale’s final charge, Buford’s delaying action, and Hunt’s brilliant deployment of the artillery reserve (to name just a very few). In my opinion, there is no better and no more important historical location on this continent. (As for pure battlefields, though, I recommend Shiloh over any other I’ve seen).

Ah. Thanks for the brief interlude and the opportunity to re-exercise the Civil War section of my brain. Now though, I had better get back to the intentional infliction of emotional distress that is Torts.

But if you’re in Phila., just make sure you AVOID Pat’s Steaks and Geno’s Steaks. They’re ABSOLUTELY brutal. They’re are so many better places in the area to get a great hoagie or a steak. Pat’s and Geno’s get name recognition. But they’re NOT the place to go, unless you have a stomach of iron.

Now that sounds like a challenge! I believe my stomach just may be conditioned enough by solid months of MREs to search out Pat’s and Geno’s. Say, one in each fist? If nothing else, the various tapeworms and other sundry parasites I’ve collected over the years should assist nicely!

I doubt I’ll have the time for a hoagie or steak this time, but when the opportunity does present itself, where should I go?

(This is quite a diversion from General Washington, huh?)

Washington wouldn’t mind.

I would suggest going to Nick’s Roast Beef in South Phila., that’s a famous place, whose reputation isn’t a fraud. Get both a hot roast beef AND a hot roast pork.

Steaks are an easier commodity to get in the city, {so long as you spare yourself Pat’s and Geno’s, I defy you to even check out Pat’s and Geno’s and NOT lose your appetite...}, you can check out Tony Luke’s and Jim’s Steaks. As for a hoagie, I would suggest south of Philadelphia, in Delaware County. About twenty south of Philadelphia, in Chester, you should go to a place called Stacky’s, or about ten minutes from there, go to a place called Phil and Jim’s. Ask for an Italian special, everything sweet and hot.

Those guys know what they’re doing.

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