"Real men"...Christmases Past and Future - WSJ

Christmases Past and Future - WSJ

"Another event cancellation driven by state governors acting like “petty tyrants” reminds us of the people who allowed us to live free of major tyrants.

On the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River, the Washington Crossing Historic Park says that due in part to crowd-size restrictions, the beloved annual tradition of re-enacting Washington’s courageous Christmas crossing into New Jersey won’t happen in front of the usual cheering crowds this year. The park notes:

However, to keep the tradition alive, we will debut a special pre-recorded crossing video on Christmas Day at 10 AM. You can tune in this video on the park’s Facebook page or on YouTube.

Looking on the bright side, Jennifer Martin, executive director of Friends of Washington Crossing Park, tells NJ.com: “We see this as a positive, that the daring crossing and the history is something we can share with people from all over the world.”

Sounds good given the unreasonable limits on liberty imposed by governors on both sides of the river. 

But what would Washington think? 

NJ.com’s Kevin Shea reports:

Gen. George Washington would have made his daring 1776 crossing of the Delaware River during a pandemic.

In fact, he likely did.

Smallpox was rampant during the colonial era and deadly disease was just another obstacle to overcome when Washington planned the Christmas night crossing from Pennsylvania to New Jersey on his way to defeat the Hessians in the first Battle of Trenton the next morning...Read all!