In this special Christmas episode, Kim Monson delves into the true origins of one of the most beloved holiday figures, St. Nicholas, with guest historian Bill Federer. Discover how St. Nicholas’s acts of charity and faith forged the foundation for the legend of Santa Claus, and learn about the fascinating journey from historical figure to cultural icon. Bill provides an in-depth look at St. Nicholas’s life, exploring his role within the Greek Orthodox tradition and the broader historical context of his time.
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It’s the Kim Monson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
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I see big danger in as much as we will be giving an unelected bureaucrat the power to make rules about what we inject into our bodies.
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And welcome to the Kim Monson Show, and thank you so much for joining us. You each are treasured, you’re valued, you have purpose. Today, strive for excellence, take care of your heart, your soul, your mind, and your body. My friends, we were made for this moment in history. And be sure and check out our website. That is KimMonson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. And we are pre-recording these shows for Christmas. And in fact, we are pre-recording this with Bill Federer, which we’ll broadcast on Christmas Day. So first of all, I must say Merry Christmas to you, Bill Federer.
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, Merry Christmas to you, Kim.
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And you are the creator of the American Minute. So just tell us a little bit about that. And then you have written many, many books.
SPEAKER 12 :
Right, about 30 books. My website, AmericanMinute.com, I send out history emails. But I try to highlight the fascinating parts and the role of faith. in there. So everything from Washington’s Revolution, the Lewis and Clark, the War of 1812, World War II, the Space Shuttle, and then all the different holidays and St. Pat’s Day and Flag Day and Constitution Day. But one of the most interesting ones is Christmas. And so it is the largest religion in the world is Christianity, about a third of Second largest religion in the world is Islam, right, about 20%. But Christianity is the largest religion in the world. And so Christmas is the most important Christmas day, right? You’ve got Easter and Christmas, so it’s one of the two most important. And so Christmas, in a way, is the most celebrated holiday on planet Earth. And all dates in the world change. date back to the birth of Jesus, right? B.C., A.D., before Christ, Anno Domini in the year of our Lord. And so some academics in the 19th century tried to say, well, call it BCE and CE, Before Common Era and Common Era. It’s like, okay, but when did it change from Before Common Era to Common Era? The birth of Jesus. They can’t get away from it. Everything on planet Earth is dated to the birth of Christ. It’s where the law professor at Notre Dame, Clarence Mannion, He said, it’s the one place in a long, long trail of time where the magnetic needle of history stops and points and turns straight up.
SPEAKER 05 :
Wow. You know, Bill, last year I was in church on Christmas Eve, and it was close to standing room only, so I was sitting at the very back. And a family came in, and I’d watched this family. They had two little kids, and she was clearly pregnant. And on Christmas Eve, she walked in, and they had a baby in their arms. And I just looked at this baby and I thought, oh my gosh, this was kind of how it was on Christmas Eve, Mary. And this baby, it’s such a remarkable story that this baby is born to save mankind. And it was just so special for me to be sitting next to that family with that new little baby.
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, yeah. It’s so special.
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And so let’s talk about Christmas and Santa Claus, because Santa Claus is a big part of Christmas. And you have a book that is there really is a Santa Claus. So let’s talk about that.
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Right. So St. Nicholas is the most popular Greek Orthodox saint. He is to Greeks what St. Peter is to Roman Catholics. And so he lived during Roman times and during the persecution. So Peter was crucified right there in the first century. But Nicholas experienced persecution in the third century. So he’s born around 280 A.D. This is around the time of Emperor Diocletian. And a movement was sweeping through Christianity called monasticism or pietism, where if you really become a Christian, you should do what the rich young ruler did. Give away all your money to the poor and come and follow me. And so that’s what they would do if somebody became a Christian. They would give away all their money and join a monastery. And so Nicholas, he inherited a lot of money from his parents. He decides to give away the money. He’s living in a little town called Patara, Asia Minor. Today, that’s Turkey. But he doesn’t want to get the credit for giving away the money because, you know, the Bible says if you give your alms in public, you know, you don’t get any credit from God. So Nicholas decides to sneak into town at nighttime and throw money in the window of poor people. Supposedly it would land in a shoe or stock and it’s drawn by the fireplace. And so the most famous of the stories is a merchant in the town had gone bankrupt. And the creditors were going to come and take not only his house, but take his children. And he had three beautiful daughters. He knew if they were taken, it would be a horrible life for him. And so the father had an idea. If he could hurry up and marry the daughters off, the creditors couldn’t take them. But he didn’t have money for a dowry, which was needed in that area of the world for a legally recognized wedding. Well, Nicholas hears the problem. Late one night, throws some money in the window. The oldest daughter now has a dowry. She gets married. It’s a big buzz talk of the town. He throws money in the window for the second daughter. She gets married. And by the time it’s the third daughter’s turn, the dad’s expecting it and he’s waiting up. And when Nicholas throws the money in the window, he runs outside and catches him. And Nicholas makes the father promise not to tell where the money came from because he wants the credit to go to God and not to him. And so that’s the origin of the tradition of secret gift giving on the anniversary of Nicholas’s death, which was December 6th, 343 A.D. And so it was just a Greek tradition. Well, after he gives away all his money, he leaves to go to a monastery of Zion in Jerusalem. And right before he takes his vows of silence, and you’ll never hear from him again, somehow the Lord tells him not to hide his light under a bushel. So he goes back to Asia Minor. Today, that’s Turkey. And he gets off at a city called Myra, M-Y-R-A. And unbeknownst to him, the bishop had died, and the church leaders could not decide who the next bishop was going to be. And one of them had a dream that the first person to church the next day was going to be named Nicholas, and he was to be their bishop. Well, his habit was to be the first one to church. And he comes in, and they ask his name. They break the news. He was not too thrilled. because the Roman Emperor Diocletian was arresting bishops and killing them. So it’s sort of like, you be the bishop. No, no, no, you first. And anyway, he agrees. He is arrested. He’s put in prison. He’s awaiting death. And the church is praying, praying, praying. And the emperor is struck with an intestinal disease so painful he abdicates the throne on May 1st, 305 A.D. And Emperor Diocletian steps out. And this was a significant thing because emperors had been declaring themselves a god with a little g, demanding their image be worshipped and sprinkling gold dust in their hair. And this was sort of like a god resigning when Diocletian stepped down. The next emperor, Galerius, continues the persecution. He’s struck with an intestinal disease and dies. And now it’s a toss-up between four generals as to who’s going to be the next emperor. It comes down to two, Constantine and Maxentius, and the Battle of the Milvian Bridge outside of Rome in 312 A.D. The story is that Constantine saw the sign of Christ in the sky, and he puts it on all the shields, and they win. What’s the sign of Christ? It was the first two Greek letters for the name Christ. We abbreviate words to the first two letters, right? Colorado is C-O. Well, the Greeks would abbreviate names with the first two letters. And the first letter of the Greek name Christ is written as an X, and it’s called Chi. It makes the K sound. And then the letter that makes the R sound for Christ is called Rho, and it’s written as a P. So it’s an X and a P. and they overlay them. And so Constantine, you see the fourth century artwork in church would be the X and the P. Those are the first two Greek letters. Over the centuries, it got shortened just to the Chi, the X, and it was called the Christ’s cross or crisscross. So when you’re saying crisscross, you’re really saying Christ’s cross. And that was where you get X-mas. So X is not crossing out Christ. It’s the Greek letter that stood for Christ.
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I have never heard that, Bill Federer. That is absolutely fascinating. And I’m blessed to work with amazing sponsors. And as I’ve mentioned earlier, we are pre-recording these shows for Thanksgiving week. with a great guest, great topics, and also our great sponsors. And one of our sponsor partners is on the line with me right now, and that is Karen Gorday. She is an entrepreneur, and she is the owner of Radiant Painting and Lighting. Karen Gorday, welcome. Thank you, Kim. Great to be here. And we are broadcasting this on Thanksgiving, and so I wanted to get your reflections on Thanksgiving and gratitude, Karen. Thank you.
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um yes so i think that the biggest thing is gratitude you don’t have a roof over a head of over my head um you know and food on the table i think is with the cost of everything going up it’s it’s important to reflect excuse me on the little things
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Well, somebody one time said it’s the blessing of the mundane. And it is these basic, everyday things, work, and having this great food supply that we have. All this stuff is under attack. And that’s why we do the show and appreciate your sponsorship for that. But on this day of reflection, we truly are blessed people. But we also have… And I am very grateful, Karen Gorday, that you stepped forward to run for city council as a citizen, which goes really back to our American founding of citizen representative government. And so I’m very grateful that our paths have met and crossed.
SPEAKER 03 :
I am, too. It was actually fun running for office at the end of the day. And so, yeah, to your point, it’s what the country was founded on.
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And I imagine that you have learned a whole bunch since starting that process to where you are now.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, absolutely. And I learned a lot. I met a lot of people I wouldn’t have met if I hadn’t run for office. And that’s why I say it was fun, because I like learning. And so hopefully I can pass that on to, you know, future candidates, etc.,
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Well, I think it is, yeah, that institutional knowledge. We really do need to pass that on. Moving over to your business, you are an entrepreneur. You are the owner of Radiant Painting and Lighting. And obviously, Thanksgiving, we’re kicking off the Christmas holidays now. Lighting, outdoor lighting is… is beautiful, but it can be challenging. And that’s one of the things you specialize in. And when you go to your website, you can see some of the beautiful things that you’ve done. And it’s not too late, is it, to reach out to you?
SPEAKER 03 :
No, absolutely not. And we can still do lights, you know, really up until, you know, mid-December with what we have in stock. Now, if you want something different, then we may have to order it, and that’s when things get tight. But typically we can try to make that happen.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay. And then what about painting? Let’s say somebody’s having the whole gang in for Christmas and want to spruce up the indoor painting. Can you still do that?
SPEAKER 03 :
Absolutely. We just can’t do exterior painting, but we can do interior painting year round. So yes, prime time for interior painting and holiday lights. Okay.
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And what’s the best way for people to reach you, Karen Gorday?
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You can go to our website, and there’s a form to fill out, and the website is www.paintwithradiant.com.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, and then thinking about spring, now, actually, spring is right around the corner, as fast as time is going. What about, and I need to get you out and have you give me an estimate on my outdoor painting, and so when can you start that in the spring?
SPEAKER 03 :
typically March or April it’s really up to the Colorado weather it needs to be 35 degrees and above the day we paint and for 48 hours after so it’s really dependent on the weather changing but some things to do to get ready like so you need to have new windows have those put in during the winter the other thing is there’s a lot of folks that live in HOA communities Go ahead and submit for your colors now so that when the weather changes, you’re not waiting on HOA approval for 45, 90 days, depending on the HOA. But you can do that during the winter and be ready for the first part of spring to do exterior painting.
SPEAKER 05 :
That is great advice. Karen Gorday, thank you so much. I appreciate your partnership with the show, and I wish you and yours a very blessed Thanksgiving.
SPEAKER 03 :
And thank you, Kim. Thank you. Thank you.
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Sometimes it is difficult to make sense of it all. How can you sift through the clamor for your attention and get to the truth? The Kim Monson Show is here to help. Kim searches for truth and clarity by examining issues through the the lens of freedom versus force force versus freedom tune in to the kim monson show each weekday 6 to 8 a.m with encores 1 to 2 p.m and 10 to 11 p.m on klz 560 am klz 100.7 fm the klz website the klz app and alexa play klz shows can also be found at kimmonson.com spotify and itunes
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And welcome back to the Kim Monson Show. And I wanted to mention Little Richie’s Pizza and Pasta. They have locations in Parker and in Golden. And during the holidays, if you need a pizza night, just be sure and reach out to Little Richie’s Pizza and Pasta. And they do have the best calzones I’ve ever had as well. so again they are located in parker and in golden and that is little richie’s pizza and pasta and we are pre-recording these shows for christmas week and this is broadcasting on christmas day a very special show with bill fetter he is the creator of the american minute and we’re talking about there really is a santa claus and we’re talking about saint nicholas but Before we went to break, you were explaining the deaths of some of these Roman emperors. And then we got to Constantine and he saw the sign of Christ in the sky, which is XP. And so I always thought that when you said Xmas, it was trying to kind of negate Christmas. But that’s not the case at all. You shared with us.
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Right. So over the years, the Cairo, the XP was shortened to the Chi called the Chris Cross or Christ Cross. And that’s where you get X-mas. It’s also where you would see people. I swear I’m telling the truth. So help me, God. But then they would make the X as a cross my heart. I swear to tell. Well, what’s the cross your heart? That’s the Christ cross. And then when they would swear on a document, they would sign it, the Christ cross or sign it, the X cross. And then they would kiss it to show sincerity, and that’s where you get the X’s and the O’s on the bottom of the Valentine. Anyway, a little trivia. But now that Constantine stops the persecution of Christians, 313 A.D., Edict of Milan, Nicholas is let out of jail. And he preaches like a fire and brimstone preacher. So one of the… things that took place in Ephesus was the temple to Diana Aphrodite. She’s the goddess of love, but her temple has 127 huge pillars and temple prostitutes. It was the Las Vegas of the Mediterranean. And Apostle Paul preached against Diana worship in Acts chapter 19. And so Nicholas preaches against this and the people tear the temple to Diana down. And then he preaches against exposure of unwanted infants. It was the Roman version of abortion. The mother would bear the child laid at the father’s feet. If he picked it up, they’d keep it. But if he didn’t, thought maybe they couldn’t afford it. It didn’t look healthy to the mom. They have to put it in a basket and set it out in the woods. And the Christians would hear these babies crying and then rescue them. And so they were basically pro-life movement back then. And then you had the Olympics, and they ran them not clothed. I won’t get into it all, but, you know, how the Greeks turned those statues without clothes on them. Anyway, he preaches against it, and eventually an emperor, Theodosius, ends the Olympics. You know, he’s a Christian Roman emperor. But there’s the Arian heresy. So Arius was a bishop who said Jesus was a little less than God. Right to catchy song. The Visigoths are a people group that have come into Rome and they embrace Arianism and it’s splitting the church. And since Constantine had made the church. the Christian church, the de facto religion of Rome, it’s splitting the Roman Empire, having political fallout. And so Constantine orders and pays for all the bishops in the entire known world to come together for the very first time. And it’s at Nicaea, the city that’s today in Turkey. And they write the Nicene Creed and they excommunicate Arius. And the tradition the Greeks have is that Nicholas slapped Arius for starting the heresy. And so there’s, you know, ancient murals on old churches of Nicholas reaching over and slapping areas. So Nicholas would have been, again, a fiery preacher. By the way, this year is the 1700-year anniversary of the Council of Nicaea, 325 A.D., 2025 A.D. And so the Pope and the Greek patriarch met earlier in December at Nicaea, and they said the Nicene Creed together. So Nicholas is credited with miracles, and just a couple that I will share. His people were starving. And famine. And so the ships would come with grain from North Africa. That was where it was grown to Asia Minor on their way to Rome. Well, Nicholas goes down to the docks, talks the sailors into unloading some of their grain to feed his people, promising God will bless them for it. Well, on their return trip, they said the grain that was left had multiplied and they had more than enough. Sort of like Elijah and the little widow with this meal barrel that never ran empty. And then there was a storm. The sea was terrible. The ships were starting to sink, and they get Nicholas. He goes and prays, and the sea becomes calm, sort of like Jesus calmed the sea. And then the last is there was a corrupt governor. and he was going to execute some soldiers to cover up his corruption we’re familiar with politicians and suicide lists writer suicided all right body count lists type of thing um and so this governor was going to kill these soldiers who knew the inside story and nicholas goes down to the execution square breaks through the crowd grabs the sword out of the executioner’s hand throws it down and then in front of everybody by knowledge from the holy spirit he tells what this corrupt governor was doing and the governor realizes nobody could know the details other than god and so he begged nicholas to pray for him And so Nicholas dies on December 6, 343 A.D. Again, he’s the most popular Greek Orthodox saint. The Emperor Justinian, he’s the one that built the Hagia Sophia, that big church. He builds a church in Myra and dedicates it to Nicholas. And then you have Vladimir the Great, the emperor of Russia, converts to Greek Orthodox Christianity and adopts Nicholas as the patron saint of Russia. And then the Muslims invade. And all seven churches mentioned in the book of Revelation are wiped out. And as they’re coming toward Myra, the Christians don’t want Nicholas’s bones trashed. People forget, in 846 A.D., 11,000 Muslim Saracen pirates invaded Rome, Italy, and trashed the bones of St. Peter and St. Paul, and desecrated the church, the Basilica of St. Peter’s, and the St. Paul’s Outside the Walls Church. And so Pope Leo built a 39-foot wall around the Vatican. as a result. But that was in 846 A.D. Now we’re up to 1087 A.D., and the Muslims are headed toward Myra, and so the Christians move the remains of Nicholas to Italy, a little town called Bari, B-A-R-I, and that now has a million people, and it’s a good-sized city. And there’s a cathedral, and in the basement is the crypt with the remains of Nicholas. And the Now, you know Urban II because he had so many Greeks fleeing that he went to the Council of Claremont in 1095 A.D. and begged the European kings to send help to the Greeks. And they did. It’s called the First Crusade. And there’s nine major crusades over 200 years trying to stop this Muslim invasion. Richard the Lionheart led the Third Crusade. St. Louis led the Seventh and Eighth Crusades. But people forget that Islam has 14 centuries of crusades that are still going on today. Anyway, Nicholas’s remains are in Italy, and the Italians like the gift-giving. And so much so that Francis of Assisi, in 1223 AD, creates the nativity scene, the creche scene, To say, look, the gift-giving is fine, but it’s a distraction from the real reason for the season. Jesus, the Son of God, was born in a manger. And so whenever you see a manger scene with the donkeys and Jesus, that’s St. Francis that gave us that idea in 1223 A.D. Now we skip up to Germany, and the year is 1517 A.D. And by this time, there is a saint’s day for every day of the year. Churches are filled with side altars and relics and people are praying all the different ways. And Martin Luther considers that a distraction from Christ. So he ends all the saint’s days in Germany, including the popular December 6th, St. Nicholas Day. But the Germans like to give giving so much that Martin Luther moves the gift giving to December 25th and says all gifts come from the Christ child. And the German pronunciation of Christ child is Chris Kindle. Like kindergarten, kinder care, kind means child. And then Chris means Christ. And so Chris Kindle over the years got pronounced Chris Kringle. So Chris Kringle is Chris Kindle, which means Christ child. So if you go to Germany today, you’ll see the Chris Kindle markets in Mifflinburg, Pennsylvania, the Chris Kindle market, the Christ child market. And it’s all, you know, all the Christmas decorations. Another piece of Christmas trivia related to Martin Luther is the tree. And do I have a couple of minutes? We do go through this. We do. So you have St. Patrick leaves. britain and goes and evangelizes ireland in the 5th century and the druids are illiterate and uses a three-leaf clover to teach the trinity well from britain comes saint boniface or winfred and he evangelizes the germanic tribes that had overrun rome And so the year is 722 A.D. And St. Boniface takes an axe and chops down Thor’s tree. So Thor is the Germanic god. And that’s where you get the name Thor’s Day or Thursday.
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Huh.
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And the… Quakers refused to say Thursday, so they would call it Fifth Day. They didn’t want it because it’s a pagan name. But St. Boniface takes an axe and chops down Thor’s oak tree. A big wind comes and knocks it over. And then he points at a little evergreen and said, let this be the tree of the Christ child. And let there be no sacrifices to it. And see how it points toward heaven. and its leaves are evergreen, symbolizing everlasting life, and it’s sort of in the shape of a triangle, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the same way Patrick used the three-leaf clover. And so from then on, the evergreen tree was symbolic of Germans converting to Christianity. And, of course, Abraham planted an evergreen tree called the Tamarisk salt cedar, and Solomon’s temple was paneled with cedars, you know, from Lebanon. And so the… And so you have Martin Luther is coming home at night and the stars are twinkling. It’s a crisp, cold night. And he decides to put candles in the branches of the Christmas tree and tells his children, this is like the sky above Bethlehem on the night of Christ’s birth. And so that’s where we get lights in the Christmas tree. And even the famous lullaby that we’ve all sung to our kids, right? Well, that’s Johannes Brahms. And in there, he talks about, you know, the good night, the angels are watching you and have dreams of the Christkindleinbaum, the Christ child’s tree. So anyway, so the Christmas tree is symbolic of Germans converting to Christianity. And then we fast forward to England. And this is where it gets a little bit interesting, because Henry VIII brings the Reformation to England, not because he wanted to focus on the Christ child. He just wanted another wife. And the pope wouldn’t recognize his divorce from, you know, Catherine of Aragon. So he decides to make himself his own pope, starts the Church of England, goes on to have six wives. He was not a nice guy to be married to. And so Henry VIII brings back an old Roman holiday of Saturnalia. And Britain used to be a Roman colony. And Saturn was the Roman god of feasting and plenty and merriment. But they Christianized him and called him Father Christmas. They couldn’t call him St. Nicholas because the saints were outlawed after the Reformation, most of them. And so if you’ve ever seen the Christmas carol with Charles Dickens, there’s the spirit of Christmas present. And he’s the big guy with the wreath in his hair and the goblet of wine and the big beard and the fruit and the happy party guy. And you’re looking at him asking yourself, who is this guy? He sort of looks like Santa, but he also sort of looks like some Roman god. Well, that was Saturn, but they Christianized him and called him Father Christmas. And so during Christmas in England, it became a party time. A carousing, drinking, wassailing party. They had food fights in the castle with the king. They had a mock bishop, a little boy. They’d have mock executions. They would have jugglers and bear baiting, you know, bears in the pit, and they’d fight it. They’d have cross-dressing. You know, it was all kinds of— Not very reverent. Yeah, a lord of misrule. And he’s saying, Lord of Misrule. Isn’t that what’s in the Mardi Gras parade, a Lord of Misrule? Yeah. Mardi Gras used to be a religious day. It was the day before Lent when you would fast 40 days before Easter to celebrate the resurrection. Now it’s a lewd party in New Orleans. That’s sort of what happened with Christmas in England. And so the Puritans are a movement in England. And the Puritans end up taking over England. They tore down Shakespeare’s theater. Because Shakespeare was having plays and they were mentioning God and in front of a bunch of drunken, you know, theater goers. And the Puritans said, no, it’s disrespect. And so the Puritans passed a law outlawing Christmas. And the Puritans settled New England. And they had a five-shilling fine in 1659. Okay.
SPEAKER 05 :
Bill, you know what? Let’s go to break. Yeah, let’s go to break and come back and talk more about the Puritans. This is absolutely fascinating. We are talking with Bill Federer. He is the creator of the American Minute. And we’re talking about Christmas. And his book is There Really Is a Santa Claus. And so we’ll be right back. These discussions happen because of our sponsors. And one of those is Karen Levine.
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assemble at my father’s house the kim monson show is our modern day sybil luddington bringing us the latest breaking news in the battle for truth and freedom ben’s plumbing heating and cooling is proud to stand with kim will you stand with us get engaged with the issue that keeps you up at night so that you can influence your school and community with truth and justice And for quality craftsmanship at a fair price, call or text Ben’s Plumbing, Heating, and Cooling at 303-995-1636. That number again is 303-995-1636.
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All Kim’s sponsors are an inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Monson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmonson.com. That’s Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 05 :
and welcome back to the kim monson show and merry christmas to each and every one of you hope you’re having a great day and we are pre-recording these shows for christmas week before we get in get back to bill fetter i wanted to mention first of all the harris family they are gold sponsors of the show and i greatly appreciate them and then also as we are looking into 2026 if you’re looking for financial freedom the people at mint financial strategies jody hinsey And her team can help you with that. And so reach out to them because they can help you with your financial future, your financial freedom, and help you live life on your terms instead of someone else’s terms. So give them a call. That number is 303-285-3080. 303-285-3080. And Bill Fetter, we’ve been going through the history of Christmas, and we get to the Puritans, and Christmas Eve had become quite a robust celebration, we might say. And they’re saying, this is not what this is supposed to be like. And so they kind of got rid of Christmas, right?
SPEAKER 12 :
Yeah, the Puritans. You had Puritan leader Cotton Mather said… Can you honestly think that our Lord is honored by mad mirth and hard drinking and lewd gaming fit for a night of Bacchus or Saturn or Mohammedan Rabbanon? Because the Mohammedans would fast during the day but then eat a lot at night. And he says, you cannot possibly think so that our holy Savior, the night of his birth, can be honored by these things. And so, you know, the English, you know, under Henry, they do carousing and wassailing where you drink some booze and throw the rest on a plant for a nice harvest the next year. And so when the pilgrims landed in Massachusetts on Christmas Day. They landed, but they hadn’t built a shelter yet. And so the captain of the Mayflower, Christopher Jones, writes in his ship’s log, At Harbor, Christmas Day, Plymouth. but not observed by these colonists, they being opposed to All Saints’ Days, etc. A large party went ashore to fell timber to begin building their first building, and it’s like, gee. And then William Bradford, the governor of the Pilgrims, the next year a second boatload of Pilgrims came over in 1621, and he writes, another incident rather amusing, several of the new group said that they didn’t want to work on Christmas, And it was a matter of conscience. I decided not to force them until their consciences were better informed. But coming back at noon, I found them playing stool ball and, you know, pitching the bar in the street. And I said, it offends our conscience that we have to work while you play. So if you’re going to observe Christmas, do it quietly in your houses. And so where the Pilgrims, Puritans and Presbyterians did not celebrate Christmas, the English, the other English and the Germans and especially the Dutch did. And so the Dutch settled New Amsterdam in 1624. So that’s four years after the pilgrims. And so the Dutch is where it gets interesting. So when you say Santa Claus, it’s the Dutch pronunciation of St. Nicholas. Right. So St. Nicholas, St. Nicholas, St. St. Niklaus, Sinterklaas, Santa Claus. That’s the progression. And so the Dutch do a take on the Book of Revelation. So we’re familiar with Catholics saying, you know, St. Peter is the gate to heaven. Well, the Dutch do a take that Jesus will return at the end of the world, the judge living in the dead, riding a white horse. And the saints will come back with him riding white horses. And St. Nicholas is a saint. So he’ll be one of those riding a white horse. But he’s so special to the Dutch, they have him coming back once a year for a little mini judgment day, a little checkup on the kids, make sure they’re on the right track. He was naughty. He was nice. And so in Holland to this day, they have St. Nicholas coming dressed as a saint, as a bishop with his mitered hat, his red robes, and he’s riding a white horse. And so he comes and he has his books. And in the Bible, it says, you know, in Daniel, the book of Revelation, you know, and the ancient of days was there and the multitude thousands upon thousands. And the books were opened and everybody’s, you know, judged according to the works. And if you’re you’re named written in the Lamb’s book of life, well, then you pass out of judgment and into the kingdom of his dear son. But and so here you have St. Nicholas opening the book. So, well, that turns into the book of the naughty and the nice and saints come from heaven. Well, that turned into the North Pole. And the angels turn into the elves. And in Norway, in Finland, they had a few horses, so he was riding a reindeer. And you can see where what started off biblical now has sort of got a little color to it. But the Dutch settled New Amsterdam, and they start their first church in 1642. And guess what the name of it is? The St. Nicholas Dutch Reformed Church, because he’s so popular to the Dutch. And that congregation is the oldest congregation on Manhattan Island. The church burnt down, they rebuilt it, burnt down again, rebuilt it. And they built a massive cathedral in 1872 on Fifth Avenue. And somebody who attended was Teddy Roosevelt. And as the years went on, the area became more financial with fewer people attending church. And they sold the church to Sinclair Oil Company, who tore it down and built an oil building there. Oh, my gosh. Sort of sad. But the congregation merged with another Dutch reform congregation called the Marble Collegiate Church on Fifth Avenue, but way out by 29th Street. And who went to that church? Well, Norman Vincent Peale was the pastor, you know, in the 1950s. But the Trump family went to the Marble Collegiate Dutch Reformed Church, right, for a while. So in New York is where you have an evolution takes place. Washington Irving, he founded, he was one of the founders of the St. Nicholas Society. to highlight the dutch heritage in new york in the early 1800s and so uh irving berlin wrote rip van winkle and van any name with a van in front of it is a dutch name and so he writes rip van winkle he writes legend of sleepy hollow and he writes dietrich knickerbocker’s history of new york from the beginning of the dutch dynasty uh right until the british take over and And he writes this in 1809. And knickerbockers are baggy pants. And so in there, he talks about St. Nicholas visiting once a year to do a checkup on the kids. But he describes him no longer dressed as a bishop, but wearing a typical Dutch outfit of these long trunk knickerbocker pants and then, you know, leather boots and a belt and a stocking hat and And then laying a finger beside his nose, you know, that he rose over the treetops with his wagon. And then in New York, you have the Clement Moore family. They own land. They donate to build an Episcopal seminary. And Clement Moore is a Hebrew professor at the seminary. And there’s a park there, the Clement Moore Park in New York. And he writes a poem for his children called The Visit from St. Nicholas. And we all have it memorized. It was a night before Christmas and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouth. The stockings were hung by the chimney with care in hopes that St. Nicholas would soon be there. And I knew in a moment it must be St. Nick. But he shrunk. He lost some weight. He comes down the chimney. And then you have the Civil War in the middle 1800s. and harper’s weekly magazine is a union magazine and the illustrator is thomas nast n-a-s-t and you know him because he invented the republican elephant and democrat mule for his political cartoons and they stuck well he does a political cartoon of saint nicholas addressing the union troops with a north pole sign in the background and that was a political jab at the south to say saint nicholas is associated with the north And then the last installment is Haddon Sunblum. He’s an artist. You know him because he invented the Quaker Oatsman and Aunt Jemima syrup. Well, he does. He gets hired by Coca-Cola to do a painting once a year for 30 years of St. Nicholas drinking Coke. And since Coca-Cola is the most known trademark name in the world… This image spreads around the world, and so now he’s no longer a little jolly plump old elf. He’s full-grown again. He’s a grandfather. He’s got huggable, rosy cheeks. He’s just a really lovable character. But when you go back, there really was a St. Nicholas, born in 280 A.D., dies in 343 A.D., and he’s a Christian. And he’s such a serious Christian that he was going to go into the monastery, but then he becomes a bishop and then he’s imprisoned under a pagan government. And then he gets out and he preaches against paganism and confronts corrupt politicians and stands up for the Trinity. But we know him most because he was generous and gave to the poor and he wanted God to get the credit and not him. and so that reminds us that god so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever shall believe on him will not perish but have everlasting life so just a fascinating story that’s true of nicholas and we get to see all the other stuff that’s added on through the years and we can decide what to keep and what to throw out but there really was a saint nicholas that had a tremendous life that’s worth remembering.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, it is really fascinating. And it would be great to have, in fact, I’m pretty sure I have your book on my bookshelf at home as well as there really is a Santa Claus because it’s a great tradition to talk with children about. And so we’re going to go to break. And we get to have these discussions because of our sponsors. And Lauren Levy can help you with anything regarding mortgages.
SPEAKER 20 :
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SPEAKER 14 :
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SPEAKER 02 :
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SPEAKER 05 :
And welcome back to The Kim Monson Show, and Merry Christmas. We are pre-recording these shows, and we’re broadcasting this show with Bill Federer on Christmas Day. Before we get back to Bill, I wanted to mention the two nonprofits that I highlight on a regular basis on the show, and it would be great for you to make a year-end tax-deductible contribution to support their great work. One is the USMC Memorial Foundation. Thank you so much for joining us. to focus on these foundational principles of honor, integrity, and patriotism. The center is nonpolitical. It’s nonpartisan, but they’re doing great work. And you can make that contribution by going to AmericanValueCenter.org. That’s AmericanValueCenter.org. And we’re talking with Bill Fetter. He’s the creator of the American Minute. And he has a book. There really is a Santa Claus. But there’s other Christian Christmas traditions that you highlight as well. And during the break, you mentioned, you know, you could explain that there is the case that December 25th really is Christmas, right?
SPEAKER 12 :
Right. So it’s a detective story. The Jews did not celebrate birthdays. Matter of fact, most of the Asian world doesn’t. We were visiting in Turkey once, and my wife was asking the lady of the house when her birthday was. She had to go in the other room, dig through some papers, and found a little card and came out. She didn’t even have memories because everybody would turn a year older on January 1st. So the Jews did not celebrate their birthdays, but the Greeks did. And so it wasn’t until the third century that you had enough Greeks that converted to Christianity that the question was raised, when was Jesus born? Prior to that, the big concern was, when is the resurrection, you know, the Passover? And so it’s a detective story, and we go to the book of Luke. And it says that John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, was in the temple ministering, and he was of the priestly division of Abijah. Like, what’s that? King David divided the Levite priests into 24 divisions, and it is in Chronicles, chapter 24, and Abijah is the eighth division. And it’s like, okay, but tell us a little bit more. Well, then we go to the Dead Sea Scrolls, 1962, and this has the sacerdotal rota system that that says that of these 24 Levite divisions, they serve twice a year, two weeks apart. And yeah, that helps, but when do they begin? Now we go to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D., and the Jewish Talmud says that the temple was destroyed on the 9th of Av, which, according to the Roman calendar, is the 4th of August. And so now we were zeroing in. Well, what the Jews made record of who was what priestly division was on duty when the temple was destroyed. And it was the first family group called Jehoi Arab. And so if the first family group is on duty the first week of August, then the eighth one, which is the Abijah, would be the last week of September. And that’s an important week, because at the beginning of the week is the Day of Atonement, Yom Kippur, the most important day in the Jewish calendar. And then at the end of the week is the Feast of Tabernacles. And so it says that Zacharias was the priestly division of Abijah, and he was chosen by Lot, to serve in the temple. It’s like, what’s that? Well, there’s around 24,000 Levites. Excuse me. And so the family group, only the high priest goes into the Holy of Holies, but the other priests go into the holy place where they have a table where they put fresh bread called showbread every morning, and then they have a candlestick with the seven candles, like a menorah. And so these other priests could go in there. but they didn’t want it to be based on seniority or anything else. It’s based on Lot. And so out of all these thousands of Levites, Zechariah is chosen by Lot to be the priest to serve in the holy place this week. So it was almost like a once-in-a-lifetime thing that Zechariah was in there. And then the angel appears and says, your wife Elizabeth in her old age is going to conceive. And so sure enough, she conceives. And so that’s the Last week of September. And then twice in the book of Luke, the angel appears to Mary and says, you’re going to conceive. It’ll be the son of God. And your cousin Elizabeth is in her sixth month. Six months. Well, if we know that she conceived the last week of September, six months later is the last week of March. And so March 25th is the traditional church date for the annunciation when the angel appeared to Mary. And nine months after March 25th is December 25th. So this is the traditional way of arriving at December 25th. And it is all there in the Bible. Now, I don’t get dogmatic about it because, you know, there’s enough other things to argue. We don’t have any more divisions in the church. And some of these ancient calendars are a little tricky, you know, matching them up. But there is a legitimate reason. way to arrive at December 25th being the actual date for the birth of Christ. And people say, well, it wasn’t, you know, it could have been too cold. There wouldn’t have been sheep in the field. Bethlehem’s temperature is around Flagstaff, Arizona. Maybe in the winter it gets down to 40, but most of it is warmer than that. And then, well, wasn’t there a pagan winter solstice? Well, that’s December 22nd. If you’re going to pick a date to overlap a pagan date, you’d pick the date. You wouldn’t pick three days later. Right, right. And then you realize that they were celebrating as early as 136 A.D. You have the Pope telepathy. Tell us for us. And he talks about December 25th being the date for the birth of Christ. You have a Theophilus, Bishop of Caesarea, talking about December 25th being the birth date of Christ. And these are all in the year in the 100s, like 136 A.D. and 181 A.D. It’s not until 274 A.D. that the Roman Emperor Aurelian introduces the imperial cult of Sol Invictus and chooses December 25th. to celebrate this pagan day. And so it’s almost like Kwanzaa. It was a made up holiday to overlap this Christian holiday because Christianity was growing and the Romans were doing, you know, 10 major persecutions in that first three century trying to stomp out Christianity. And so it was almost like, hey, let’s pick this date to overlap this popular Christian. So instead of the Christians picking the pagan date, it was the pagans picking the Christian date. And, um, And then, another trivia, the Eastern Europeans celebrated January 6th, Epiphany, when the three wise men visited and Jesus was revealed to the world. But Western Europe celebrated December 25th, and they couldn’t decide which day was holier. So in 567 AD, at the Consulate Tours, they decided to make all 12 days from December 25th to January 6th the 12 days of Christmas. So it’s not the 12 days leading up to Christmas. It’s the 12 days between December 25th and January 6th. They call them holy days. And over the years, holy day got pronounced holiday. So when they say, don’t say Merry Christmas, say Happy Holidays. Well, holiday means holy day. And what are the holy days? It’s about the 12 days of Christmas.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, gosh. Bill Federer, this has been absolutely fascinating. And where can people find all your books? And because you’ve written over 30 and you’ve written some with your wife. And I did just get the encyclopedia of quotes that did come, which I’m great about. Great to have that. But where can people get more information about you?
SPEAKER 12 :
Well, thanks. My website is AmericanMinute.com. AmericanMinute.com. And the book we talked about today is called There Really Is a Santa Claus, The History of St. Nicholas and Christmas Holiday Traditions.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, well, Bill Fetter, I always learn so much. And there’s some real nuggets here that people are going to probably share around the Christmas table. And I’m glad to know that when you say happy holidays, that you’re actually saying happy holy day. So that’s good to know as well. So Bill Fetter, I wish you and yours a very blessed Christmas. I thank you for all the great work that you do. And we will talk again in the new year.
SPEAKER 12 :
I look forward to it. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
SPEAKER 05 :
And our quote for the end of the show, I went to Francis of Assisi because Bill had referenced him and he says this. He said, start by doing what’s necessary, then do what’s possible. And suddenly you are doing the impossible. So my friends today, be grateful, read great books, think good thoughts, listen to beautiful music, communicate and listen well, live honestly and authentically, strive for high ideals, and like Superman, stand for truth, justice, and the American way. My friends, you are not alone. God bless you. God bless America. Stay tuned for our number two.
SPEAKER 16 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
SPEAKER 11 :
It’s the Kim Monson Show, analyzing the most important stories.
SPEAKER 05 :
I find that it takes work to get your brain around these ideas, and it takes work to engage in these conversations.
SPEAKER 11 :
The latest in politics and world affairs.
SPEAKER 05 :
With what is happening down at the Statehouse, I used to think that it was above my pay grade to read the legislation, and it’s not.
SPEAKER 11 :
Today’s current opinions and ideas.
SPEAKER 05 :
I see big danger in as much as we will be giving an unelected bureaucrat the power to make rules about what we inject into our bodies.
SPEAKER 11 :
Is it freedom or is it force? Let’s have a conversation.
SPEAKER 05 :
And welcome to our number two of the Kim Monson Show. Thank you so much for joining us. You’re each treasure. You’re valued. You have purpose today. Strive for excellence. Take care of your heart, your soul, your mind and your body. My friends, we were made for this moment in history. And thank you. I get to work with a really amazing team. And that is producer Joe, Luke, Rachel, Zach, Echo, Charlie, Echo, Teresa, Mike, all the people at Crawford Broadcasting. And we are pre-recording the shows for this Christmas week. And special guests, special subjects, and so pleased to have on the line with me, Ben Martin. He’s a patriotic historian. He’s a graduate of West Point, former Army Ranger, and just so excited to have him on the line. So welcome, Ben Martin.
SPEAKER 09 :
Well, thank you very much, Kim. It’s great to be here with you just around Christmas time and talk about something that really happened around Christmas time. So looking forward to doing that.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, absolutely. So we are pre-recording. This will broadcast on Christmas Eve, which Christmas Eve is one of my most favorite days of the year because it celebrates the birth of our Savior. But there was a lot happening at the beginning of our country during this time. And George Washington, the general of the Continental Army, was making difficult decisions. So first of all, set this up regarding George Washington and this time of year.
SPEAKER 09 :
Good, Kim. Thank you. Today we’re going to talk about the New Jersey campaign, what was called the New Jersey campaign of 1776 and 1777, and the turning points in America’s Revolutionary War for Independence. During the study of this war, There are really important turning points that are obvious. Kim and I, talking to the audience, Kim and I have discussed many of these in detail in the past right here on her program. And they include America’s Army’s superb performance at Bunker Hill. I’m just going to list a few of these that hopefully you can relate to. And the second was the American use of bayonets at the Battle of Concord and the British retreat. General Knox is hauling the guns of Ticonderoga to Boston to oust the British there. Washington, Generals Washington and Glover miraculously evacuating the Army from Brooklyn during the Battle of Brooklyn Heights. And then the American victory at Battle of Saratoga. Ben Franklin’s persuading the French Army and Navy to join the American side. American Army’s America’s Army’s greatest performance at the Battle of Monmouth Courthouse. We’ll touch on that a little bit here. And then America’s victory, American victories in the south, the south part of the country at Kings Mountain and Calpins. Those were great turning points. Luckily, I visited both of those places. And the French Navy joining the Battle of Yorktown, which sealed the deal for us and actually was the end, the culminating battle of the war. So after much study and reflection over the years on our Revolutionary War, I have come to believe that the turning points we are to discuss today are as important as any of them. For in this situation, as in most of them, if Washington had not had the perseverance and leadership to turn the American forces at this time, the war could easily have been lost. And along with it, the Declaration of and all the good things that have come after that. So this turning point campaign that led Washington and the Army on a run for their lives chase down through New Jersey and across the Delaware River and into Pennsylvania is one of those great founding episodes of our remarkable founding history. And I hope that everybody can relate to this today. And this was a really tough time. Washington had so many challenges. and that he was doing, and he faced them all with great perseverance and great optimism that he was going to get through it, even though the situation seemed like that he wasn’t. So here was the situation facing Washington and America. After their great victories in Boston and Charleston, that both happened during this time just preceded this campaign, they came to New York City to face the largest contingent of Army and Navy forces ever to land on the American shore. The British soldiers and sailors numbered over 40,000 men and hundreds of warships and transports. The battles in the New York campaign were the largest of the whole war. Without going into detail, the Americans unfortunately lost almost every battle. This included many men that were wounded, captured, or killed, along with prodigious amounts of cannon, weapons, ammunition, supplies, and provisions. Such catastrophic losses could easily crush the spirit of most seasoned commanders, but General Washington remained focused on his mission, what he called the glorious cause, the war, and protecting the Army and those soldiers with whom he was charged. His attentions were keenly focused on those missions and on the upcoming chase through New Jersey. To add to this dilemma facing Washington, during this critical time, he would be undermined and betrayed by two of his highest-ranking generals and his personal aide.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow.
SPEAKER 09 :
And so we had all these things to do, and then he was being undermined and betrayed really close at hand. And as early as October, Washington had shown confidence. by working with Nathaniel Green, who in time would prove to be his most capable subordinate commander. He established supply points along the most likely route of withdrawal through New Jersey, and this would benefit and prove to be a critical benefit to the American Army as it stayed ahead of the British and Hessian forces that were pursuing them. The Patriot soldiers may have been without shoes and winter clothing during this chase, but they were relatively well-fed. So still Washington persevered and stayed focused on the mission. An important action Washington took, another important action before heading south into New Jersey, was to hold a meeting with his senior generals on 7 November 1776 to provide a plan for the unexpected British chasing them through New Jersey. Washington had already established an extensive and reliable intelligence network to keep informed of British movement and plans. From these sources, he knew that despite the British threat to the New England states, which the New England states, of course, were very interested in, and the Hudson River, the biggest concern is a probable British attack south through New Jersey to capture the nascent American government and the capital city, the then capital city of Philadelphia. So the American plan was that Washington divided the army into four parts. He assigned the largest part to General Lee, approximately 77,000 troops, to prevent the British from going north and controlling the Hudson River and cutting off the New England states from the rest of America. In giving Lee, General Lee, the largest part of the army… Washington told him to stay in close contact with him and to be ready to bring your portion of the army south to support me if the British move south and chase me through New Jersey. That was really critical. He gave him more troops than Washington was commanding at the time so that he could do the same thing, come down and attack the British from the rear if they attacked him. So that was really important to him. I’m giving you the most troops but you need to be able to be in close contact with me and support me. So the second group, or second of the four, he gave 3,000 troops to General William Heath to protect the Hudson Highlands from the British control. The Highlands are the southern part of the Hudson River. West Point is part of that. And then for the third one, he assigned eight regiments, approximately 3,200 troops, to General William Alexander, sometimes called Lord Sterling, and approximately 1,200 troops to Colonel Edward Hand to protect the northern New Jersey coast from the British attacks from the sea. It would cut the Americans off, and they stopped them from coming ashore so that they could not prevent the British troops that they could prevent the British from outflanking the American forces and coming between them and protecting Philadelphia and Congress.
SPEAKER 05 :
So, Ben Martin, let’s take a break right here. I’m talking with patriotic historian Ben Martin regarding George Washington and two key turning points that happened right around this time of year in 1776. And we have these important discussions because we have amazing sponsors who strive for excellence. And we are pre-recording these shows for Christmas week and pleased to be talking with a great friend, great sponsor. That’s Karen Levine. And it’s great to have you here. And Christmas, I know it’s one of your favorite times of year, isn’t it?
SPEAKER 06 :
It is. If we roll the clock back four decades or so, I was in retail management. And this is my favorite time of year to be in retail. People are kind of cranky. And my job was that they would leave with a smile. And I think I was pretty successful. I bet you were. And so now it is December, and I’ve been in the real estate business almost four decades. That’s hard. Which is hard to believe. And the real estate market in 2025 has been challenging. But I have a half a dozen buyers and sellers who will be in their new homes for the holidays or by the new year. And they have been able to… reach their dreams because the market has afforded them opportunity, and it’s exciting to see that they can make these changes.
SPEAKER 05 :
Going back four decades, and I also was in retail, that’s one of the places that you really learn how to work with people. I just recently I was someplace and I can’t remember what it was exactly, but whoever it was, they gave me a little something extra. I can’t remember. And he said, you’re the first nice person that I talked to today. And I thought, oh, that makes me so sad that people are so cranky. And even when I go out the building, I I’ll smile at people and they’ll smile back. And that’s one of the first things to start to do is, you know, to make people feel better.
SPEAKER 06 :
Exactly. And my first retail job was wrapping packages at May DNF, which is now Macy’s. And I would come home with bloody fingers, but a smile on my face because I took a little burden off of somebody that day and wrapped their packages so they didn’t have to when they got home. Hopefully you didn’t leave any. No, no blood on the packages. I had a lot of band-aids on my fingers. But no, those are really, really awesome memories. Yeah.
SPEAKER 05 :
And that is why, and we talk about government force all the time, that is why these forced minimum wages are bad. Because your first job was wrapping packages. My first job was at Daylight Donut and Chicken Inn. And we might not have gotten those first jobs, which was really a launching place for us to learn how to work with people. And so that’s why force, and we talk about it all the time, is if something’s a good idea, you shouldn’t have to force people to do it.
SPEAKER 06 :
Exactly. And I think what’s very sad is, as consumers, we go into businesses in hopes to be well-served. And these small businesses don’t have the bandwidth to hire enough employees to give that level of service, which then puts… their business at risk because of those minimum wage requirements are so high along with benefits that are required and I know in our real estate office you know how we’ve had to trim down as far as our support staffs and it’s created challenges and that means you have longer days you’re working more and that’s typically what happens with entrepreneurs is they take on more of the burden we do And it’s okay. It’s unfortunate some days. People think as an entrepreneur, self-employed person, you have a lot of freedom, which you do, but you also make yourself available to your clientele when they are available.
SPEAKER 05 :
And there’s a lot of responsibility that goes with that. So Christmas time, what are you doing?
SPEAKER 06 :
Well, we’re going to go visit our daughter and son-in-law in their new second home in Hilton Head, South Carolina. Nice. Yes. So we’re excited to do that. We haven’t seen it yet. And so we’ll go visit for a few days and spend some time with them for the holidays. And then I think some family is coming in for the new year to do a little celebrating. And so we’ll have some family visiting. Sounds good. I think it’s a full schedule, but I still have plenty of time for those who might want to look at a house for a new address in 2026. Okay. Or if you’re thinking, hey, I might need to get my home on that market, we can always start that conversation. And what’s that phone number? 303- 877-7516.
SPEAKER 05 :
Karen Levine, I appreciate your partnership and I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and prosperous 2026. And same to you, Miss Kim.
SPEAKER 04 :
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SPEAKER 15 :
There’s so much noise coming at us. Sometimes it is difficult to make sense of it all. How can you sift through the clamor for your attention and get to the truth? The Kim Monson Show is here to help. Kim searches for truth and clarity by examining issues through the lens of freedom versus force. Force vs. Freedom. Tune in to the Kim Monson Show each weekday, 6 to 8 a.m. with encores 1 to 2 p.m. and 10 to 11 p.m. on KLZ 560 AM, KLZ 100.7 FM. The KLZ website, the KLZ app, and Alexa. Play KLZ. Shows can also be found at KimMonson.com, Spotify, and iTunes.
SPEAKER 05 :
And welcome back to The Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMonson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter, and you can email me at Kim at KimMonson.com as well. And I want to say thank you to the Harris family, great sponsors of the show, bringing these great… voices to the air. I so appreciate them. And then also I wanted to mention the USMC Memorial Foundation. The Memorial for the Marines is right here in Colorado, 6th and Colfax. It was dedicated in 1977, so it’s time for a remodel. And I would really suggest before the end of the year, make a contribution at the USMC Memorial Foundation as they’re raising money for that remodel. It’s tax deductible, but it’s so important to honor Those that have given their lives, have been willing to give their lives for us, for our liberty. And so you can get more information by going to usmcmemorialfoundation.org. That is usmcmemorialfoundation.org. On the line with me is Ben Martin. He is… a patriotic historian, a former Army Ranger, a graduate from West Point. And Ben, before we went to break, you had explained that in 1776, November 1776, George Washington had taken his army and divided it into four parts with 7,000 to General Lee, 3,000 to General… Heath, was that 3,200?
SPEAKER 09 :
William Heath, right.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay, 3,200 to General Alexander and 1,200 to General Hand, correct? Right. Okay, so what happens then?
SPEAKER 09 :
So we have those four, and so just to quickly total those up for you, just to give you a concept here, there were like almost 19,000 troops there. that he portioned out to his other commanders, his subordinate commanders, so that they could protect other areas. And he took the least amount of troops. He took 5,500 of them to go down south, and he was going to be the bait. And this is the commander-in-chief. You know, with everything else going around, he’s the bait, and he wants these other generals to be able to support him if the British Army, which he believes, will follow him. They want to get rid of him. They want to kill him. They think he is the source of all of our strength, which is pretty much true in the Army. So it shows how selfless he was as a leader. He took the smallest amount, and he said, you guys support me. You take the big guys. You support me. They’ll come chasing me. So that’s what happens then and then. The Howe brothers, on the other side, they realized that weather was turning damp and cooler, the fall was coming in, and that the harsh American winters would soon arrive, too. So they had a big army and navy to protect during this wintertime, because in Europe, the European wars, they really didn’t fight during the wintertime. So they wanted these forces to be ready to assume the attack when the weather warmed again in 1777. And by early November, they devised a two-campaign plan to accomplish both these objectives, to take care of their army and to take care of their Navy. Now, the army was run by General William Howell, and his brother was Admiral Richard, they called him Black Dick Howell. because he was a pretty stern commander. And he would move his navy north to Rhode Island to control Newport and to use that warm, wet water port there to protect his fleet. And Howe would send this expedition for south to occupy the eastern counties of New Jersey and to take advantage of the rich farmland that was there that was unspoiled by the war at this time for food and forage. Additionally, they could use the small towns in New Jersey to shelter their troops. They believed this action could be accomplished quickly. They thought they could destroy the American army before winter. Since they thought that most of the beaten American army was north of New York City and could not respond, to any actions that were going to be done in the south. And Washington, like I said, he kind of thought of all this stuff, and he wanted to make them think that the army was going to stay north. But then as he went down and they chased him, then he expected the other commanders to send their armies down so that they got the British in kind of a squeeze box, you know, Washington in the south and the other forces in the north. And that would really surprise him and win the campaign. But he will be surprised. So the occupation, they thought, would drive the remaining continental army out of this area, the area of New Jersey, and give them a free path to get down to our capital in Philadelphia and to destroy, capture our government. So they estimated, the British, that these plans were good and would maintain the initiative And that’s always important with an army. You have to maintain the initiative. While providing a solid base to resume operations in 1777, if the American army survived the winter and another campaign was necessary. They didn’t kind of believe that would happen. They believed they would crush them all before the winter set in. To lead this campaign, General Howell chose General Cornwallis. Now, this is another thing about these generals here. You know, Hal makes all these big plans, but he doesn’t want to do them. He goes back to New York City to be with his concubine. He thinks he’s going to spend the winter warmly in New York City comfortably, and he’s going to send Cornwallis down there to take care of the heavy work. So then they start the race through New Jersey, and that’s where it starts. And by 10 November, Washington had crossed the Hudson River and was headed south. And he set up his first headquarters in Hackensack, New Jersey. General Cornwallis and his forces crossed in 20, 10 days later, 20 November, to first attack Fort Lee, which was on the New Jersey side of the Hudson River. But it had already been abandoned by Green, and he had taken most of the supplies out of there. Not all of them, but most of them. And that helped quite a bit. And then Washington sent a message to General Lee, the guy that had the most troops north, and he advised him to move his army expeditiously to join forces with him for support. Lee basically ignored Washington’s request at this critical time and sent excuses as to why he could not respond. This initiated a long-running series of disagreements and disappointments with General Lee. which eventually led to his insubordination and ultimately is captured by the British. So we’ll talk about that. So the chase through New Jersey started at the Hudson River on 20 November and extended to the Delaware River at Trenton, New Jersey, where Washington’s forces crossed. on 7 December. So this is, you know, about three weeks there. And during this chase, Washington repeatedly sent his aides and his subordinate commanders to Congress, along with various local leaders, to inform them of the status of his army and to request more troops and supplies. And on 28 November now, when Washington was at New Brunswick, which is north of Trenton by about maybe 50 miles, He magnanimously sent his sick and wounded soldiers east to be protected in the American base in Morristown. So he’s always thinking about his soldiers. That’s what a good commander does, not just himself, in the glory that he might get. So on 1 December, he ordered Colonel Richard Humptons with his 11th, Pennsylvania regiment to move to the Delaware River to collect and secure all the boats along the river for about a 75-mile stretch along the Hudson River, paying particular attention… The Hudson or the Delaware? The Hudson. I’m sorry, the Delaware. I’m sorry, you crossed it. Yeah, thank you very much for clearing that up. The Durham boats, which he actually used during… the crossing of the river.
SPEAKER 05 :
Okay. Let’s stop right there, Ben Martin. We’re talking about Washington and what was happening around Christmastime in 1776. And the show comes to you because of all of our amazing sponsors.
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SPEAKER 01 :
All Kim’s sponsors are in inclusive partnership with Kim and are not affiliated with or in partnership with KLZ or Crawford Broadcasting. If you would like to support the work of The Kim Monson Show and grow your business, contact Kim at her website, kimmonson.com. That’s Kim Monson, M-O-N-S-O-N dot com.
SPEAKER 05 :
And welcome back to the Kim Monson show. Be sure and check out our website. That is Kim Monson, M O N S O N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter and you can email me at Kim at Kim Monson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We’re an independent voice and we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through the lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you should not have to force people to do it. And for this Christmas week, we are a pre-recording some amazing guests and interviews and, uh, I’m talking with Ben Martin. He is a patriotic historian, a former Army Ranger, a West Point grad. We’re talking about Washington, George Washington, the Continental Army in November, December of 1776. And you said before we went to break that Washington had Colonel Hamptons on December 1 go to the Delaware River and try to secure all of the Durham boats. So what happens then?
SPEAKER 09 :
all the all all crap but he was especially looking for the durham boats because they were they were the they heavy lifters so he crawled that that was in he got down there the first of december and he started doing this and he not only tried to do it he did a great job there were there were no boats to be had along that river so when he got down to the during when he got down with his troops during the first week of december he meaning washington He crossed the river. He had all these boats lined up for him. They were all there, so they could cross pretty easily. And he delayed the following forces from the Brits by cutting down trees along the pathways, destroying bridges and things like that to delay the British coming down. So he made it down there pretty easily, crossed into the Pennsylvania side, across the river and that there was no there were no boats available anywhere for the british to to uh… come from across the river because so he was pretty safe on the other side of the river down around trenton new jersey then proof of the southern part of new jersey and he was on the other side of the delaware river the west side so uh… during this time the the american government was getting really worried so twelve december the congress As the enemy forces drew nearer to Philadelphia, they started abandoning, and they decided to grant Washington full power to order and direct all things relative to the operation of war for six months. And this is akin to what the ancient Romans did when they granted full power to a tyrant. for six months during these critical times of crisis, and most of the time it was caused by a military crisis. So on 12 December now, General Lee finally responds to Washington. Now, remember, Washington left the New York state and crossed the Hudson River around the 10th. of November. So this is a month that he’s been sending aides and messages to Lee to come to his support. And this is the first time Lee responded. So Lee finally responds to Washington’s directive and ordered his forces to join them. But Lee did not lead them to Washington. Instead, he directed Major General Sullivan, another great commander, to march them there the next morning. So that would be the 13th of December. At night, Lee left. Now, this is what Lee was. This is kind of scoundrel he was. Lee left his main body of troops. He took his aides and some security forces to spend the night three miles away from his troops at a tavern. Can you imagine that? During this critical time. And he wouldn’t even go and face Washington. And that next morning, on 13 December, his guards were killed or wounded, and Lee was captured by the British forces of dragoons. And guess who was leading those dragoons? This guy named Bannister Tarleton that you heard about before. He was called Bloody Ban, and he was the leader of the dragoons. So now I just want to tell you quickly, While he was captured for over a year, he was held by the British for over a year. And the thing that got him released, or one of the things that he did while he was captured, he gave the British forces a plan to defeat the American army.
SPEAKER 04 :
What a guy.
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, just a great guy. And he was Washington’s highest subordinate at the time. He was second in command. So on 14 December… Washington began holding war councils again with his generals to plan for a major stroke to the British forces. Now, the British are thinking he’s running from them. He doesn’t have any plans just to keep away from them. And Washington’s thinking the whole time, I’m going to win. So he was planning a major stroke to the British forces. to reestablish the spree and confidence among his army and the American citizens. So on 20 December, Major General Sullivan marched into Washington’s camp. Now this is 20 December, so that’s 40 days since Washington had gotten into New Jersey. And so he marched the Lee’s forces in. Not surprisingly, the number of men was great that he had. You know, he had had the largest part of the forces that would divide it. they were greatly reduced because of desertion. On 22 December, General Gates, his other betrayal artist there, subordinate, he arrived with 600 New England troops. And although Washington requested, this is another commander, he said Washington requested him to help lead the coming attack. And although Washington requested his help to lead this attack, Gates declined and hurried off to Congress. And you’ll find out throughout his career in the Revolutionary War, he kept trying to undermine Washington, too, and become the sink. So they were both trying to become the commander-in-chief. And so they were doing things to undermine him and cause him to be unsuccessful, to cause Washington to be unsuccessful. So can you imagine that? What kind of a leader, a general no less, would disregard his commander-in-chief’s request to take part in the critical battle and also leave his army to participate in that battle without him.
SPEAKER 10 :
Terrible.
SPEAKER 09 :
I mean, no responsibility whatsoever. So Washington’s response to all of this, you know, when you think, oh, he’s depressed, he can’t do anything and stuff like that, his response is, we’re going to win. So they fight the first battle of Trenton, and he uses his challenge and password, victory or death. That’s how important he thought this was, you know, to turn the whole scope of the war around. So they leave that night on 25 December. Now, Washington, with even greater resolve, called another council of war to continue planning the details of this attack. And the plan called for four separate American forces to cross the Delaware River on the night of Christmas night, the 25th of December, 1776. Two of these forces were to cross south of Trenton, and one was to cross right at Trenton, and all of these attacks were to support the main force, which was led by Washington, which was to cross nine miles north of Trenton and move the army on foot down to attack the Hessians at Trenton. And that’s another thing. The British didn’t have their forces there. They sent these mercenaries of the… German mercenaries down there to be out at these outposts. And the British were back to the north part of New Jersey and in New York City. And to underline the seriousness with Washington regarding this operation, he established those words, victory or death, to make every one of his soldiers understand how critical this was. So on the night of 25 December, He had planned for four crossings. A blizzard hit the area. Winds picked up. Temperatures dropped dramatically. Snowfall and sleet intensified. Invisibility decreased. And the river became choked with chunks of ice. Dangerous. That night, only one of the four forces successfully crossed the Delaware. Of course, it was a main force led by Washington. That meant that they would not have the tactical benefit of any supporting attacks. He was on his own with his guys. This marked the inauspicious beginning of Washington’s famous 10 days. However, there was a benefit to bad weather. The Hessians relaxed their security measures, confident that no American forces would be able to cross the Delaware in these conditions. With great difficulty, the Army slowly crossed there, the Delaware River, skillfully transported by a colonel. He was then a colonel, not a general yet. John Glover’s mariners from Marblehead. These were the same intrepid folks that miraculously transported the Continental Army safely across the East River on 29 August when they were bottled up in the Brooklyn Heights.
SPEAKER 10 :
Wow.
SPEAKER 09 :
He’s an amazing man. Once all these soldiers, horses, and cannon crossed the river, a lot of them in those Durham boats, they were organized into two groups. One was led by Major General Sullivan, who we’d spoken about before, leading the group on the right side down the river road. So they’re going from north to south, basically. And General Green, Nathaniel Green, leading the group on the left, and they were further inland. And they went down the Pennington Road, and many of the soldiers had no boots and shoes, as we talked about before. And their paths were marked by the bloody stains that were left in the snow. So Major General Green’s force arrived around 8 o’clock. Now, they were supposed to be there at 4 o’clock. But because it took so much time with all the chunks of ice, the dangerous river, and no visibility to get there, it took them a lot longer. So they got there at 8 o’clock. They were supposed to get there in darkness, but this was light. Now, luckily, the German troops were still, a lot of them were still in bed. So he arrived there, and the northern part of Trenton is a lot higher, and you go downhill to go south down to the rest of Trenton. So he was on the north end of Trenton, and he divided his force, Green’s force, into three columns to attack downhill into the town along King and Queen Streets. And the American artillery, a lot of which was being controlled by Hamilton, he put the artillery up on the top of the hill so he could fire down at the German forces, the Hessians. And so he was on the high ground so as to fire down. And then Major Sullivan’s forces came up. Now, they were on the right next to the river. So they came into Trenton but on the riverside. And so they went down so that they were on the right side of the town, as you’re looking from Washington’s position. And he positioned himself along that town near the river and working some forces into positions on the south side. So they went all the way around the town. to block any of the people trying, any of the Hessians trying to escape. And they secured the Assen Punk Bridge, which is in the south side of town, and along the Assen Punk Creek, and blocked the Hessians from escaping. And once the Americans initiated the fight, it took one hour for them to work the surprised Hessians into being surrounded and then surrendering. It was a complete victory for the Americans. They suffered only four kills and four wounded, while the Hessians suffered 20 kills, 80 injured, and 900 captured. And after the battle, although briefly considering continuing the operation to attack Princeton, Washington decided his army needed sleep and returned back to Pennsylvania, crossing the river again. And this time they used ferries, too. You know, they did. It was amazing. And then on 27 December, General Karl Walzer, you were talking about the Marines, said word that he had crossed Delaware onto the New Jersey side along with 1,800 men, including the Philadelphia Associators and two companies. And I’ve talked about this before with our Marine buddies. Two companies of newly formed Marines under the command of Major Samuel Nichols. This marked the first land battle for the newly formed Continental Marines.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh, my gosh. Let’s leave that as a cliffhanger then, Ben Martin. I’m talking with Ben Martin, patriotic historian, about George Washington and these critical 10 days in December of 1776. We’ll be right back.
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SPEAKER 05 :
Welcome back to The Kim Monson Show. Be sure and check out our website. That is KimMonson, M-O-N-S-O-N.com. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter, and you can email me at Kim at KimMonson.com as well. Thank you to all of you who support us. We’re an independent voice, and we search for truth and clarity by looking at these issues through this lens of freedom versus force, force versus freedom. If something’s a good idea, you shouldn’t have to force people to do it. I’m talking with Ben Martin. We’re pre-recording this for Christmas week. And, of course, we wish you a very Merry Christmas. And we’re talking about George Washington and this time frame in 1776. So you mentioned December 27. So where do we go from here?
SPEAKER 09 :
So they had come back across the river. Remember the battle for the first Battle of Trenton took place on the 25th and the 26th, over the 25th and 26th, crossing the river and doing that. And it was very successful. And Washington considered moving forward to battle the troops, the British troops that were at Princeton. But he didn’t do it under consideration for his troops that had spent the whole night crossing the river, marching nine or ten miles down to Trenton and fighting the battle. He said, okay, my guys are tired. I can’t consider them fighting another battle, marching all the way to Princeton. So I’m bringing them back across the river, back to a safe area so they can rest up. And so they were doing that. So on the 25th of December, he called another council meeting and talked to his commanders, his subordinate commanders, and they all said, yeah, we’re ready to go now. Let’s go. But at the end of November, that’s about a month since then, before then, Washington had lost over 2,000 soldiers because the term of their enlistments expired. So he was then scheduled to lose a like number at the end of December. So Washington sent a message to Robert Morris, who was considered the financier of the Revolutionary War. He was the richest man in America, and he lived in Philadelphia. He was a good friend of George Washington. So Washington just sent him a message down in Philadelphia, which is not that far away, to ask him to deliver $10,000 of silver coin to his Army position so that he could encourage the soldiers to stay in the Army for the Second Battle of Trenton and perhaps Princeton. Morris was a great patriot and the richest man in America, like I said. He, in a short period of time, he collected that silver and sent it down to Washington. And this collection, this large amount of money in that time, in the short time, delivered to Washington. And that kept the soldiers in the army for the next fight. So they crossed back over the river, the Delaware River, into Princeton, and they set up their defenses there. And they set him up on the south side across the Assunpunk Creek, which had one bridge that went from the town into the Assunpunk Creek. And that was a ridge line there on the south side. And that’s where he went in and he had some of his soldiers start making defensive positions there. And so he could continue the attack. But he knew that because he would occupy that and because he had already won that battle, that the bridge would be coming down from their positions in Princeton and north of that, too, with forces to try to defeat the Americans who were in the town. And so this was a great time. He had everything set up. Caldwell Walliter, that I told you before, with the Marines and General Milfin’s men, Thomas Milfin’s general, his men came in. And so now he had approximately 6,800 men with 30 cannons. So things were building back up again. So Washington conducted a council of war, and on 30 January and one- Or 30 January or 30 December. 30 December and one January. I’m sorry, I’ve got those two. Okay. To share intelligence and make plans for the coming thing. So he did all this stuff, and then he brought- These guys in that I was telling you about before called Wallader and those guys, and they had been in that area because they were from Philadelphia, so they were really close. And they had found these maps, and they were pretty familiar with the town, and they had found a way around the backside, or you would call it the south side, of Trenton, and to get to Princeton. So the paths were really muddy and wet, and they were like, okay, we’re not going to be able to get through this stuff. But Washington, being the farmer that he was, knew about the weather, knew that there was going to be a frost that night, a hard freeze, and that the mud and stuff would freeze, and they would be able to travel. So he had his soldiers fake that they were there, just like they did at Brooklyn Heights. They built big fires. They made lots of noise to sound like they were all there preparing their positions for the battle tomorrow. Howe, who had come down to lead the troops, and Cornwallis. Now, Howe sent Cornwallis down there. And he had this, you know, he was so arrogant. He said, well, hey, look, let them do what they want to do. He says, I’ll attack them in the morning. I’m not going to attack them at night. He had started attacking them, and the darkness fell. And they were in such a strong position, the Americans, that the bridge lost a lot of soldiers trying to cross the bridge. And so he said, we’ll do it in the morning, you know, when it’s light. And so while they were doing that and the fires were going on the American side, he started, he put towels and rags and stuff around the wheels, and he started moving around midnight. Well, no, around really about 10 o’clock. And by 4 o’clock in the morning, he had all his troops down, and they were headed, down or up to Princeton, and the British didn’t know anything about it. And the next morning, of course, they woke up, and there were no American troops there. So he had given them the slip again in the cover of darkness. It was just amazing in that he knew about what the weather was going to do and that it was going to freeze, and he planned for all this stuff. Just an amazing commander and a guy that really took care of his troops. And so they got there to Washington, and again, it was… Green on the left and Sullivan on the right. And they were headed towards that, and they were on a ridgeline. They could kind of see what was happening. They could see Princeton, and then they could see what was happening along the Princeton Road, which was to their east, to their left, as they were marching up. General Mercer, who was a really good friend, he was a Virginian, he was a doctor, he was a really good friend, he was a great commander, but he was also a really good friend, personal friend of George Washington. He takes off to the left to block the bridge that’s on the Princeton Road to take care of that so that any troops that are coming from Trimpton up to counterattack them or those coming down from the north, Princeton, he was going to block that bridge. So he starts moving up, but he’s in a valley, and he can’t see anything, and he doesn’t realize that the British have a big force up on the road, up higher than he is, and to his front, and he can’t see them, and he’s walking right into a trap. Washington and Sullivan, who are on a ridgeline headed to Princeton, turn around and see what’s happening, and so they turn the force around. Now, when Mercer has a really small force compared to the British force that’s on the road, Princeton Road, and he sees them, and they both start attacking each other. The British have their bayonets, and we don’t have bayonets yet, and so they start attacking them, and the bayonet is the most dangerous weapon at that time, and it’s scary, and so the Americans start breaking and running. So This is when Washington comes in, sees them, organizes the troops, and has them form a defensive line and start returning fire, not running away from them in haste. And they turn it around. And then Washington does this miraculous thing. He starts leading the force right at those British. And he gets within 30 yards of the British, and he’s between the Americans and forces and the British forces and he gives this command to fire he’s right in the middle of the fire but they ultimately prevail we’re just about out of time Ben so they prevail and he’s they’re miraculous he’s standing there unscathed like he was In the British War, during the French and Indian War, when he was unscathed and everybody else was killed. So, I mean, this just really inspires their confidence. And they go on and they just run over the British. They take, you know, Sullivan’s forces take Princeton. And then he has this one big decision to make. Am I going to go forward to the British, the big British force north of here that has, New Brunswick, that has all this money? From British money and all these British supplies, do I go after them and attack them with this force, or do I go to Morristown? Because my soldiers have been up again, and they’ve been fighting all night. They walked all night and marched all night quietly and everything like that. So he decides again, for the sake of his soldiers, to forego going to New Brunswick, and he goes to the safe area of Morristown. So that’s the kind of guy he is.
SPEAKER 05 :
Well, and so what’s our quote for the end of the show, Ben Martin?
SPEAKER 09 :
The quote for the end of the show was made by General Dave Palmer, who was my history professor at West Point and later became… the superintendent of West Point. And he said this, had Washington done nothing before or after those 10 days from 25 December 76 to 3 June, 3 January 77, he would still go down in history as one of history’s great ambassadors.
SPEAKER 05 :
Oh my gosh. Ben Martin, thank you so much. Merry Christmas to you and yours. And my friends, Merry Christmas to you and yours. And we wish you a very great day.
SPEAKER 19 :
We’ll fight for the right to live in freedom.
SPEAKER 16 :
The views and opinions expressed on KLZ 560 are those of the speaker, commentators, hosts, their guests, and callers. They are not necessarily the views and opinions of Crawford Broadcasting or KLZ management, employees, associates, or advertisers. KLZ 560 is a Crawford Broadcasting God and country station.
