Vandalizing American history

A picture has been festering in my patriotic sense of values ever since the first day I opened my May, 2001 copy of Smithsonian magazine and found it on the inside back cover.

An advertisement for Encompass Insurance depicts the famous scene of Washington Crossing the Delaware -- with the patriots encumbered by a load of modern gadgets. The tag line is "A Declaration of Independence for your stuff.... Liberty, Justice, and really good insurance."

That mural, "Washington Crossing the Delaware," by German-born Emanuel Leutze, is one the most famous paintings depicting our Revolutionary war with Britain. The original hangs in the Thomas Paine Memorial at Washington Crossing Historic Park in Pennsylvania, and it's an awesome work -- over 21 feet long.

In this "anything goes" society of today it appears some people think they can truly "get away with anything," even the denigration of General Washington and the history of our freedom.

Encompass Insurance, a subsidiary of Allstate Insurance, has seen fit to slander the memory of our first President with their advertising nonsense, and in my opinion, our Declaration of Independence as well.

For the sake of income (or just not caring) it appears that the Smithsonian blithely went along with it. If I didn't value my subscription to the Smithsonian magazine, I'd cancel it immediately, but it's a highly regarded part of my home, and has been for many, many years.

If some miscreant walked into the Paine Memorial and vandalized Leutze's painting with a spray can all hell would break loose. It would be a nationwide, front-page story and national TV news would probably hype it for a week.

Yet, Corporate America got away with wanton vandalism without so much as a slap on the wrist.

In fact, I have a hunch the advertising firm that came up with up that inanity thought they were pretty clever. Maybe Allstate even paid them a bonus for disfiguring America's finest art.

Smithsonian magazine probably did well financially by running the advertisement, but I wish the editors and advertising staff would be more mindful of what they place in a magazine that mirrors the greatness of America's treasures.

About two years ago Gibson Greeting Cards vandalized the same grand painting and had General Washington dressed in drag, with a trite greeting on the card. I blew my stack over that one too and got the Daughters (and Sons) of the American Revolution on them.

General Washington gambled it all when he took his little Continental Army -- dressed in tatters -- across the ice-choked Delaware on that Christmas Eve of 1776 in a blinding snowstorm. His troops were not trained, most of them raw recruits, which made his chances of victory less than good.

But the Continental Army needed a victory. For months General Howe had been pounding them with his overwhelming, well-trained army. General Washington's bold plan was America's last chance to win freedom.

The crossing took over nine hours in freezing wind, crushing ice, and temperatures that left everyone chilled to the bone. But General Washington pushed his men and promised them victory. British General Howe had sent most of his troops earlier to fight in the battle for New York, and Washington knew the garrison at Trenton was small and vulnerable to a surprise attack.

At the moment when the Continental Army was about to force its way into Trenton a captain in the front line discovered that snow and hail had saturated the handkerchief keeping priming powder dry on his firearm. When the news was sent to General Washington he responded: "Then use the bayonet and penetrate into town. For the town must be taken and I am resolved to take it!"

That brief moment in our history -- a crossing that took nine hours, and a battle that was won in 45 minutes -- took America on to win the Revolution and set our Declaration of Independence into motion that guaranteed our freedom -- but with that freedom comes awesome responsibilities.

How an American company could disfigure that historical moment in American history is difficult for me to understand.