“Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.” —Benjamin Franklin (1772)

What an amazing year just passed, and the one ahead more so! I may be the last person wishing you a Happy New Year, but know this: I mean it from the heart!

It is fitting, with humility, that our 30th year advancing our mission “to support and defend” Freedom would fall on our nation’s 250th year in the eternal battle required to sustain American Liberty and extend it to the next generation.

It did not occur to me on Constitution Day, 17 September 1996, when we launched The Patriot Post, that our 30th anniversary would coincide with such a magnificent moment in American history. Frankly, I was not sure in 1996 that this new and untried venture would make it through 1997.

At that time, Rush Limbaugh was leading the conservative entry into talk radio, and Fox News was charting new territory for a conservative perspective on cable television, but Liberty had yet to find its voice on the internet.

From our 1996 inception publishing on this wholly untested medium called “The Internet,” it was with encouragement from conservative protagonists like William F. Buckley, The Heritage Foundation’s Ed Feulner, and our National Advisory Committee that The Patriot Post issued our first edition — then a weekly digest of news, policy, and opinion.

Central to our mission was dislodging the chokehold the Leftmedia had (and to a lesser degree still has) on public opinion. We made it through that first year, and our influence was getting noticed. Harvard Political Review wrote that we were “leading a surprisingly well-organized charge into the world of Internet politics.” And today, as the oldest Web-based publication, we continue to lead that charge.

Our team, now much more substantial than it was when this entrepreneur was handling research, editorial, and publishing operations by myself, has been steadfast in our mission to sustain the endowment of American Liberty in this generation and the next: first, by advocating for individual rights and responsibilities; second, by supporting the restoration of constitutional limits on government and the judiciary; and third, by promoting free enterprise, national defense, and traditional American values, as outlined in our Statement of Principles.

Today, our Patriot Post management team, writers and editors, and staff are charging into 2026 with all guns blazing!

We could not start the day without YOU, our supporters and readers, who have sustained this First Amendment exercise from day one.

This past year, we have already celebrated some notable 250th anniversaries in advance of the most remarkable of them to come.

In the spring of 1775, civil discontent with British royal rulers was growing, and American Patriots in the oppressed colonies were preparing to cast off their masters. On 23 March, we observed the 250th anniversary of Patrick Henry’s impassioned “Give me Liberty or give me death” speech, which captured the spirit of the coming American Revolution.

The anniversary of the first Patriots’ Day was 19 April. The battles of Lexington and Concord, on which our quest for Liberty was launched, were among the 10 most critical engagements of the Revolutionary War. That opening salvo 250 years ago was immortalized by poet Ralph Waldo Emerson as “The Shot Heard Round the World.”

On 14 June 1775, the Continental Congress directed “six companies of expert riflemen be immediately raised in Pennsylvania, two in Maryland, and two in Virginia,” establishing the Continental Army, now the U.S. Army. The next day, George Washington was appointed its Commander.

13 October was the 250th anniversary of the founding of our Navy, when the Continental Congress authorized the arming of two sailing vessels with 80 men and 10 carriage guns in order to intercept British supply and munitions transports.

10 November was the 250th anniversary of the Marine Corps founding, when the Second Continental Congress resolved to create two battalions of Continental Marines to pursue the War of Independence against the British royals.

And on 11 November, we observed the anniversary of Veterans Day — though not a 250th anniversary, our nation has honored Veterans since the Revolutionary War. They are the inspiration for our weekly Profiles of Valor.

At the dawn of the American Revolution 250 years ago, Samuel Adams, a leader of Boston’s Sons of Liberty, wrote of those who did not join the fight: “If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude than the animating contest of freedom, go from us in peace. May your chains sit lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen!”

Why would so many in that first generation of American Patriots forgo “the tranquility of servitude” for “the animating contest of freedom”?

The answer defined the timeless spirit of American Patriotism then, just as it defines the spirit of American Patriots today. We are the beneficiaries of generations who pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor “to support and defend” Liberty, and we owe them a great debt of gratitude as we extend that blessing to the next generation.

We are devoted to a cause much larger than our own self-interest.

In the eternal words of George Washington on the defense of American Liberty, “Our cause is noble; it is the cause of mankind!”

In this 250th year of our nation’s founding, I offer some inspirational words on resolutions from three of my favorite Founders.

George Washington: “Labor to keep alive in your breast that little spark of celestial fire called conscience. … Do not conceive that fine Clothes make fine Men, any more than fine feathers make fine Birds. A plain genteel dress is more admired and obtains more credit than lace and embroidery in the Eyes of the judicious and sensible. … Be courteous to all, but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence; true friendship is a plant of slow growth, and must undergo and withstand the shocks and adversity before it is entitled to the appellation. … Your love of Liberty — your respect for the laws — your habits of industry — and your practice of the moral and religious obligations, are the strongest claims to national and individual happiness. … We should never despair, our Situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth new Exertions and proportion our Efforts to the exigency of the times. … The name of American, which belongs to you, in your national capacity, must always exalt the just pride of Patriotism, more than any appellation derived from local discriminations.”

Thomas Jefferson: “Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time, who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done, if we are always doing. … It is of great importance to set a resolution, not to be shaken, never to tell an untruth. There is no vice so mean, so pitiful, so contemptible; and he who permits himself to tell a lie once, finds it much easier to do it a second and a third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells lies without attending to it, and truths without the world’s believing him. This falsehood of the tongue leads to that of the heart, and in time depraves all its good disposition. … It is a happy circumstance in human affairs that evils which are not cured in one way will cure themselves in some other. … Adore God. Reverence and cherish your parents. Love your neighbor as yourself, and your country more than yourself. Be just. Be true. Murmur not at the ways of Providence.”

Benjamin Franklin: “Have you something to do tomorrow; do it to-day. … Strive to be the greatest man in your country, and you may be disappointed. Strive to be the best and you may succeed: he may well win the race that runs by himself. … A Spoonful of Honey will catch more Flies than a Gallon of Vinegar. … Sloth, like Rust, consumes faster than Labour wears; while the used Key is always bright. … Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time; for that’s the stuff life is made of. … Early to bed, early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise. … Wish not so much to live long as to live well.”

Additionally, here’s some inspiration from Ronald Reagan, the man who lifted me, when a young college student, from the liberal abyss to devote my adult life to American Liberty: “Live each day to the fullest. Live each day with enthusiasm, optimism, and hope. If you do, I am convinced that your contribution to this wonderful experiment we call America will be profound.”

As for our 30th year, freedom of speech and the press are vital to sustaining Liberty.

In 1839, English novelist Edward Lytton wrote, “The pen is mightier than the sword,” the implication being that written words have influenced history more than warfare. But long before Lytton’s era, another author (circa 65 AD) wrote about the power of words in a book our Founders relied most heavily upon — words that guide what we do every day: “For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword…” (Hebrews 4:12)

Fellow Patriots, I humbly ask your prayers for our team and mission — that we would seed and encourage the spirit of Liberty in the hearts and minds of our countrymen. Join us in prayer for our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families, and for our nation, that good and righteous leaders would rise and prevail so division would be healed and we would be united as Americans.

God bless and keep you every day of this New Year!

Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Pro Deo et Libertate — 1776

Follow Mark Alexander on X/Twitter.

Comment | Share

---

Please join us in praying for our Creator’s blessing upon our nation — that righteous leaders would rise and prevail so we could be united as Americans. Pray for the protection of and provision for our Military Patriots, Veterans, First Responders, and their families. Lift up your Patriot Post team and our mission to support and defend our legacy of American Liberty, that we would ignite the fires of freedom in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.

Thank you for supporting our nation’s premier online journal of Liberty.