Without Exception - America 2020

“A new command I give you. Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
-Jesus Christ
 
American Exceptionalism has never really been about our leaders.
It has been about our people.
No matter where you live in this country, you’ve seen it on display, and in this community, you’ve seen it chronicled in this newspaper over the course of your entire lifetime.
With the help of Leonard Cash we are trying to bring those stories to life on these pages again because our shared history serves as a reminder of who and what we are as a community. 
And that is important.
In the aftermath of the most contentious election in our lifetimes and the waning days of one the most challenging years the country has faced, we still know how exceptional we truly are when we come to together as a community because those stories tell us it is so.
Stories about the men and women who had the vision, courage and intelligence to build this community and personally invest in the institutions that have shaped it over the years.
Stories about native sons going off to war to defend this country and its people from external forces that would seek to destroy the ideals we hold dear, and stories about shared sorrow and outpourings of love when one of those sons was lost.
Stories about boys and girls who grew up here, and used the foundation of that upbringing to accomplish great things in all corners of the globe.
We have printed stories of American Exceptionalism in these pages every week - regardless of who is President of the United States - and the stories that have most defined this community as exceptional are those that have demonstrated the remarkable ability of the people of Weston County to come together when tragedy strikes or trouble looms.
When we have come together to fight devastating fires - both in our towns and out in the county - and rallied to support the victims and first responders, we didn’t do so because of our President or political party.
When we have come together to wrap a family in the embrace of an entire community after they have lost a child or other loved one unexpectedly, we didn’t care about who anybody voted for in the last election.
When we come together time and time again to collectively pool our money and other resources to ensure that there are groups and organizations to provide relief to those in our community who find themselves in need, we don’t hesitate to think that our giving may benefit somebody we disagree with.
Four years ago, more than half the country woke up the day after the election and thought the world had come to an end.
It didn’t.
And it certainly won’t end this time either because regardless of who wins the election, American Exceptionalism will overcome whatever divisiveness and challenges remain because that is what American Exceptionalism really is.
They say adversity doesn’t build character, it reveals it. The character of the American people - like the character of the people of Newcastle and thousands of other cities and towns across this country - has been displayed the most when it was needed the most.
It is difficult for those of us living through 2020 to imagine a time when American Exceptionalism was more needed, and as the year comes to an end, we pray our readers wake up this morning with the knowledge that it won’t come from our leader, regardless of who that is.
American Exceptionalism - that remarkable ability to overcome the most insurmountable obstacles and emerge stronger from those challenges - is within each one of us. 
Its power is truly unleashed when we unite behind nothing more than the love we have for this nation and our fellow Americans.
In a time of uncertainty, that is a simple truth.
And it is the truth that can finally set us free from 2020.