If you could not get tickets to the 603 Alliance James O’Keefe Luncheon last week or just wanted to wait for “the movie,” you missed out. That’s okay, so did I – work. But I was asked to write a few words to honor Ed Naile and John Irish for the program.
We lost both Ed and John this past year, and both men worked diligently to push back against government intrusions.
Diane said, can you write a few words, and I said yes. I can also write “lots of words,” but the space called for fewer, so here they are.
In the battle for liberty, those soldiers who toiled regardless of merit or reward are often the ones most sorely missed.
Their presence, the drive to expose even the prettiest of tyrannies, and a commitment to the pursuit of liberty and true justice inspire others to keep up the fight even in the face of defeat—happy warriors undeterred by the direction of the troubled waters in which we find ourselves.
So, what happens when the world has taken them from us and with it their energy and dedication?
The answer to the question is not what will we do without them, but what would they do if we were gone? They’d pick up our banner and look for the next opportunity to inspire others.
Ed Naile and John Irish had different roles but worked the same way toward the same goal. A sentiment best expressed by Thomas Paine in The American Crisis No. 1
The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.
Ed and John were in it for the long haul, come what may. And they woke up, maybe not every morning but most, with an idea about how they could help, what it would require of them, and they did that.
We cannot replace them; we can only succeed them. And not like them but in their spirit, because the battle against tyranny is eternal, as is the desire for liberty but tyranny never rests, so – like them – neither shall we.