By Lawrence Zupan
John McClaughry would be deemed a national treasure if Vermont had not claimed him first. In the finest tradition of the founding fathers, John has been a tireless, diligent and consistent defender of the very cause of Liberty which has always been the raison d’etre for the very founding of our nation. He has displayed a detective’s nose for all of the ways and means that the haters of the uniquely American gestalt which has emerged from this central quest, have deployed in order to undermine that which Americans love.
What do I mean? If lovers of liberty treasure the right to keep what they earn, the haters tax it away; if lovers of liberty cherish the right to raise their children according to their own values, the haters seek to imprison the children in government schools with bureaucrats dictating to the parents; if lovers of liberty seek to build a business through work, love and imagination, the haters establish bulwarks of impediments, calling them “regulations”; if lovers of liberty esteem the natural resources on this earth as tools for building, you know, such things as trees, minerals, oil, the haters build an elaborate case for why they are either too sacred or too dangerous to let us use; if lovers of liberty say rights are inalienable due to their divine gifting, the haters say well actually, we are from the government and we are here to help you.
In each of these instances, John McClaughry has stuck his foot in the government’s door and said, not so fast. He reminds all who would hear as well as those with government issued earplugs that we are a Constitutional Republic wherein our rights as citizens are meant to be protected and preserved from such governmental usurpations, and oh, by the way, I have the documents here to prove it, says John: the U.S. Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
It has been said that an institution is but the lengthened shadow of a great man. In founding the Ethan Allen Institute, John established an edifice to promulgate the ideas for which he committed his life and career. In so doing, he attracted others, such as Rob Roper, Wendy Wilton, and Meg Hansen and many others to expand the reach of the formulae of freedom as an organization, in fulfilling its highest and best purposes, is meant to do. One can hope that the good work begun will continue.
I had the honor, as a newly arrived Vermonter in the eighties of hosting a fundraiser for John in his run for Governor. I was intrigued to see, having come from a big city, how much effect a person can have in a small state. John returned the favor when I ran for the U.S. Senate against the poster boy of failed statism, Bernie Sanders. Though neither of us one those political contests, I am confident that John, like myself, was grateful for the opportunity to express publicly and re-emphasize the glorious and central role which human liberty plays at the very core of the greatness of our nation. These are ideas which will survive and surpass an individual political contest, as long as we stand strong by voice and example and never, ever surrender.
For John McClaughry and his loving partner, Anne, I would like to add my voice of gratitude to a thankful chorus for your integrity, consistency, diligence and love of Liberty and for how you have manifested these in the service to our State of Vermont and to the United States of America. Though I am tempted to say, enjoy your retirement, I believe that the quill of a ready writer will not go silently into that dark night. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Author is a Realtor and former Republican candidate for US Senate.
Contribute to Vermont Daily Chronicle via Stripe.com – quick, easy, confidential