[Leander H. McNelley]

Dear Hoser1:

You ask "who said it was our duty" as civilians to overthrow an oppressive regime?

Well, Patrick Henry was the most vocal about it during ratification of the Constitution in Virginia.

However, you can look at the list of signators to the Declaration of Independence at the bottom of the document, and that list displays the names of many other men who did.

And, when later gathering to mold the Constitution itself, they placed in Article I, Section VIII, the burden of "enforcing the laws of the Union" upon the CITIZEN MILITIA, well over ONE HUNDRED years previous to the formation of a National Guard.

We have been charged with that duty by the Founders, in writing. There is no question about it.

But the question remains (as posed by Benjamin Franklin) if we have the will to "keep it."

With the public schools and colleges today being staffed mainly with "educators" who attended college in the 60's, being indoctrinated with every Anti-American, Pro-Marxist thought known to man, there is little wonder why few young Americans today even believe our Representative Republic system of government is worth the sacrifice to maintain it.

In fact many high school and college graduates today don't know what a Representative Republic is. Our schools have almost completely halted teaching the Constitution at all.