Dear Editor: The best thing that can be said by any type of government is that it is a "necessary evil." The founding fathers apparently shared this opinion because when the federal government was formed it was split into three departments - the judicial, the legislative and the executive branches. The purpose was to create "checks and balances" so that the government would not get too big and usurp state rights.

We could certainly use some "checks and balances" today because the present administration is ruling by executive order and appointing czars to run the departments instead of going before the senate for their approval. All of this is to side-step the Constitution, as we know it. If Barak Obama is elected for four more years, it may be too late since our free enterprise system will be destroyed and more people will be economically worse off than today.

There has been no successful Communist regime in history. They have all failed and have caused millions of people to die and millions more have been murdered.
The father of Communism is Karl Marx, a German social philosopher. However, Communism thrived in Russia under Lenin who seized power in Russia and ruled until his death in 1924. His goal was destruction of free enterprise and the creation of a classless society. Under Lenin's regime, millions of people starved and were murdered. The same thing happened when Joseph Stalin rose to power. Stalin ruled Russia during the Second World War and was more brutal than Hitler.

Here's the reason that I hate Communism. It is because the Communist North Koreans invaded South Korea in June 1950. I served in Korea for approximately one year. I was in the First Marine Corps Transport Helicopter Squadron. We landed in Pohang Harbor on the Korean coast. I then traveled up the east coast to our northern echelon which was right behind the front lines. On the way up, practically everything had been destroyed and the Korean civilian population was desperate. Children were missing limbs and some of them had no parents or if they did, they did not know where they were. The Korean children greeted us with "Welcome Marines" and also "Marine, do you have a chocolate?"

In April of 1952, we were transferred to the west to guard Seoul. There the civilians we encountered were in worse shape than I had witnessed earlier. "What was responsible for inflicting all this death, starvation and destruction on innocent civilians?"

Communism.

The Republicans received a mandate to return to our system of government under the Constitution and with the help of all freedom-loving people, we can return to our rightful place in history, without having to apologize to groups that would like to see America destroyed. So let's get to work and return sanity to Washington.

As Sen. Bob Dole often said, "The Republican Party is a large tent and we invite anyone that believes in the principles of the Republican Party to join us."

Charles D. Strickland
Covington