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I pray we as a nation will never come to this extremity but fear that an American Pinochet will ultimately have to put these people down in order that some semblance of republicanism (small "r") may survive.

Okay, now you are getting a bit scary on us. I hope you were only being rhetorical.

There is no way in hell I will ever support resorting to Chilean style killing squads taking out United States citizens because they do not take my political stand.

That is a recipe for the total distruction and ending of America as we know it. You do NOT want to open that Pandora's Box.

If we are too lazy or too stupid to have our ideals and our values win the political battles, then we do not deserve to be in power.

If our ideals and values are not strong enough or good enough to be accepted by the majority of people, then no amount of killing will ever keep them present.

What you have suggested goes against everything my father has ever taught me about what makes America great.

I intend no offense but respectfully submit that lower-case republicanism is no mere "political stand," it's a form of government. The only form of government worth having, really, we're in complete agreement on that, but one that these people will destroy in pursuit of their ideology, by fair means or foul, given half the chance. The "total destruction and ending of America as we know it" is precisely the goal of the Rachel Corries of the world.

One certainly hopes that ballots will ultimately suffice to contain this danger. However, there are times, as in Chile in 1973, when a nation's options dwindle to either bad or worse. When one has a sense of world history and considers leftists' totalitarian norms, contempt for law, and will to power, in conjunction with the general public's constitutional ignorance and apathy, it is not unreasonable to fear that Americans might eventually face the same choice as Chileans in 1973. If that day arrives, "no way in hell" and "never" won't cut it. The Constitution is not a suicide pact.

Please don't accept leftwing propaganda about Pinochet so easily. Leftists trash him for good reason for he was the only person to ever stop one of their revolutions cold, killing fewer than 3,000 people in the process, and ultimately restoring both a destroyed economy and a chastened people to constitutional government. No, it wasn't pretty, but those who do not obey democratic norms, though elected democratically, rightfully forfeit the civil protections democracy otherwise provides. Considering the only likely alternatives - civil war or party dictatorship, either of which would have cost far more lives - which would you have chosen? Just pray that we as a country never face a similar decision.