To the Editor:

All elected officials in the state of Oregon, including sheriffs, take an oath of office to not only uphold the Constitution of the United States of America, but also the State of Oregon Constitution. In order for these people to uphold these supreme documents, it is a given that they must understand said documents.

Is it possible that these people have never read the documents in question let alone have any understanding of the contents? For instance, the repeated reference to this country being a democracy when the word is not mentioned in the U.S. Constitution. Article 4, section 4, of the Constitution states, The United States shall guarantee to every State in this Union a Republican Form of Government.

The preamble to the Oregon State Constitution states, Whereas the people of Oregon have framed, ratified and adopted a constitution of state government which is republican in form. Benjamin Franklin replied to a citizens query of What kind of government have you given us? with A Republic, if you can keep it.

Have we been indoctrinated to the point that we not only dont know the truth, but ridicule those who would stand up and say, This is not right nor lawful and the federal government does not have the authority to ride roughshod over us? The Constitution specifically limits the authority of the federal government.

Sheriff Glenn Palmer is a patriot who has taken a stand for our rights. He is not out to redefine or change the Constitution. He simply stated in his letter to the Forest Service that he did not believe it was in the best interests of citizens of Grant County to sign the cooperative agreement that gives the Forest Service law enforcement authority to act within the county.

Tad Houpt

John Day