To the Editor:

Next Friday, Jan. 15, is Lee-Jackson Day in Virginia. It is an important day to remember two of the most significant citizens the state has produced. These two Virginians put their life on the line to defend the Jeffersonian principles of America which relate to a decentralized government and local self-rule (states’ rights).

We know that this nation started with such tradition being a collection of volunteering sovereign states committed to a union with limited powers. As a result of the War Between the States in which these two men fought, we lost the core of our founding principles and laid the groundwork for the behemoth we have today. This behemoth consists of an over-powering centralized government that has its hands in everything we do and local rule is cast aside by a single federally appointed judge.

Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. (“Stonewall”) Jackson not only said that this was not the American way, but they fought to preserve our founding tradition. The government behemoth we have today has created a morally weak society, and we would do well to have such men as Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson with us today.

Jonathan E. Varnell
Franklin, Virginia