People in 15 states start petitions to secede from U.S.

[Witsec7]

Do these morons remember what happened the first time this was tried? Blockade, starvation, roughly 212,000 deaths, brother against brother, the state of the south after the war... should I go on?

The new states will no longer recognize the contemporary benefits of socialism, they will learn to deal without sewage treatment plants, the TVA, military bases with their infusions of $ into local economies. They're gonna go back to the good old days.

[valsa]

My state is on the new list. Hmmm....we are so close to Canada that if we secede, which I doubt will actually happen, I hope we get absorbed by Canada. I've visited there a boatload of times and really like it. Plus, hey, free health care!

My state is in the same position and... I gotta admit... that's really, really tempting.

[Fargood]

North Dakota can secede though, no one likes them anyway

What's with all the hate towards North Dakota on this board? We're just a bunch of Norwegians trying to make lefse and eat green jello at the Lutheran church social every week.

[J'ean Skirt]

Is this the place I sheepishly admit that I've often thought that CA leaving the US would be good for California but not the US? I mean we were the world's 5th largest economy (I think we're down to 7th now), we have lots of coast and 2 of the large western ports. Yeah, we could manage.

But I always treated it as a "not gonna happen" day dream. Not like actually petitioning to leave.

The amount of pouty going on is, I think, way worse than 2004. I mean, I was pouty, and sad. But more because it was clear the bulk of US voters didn't agree with me about Bush and the direction of the country. And because I was tired of being called a traitor for not worshiping the ground that W walked on. But I didn't think Kerry was a viable candidate, so I wasn't that surprised. Romney was about as weak as Kerry was.

[Naga Viper]

^This. Even someone as apolitical as I am was laughing when Romney came out of the primaries because I could tell he was gonna be the Republicans' Kerry and this would be their 2004. Lo and behold.

I've been wondering too how California would fare if it seceded; it's not twenty years ago or even ten years ago, plus there's the NorCal/SoCal thing, but we're still somewhat relevant in the global market, right?

[smittykins]

^This. Even someone as apolitical as I am was laughing when Romney came out of the primaries because I could tell he was gonna be the Republicans' Kerry and this would be their 2004.

All I could think of was that this was the son of one of the founders of American Motors, the company which gave us the Gremlin and the Pacer. :lol: :lol:

[Sumeri]

What's with all the hate towards North Dakota on this board? We're just a bunch of Norwegians trying to make lefse and eat green jello at the Lutheran church social every week.

No hate for North Dakota itself here. Like I said, I lived there for a great portion of my adult life. What I do hate is the fact that the Cenex in the town where I got married is full of campers because people don't have a place to live, the not-so-subtle remarks about my biracial family, the meth labs (like you mentioned) , the fact that my 95 year old aunt was booted out of her apartment because they could charge someone else three times the rent that she was paying, and a lot of various and sundry sexism that goes along with an oil boom. And I really hate the rumors of drilling in Theodore Roosevelt State park.

So maybe it does sound like I hate North Dakota :lol: . I don't, really. Just hate what's happened there.

[RosyDaisy]

It's now up to 30 states now: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/1 ... 20410.html

[Sumeri]

well, damn. South Dakota too.

[Trynn]

What if all FIFTY states petition to secede? Then what happens?

[Witsec7]

What if all FIFTY states petition to secede? Then what happens?

Nothing.

[Levon]

I just clicked on my state's petition, and 90% of the signatures are from out-of-state signers. I don't know whether to be offended or proud.

[B5SnowDog]

What if all FIFTY states petition to secede? Then what happens?

Jack shit. These petitions have absolutely zero power. It takes more than slactivism to actually secede.

[Megan]

Counter petition from Austin, TX to remain in the union:

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petiti ... s/TDD212hQ

[JeanneD]

Such a temper tantrum. This is the epitome of cutting of one's nose to spite one's face. Most of the mentioned states can barely function as is, let alone internationally. Ridiculous !

[TeaELSee]

As usual "the patriots" are the least patriotic. Anyone that gave Bush the side-eye was unpatrotic! This reporter gave Kentucky a dose of reality.

http://www.wfpl.org/post/what-would-happen-if-kentucky-really-did-secede

[Arete]

The lack of rudimentary economic education showing in a lot of those comments is nothing short of breathtaking. It seems they didn't get far enough in school to read about the fact that natural resources alone do not create wealth. In fact, the wealthiest parts of the world (in terms of GDP) are much more natural resource poor than places like Nigeria, Iran, and the Congo. You need an educated and productive population to create and maintain wealth, not sharcroppers and oil field workers. Thankfully some people on that site pointed out that the only thing cash crops and no regulation would get Kentucky is environmental disaster to go with the ones caused by the mining companies.

A little less Bible and a little more Calculus is in order here. Not to mention Adam Smith*.

*May JFC forgive me.

[TeaELSee]

Nothing is black and white, no state is all blue or red. However..I found the theory Blue States support Red States interesting.

This article appears to be even handed and thoughtful. Disclaimer: I am liberal therefore my idea of even handed and thoughtful are skewed.

How Blue America Subsidizes Red America

http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2012/02/14/how_blue_america_subsidizes_red_america.html

[Guest Anonymous]

I propose that we keep the states but kick the petitioners out. If nothing else, the country's collective IQ will rise by 40 to 70 points.

[shrewlu]

These are wingnuts, goddess knows we've got a shit pot full here in Boregonia, and their pissed their QF candidate Art Robinson didn't defeat a liberal Dem. senator. For what it's worth I'm keeping my zip code here and my Boregonian address.

lol Art Robinson is a huge wingnut. I was sad that I didn't get to vote against him because I'm in the other district. That didn't stop him (or his supporters) from putting giant signs with his creepy mug on them near a busy intersection in town. I'm so glad he lost.

No. No. No. I did not move all the way to the Rogue Valley just so you people could put me back in the same state as my mother.

People have been proposing that southern Oregon and northern California both split off and form their own state since the 1940's. If we're going to be monkeying with the map anyway then why the hell not. Either that or just split it right up the Cascades. I'm with experiencedd on that one.

Long live the state of Jefferson!!!

As a fellow southern Oregonian, I don't want to live in California either! Indeed, split it right up the Cascades.

[hellishfairy]

..... Oregon? Seriously? Must be those assholes down in Grant's Pass and Medford. They want to be able to marry their sisters again... Good luck getting 25,000 signatures here though - Springfiel/Eugene and Portland will laugh in your face!

[Shina]

hellishfairy, you are full of win. And now I have to explain to my coworkers why I'm laughing hysterically at the Internet. Damn...

[RoRo]

Quoted from a facebook "friend."

"So Texas has enough signatures to succeed from the nation. SC Arizona Arkansas and Oklahoma are only a few signatures from having the legal number lmfao the South will rise again."

I fed the troll. I just couldn't resist.

:twisted:

[Nothing2CHere]

Oh goody. Ohio is on the list now! Can we just split it in half around the Columbus area, and give that bottom half to Kentucky or something? Or do I need to get my raft ready to sail across Lake Erie to the safe haven of Canada. Who in Canada wants to sponsor my immigration?

What someone said about comparing what's going on now to 2004 - yeah, I don't remember this level of hysteria back then, either. When liberal candidates are defeated, the liberals seem to say, "OK, time to move to another country!" Translation = The crazy is getting too deep, let's get out while the getting is good and move somewhere more sane, we'll leave the crazies to themselves. When conservative candidates are defeated, instead it's "Let's secede!" Translation = Let's try to destroy the very country we claim to want to thrive! We can't just leave peacefully and leave those tree-hugging socialist communist Marxists to themselves!

:roll:

[PokaDot]

So, is "we're gonna secede" the new "i'm moving to Canada"? It's pretty much the only way they can get a 1st world non-socialistic theocracy. I recommend building a nice island just off the coast of FL (hurricane target), anyone who wants a Christian theocracy where there is no government (except for the church), and enough guns to take down the Death Star can move there and leave the rest of us the hell alone.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but the 25k signatures is only for the petition to be addressed by the president (as part of this website), not the actual procedure (is there even one?), right?