20 States File Petition to Secede From the Union...

[jtmal0723]

What is wrong with people these days... Symbolic or not, people wanting to secede from the US should just not be here to begin with...... http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/secission-petitions-filed-20-states-190210006.html

[Charismatic Applesauce]

Excerpt of a quote within the article:

We must contest every single inch of ground and delay the baby-murdering, tax-raising socialists at every opportunity.…

Seriously? This is just appaling.

I don't want to start a political flame war, but I have no words for this…

[TampaMillTWC88]

It is not the majority (thankfully), but there is a large segment of America who just have never accepted the fact that we have an African-American president. And many of them never will, unfortunately. We never heard anything about states wanting to secede, and all of this birther stuff, and other outrageous allegations, until Barack Hussein Obama became the 44th President of the United States. But people like this somehow have not learned their lesson from election night -- the vast majority of Americans are not going to accept blatant lying, racism, sexism, homophobia, and classism from politicians.

[phw115wvwx]

Folks, can we please all calm down?  These are just mere threats and nothing more.  All it comes down to is a simple human fact:  People don't know how to get along with each other.  Almost all of the world's problems will vanish if everyone realizes that we can all coexist with respect.  Maybe these things ought to be taught in school and work more.  Our country is way too polarized, and I really wish everyone would stop and look at the bigger picture in life.

[Localonthe8s]

I think it's dumb. NJ will no way secede even if they get enough signatures. I just can't see it happening with enough troubles in our state

[toxictwister00]

I didn't know Civil War 2 started up this week, I must have been in a deep sleep post Election Night.

I was gonna post about this yesterday, but the thought of all of this is not only laughable, but it's quite pathetic and embarrassing and if these people signing petitions to secede in these states had ANY dignity, they would stop now.

It is not the majority (thankfully), but there is a large segment of America who just have never accepted the fact that we have an African-American president. And many of them never will, unfortunately. We never heard anything about states wanting to secede, and all of this birther stuff, and other outrageous allegations, until Barack Hussein Obama became the 44th President of the United States. But people like this somehow have not learned their lesson from election night -- the vast majority of Americans are not going to accept blatant lying, racism, sexism, homophobia, and classism from politicians.

Thank God they are a minority! I have never seen so much animosity and hatred to see a President fail at every opportunity imaginable and this situation being another one of them of about a thousand the past 4 years.  You got unbelievably, amazing idiots like Trump still igniting the birther movement and saying the election was rigged and we should march to Washington to protest and John Sununu calling the President lazy and should learn how to be more "American". I'm glad the majority of us use common sense and know how to THINK before we SPEAK something these two obviously lack the simple abilities to do.

[twcclassics]

It is not the majority (thankfully), but there is a large segment of America who just have never accepted the fact that we have an African-American president. And many of them never will, unfortunately.

You're so right! It has absolutely nothing to do with his policies. It has nothing to do with the fact that Obamacare will result in the largest tax hike in history on the middle class, or that it will cause (excuse me, has already caused) employers to lay off large amounts of people (or go out of business). It has nothing to do with the fact that tax increases and absurd amounts of regulations on those businesses don't help either. It has nothing to do with the fact that he passed the "dream" act by executive order. It has nothing to do with him supporting genderless marriage. It has nothing to do with him being praised by communist dictators. It has nothing to do with him telling Russia that after this election, he'll have more "flexibility." It has nothing to do with him supporting partial-birth abortion. It has nothing to do with his constant assault on religious liberties. It has nothing do with Fast and Furious. It has nothing to do with his gross incompetence with Benghazi or pussy-footing with Iran. It has nothing to do with throwing Israel under the bus. Yep, it's just because he's black.

But people like this somehow have not learned their lesson from election night -- the vast majority of Americans are not going to accept blatant lying, racism, sexism, homophobia, and classism from politicians.

Wow. Take about the homophobia part and you just described Obama.

Seriously, though. This is pretty stupid.

[Localonthe8s]

Yes, I kind of believe a lot of the issues do involve race. People need to get over it and accept the fact our president is black. This is 2012, not 1962. It's a shame that people will choose another candidate simply bc of race and not leadership skills etc and (surprisingly enough) most of the predominantly white states like in the West had Romney winning the vote there. Instead of fighting with one another, ppl and states should learn to work together and unite as one in order to figure out how we can fix the financial and health insurance mess with our country. This secession nonsense will only drive us to ruin

[TampaMillTWC88]

It is not the majority (thankfully), but there is a large segment of America who just have never accepted the fact that we have an African-American president. And many of them never will, unfortunately.

You're so right! It has absolutely nothing to do with his policies. It has nothing to do with the fact that Obamacare will result in the largest tax hike in history on the middle class, or that it will cause (excuse me, has already caused) employers to lay off large amounts of people (or go out of business). It has nothing to do with the fact that tax increases and absurd amounts of regulations on those businesses don't help either. It has nothing to do with the fact that he passed the "dream" act by executive order. It has nothing to do with him supporting genderless marriage. It has nothing to do with him being praised by communist dictators. It has nothing to do with him telling Russia that after this election, he'll have more "flexibility." It has nothing to do with him supporting partial-birth abortion. It has nothing to do with his constant assault on religious liberties. It has nothing do with Fast and Furious. It has nothing to do with his gross incompetence with Benghazi or pussy-footing with Iran. It has nothing to do with throwing Israel under the bus. Yep, it's just because he's black.

But people like this somehow have not learned their lesson from election night -- the vast majority of Americans are not going to accept blatant lying, racism, sexism, homophobia, and classism from politicians.

Wow. Take about the homophobia part and you just described Obama.

Seriously, though. This is pretty stupid.

Man, I am not going to even respond to all of those countless lies you just regurgitated from Fox News and the GOP. Guess what, Romney and the Republicans ran all of the stuff you mentioned in their ads and repeated them in the debates. Guess what...it didn't work on Election Night evidenced by the landslide reelection of President Obama, and the numerous senate victories by Democrats.  The vast majority of America did not buy it. I did not care for George W. Bush as president, and a lot of people did not. But you never heard stuff about people asking for his birth certificate, or an elected official pointing her finger in his face, or states wanting to secede. If you want to believe the Fox News/GOP script, be my guest. I think it is waste of time and energy spending 8 years coming up with conspiracy theories and repeating the same old talking points. It's already been 4.

Yes, sadly a lot of the issues do involve race. People need to get over it and accept the fact our president is black. This is 2012, not 1962. It's a shame that people will choose another candidate simply bc of race and not leadership skills etc and (surprisingly enough) most of the predominantly white states such as the Northwest chose Romney. Instead of fighting with one another, ppl and states should learn to work together and unite as one in order to figure out how we can fix the financial and health insurance mess with our country

Well said. I agree with everything you said.

[toxictwister00]

You're so right! It has absolutely nothing to do with his policies. It has nothing to do with the fact that Obamacare will result in the largest tax hike in history on the middle class, or that it will cause (excuse me, has already caused) employers to lay off large amounts of people (or go out of business). It has nothing to do with the fact that tax increases and absurd amounts of regulations on those businesses don't help either. It has nothing to do with the fact that he passed the "dream" act by executive order. It has nothing to do with him supporting genderless marriage. It has nothing to do with him being praised by communist dictators. It has nothing to do with him telling Russia that after this election, he'll have more "flexibility." It has nothing to do with him supporting partial-birth abortion. It has nothing to do with his constant assault on religious liberties. It has nothing do with Fast and Furious. It has nothing to do with his gross incompetence with Benghazi or pussy-footing with Iran. It has nothing to do with throwing Israel under the bus. Yep, it's just because he's black.

First, this topic was already starting to derail off topic, but since you're an admin. and you don't mind derailing it further, I'll say this. You can disagree with his policies or in your case lack of competence in him as a President, I support the president and no I don't agree on everything he's done or lobbied for. I didn't think it was a good idea to tackle this Healthcare Reform so early in his term while the economy was still in pretty bad shape. However, I don't think it's fair to keep making only President Obama the scape goat as we did during his first term in office. Our congress in Washington on both sides have done their fair share of pussy-footing and throwing the middle class' lives under the bus by keeping our economy on a slow limping recovery for dirty political agendas. You're right in the fact that it's not 100% all about the fact that he's black, but you can't honestly say that racial undertones haven't been mixed into discussions when opposing some of the President's policies. You can voice your opinion against the President without having to hit below the belt with the birther and Kenyan garbage that doesn't do anything but polarize and divide our country further.

[phw115wvwx]

Last warning, everyone:  If you all can't get along or discuss things civilly, this topic will be locked or deleted.   Everyone needs to learn how to get along with each other even if you don't agree with the opinions of others, which is what I said in my last post.  All of you are showing exactly what's wrong in this country.  Instead of having a civil debate, you all are pointing fingers and blaming others instead of actually taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture.  Now how about we learn how to cooperate and compromise for once?

[Mr. Rainman]

Well said, Patrick. I know I got a little heated in this thread (I deleted my post), but seriously. This country is now more polarized than ever and people need to come together to truly get things to work. This was ever-so evident with the efforts of Chris Christie, known by many as the Critic-In-Chief, working together with the Commander-in-Chief to help everyone in New Jersey. There is no excuse not to work together like that for all occasions - not just when a big disaster strikes.

[Localonthe8s]

Well said, Patrick. I know I got a little heated in this thread (I deleted my post), but seriously. This country is now more polarized than ever and people need to come together to truly get things to work. This was ever-so evident with the efforts of Chris Christie, known by many as the Critic-In-Chief, working together with the Commander-in-Chief to help everyone in New Jersey. There is no excuse not to work together like that for all occasions - not just when a big disaster strikes.

Agreed. It was very unexpected to see Christie and Obama get along like that, but they did and that's the best way to come through a crisis like this. Christie is also honest and that's why he is getting my vote for governor next year.

But for the sake of the topic, how successful will states be in seceding? Wouldn't this hurt the economy more than help it?

[Mr. Rainman]

These petitions are worthless because it's an appeal to the federal government. If they truly want to secede, they'd send something like this to the state legislature. At that point, their respective Congresses will either give the yay or nay to secession, at which point they will request their departure from the Feds.

Economically, it's a disaster for the states. You have to understand, the economy in this age is globalized - every country has a penny somewhere on this globe other than their own home ground - and most countries have pennies everywhere. These new states won't. And they'll have no credit record or anything, which doesn't look good for a company wanting to invest in a new country. Likely, companies will leave for states that haven't seceded where the United States is still in control, and therefore a safe bet. All these companies leaving will slam the state's economy and ultimately cripple it, if I understand correctly.

Also, the federal government isn't just going to let a state secede just like that. The United States is going to make sure all of its federal offices and aid are out of there. Yes, this means the Post Office will permanently close. The National Weather Service offices will close. The military bases? Military is federally controlled, so they will likely pull them out. Oh, and FEMA. Good heavens, states like Louisiana and Texas (who already got past the 25,000 signatures) will be in a load of trouble the next time a hurricane hits them hard - there's no federal government to assist them rebuild.

So now you're losing companies making you money, you're losing federal aid, and you're losing any defense you originally had as part of the Union. Long story short, it's not a pretty picture.

[Localonthe8s]

These petitions are worthless because it's an appeal to the federal government. If they truly want to secede, they'd send something like this to the state legislature. At that point, their respective Congresses will either give the yay or nay to secession, at which point they will request their departure from the Feds.

Economically, it's a disaster for the states. You have to understand, the economy in this age is globalized - every country has a penny somewhere on this globe other than their own home ground - and most countries have pennies everywhere. These new states won't. And they'll have no credit record or anything, which doesn't look good for a company wanting to invest in a new country. Likely, companies will leave for states that haven't seceded where the United States is still in control, and therefore a safe bet. All these companies leaving will slam the state's economy and ultimately cripple it, if I understand correctly.

Also, the federal government isn't just going to let a state secede just like that. The United States is going to make sure all of its federal offices and aid are out of there. Yes, this means the Post Office will permanently close. The National Weather Service offices will close. The military bases? Military is federally controlled, so they will likely pull them out. Oh, and FEMA. Good heavens, states like Louisiana and Texas (who already got past the 25,000 signatures) will be in a load of trouble the next time a hurricane hits them hard - there's no federal government to assist them rebuild.

So now you're losing companies making you money, you're losing federal aid, and you're losing any defense you originally had as part of the Union. Long story short, it's not a pretty picture.

Wow, thanks for the detailed explanation. It seems that everyone's a loser in that case