‘Secession’ Movement Begins to Snowball With 675,000 Signatures and Growing
Before you start thinking we're splitting, take a breath.We seriously doubt it's going to actually result in any states "seceeding" away from the U.S. But what's really important here is the messages behind the movement. According to the Daily Caller, what began as a trickle has now exploded into 69 separate petitions to withdraw from the United States. The states represented have gone from 20 on Monday, to all 50 as of Wednesday, and contain over 675,000 signatures, nearly 3/4 of a million!
The largest number of petitioners is from Texas, with over 94,000. Gov. Rick Perry does not believe in the secessionist movement, saying he believes in the strength of the Union.
But the real root issue is the continued polarization of the country. While Obama won the popular vote by just over 3 million, we are learning the country is increasingly splitting into distinct groups. Numerous large urban areas, especially in the Northeast and West Coast, went way for Obama, while smaller widespread areas went almost completely for Romney. (By the way, those who claim the Libertarian votes would have tipped Romney over Obama are wrong; it would have closed the gap to from 47 percent to 49 percent).
If you look at the new "red-blue" maps of the country showing voter patterns from 2012, you can see these West Coast and urban areas clearly. A huge chunk of the middle of the country is red, with very little blue. We see the same split in Washington State. Virtually every county outside of King and Snohomish leans at least a bit conservative. Eastern Washington as much as 65-70 percent red.
When you factor in the increasing nastiness of the political wars, the TEA Party and other groups that show increasing distrust and dislike for government, and now the secessionist movement, it shows more polarization. With the secessionist movement going viral, a counter-movement has sprung up with some on the left starting a petition at the White House website suggesting those who are in favor of secession should be 'deported.'
The sad part is that government officials don't understand the reason for the secession ideas, the TEA Party anger, and other groups is because millions and millions of Americans feel like their government doesn't listen, respond, or care about what they want to see happen in our country. And it doesn't show any real signs of getting better anytime soon.