Currently, 30 States have put forth petitions to secede from the United States.

[Oniya]

Hey, that was all supposed to start going down this year, right?  My sourcebooks are upstairs, or I'd check...

[Callie Del Noire]

I'm not sure if I'll want to be a citizen of the Mafia or Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong...

Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong!

[Stattick]

I would hope that people would not be so inclined to fall back on violence these days. Though I did fear that the election could in fact lead to a civil war over the strict partisan divide that has so dominated politics for all these years.

I don't think there's sufficient organization or zeal on the right for an armed uprising.

[LunarSage]

I don't think there's sufficient organization or zeal on the right for an armed uprising.

Not to mention the US standing military forces would snuff out any sort of uprising really quick. 

The number of people who would actually be willing to physically go up against the US government are going to be in a severe minority.  Like around here in Virginia, the only people who swear that the south shall rise again are the elderly.

[Lux12]

I don't think there's sufficient organization or zeal on the right for an armed uprising.

That's what I was thinking and hoping, but at the same time I fear some of the radical right might try something. Some neo-nazi groups have boot camps set up in places.

[Oniya]

I can't help but be slightly amused at them.  Between the tattoos (verboten, except for the identification tattoo on the arm), and the general lack of discipline, they wouldn't have lasted a week in the actual fighting zone - or even in the training camps.  Cannon fodder, most likely.

Not that I'd want to meet one in a dark alley, or even a brightly lit thoroughfare, but put the 'Fourth Reich' up against some of our men in uniform and watch 'em run.

[Stattick]

Editorial over at redstate (conservative blog/news site) tells secessionists GTFO.

[Callie Del Noire]

Editorial over at redstate (conservative blog/news site) tells secessionists GTFO.

[slow golf clap]....

I actually feel a little hope.. given what he says about some Republicans I hold in low esteem. I respect the tone and content of his post. It was polite (if a bit sarcastic in spots) and stated the thing we NEED most. To come together as a nation.. not divide and run.

[Lux12]

[slow golf clap]....

I actually feel a little hope.. given what he says about some Republicans I hold in low esteem. I respect the tone and content of his post. It was polite (if a bit sarcastic in spots) and stated the thing we NEED most. To come together as a nation.. not divide and run.

Exactly. Things are bad enough as it is. Things would not improve for either side if we were to just split apart. All we would have is a bunch of petty people who have seen a certain goal come to fruition at the cost of stability. If ever there was a time to unite, it would be now when we are at a low point. We need to come together to solve our problems rather than create more problems by moving apart.

[Callie Del Noire]

And FYI.. the count is up to FORTY states now.. just goes to show there are idiots and asshats throughout the union.

[Oniya]

Hey, if everyone secedes, what will they be seceding from?

[Callie Del Noire]

Hey, if everyone secedes, what will they be seceding from?

DC?

[LunarSage]

I secede from your secession! 

[ShadowFox89]

There are two competing petitions saying that people who signed petitions to secede should be stripped of citizenship and deported.

I would say shot, but they wouldn't be worth the price of the bullets.

[Vekseid]

I would say shot, but they wouldn't be worth the price of the bullets.

This sort of attitude is not called for.

[gaggedLouise]

...and the same week, the people of Puerto Rico vote yes for aiming to join the U.S. as the 51st state.

[Lux12]

...and the same week, the people of Puerto Rico vote yes for aiming to join the U.S. as the 51st state.

I was thinking we should replace Texas with them.

[Callie Del Noire]

...and the same week, the people of Puerto Rico vote yes for aiming to join the U.S. as the 51st state.

They finally passed the measure?

[Oniya]

Okay - secessionists can go to Puerto Rico, and the Puerto Ricans can move into Texas (should be enough room there for the whole island, and the climate isn't too far off).  Cool people can stay. 

[Lux12]

Okay - secessionists can go to Puerto Rico, and the Puerto Ricans can move into Texas (should be enough room there for the whole island, and the climate isn't too far off).  Cool people can stay. 

Works for me. Though that would be logistic hell to implement considering the very scale of it.

[LunarSage]

Let's say on average each state's petition gets 25,000 signatures.  Let's also say that all 50 states get a petition.  I say an average of 25,000 because it's very likely that a lot of folks are signing petitions that aren't even for their state.  That's 1,250,000 signatures.  Let's assume for the sake of argument that all of those signatures are from different people (unlikely).

http://www.census.gov/main/www/popclock.html

The site I linked above tells us that the current US population is (roughly) 314,772,190.  Let's round that down to 300 million just to make the math easier. 

That's not even a half of a percent of the population.  Even if you halved the population to take into account the number of viable adults, you're still left with like an 8th of 1%. 

Think about that and you can see that these yahoos signing these petitions are such an insignificant number that their efforts are irrelevant.  I've heard folks around my area gasp and say "Wow!  25,000 signatures for one state!  That's a lot!" 

I just have to shake my head.  25,000 seems like a lot until you compare it to a country's population being in the hundreds of millions.

[Stattick]

I came from one of the suburbs of the one of the suburbs of L.A. Los Angeles has a population of nearly 4 million, and that doesn't count all the other cities piled on top of L.A. You can drive for something like three hours on the freeway in a more or less straight path while the traffic is actually moving, and not get out of an urban environment, it's all just city atop of city. 25,000 doesn't seem like a lot to me. But I hear what you're saying.

[Secretwriter]

Every ten years or so, there are grumblings in my state about seceding.  However, it's just not practical for a state to secede from its country. States are too interlinked with the rest of the country. Seccession would require the state to:

• have its own government
• have its own power supply
• have its own currency
• have its own defence force
• control its borders
• instigate appropriate immigration laws and passports
• set up trade routes with other states/countries

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.  Seccession is NOT a viable option for any state.

Add to the petitions that in each state there's people voting from other states that don't even live there.  It's all a big bluster show.

What I'm more worried about is the nuts who are running around screaming that Jesus is coming tomorrow because the great nations are falling.

[Oniya]

What I'm more worried about is the nuts who are running around screaming that Jesus is coming tomorrow because the great nations are falling.

Gaw.... Tell them they have another five weeks.  Then we can all get another punch on our 'I survived the Rapture' card.  (Fill the card, and your next one's free!)

[Stattick]

Add to the petitions that in each state there's people voting from other states that don't even live there.  It's all a big bluster show.

What I'm more worried about is the nuts who are running around screaming that Jesus is coming tomorrow because the great nations are falling.

Maybe he will. That would be all sorts of awesome, if Jesus came back, and kicked the over living shit out of the GOP for being bigoted pricks. Also, he could take on inner city gang violence like Bronson's Death Wish movies. Actually, I envision it almost exactly like Gandhi 2.