There has been a rash of petitions posted on the
Whitehouse.gov Website, stating that 20 plus
states want to "peacefully" leave the Union.
People need to realize this is not a valid attempt at secession.
It is a viral attempt by people who are frustrated by the recent election to make a statement. I find it both admirable and foolish at the same time.
They are taking it to the Whitehouse website, and the President himself will be told about it. That's admirable. However, you have to register to
sign, in order for it to be a valid petition, and the foolishness of people who are signing their real names is apparent. Do you really want to go on
a "no fly list", and be marked by the government as a "domestic terrorist"? Causing dissent could be taken seriously.
Refreshing what was said earlier, the proper method would be for a state's legislature to draft up secession paperwork, and have it signed by the
governor of that state, then as a group, the governors would present their suit to the Supreme Court, in a law suit. The states would have to sue the
United States government for their right to secede. It'd be the biggest legal mess of all times.
There are many intermediate steps before that would ever occur. There is no precedent for this, and the constitution itself would be examined.
Washington would go into turmoil. The country would become divided.
Here's the clincher (we are all familiar with these words!):
That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute
new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their
Safety and Happiness.
Hey, that gives us the right to secede, right? Not hardly. Those words, little did you know, are from The Declaration of Independence, circa 1776.
The Constitution, the law of the land, wasn't formed until circa 1787. The Declaration is not a legal document, and there is no precedent in the
Constitution for secession. Messy, huh?
Although the Declaration of Independence stands with the Constitution as a founding document of the United States of America, its position in U.S.
law is much less certain than that of the Constitution. The Declaration has been recognized as the founding act of law establishing the United States
as a sovereign and independent nation, and Congress has placed it at the beginning of the U.S. Code, under the heading "The Organic Laws of the
United States of America." The Supreme Court, however, has generally not considered it a part of the organic law of the country. For example,
although the Declaration mentions a right to rebellion, this right, particularly with regard to violent rebellion, has not been recognized by the
Supreme Court and other branches of the federal government. The most notable failure to uphold this right occurred when the Union put down the
rebellion by the Southern Confederacy in the Civil War.
Terra Incognito. Sobering, for sure.
Then there is this little tid-bit:
Think Government Is Corrupt? You May Face 10 Years In
Jail
Subversives who think government is corrupt and should be controlled by the people face 10 years in prison and a $25,000 dollar fine if they fail
to register with authorities in South Carolina, in another chilling example of how free speech and dissent is being criminalized in America.
every person who advocates, teaches, advises or practices the duty, necessity or propriety of controlling, conducting, seizing or overthrowing the
government of the United States … shall register with the Secretary of State.”
Under the sweeping terms of the law, members of tax protest organizations, the Tea Party movement and the States’ Rights movement based in South
Carolina are all domestic terrorists
if they fail to register their dissent with the authorities.
Each member has to register, or you are a Domestic Terrorist. Really?
police are being trained that libertarians, gun owners, Ron Paul supporters and anyone who is mildly political is a domestic extremist and a
potential terrorist
I honestly don't know where this is going. It doesn't look good.
Of course, I'd like to hear your thoughts.