THUNDER BAY – There has been an explosion in petitions to secede from the United States. Online petitions filed and signed at the White House web site have now reached 675,000 signatures and are coming from fifty different states.
The petitions are not likely to lead to a new civil war, or to any states actually leaving the union. However they demonstrate the frustration that a growing number of Americans feel over their federal government.
The online petitions from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas residents have accrued at least 25,000 signatures. The petition from Texas, which was the first to reach the 25,000 signature figure is now at almost 100,000 signatures.
Governor Rick Perry, who ran and lost the Republican nomination early in the running does not appear interested in the idea of seceding from the United States. A statement from the Governor’s office reads, “Gov. Perry believes in the greatness of our Union and nothing should be done to change it. But he also shares the frustrations many Americans have with our federal government”.
The list of states with active petitions that are still short of the needed 25,000 signature threshold; Alaska, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
For the United States, and for President Obama, it is likely that government officials will view these online petitions as frivolous, and based out of angry voters who didn’t support the President’s re-election. If the movement continues, it eventually will likely garner a need for some kind of official response.
For now, the anger appears to generating responding petitions mocking those seeking to secede from the United States. There are petitions calling for communities to secede from Texas if the state were to secede from the United States. Others are calling down those seeking secession.
James Murray
