WASHINGTON: American citizens
from at least 20 US states have filed petitions to secede following re-election
of Barack Obama.
Following the re-election, several petitions surfaced requesting the Obama
administration to peacefully grant the applied states to withdraw from the
United States of America in order to create their own governments.
Louisiana was the first state to file a petition followed by Texas. States with
secession-related petitions on the White House website also include Alabama,
Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Mississippi,
Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon,
South Carolina and Tennessee.
Citizens from the 20 states have filed to secede from the United States while
the results from the 2012 presidential election are less than one week old.
While many in Texas have been outspoken about seceding from the union for years,
in the aftermath of the recent election the first push for secession began in
Louisiana and has quickly spread to states including New Jersey and Michigan.
The US government allows one month from the date the petition is submitted to
WhiteHouse.gov to obtain 25,000 signatures in order for the Obama administration
to consider the request.
The likelihood of the current administration to even entertain the idea of
allowing states to secede is almost non-existent. What is sobering to realise
though is that in less than 48-hours there have been tens of thousands of people
who have quickly rallied behind this very grassroots approach to request change,
autonomy, and a small measure of freedom. There is a strong chance that if the
mainstream media picks up on this “everyman” movement, they will likely ridicule
it as the actions of a bunch of radicals.
What strikes a chord though is that there is a strong segment of the American
population that feels that their voices are not being heard and for far too long
special interest groups have dictated the direction the country is headed.
The author of the Louisiana petition, “Michael E” submitted his request
utilising excerpts from the Declaration of Independence.
In Texas, “Micah H” states in his petition, “The US continues to suffer economic
difficulties stemming from the federal government’s neglect to reform domestic
and foreign spending.”
He went on to add that Texas “maintains a balanced budget and is the 15th
largest economy in the world,” making it “practically feasible for Texas to
withdraw from the Union.”
Here are the numbers of petition signers for each of the 20 states (each
petition needs 25,000 signatures within 30 days to be considered by the
government):
Alabama 3,975
Arkansas 350
Colorado 3,055
Florida 4,033
Georgia 1,629
Indiana 3,194
Kentucky 3,229
Louisiana 12,192
Michigan 2,482
Mississippi 3,171
Missouri 2,196
Montana 2,867
New Jersey 2,485
New York 2,847
North Carolina 3,823
North Dakota 2,508
Oregon 2,678
South Carolina 2,632
Tennessee 2,659
Texas 14,883