When George W Bush as reelected in 2004 I was, as I assume most of you were, upset, despondent, angry, confused. How could half the country be so stupid, so blind, or more to the point, how could half the country so completely disagree with me? My first thought, being originally from Upstate NY (I live now in New Jersey), was Canada but it was a quick, fleeting thought. Then I saw all the Blue State/Red State maps and noticed that the Northeast was solidly blue. I thought, "Well, what would happen if we just broke away from the US and started our own, progressive, sane and rational Nation?".
So I started a blog called The Northeast Secession Movement. I have to say here that I'm in no way saavy about politics. I didn't follow it that much, I voted Democratic and that was about it. But I needed some sort of release after the election and this seemed a good way to do it.
I recruited 2 friends from work (one like me, not so much on the politics but pissed and one, a local politician) and we had at it.
It was mostly tongue in cheek - we invented a Northeast Pride day, we upset some Canadians when we thought we should annex Ontario to bridge the gap between the Northeast and the Blue Upper Midwest, we had people from Northern Virginia begging to be included. It was, in short, a lot of fun.
Then, I got an e-mail.
It was from a group called Free Atlantica who had the same idea only they were serious. They wanted to meet with us. Uh oh. If they were legit we were in no way prepared to meet with them. But our first thought was that they were the government trying to keep tabs on "the fringe".
So we begged off and the blog fell into disuse.
That was a year ago.
So why am I writing about this now?
A few days ago I got an e-mail inviting me to what is called the Secession Convention being held in Vermont. Someone apparently thought we were an actual movement and invited us to attend. Of course we're not a real movement and we won't be attending.
But it has me thinking.
I recently discovered this site - and I enjoy reading and hearing all of your opinions, you're all so much more tuned in to this political thing than I am - and I hear and see all the thought, effort, resources and talent being brought into the fight to regain our government, reinstitute our ideals and beliefs and stop these neocons from hijacking our country.
But I can't help but wonder - what if we didn't need to use that effort to defeat the neocons, what if that effort could be used to actually govern the way we want, the way we know is right?
The politicain of our little trio says it will never happen.
And, politically naive as I am, I too understand that it will probably never happen but I wonder, could it be made to work?
I've heard the saying "That which unites us is greater than that which divides us", but it seems to me that more and more that which unites us is losing to that which divides us. Attacks on abortion, attacks on separation of Church and State, attacks on Social Security, attacks on our basic rights as stated in the Constitution and The Bill Of Rights, these go well beyond what used to be the differences between the Left and the Right.
So let's say that we win back the government. We will spend all our time fighting back that which has already been done to our country but still, half of the people in the country will disagree (as we disagree now with what's happening now). It seems to me a lot of our energy is spent fighting off the negative rather than energy spent on doing positive. So we have to ask ourselves, how do we want to spend that energy?
So, I'm probably going to get killed here (assuming anyone is reading this) but I want to ask - is there any chance that Secession could work? If so, how? If not, why not?
Let the flaming and the snarking begin.
Hey, I can take it.