NationStates Jolt Archive


Separationist movement grows strong, still not likely though.

Zilam
04-10-2007, 08:24
I can only be over joyed with this type of thing. I hope it continues to go down this path, and in 20 years, we have at least 5 new countries, resulting from the break up of the US. :D

http://www.livescience.com/history/071003-ap-secession.html

ver Century After Civil War, New Secession Movement

By Bill Poovey, Associated Press

CHATTANOOGA, Tennessee (AP) — In an unlikely marriage of desire to secede from the United States, two advocacy groups from opposite political traditions — New England and the South — are sitting down to talk.

Tired of foreign wars and what they consider right-wing courts, the Middlebury Institute wants liberal states such as Vermont to be able to secede peacefully.

That sounds just fine to the League of the South, a conservative group that refuses to give up on Southern independence.

"We believe that an independent South, or Hawaii, Alaska, or Vermont, would be better able to serve the interest of everybody, regardless of race or ethnicity,'' said Michael Hill of Killen, Alabama, president of the League of the South.

Separated by hundreds of miles (kilometers) and divergent political philosophies, the Middlebury Institute and the League of the South are hosting a two-day Secessionist Convention starting Wednesday in Chattanooga.

They expect to attract supporters from California, Alaska and Hawaii, inviting anyone who wants to dissolve the union so states can save themselves from an overbearing federal government.

If allowed to go their own way, New Englanders "probably would allow abortion and have gun control,'' Hill said, while Southerners "would probably crack down on illegal immigration harder than it is being now.''

The U.S. Constitution does not explicitly prohibit secession, but few people think it is politically viable. The U.S. Civil War — one of the key defining events in American history — was largely fought on the issue, with 11 southern slave states breaking away from the rest of the country under the banner of the Confederate States of America. The North's Union army eventually defeated the South, ending the war in 1865.

Vermont, one of the U.S.'s most liberal states, has become a hotbed for liberal secessionists, a fringe movement that gained new traction because of the Iraq war, rising oil prices and the formation of several pro-secession groups.

Thomas Naylor, the founder of one of those groups, the Second Vermont Republic, said the friendly relationship with the League of the South did not mean everyone shares all the same beliefs.

But Naylor, a retired Duke University professor, said the League of the South shares his group's opposition to the federal government and the need to pursue secession.

"It doesn't matter if our next president is Condoleezza (Rice) or Hillary (Clinton), it is going to be grim,'' said Naylor, adding that there are secessionist movements in more than 25 states, including Hawaii, Alaska, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Texas.

The Middlebury Institute, based in Cold Spring, New York, was started in 2005. Its followers, disillusioned by the Iraq war and federal imperialism, share the idea of states becoming independent republics. They contend their movement is growing.

The first North American Separatist Convention was held last fall in Vermont, which, unlike most Southern states, supports civil unions. Voters there elected a socialist to the U.S. Senate.

Middlebury director Kirpatrick Sale said Hill offered to sponsor the second secessionist convention, but the co-sponsor arrangement was intended to show that "the folks up north regard you as legitimate colleagues.''

"It bothers me that people have wrongly declared them to be racists,'' Sale said.

The League of the South says it is not racist, but proudly displays a Confederate Battle Flag on its banner.

Mark Potok, director of the Southern Poverty Law Center's Intelligence Project, which monitors hate groups, said the League of the South "has been on our list close to a decade.''

"What is remarkable and really astounding about this situation is we see people and institutions who are supposedly on the progressive left rubbing shoulders with bona fide white supremacists,'' Potok said.

Sale said the League of the South "has not done or said anything racist in its 14 years of existence,'' and that the Southern Poverty Law Center is not credible.

"They call everybody racists,'' Sale said. "There are, no doubt, racists in the League of the South, and there are, no doubt, racists everywhere.''

Harry Watson, director of the Center For the Study of the American South and a history professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, said it was a surprise to see The Middlebury Institute conferring with the League of the South, "an organization that's associated with a cause that many of us associate with the preservation of slavery.''

He said the unlikely partnering "represents the far left and far right of American politics coming together.
Vetalia
04-10-2007, 08:39
I misread the title of your post and the first thing I thought of was the Clone Wars...I was ready to start fishing around for a Nute Gunray costume. Separationist, not Separatist...
The Brevious
04-10-2007, 08:40
I misread the title of your post and the first thing I thought of was the Clone Wars...I was ready to start fishing around for a Nute Gunray costume. Separationist, not Separatist...

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/NuteGunray.jpg
Yep, that special holy-day :rolleyes: is coming up. Time to get fitted.
Vetalia
04-10-2007, 08:44
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/NuteGunray.jpg
Yep, that special holy-day :rolleyes: is coming up. Time to get fitted.

It was such a shame he was killed. :(

Also, lol, I have that image in my 7chan folder...
Delator
04-10-2007, 08:49
Secessionists irritate me...they'd rather wash their hands of a problem (the Federal government) than work to fix it.

Still, I welcome any state to leave...they'll be crawling back inside of two years.
Lunatic Goofballs
04-10-2007, 11:09
If Vermont or any other state announced it was officially leaving the Union, I wonder how many people would leave it.

More than the state would like, I'd suspect. ;)
South Lorenya
04-10-2007, 11:23
Meh, I always supported Texan independence. Or trading them for Quebec.
Pacificville
04-10-2007, 11:48
Can you imagine how more crazy Texas would get without the federal government to restrain it?

That said, if all the states of the US were to be individual countries, this could have a disastrous effect on space exploration. NASA would no longer exist, for example. It might be replaced by a similar or near identical body that gets funding from each state, but would they still get as much? Then again they might get more... I have no idea. Americans, help me out here.
Bottle
04-10-2007, 12:34
Please yes. Please, South, rise again. We won't stop you this time, I swear.

And please, please, let the liberal Northeast out, so New England can stop having its tax dollars poured down the bottomless pit of the leech states.
Tape worm sandwiches
04-10-2007, 13:05
---------Southern Poverty Law Center is not credible.--------



hahahaha.

that, is a good one.
They only like almost the most credible organization in all of the south
Jello Biafra
04-10-2007, 13:20
Huzzah! Smash the state!

(Supports secession.)
Senate Killers
05-10-2007, 06:41
The better question is. If a state DID manage to secede. How many people would leave the U.S. for it?
The Brevious
05-10-2007, 07:03
It was such a shame he was killed. :(

Also, lol, I have that image in my 7chan folder...
The weird and mildly bemusing thing is, you always seem to find a way to surprise me.
The Brevious
05-10-2007, 08:39
Please yes. Please, South, rise again. We won't stop you this time, I swear.

And please, please, let the liberal Northeast out, so New England can stop having its tax dollars poured down the bottomless pit of the leech states.2nded.
Miami Jai-Alai
05-10-2007, 08:39
Welcome to the Hispanic Republic of Miami Jai-Alai, our government leaders.

1. President Lincoln Diaz-Balart, Cuban Male.
02. Vice President Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, under our constitution the Vice President serves as the Presidents Chief of Staff, advisor , helper and tiebreaker in the nations Parliment, Cuban Female.
03. Foreign Affairs Minister Elian Gonzalez, the now older but still young, handsome, charismatic foreign Affairs Minister and Potencial future President, Cuban Male.
04. RW UN Ambassador Minister Ninoska Perez-Castellon, Cuban Female.
05. Defense Minister, Armando Perez Roura, Cuban Male.
06. Minister of the Economy, Jorge Mas Santos Canosa, Cuban Male.
07. Minsiter of Justice, DR Ana Maria del Polo, He dicho Caso Cerrado, Ive said Case Closed, Cuban Female.

08. Minister of Education, Alicia Romero, Nicaraguan Female.
09. Minister of Tourism & Culture, Alicia Rodriguez, Chile Female.
10. Minister of Health, DR Ana Figueroa-Wilson, Puerto Rican Female
11. Minister of National Bank Reserve, Maria Elena Ibañez, Colombian Female.

12. Minister of Finance, Lonnie Cantu, Mexican Male.
13. Minister of Agriculture, Alberto Rodriguez, Argentinian Male.
14. Minister of Trade, Alfredo Quintero, Colombian Male.
15. Minister of National Security, Manuel Rosales, Venezuelan Male.
16. Minister of Natural Resources, Eddie Diaz, Puerto Rican Male.
The Sentient Coalition
05-10-2007, 12:50
In case you europeans hadn't noticed, secession has a poor track record in this country.
Law Abiding Criminals
05-10-2007, 16:33
In order for a real secession to take place, something drastic would have to happen. I'm talking either a total federal collapse, an attempt at outright tyranny, the U.S. being conquered or overrun, nuclear bombs going off within American borders, etc.

As of today, it's hard to imagine that any state other than Hawaii could get away with seceding, and even then, the desire to do so would have to be great enough. Hawaii depends an awful lot on imports, and as an independent nation, it would seriously have to buddy up to Canada and Japan. A complete smashing of the Amercain dollar may be enough to send a Hawaiian secession movement into full swing.