US state secession petitions reach almost three quarters of million signatures

The White House has received approximately 700,000 signatures of Americans who wish their state to secede from the US. Signatures representing all fifty states have been logged, just a week after the first petition from Louisiana was started.

As of yesterday, the White House’s ‘We the People’ portal has reveals the 25,000 signature threshold has already been reached by Louisiana, Texas, Alabama, Florida, North Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee. The remaining states are quickly accumulating signatures at a rate that will push them over the threshold soon.

The most common reason given for the requests remains issues about the state of the union. There are currently in excess of 100 open petitions on the White House website, almost all of which cite the Revolution War-era doctrines of the Declaration of Independence as sufficient means to support separation.

Texas has already passed the 100,000 signature mark, which still remains less than one percent of the total state population. The Texas petition states,

'The citizens of the US suffer from blatant abuses of their rights,'

Specifically addressed are issues concerning the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2012 (NDAA).
Bob Smiley, of The Daily Caller, published an interview that reflects on the Texas petition, stating that the demands for secession are not being taken seriously, but that could change,

'No doubt Texas’s desire to break free is a source of amusement inside a White House that has mastered the art of belittling the opinions of its challengers, but there is one not-so-small problem here: Texas could pull it off. Texas currently sits on one-quarter of the nation’s oil reserves and one-third of the nation’s natural gas reserves. Even more, fully 95 percent of the country receives its oil and gas courtesy of pipelines that originate within Texas. This is what one might call leverage.'

Smiley also brought the fast-growing Texas economy into the picture, as well as the state's history of following through with secession threats when under the rule of Mexico, and their alliance with the Confederacy during the Civil War.

Texas Governor Rick Perry issued a statement through his press secretary rejecting the petition, as has Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam and a spokesperson from the Alabama Governor's office.

It should be noted that 700,000 signatures is also less than one percent of the total population of the United States

Al Stefanelli

Al serves on the Board of Directors for The Clergy Project, and is the former Georgia State Director for American Atheists, Inc. He is a retired journalist and the author of "Free Thoughts - A Collection Of Essays By An American Atheist" and "A Voice Of Reason In An Unreasonable World - The Rise Of Atheism On Planet Earth." Al began writing in 1985, starting with the New York Times. In 1993 he joined a McClatchy newspaper, writing a weekly column for ten years. His writing continues to be widely distributed on the Internet and in print. He also produced and hosted a weekly syndicated radio broadcast for three years and was the founder and President of the former United Atheist Front, Inc., which functioned as a civil rights organization. Al is a former Southern Baptist Pastor, having served two churches and as pulpit supply for three counties. Currently, he writes for The God Discussion, hosts his own blog on WordPress, submits content to a variety of publications, and co-hosts "American Heathen Radio" and "Reap Sow Radio." Al lives in Peachtree City, GA., a suburb of Atlanta.

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