Since President Barack Obama was re-elected as president of the United States, a number of outraged citizens have began petitions urging the White House to allow their state to secede from the United States of America. Petitions can be submitted and signed virtually through the WhiteHouse.gov website “We the People.”
On Wednesday, Nov. 14, the L.A. times confirmed that petitions to secede from the United States existed in all 50 states. Most of the petitions are similarly titled, “Peacefully grant the [state] to withdraw from the United States of America and create its own NEW government.”
Let’s take a step back and look at this rationally. Over 200 years ago, people came to America to escape the government in England. After several years of fighting in America, the 13 colonies were finally able to declare their freedom and begin the United States of America.
Our forefathers fought and many people died in order for the United States to take ownership of this land and create a government of the people, for the people and by the people, as Lincoln once put it.
I don’t know about everyone else in the country, but I personally would not want a war to break out on American soil over a presidential election.
It is my opinion that the people who started these petitions are simply Americans who are tired of the worsening conditions in our country. Unemployment rates and a poor economy are just two of the complaints that are repeatedly made against President Obama.
Despite the current state of our country, over half of the country still elected Obama to office for a second term, and as unhappy as some people may be with the results, a term is only four years. Look at the bright side, in four years he won’t be able to run for office again and America will get to have a much-needed fresh start.
Until then, everyone just needs to cool it with the secession petitions and jokes about moving out of the country. There is little to no chance that these petitions will be granted, and a big part of that has to do with the fact that not everyone in said state agrees with it.
According to the White House, they will respond to any petition that receives over 25,000 signatures within one month. As of Wednesday, Nov. 13, Texas, Louisiana and Florida petitions surpassed this number, and several states have caught up with them since then.
Although some argue that the only states petitioning to secede were Republican states that had voted for Mitt Romney, there is evidence to the contrary. Obama actually won votes from several of the states that have petitions to secede.
As I said earlier, there is nothing we can do to change who won the election now. Obama won the necessary votes, and that’s a fact. I’ll admit that I’m not thrilled that he won either, but I’m equally disappointed in the disgraceful reaction of my fellow Americans. If we cannot accept the outcome of an election, which has followed the same system for generations, then things are not going to get easier for us in the next four years. The only way to help ourselves is to petition the White House with the changes we would like to see in the coming years. That is something the government may actually have a serious response to.
What I’m hoping will come out of these insane petitions to secede from the United States will be some compromise. Clearly a lot of American people are not happy. Breaking away from the United States is out of the question, but I do think that Obama should take the time to listen to the complaints of the people and try to make some changes that will please both Republicans and Democrats.
We the people of the United States of America are whom the government was formed for, and I believe that the people should be trying to work with Obama to try to fix the problems in our country, instead of just trying to escape our government entirely.