David Brody - CBN News Chief Political Correspondent – Tuesday March 4, 2014
GREELEY,
Colo. -- If you mention the word "secession" most people
think of the South during the Civil War. But today, a new movement is
gaining steam because of frustration over a growing, out-of-control
federal government.
A number of conservative,
rural Americans are taking about seceding and creating their own
states, meaning a new map of the United States of America could
include the following:
A
51st state called Jefferson, made up of Northern California and
Southern Oregon
A
new state called Western Maryland
A
new state called North Colorado
These are real movements
gaining traction with voters across the country. Jeffrey Hare runs
the 51st State Initiative in Colorado, an effort to fight an
out-of-control legislature trying to ram big government policies down
the throats of voters.
"We're at this point of
irreconcilable differences," Hare told CBN News.
Secessionist talk has filled
town hall meetings and the divide discussed is not just ideological.
"It's predominately
left versus right, but it's urban versus rural because you typically
find more typical conservative values in rural America," Hare
said.
An
Attack on Colorado?
That's the crux of the
issue. Rural Americans across many states feel they're not being
heard. Their laundry list is long and at the top of that list are
stricter gun control laws.
According to Weld County,
Colo., Sheriff John Cooke, the state legislature is out of control.
"They are out of touch
with rural Colorado," he said. "There is an attack on rural
Colorado and it's not just on gun control laws. It's on several of
the other bills that they passed."
Government mandates on
renewable energy, environmental policies restricting oil and gas
drilling, and controversial social issues like gay marriage have also
led to this divide and talk of secession.
Organizers want to create
"North Colorado," an idea that went to voters in 11
counties this past fall. But not everyone in Colorado thinks
secession is a great idea.
"I don't think that's
necessarily the way to make something happen within the area you
live," Colorado resident Greg Howe told CBN News. "You're
supposed to work within our electoral services."
The so-called secession
movement in Colorado had mixed results this past November. Some
counties approved it. Others didn't.
But the organizers of the
51st State Initiative are undaunted, saying this type of movement
takes time.
"Movements take a
while; education takes time," Hare said. "People do have a
hard time saying ,'I want to live in a different state,' even though
physically they live in the same house."
"It's hard for them
since their lives have been Coloradoans," he explained. "Their
whole lives to say that 'I'm going to be a new Coloradoan' or 'I want
to live in the state of liberty' or something different."
An
'Amicable' Divorce
That desire for something
different can also be felt in Arizona, Michigan, and in Western
Maryland where thousands have signed secession petitions.
One website reads, "We
intend to exercise our right of self-determination and
self-governance to better secure our rights to life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness."
Scott Strzelczyk, the leader
of the Western Maryland movement, is ready to get going.
"If they are not going
to listen or take our needs into consideration and govern in a way
that's more in accordance with the way we want to be governed we are
seeking an amicable divorce," he said.
Meanwhile, in Northern
California and Southern Oregon, activists want to come together in
the state of "Jefferson."
Their proposed state flag
includes two "Xs," representing their feeling of being
double-crossed by the state capitals of Sacramento, Calif., and
Salem, Ore.
No
Small Task
Creating a new state isn't
easy. The last time a state actually gave up territory was in 1820,
when Maine split from Massachusetts. Since then, additional efforts
have been unsuccessful.
The first step is getting it
passed by the state legislature and then the U.S. Congress.
"This is a valid
constitutional process that our founding fathers specifically wrote
into the Constitution," Hare said. "Well, if they didn't
write this into the Constitution to be used, then why did they write
it in?"
But supporters have an
uphill battle since the media will not be their friend.
"The danger is once the
outside media start to grab hold of it, the attention is on the
difficulty, the almost impossibility of it happening," professor
Derek Everett, with Metropolitan State University in Denver,
explained.
Voter
'Disconnect'
State secession proponents,
like Roni Bell Sylvester of Colorado, say they will keep fighting
because the dismissive attitude of state legislative bodies must end.
"I find the sort of
arrogant, dismissive to be further proof as to just how disconnected
the urban is from the rural," Sylvester said.
Movements like the one in
Colorado and other states could be just the beginning -- at least
that's the talk at town hall meetings in places like Colorado and
elsewhere.
It's called 'voter
disconnect" where the people say they've had enough and are
crying out for something to be done.
"We, at some point,
have to figure out a way to get our point across or at least be able
to have a dialogue and not be ignored because you haven't seen
anything yet over the next 5 to 10 years," one resident warned
at a recent town hall meeting in Colorado.
As for Hare, he said it
boils down to one simple concept.
"I think ultimately
what people want, whether you look at it from a right or left
paradigm, is government to stay out of their business," he said.
My comments: The
Secular Humanists want to FORCE America into their godless mold. The
differences are IRRECONCILABLE. This will cause ever increasing
friction. They cannot stop spending because they will loose their
constituency if they did. This profligacy will bring about a
Bankruptcy. When America is FORCED to declare Bankruptcy America will
come apart like a House of Cards. Godlessness is always a House of
cards.
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