Well, California’s progressives are trying to get some steam for their secession initiative, which they hope can be on the state ballot by 2018. On Monday, the vice president of Yes California filed the official papers with the state’s attorney general’s office. Now, they have to gather 500,000 signatures from registered voters. The measure seeks to strip the language from the state’s constitution indicating that the Golden State is an “inseparable part” of the United States. Oh, and they plan to petition the United Nations because they’re not confident that a Republican Congress will agree with them, according to The Sacramento Bee. The publication also reported that this campaign is grounded in that California and the United States are too much at odds with regards to social change, that they pay their fair share in federal taxes, only to get lackluster returns on infrastructure, education, and other social investments, and being that they’re the sixth largest economy by itself—they can do better alone:
The measure aimed at the 2018 ballot attempts to strike language from the California Constitution that says the state is “an inseparable part of the United States of America, and the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land.” It also asks voters if they want to secede from the country.If voters approve the measure, it would establish a special election in March 2019 to ask voters again if they want California to become an independent country, Yes California wrote in a ballot measure filing.
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Louis J. Marinelli, president of Yes California, said the group plans to go through the United Nations to seek independence because they don’t believe Congress would sign off on a California exit plan.
“We’re not ashamed about going around Washington to achieve it,” Marinelli said. “Congress can’t tie its shoes. We can wait our whole life while Congress tries to grapple with this, and they won’t do anything.”
So, it’s a done deal, right. No, not really:
Daniel Farber is a law professor at U.C. Berkeley and has written about secessionist movements throughout America’s history.[…]
The only legal avenue for California to secede requires the state to win approval by two-thirds of Congress and three-quarters of the states in the country, he said. Farber pointed to a Supreme Court decision, Texas vs. White, in 1869 that said Texas “entered into an indissoluble relation” when it became part of the United States. The case related to bonds sold by Texas during the Civil War.
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Given that 33 governorships and 69/99 state legislatures are in Republican hands, I’m not so sure this will be successful. In fact, it’s safe to assume that this whole campaign, which was started because Donald Trump beat Hillary Clinton, is going to be a colossal waste of time. On the other hand, should we care that a bunch of whiny liberals want to leave? It’ll make the electoral math for Republican much easier in national elections.
Liberals are shell-shocked over Trump’s upset win over Clinton. In some of the most liberal parts of the country, progressives have been coming out from behind their safe spaces to protest Trump’s victory over old, sick Hillary. Some of these protests have devolved into riots, like in Portland, where a good portion of the protestors didn’t even vote. Setting stuff on fire won’t change anything, declaring Trump isn’t your president is denying reality itself. The Wall Street candidate lost, which is another point of irony with this motely crew of lefty whiners. I guess going through the motions to get a ballot initiative to secede, while idiotic, is somewhat more mature than rioting for no reason. There is a part of me that wants to say,” get lost, California.” But we’re a nation of 50 states. Period.
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