[deathfun]

I found it funny

[Dragon]

Sums up the intelligence of an average secessionist. 

[yuezhi]

as Bush has proven ages ago, dem secdeeneshists don't know nuthin' bout edjucashun

[An4ximandros]

Yuezhi, I got an actual headache reading that sentence, how the fork did you do it?

[Luis Dias]

To be fair, they are obviously still shuffling the cards to their rightful place. The camera man was just taking the opportunity to be a sleazy bastard lolzer.

[karajorma]

* karajorma is hugely tempted to add a petition for the reintroduction of slavery just to see how many votes that gets.

[BloodEagle]

You should do one for each race / sex.  I'd be curious to see which ones get more votes.

[karajorma]

Well it's just that the White House Petitions lack a control petition. Perhaps there are people who will sign anything no matter how stupid.

I remember seeing a clip once of how The Man Show managed to get a bunch of people to sign a petition ending women's suffrage. Although to be fair their wording was pretty good and when asked why people should sign, they just said things like "We feel that too many women have suffrage, this should be stopped." They did show the footage of the one outraged woman who cottoned on to what people were actually being asked to sign.

[Dragon]

To be fair, considering what kind of politicians we have, I'd say too many men have suffrage, too. But then, I'm not too fond of democracy in general.

[karajorma]

As usual, a website mainly devoted to dick-jokes has a better handle on this than the mainstream press.


On the other hand, that last petition sounds cool.

[Alex Heartnet]

It seems that Texas at least has a solid legal basis for seceding.

From the Texas State Constitution (found here)

Sec. 1.  FREEDOM AND SOVEREIGNTY OF STATE.  Texas is a free and independent State, subject only to the Constitution of the United States, and the maintenance of our free institutions and the perpetuity of the Union depend upon the preservation of the right of local self-government, unimpaired to all the States.

[Polpolion]

It seems that Texas at least has a solid legal basis for seceding.

From the Texas State Constitution (found here)

Sec. 1.  FREEDOM AND SOVEREIGNTY OF STATE.  Texas is a free and independent State, subject only to the Constitution of the United States, and the maintenance of our free institutions and the perpetuity of the Union depend upon the preservation of the right of local self-government, unimpaired to all the States.

I must be missing something because that is not a solid legal basis for secession at all.

[redsniper]

Yeah, the whole thing about Texas having the right to secede at will is a myth.

[Aardwolf]

And what, if anything, does the constitution say about secession?

[stinkyFeet]

Considering that we aren't really following the constitution at this point, what is there keeping us together?

[karajorma]

An inability to understand Canadian money or how to cook Mexican food.

[Dark Hunter]

And what, if anything, does the constitution say about secession?

The Constitution does not specifically say one way or another, but the prevailing view has always been that it is not permitted. The Founding Fathers had a huge debate on the subject but eventually decided that in order for the Federal government to have any kind of actual power, the States could not just leave any time they happened to disagree. It was believed that any major controversy could cause the States to "go the way of Europe" and become a bunch of small countries and have constant petty wars.

In any case, the 1868 Supreme Court (the guys whose job it is to decide what is or is not "Constitutional") ruled that it is illegal for a State to secede from the Union, which has held up ever since.

[Polpolion]

Considering that we aren't really following the constitution at this point, what is there keeping us together?

Remind me again where we are in conflict with the constitution, and why the Supreme Court isn't making a stink about it? (e: or maybe they are and I'm just not paying attention, preferectly possible)

[achtung]

Considering that we aren't really following the constitution at this point, what is there keeping us together?

Remind me again where we are in conflict with the constitution, and why the Supreme Court isn't making a stink about it? (e: or maybe they are and I'm just not paying attention, preferectly possible)

Most people point to things like a standing army, grotesque invasions of privacy, and obamacare as violations of the constitution. I only see my second mention as being a real issue. The SCOTUS doesn't seem to care right now.

[Nuke]

next time somone starts a new government, make damn sure theres a thing in the constitution for removing cumulative bull**** from the law books. where every new law has an expiration date and has to be reviewed and voted on at regular intervals. if the current situation of endless lobbying would continue under that policy, politicians would be so overworked they would can every bs law just so they can get 5 hours of sleep a night.