Dear people signing secessionist petitions . . .
Stop. Just stop.
If you haven’t heard, a number of pro-secession petitions have cropped up on the White House website’s page for public petitions. When I checked earlier today, there were petitions for “peaceful withdrawal” from the U.S. by 20 states. Not all of them went for Mitt Romney last week, or are in the South: There were also petitions for such states as Michigan, New Jersey, New York and Oregon.
It should go without saying that these petitions a) aren’t going to lead to any kind of action and b) aren’t supported by the vast majority of people who voted against President Obama. If you could cross-check the two groups, I suspect there would be a lot of overlap between the petition signers and birthers.
To those who are signing these petitions out of a sense of anger or exasperation or desperation, let me say this:
Maybe you believe all hope is lost now that we’re getting four more years of Obama. There are a lot of possibilities for his second term that I’m not happy about, either. Quite the opposite, as should be clear from pretty much everything I’ve written on this blog.
But the election, while not all that close in terms of the margin in the Electoral College, was rather close to producing a different outcome. By the count of National Review’s Jim Geraghty, Romney fell short by a combined 407,000 votes in four states that, had he won them, could have pushed him to 275 electoral votes and the White House. I point this out not to engage in wishful “what ifs,” just to observe that it was very much possible to have gotten an outcome that would have had the left in a fit of apoplexy instead.
And when the nation is that closely divided, the conclusion in my view is not to decide it actually needs to divide in two. Rather, it’s that it wouldn’t take much next time to earn a more amenable outcome.
To do that, Republicans have to make some necessary but hardly revolutionary changes. But it does not help them do that when there are people signing petitions that confirm the worst stereotypes the left can dredge up about the right. Let’s face it: In light of the need to appeal to a wider swath of the electorate, comparisons to the Civil War do not aid the cause.
So, please: Find another outlet for whatever energy you’re expending on this kind of junk.
NOTE: The comments thread on this post has long since devolved into mostly personal attacks, so I’m shutting it down. A new post will be up soon, and a number of you may be facing some time away from the blog. I’m not sure yet which will happen first.
– By Kyle Wingfield
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
504 comments Add your comment
Glenn Beck
November 12th, 2012
6:25 pm
md
I was able to figure out in 5 minutes that you were duped. Why couldn’t you? Because you wanted to buy into the story and hoped it was true, that’s why.
Oh well, you were duped again
md
November 12th, 2012
6:26 pm
Good ole Fred……go with the insults vs looking at the numbers and responding accordingly……
If you know it all Fred, then enlighten us as to why there are 75,000 more votes cast than registered voters….
Fred ™
November 12th, 2012
6:26 pm
Identifying traitors isn’t name calling. And you DO remember how stupid the Democrats looked don’t you/ How is THAT name calling?
You see, your lies don’t make something true when it’s not. I know you folks over here have a love fest with your lies and just hate it when someone pops your little hate bubbles with truth, but deal with it.
America rejected your ideas and your traitorous writings and utterings aren’t doing you any good. Let go of your hate.
Hillbilly D
November 12th, 2012
6:27 pm
and considers the states to never have left the union during the war.
So why did they have to be readmitted, if they’d never left?
Stephenson Billings
November 12th, 2012
6:27 pm
“A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.”
“Democracy extends the sphere of individual freedom, socialism restricts it. Democracy attaches all possible value to each man; socialism makes each man a mere agent, a mere number. Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.”
“Society will develop a new kind of servitude which covers the surface of society with a network of complicated rules, through which the most original minds and the most energetic characters cannot penetrate. It does not tyrannise but it compresses, enervates, extinguishes, and stupefies a people, till each nation is reduced to nothing better than a flock of timid and industrious animals, of which the government is the shepherd.”
“It is indeed difficult to imagine how men who have entirely renounced the habit of managing their own affairs could be successful in choosing those who ought to lead them. It is impossible to believe that a liberal, energetic, and wise government can ever emerge from the ballots of a nation of servants.”
― Alexis de Tocqueville
eerie…….
Fred ™
November 12th, 2012
6:28 pm
md
November 12th, 2012
6:26 pm
Good ole Fred……go with the insults vs looking at the numbers and responding accordingly……
If you know it all Fred, then enlighten us as to why there are 75,000 more votes cast than registered voters….
+++++++++++++++
You forgot to add that Jimmy Carter went down to Florida and certified the election………
Show me an insult to you. oh wait, you can’t. You can only lie.
planet kolob
November 12th, 2012
6:28 pm
If i want your opinion I’ll listen to Rush Limbaugh.
md
November 12th, 2012
6:29 pm
Beck….what in the world are you talking about…..duped? They are in the middle of a re-count because the numbers don’t add up……you call that duped?
Too funny…….
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
November 12th, 2012
6:29 pm
rightwing troll, I’m no sadder nor happier than I was a year, month, or day ago.
I’m on an even keel, my friend, each and every day. I never let the things I cannot directly control affect me.
Fred ™
November 12th, 2012
6:30 pm
eerie…….
What’s eerie? That you learned how to copy paste things off of Neal Boortz’s site?
md
November 12th, 2012
6:30 pm
“Show me an insult to you. oh wait, you can’t. You can only lie.”
Naw Fred…..issuing tin foil hats is common place I guess…..strange world you live in.
mike
November 12th, 2012
6:31 pm
Poor old misunderstood Repugnuts. “I’m gonna take my ball and go home!” We should have won except you Democrats exposed our lies and misrepresentations and half-truths to the public. It just isn’t right! We should have won. It just isn’t right!
md
November 12th, 2012
6:31 pm
“You forgot to add that Jimmy Carter went down to Florida and certified the election………”
In the real world that is currently Florida Fred, NOBODY has certified anything when they are in the middle of a re-count……..
Glenn Beck
November 12th, 2012
6:32 pm
md
cards vs votes
look it up
Fred ™
November 12th, 2012
6:35 pm
Hey md: you forgot to read the NOTE that “splains” what you keep harping about. A mind is a terrible thing to waste:
note* – turnout percentages will show over 100% due to a two page ballot. the tabulation system (GEMS) provides voter turnout as equal to the total cards cast in the election divided by the number of registered voters. also note that some voters chose not to return by mail the second card containing the amendments.
It’s on the front page of this site:
http://www.slcelections.com/
Maybe you need a triple layer of aluminum……..
Thomas Heyward Jr
November 12th, 2012
6:35 pm
Kyle Wingfeild———–”Resistance to the Chicago thug-scrum is………………….futile. ….Let us only roll over.”
.
TH Junior————–”Ain’t gonna happen……….Metro-Boy.”
.
Jefferson
November 12th, 2012
6:36 pm
Apathy makes for a sorry American…
Stephenson Billings
November 12th, 2012
6:36 pm
Neal Boortz still has a website?
Maria
November 12th, 2012
6:36 pm
Seriously? Like others have said, if people want to sign a petition, let them! You are telling people to stand idly by while everything they believe in is being ripped from their hands. It is our job as American people, being founded on Judeo-Christian values to stand for the morals we believe in. America hardly has morals and standards anymore. People can say all they want about being for abortion and homosexual marriages (and neither are sanctioned by our Creator) but can those people actually live what they say? I can’t see why people believe that things like homosexuality and abortion and even premarital relations are OK when there are natural consequences for those things! I don’t believe that these states REALLY want to secede from the union. We are beyond blessed to live in a nation with so many freedoms that other nations don’t have. If someone wants to sign a petition (doing what they feel is right) that probably won’t even get the chance to be considered seriously, don’t try to deny them that right. This government needs a little shake and a wake-up call. We gotta start somewhere.
mike
November 12th, 2012
6:37 pm
In case you missed it before, here it is again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLo0Jwj03JU&feature=player_embedded
Fred ™
November 12th, 2012
6:37 pm
In the real world that is currently Florida Fred, NOBODY has certified anything when they are in the middle of a re-count……..
Posting half truth’s doesn’t turn them into THE truth md. They are recounting that whiner West’s district because he is a cry baby.
Here is the results on google for “Florida Recount”
https://www.google.com/search?q=Florida+recount&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a
Where are you getting your twisted info from? Drudgery spam?
Pizzaman
November 12th, 2012
6:38 pm
It is the consensus of the media, even Fox and Boortz, the the Republican party is too old, too white and too male. I’d add too fat and too prejudice. They can still block any and all legislation because of the super majority in the Senate they drove through. So we’ll have 4 more years of Mitch. Only he can’t say one term anymore. He’ll have to say not on my watch. So the fiscal cliff will happen and the Republicans will get what they want. A depression. Then they’ll try to impeach. Unless rational people stop them. Write your legislators and tell them to get the lead out!
md
November 12th, 2012
6:39 pm
And the votes don’t just affect the seat for the House, it seems the race for Mayor is also in question:
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2012/nov/12/st-lucie-elections-supervisor-mum-on-problems/
But some of you just need to skip this stuff and go about your business as it seems you aren’t interested in current events……
carlosgvv
November 12th, 2012
6:39 pm
Tiberius – 5:39
Find one verifiable mistake I’ve made here and I will admit to it.
Accusations are cheap.
Fred ™
November 12th, 2012
6:40 pm
Maria
November 12th, 2012
6:36 pm
This government needs a little shake and a wake-up call. We gotta start somewhere.
+++++++++++++++++
no YOU need a shake and a wake up call. America is just fine. Americans REJECTED your far right wing nutcase ideas. Not just once, but TWICE now. The group of talk radio/FOXbots is getting smaller and smaller Maria. Learn to think for yourself.
Glenn Beck
November 12th, 2012
6:40 pm
md
If you look at your own website or the one I listed it has distinct categories for “votes” and “cards”.
You glanced at it and was off the races.
Me, I noticed it then researched the difference. Took me 5 minutes to realize you were gullible and of course duped.
There will be no big voter fraud story in St Lucie. West will be the loser of his district and Obama will be the winner of the state.
But keep surfing those conspiracy websites. Same ones convinced you that Romney was going to win and you probably ate that up as well.
carlosgvv
November 12th, 2012
6:41 pm
Dusty – 5:39
Since your name rhymes with “old rusty”, you’d best keep silent.
md
November 12th, 2012
6:43 pm
“Posting half truth’s doesn’t turn them into THE truth md. They are recounting that whiner West’s district because he is a cry baby.”
Did I ever say they were recounting statewide Fred??
Attribute your thoughts to you and I’ll do the same….k
Glenn Beck
November 12th, 2012
6:43 pm
“But some of you just need to skip this stuff and go about your business as it seems you aren’t interested in current events…”
Translation – The results don’t fit my narrative so I will run with every allegation and implication about the election hoping that one will come true.
Fred ™
November 12th, 2012
6:43 pm
Oh lord md. A mayor for some back water jerk town that no one but you has ever heard of wants a recount and can’t get an answer because it VETERANS DAY AND GOVERNMENT OFFICES ARE CLOSED and YOU think it’s a story of world wide importance?
Geez Louise chicken little. No wonder no one takes you seriously.
jess
November 12th, 2012
6:44 pm
This is all “bull crap”, and without a willing media more than happy to publicize it no one would ever pay it the least bit of attention. I saw a black lady in a TV interview before the election saying that they would burn this country to the ground if Obama lost. I’m concervative but it never occured to me that this was the mainstream thinking of liberals. I’m sure most of your liberal readers feel the same about these petitions.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
November 12th, 2012
6:44 pm
“Find one verifiable mistake I’ve made here and I will admit to it.”
I could be trite and write that every post you make is a mistake, but I don’t do that (by and large).
However, carlos, you regularly state your opinions as fact. I am not going to go back and rehash each and every disagreement with you because I don’t live in the past.
Deal with it.
Needless to say, you’ll be wrong again and you will refuse to admit to it. It’s what you do.
md
November 12th, 2012
6:44 pm
Yep Beck….the TCPalm runs wild with conspiracy theories…..
You are one funny fella……
Glenn Beck
November 12th, 2012
6:46 pm
md
I already showed you the gullibility of your ways in terms of “votes and “cards” cast. If you are unwilling to research it, that is your problem and continued willingness to be ill informed.
Stephenson Billings
November 12th, 2012
6:46 pm
Wealthy Dump Assets Amid Worries About Going Over ‘Cliff’
“Fearing an increase in capital gains and dividend taxes, many of the rich are unloading stocks, businesses and homes before the end of the year.
Wealth advisors say that with capital-gains taxes potentially going to 25 percent from 15 percent, and other possible increases in the dividend tax, estate tax and other taxes, many clients are selling now to save millions in taxes.”
http://www.cnbc.com/id/49792979
md
November 12th, 2012
6:46 pm
Oh spare us the theatrics Fred…..was today drama class day?
I posted that as it is also in St Lucie county……but feel free to rant away, I get a chuckle when you go ballistic…..
mike
November 12th, 2012
6:47 pm
No matter how much Koch Brothers money, no matter how much Americans for Progress, no matter how much Sheldon Adelson money, no matter how many lies, the truth wins out in the end.
“Anyone who doesn’t take truth seriously in small matters cannot be trusted in large ones either.”
–Albert Einstein
Aquagirl
November 12th, 2012
6:48 pm
But some of you just need to skip this stuff and go about your business as it seems you aren’t interested in current events……
OMG, the mayoral race in St. Pierce is undecided. Our Republic will surely grind to a halt.
If you think Flori-duh has a problem with voting write their Republican Secretary of State or their Republican Governor. If you think Republicans are too stupid to oversee voting then why you’re cheerleading for them at all is kind of a mystery.
Fred ™
November 12th, 2012
6:48 pm
md
November 12th, 2012
6:46 pm
Oh spare us the theatrics Fred…..was today drama class day?
I posted that as it is also in St Lucie county……but feel free to rant away, I get a chuckle when you go ballistic…..
+++++++++++++++++
spare the dramatics? LOl did you really type that? Mr. All Crazy about some little town?
You are a birther too aren’t you?
md
November 12th, 2012
6:48 pm
“I already showed you the gullibility of your ways in terms of “votes and “cards” cast. If you are unwilling to research it, that is your problem and continued willingness to be ill informed.”
And if you read comments from the supervisor of elections Beck you may notice that even she has stated it is out of the ordinary for the county…….hence to uproar. Her statements, not mine. But I’m sure that means nothing to you…….
MarkV
November 12th, 2012
6:49 pm
Although it might be fun to keep arguing how resounding was or was not would be educated Obama’s electoral victory, and making all those would be educated claims why it happened, is there any real purpose to it? About as much as quoting Alexis de Tocqueville, or writing ignorantly about socialism, Marxism and communism, i.e., very little.
On the other hand, Dusty’s dream about a conservative blog without liberals is another silly (no offense intended, Dusty) idea. What a boring blog would that be – about as boring as a liberal blog with only liberal posts.
Glenn Beck
November 12th, 2012
6:50 pm
md is looking for some sort of moral victory to make himself feel better after that thumping he took last week
Stephenson Billings
November 12th, 2012
6:50 pm
Would have been interesting to see how the results in Ohio would have been if this happened before the election:
Ohioans’ food stamp aid to be reduced
Benefit to fall $50 a month starting in January
“Ohio families receiving food stamps could get an unwelcome surprise come January: $50 less every month in assistance.
For the 869,000 households enrolled in the program for the poorest Ohioans, that could amount to about $520 million annually out of the grocery budgets.”
http://www.toledoblade.com/State/2012/11/12/Ohioans-food-stamp-aid-to-be-cut.html
md
November 12th, 2012
6:51 pm
“You are a birther too aren’t you?”
No….but it doesn’t surprise me that you would assume so…..assume being the operative word.
Fred ™
November 12th, 2012
6:52 pm
The things you silly hard core fanatics make up to scare yourselves with is comical.
Look out for the boogey man under you bed md…….. I’m sure he’s coming to take you away.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxVkAhto0Ag&feature=related
Glenn Beck
November 12th, 2012
6:52 pm
md
If you were not a drinker, I hope the election didn’t drive you to drink. If you drink, I hope it hasn’t caused you to drink more than you normally do.
But keep your ear to the ground and your eyes open, the big “story” might break at any minute now.
Maria
November 12th, 2012
6:52 pm
Fred, I didn’t get my “far right wing nutcase ideas” from any “talk radio/FOXbots” as you call them. I got my ideas from the bible. I believe that if some Americans think we are in trouble, they SHOULD do something about it. If you feel you’re being wronged, I hope you won’t just sit there and let it happen. I hope you would get up and take a stand. If you are standing up for what you believe in, more power to you. But I hope you’re standing on a legitimate premise. I have just as much right to believe that you have been brainwashed by the liberal media. Yeah, so I hope you are thinking for yourself as well.
Banderson
November 12th, 2012
6:53 pm
md –
These people are trying to nicely tell you that the “card” count for a two page ballot would be 2, even if only one person voted. So, you can easily have more “cards” than registered voters. Visit Snopes, for God’s sake. Also, the tcpalm article has nothing to do with the card vs. registered voter issue you cite. Try to focus.
mike
November 12th, 2012
6:53 pm
“All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.”
–Arthur Schopenhauer
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right when needed
November 12th, 2012
6:53 pm
Every day is drama day for Fred.
Every day is nasty day for Fred.
Every day is disgusting day for Fred.
Every day is another day for Fred to prove he cannot hold a civil conversation on any blog.