California Group Officially Launches 2018 Ballot Initiative to Secede from US


Secession is serious business. A war was fought in this country 150 years ago over this very issue. The consensus was that the Civil War settled it with the result being that it was believed that states cannot leave the Union. That said, there are those, especially in the South, who have never accepted that view.

Now we have a group in California that is so unhinged over Mr. Trump’s victory that its members are preparing a referendum designed to take California out of the United States and form its own sovereign nation. They have even gone so far as to open something of an informal California embassy in Russia.

Californians who want their state to secede from the United States can now start collecting signatures to put the initiative on the 2018 ballot.

The Yes California Independence Campaign has been around for at least two years, but the election of President Trump only saw increased momentum for the so-called Calexit cause. Trump lost California by more than 4 million votes, fueling interest in a Calexit — a play on the United Kingdom’s “Brexit” campaign that saw that country’s voters decide to leave the European Union.

The California secretary of state’s office announced that the group could begin collecting signatures on Thursday.

The group needs 585,407 signatures from registered voters over the next 180 days to qualify for the ballot.

Given the size of the population of California, that is not a difficult number of signatures to acquire. But suppose this group achieves that number, then what?

If the 2018 ballot initiative passes, it would force a 2019 statewide special election asking voters if they want California to become an independent country.

Should both the 2018 ballot initiative and the 2019 statewide special election result in victories for the “Calexit” movement, then the fireworks will really start.

According to a summary prepared by the state attorney general, if the measure got onto the ballot and passed, it would repeal clauses in the California Constitution stating that the state is an “inseparable part of the United States” and that the U.S. Constitution is the “supreme law of the land,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

How would the US government respond to such an extraordinary act? It is impossible to say with any certainty. The loss of California would have an enormous impact on both the citizens of California and the United States. Would Washington allow it, or would the troops be sent in?

Given the strong liberal influence in California, its secession would decimate the Democratic Party in the US as its ability to prevail in nationwide elections would be gravely damaged, not to mention the loss of all those safe Democratic seats in the House and the two in the Senate.

But the fact that this is even being discussed in this way is a measure of the seriousness of this issue.

At this point, it is unthinkable that our flag could lose one of its stars. This bears serious watching.

https://twitter.com/tonipayne/status/796517678647099392

Source: The Hill



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