This is the first part of a six-part series that is exclusive to TheBlaze.
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“To compel man to furnish contributions of money for the propagation of ideas he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical,” Thomas Jefferson, The Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, 1779.
Today in America, a partial government shutdown has led to federal personnel evicting people from their homes and businesses because they are in close proximity to government property. Veterans are denied their right to visit open-air national monuments while illegal aliens are simultaneously given free access to protest. Government officials are ordering routine surveillance and eavesdropping on American citizens in the name of national security, and bureaucrats routinely ignore and trample upon the constitutional rights of individuals. Because these are now common, everyday occurrences, radical measures to reverse this dangerous course must be put forth and implemented.
Governments in liberal states across the country are engaging in similar acts of oppression, and it is here where brave individuals are first beginning to rise up to take action.
This coming Nov. 5, because local activists are rebelling against Denver’s imposition of radical gun and ammunition control, energy development laws that curtail production and eliminate jobs, marijuana legalization, and immigration and marriage policies, 11 northern Colorado counties will vote on whether or not to secede from the Centennial State. The measures are expected to pass.
But before you dismiss these northern Coloradans as Quixotic, consider that five counties in Maryland’s panhandle are expressing a desire to break away from the (anything but) “Free State.” Rural northern California counties have recently resurrected the idea of creating the “State of Jefferson,” which could include counties just across the Oregon state line.
Previously, there have been rumblings in eastern Washington State about separating from the Seattle-anchored coastal region, and downstate citizens in the Land of Lincoln have long considered saying “good-bye” to the rest of Chicago-dominated Illinois.
So are these just noisy protests apt to dissipate if times improve, or are they harbingers of changes to come? Is the idea of counties separating and forming new states so preposterous? It’s happened before: Maine from Massachusetts; Kentucky from Virginia; Vermont from New York; and West Virginia from Virginia. And, what would Thomas Jefferson make of the desire to form new states? Jefferson, who believed that the states were the laboratories of democracy and that government closest to the people governed best?
Divides in the states mentioned above and others experiencing similar chasms are spoken of in today’s simplistic “blue and red” terms, but go much deeper than politics. Liberals and conservatives battle over culture, moral issues, and many times, matters of faith. The role of government now dominates citizens’ lives and is the primary driver that’s leading those in northern Colorado to take action at the polling place.
But, the oppressive nature of the current governmental ruling class extends far beyond an imposed government program like the controversial Obamacare law, for example. Tax, gun control, energy, and land use legislation, along with government agency personnel who have long forgotten their purpose is to serve, and not rule over, the people are pitting major segments of our country against each other, thus leading to the conclusion that we have arrived at an unsolvable impasse.
Therefore, what are the remedies?
In this Feb. 20, 2008 file photo, pedestrians cross Miner Street in Yreka, Calif., Feb. 20, 2008. Supervisors in the far Northern California county where residents are fed up with what they see as a lack of representation at the state capitol and overregulation, have voted in favor of separating from the state. The Siskiyou County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2013 for a declaration of secession. The vote appears mostly symbolic since secession would require approval from the state Legislature and the U.S. Congress, but supporters say it would restore local control over decision making. They want other rural counties in Northern California and Southern Oregon to join them in the creation of a new state called the State of Jefferson.
Credit - Jeff Chiu/AP
At one end of the spectrum, does the divide between freedom-loving Americans and liberals, which is deep and unbridgeable, require that a new nation should form from the old? Or can states be reconfigured to create a new number of states in almost every geographic region, from the Rocky Mountains to northern California and all the way back to western Maryland, that better represent their citizens? If formed, would they then become magnets for people trapped in blue states who want more freedom?
Or would a more conventional answer work, such as challenging the Baker v. Carr Supreme Court ruling of 1962 that effectively removed rural representation from state legislatures by requiring all legislative districts be filled under the one person-one vote premise, thereby erasing the unfair advantages that liberals enjoy in urban-dominated states?
Continuing the course toward ever-increasing government and decreasing freedom appears unavoidable, so the grassroots must engage in fundamental change if we are to survive as a freethinking and acting people…and our time is growing short.
From a purely mechanical and logistical standpoint, could the regions even form new states? Legally, yes, but politics and practicality will make the road a difficult one to traverse.
The proposition vote in Colorado and the local County Board of Supervisors passing resolutions in California are just the first step, but neither action has any legal authority. A sentiment expressed directly from the people, however, is always important.
The next step for both states is to petition their respective state legislatures. If those bodies approve, then Congress must also act. Ideological politics likely stops the process in its tracks, however. Liberals, even for other reasons than their natural predisposition to dominate and impose their elitist-driven philosophy upon all of us, won’t support change because of two fundamental and practical reasons.
First, they won’t release key revenue producing regions, particularly in Colorado, that contribute to funding their leftist policy schemes, which effectively provides base resources for their very power.
Second, adding new conservative states will cost them power in Congress, so we can forget such a measure ever passing the Senate, unless….it’s coupled with other regions that provide Democrats more seats, i.e. DC Statehood or the admission of Puerto Rico.
Another potential option, at least for the Colorado situation, might be for those counties, and maybe others in adjoining states, to petition to join Wyoming. While Colorado and the other states currently housing counties that want out would certainly lose revenue, the make-up of Congress would not change. There would be no increase in US Senators, but the specific oppressed rural areas would be able to escape dominant urban liberalism at the state level, and transfer to a place that has a greater understanding of their livelihoods and respect for their traditional American values.
But because of geography, joining other states may not be an option for a region like upstate New York and western Pennsylvania. There, statehood would be the likely alternative.
We can begin the directional switch right here within The Blaze universe. We are composing a series of articles to cover the upcoming action in California and Colorado and will monitor their success. Join the discussion and let’s begin.
Feature Photo Credit: AP
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