In California's rural, conservative north, there are big dreams for cleaving the state

[TexasTowelie]

The two young, blond women in figure-flattering ball gowns hoisted whiskey and shotguns.

An auctioneer rattled off bids. Above the stage in the banquet hall hung a green flag for the 51st state of Jefferson, with its pair of Xs called a “double-cross” representing a sense of rural abandonment.

Hundreds of people packed into the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 9650 hall on this chilly Saturday night, ready to crack open wallets to help fund their dream of carving — out of California’s northernmost reaches — a brand new state.

Someone offered $350 for a state of Jefferson belt buckle. Someone else won a lamb, still in its mother’s womb, that should be born in time to be butchered for Easter. Outside, vehicles bore bumper stickers supporting President Trump and the 2nd Amendment.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-state-of-jefferson-activists-20180317-htmlstory.html

[Tiggeroshii]

1. If DC still cannot be a state, neither can the nothing town of "Jefferson"

....

[Proud liberal 80]

2. They should just move

Idaho or Wyoming

[meadowlark5]

3. Yes, plenty of room for them there and a lot of deplorables to be friends with

But they would soon find out that they don't have the niceties and amenities of a prosperous state like California.

I live in Colorado and I think we are receiving our fair share of conservative escapees :blech:

[lapfog_1]

4. drove up to Redding right after christmas

saw a number of "Jefferson" signs and billboards, but when I asked around about it people just laughed and said that the signs were old and not too many locals take it seriously

[democratisphere]

5. Senators and Reps don't have a clue about what goes on in their states.

Senators and Reps should spend 2 weeks each month visiting all of the constituent areas in their states to find out what the hell is really going on with their voters and people.

[David__77]

6. This area wont be Republican for long.

...

[left-of-center2012]

7. Heard this in the 80's and 90's

I lived in southern CA way back when and there was talk of making two Californias.
Didn't happen, and won't.

[Brother Buzz]

11. Try the forties

The movement has been around a long time. The bombing of Pearl Harbor put the 1941 effort on the back burner.

[Thunderbeast]

8. The State of Jefferson

has been a fantasy for over 100 years. The territory includes part of southern Oregon that was a political Dutchy of the Ku Klux Klan.

While traveling through Cave Junction last fall, I saw Confederate flags flying from flagpoles and the beds of pickups.

Local economies in the region are a mess. After a over a century of making a living extracting timber from federal forests, growing water-intensive crops dependent on federal subsidies and environmentally un-sustainable water use, and over-fishing the Pacific shores, these folks are frustrated. In small towns, the Dollar Store is the only place to buy groceries. Storefronts are boarded up. Meth is a huge problem.

If rural America is supposed to be the "Real" America, we are in a boatload of trouble!

[BigmanPigman]

9. I was "un-friended" at Christmas by someone I have known for 35 years.

She lives in Weed, CA (where this article is about). I live down in San Diego so I guess I am "the enemy" now. Apparently she didn't like the Christmas card I drew and sent her. We both attended Parson's School of Design and Phila College of Art and she was my sister's roommate. It turns out now that she is Fux Ruse loving neo Nazi (my sister found Nazi literature under her bed after she moved out of their place) and she didn't like my illustration of the Fucking Moron as the Grinch so she unfriended me. I sent the same card last year so I don't know what caused the change. I will get the last word by sending her a birthday card of an illustration I made with The Moron, Bannon and Putin wishing her (their Komrad) in Weed, CA a Happy Fucking Birthday and wash my hands of her and her swastikas.

CA will never split. My former friend has split, at least her personality has. She used to be an artsy-hippie type. Now she is "Sybil". I wonder how many more personalities she has that I wasn't aware of.

[nocalflea]

10. Don't tell me, this is part of Russia's master plan to annex Fort Ross.

Whether from a small town or a big city, splitting the state in two, is not the topic of discussion among any Californians I know.

Fuck off Vlad.