Vermont Secession Movement Gains Traction

[babylonsister]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070604/vermont-secession/

Vermont Secession Movement Gains Traction
JOHN CURRAN

MONTPELIER, Vt. — At Riverwalk Records, the all-vinyl music store just down the street from the state Capitol, the black "US Out of Vt.!" T-shirts are among the hottest sellers.

But to some people in Vermont, the idea is bigger than a $20 novelty. They want Vermont to secede from the United States _ peacefully, of course.

Disillusioned by what they call an empire about to fall, a small cadre of writers and academics hopes to put the question before citizens in March. Eventually, they want to persuade state lawmakers to declare independence, returning Vermont to the status it held from 1777 to 1791.

Neither the state nor the U.S. Constitution explicitly forbids secession, but few people think it is politically viable.

"I always thought the Civil War settled that," said Russell Wheeler, a constitutional law expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C. If Vermont fought and won a war with the federal government, "then you could say Vermont proved the point. But that's not going to happen."

Still, the idea has found plenty of sympathetic ears in Vermont, a left-leaning state that said yes to civil unions, no to slavery (before any other) and last year elected a socialist to the U.S. Senate.

Supporters have published a "Green Mountain Manifesto" subtitled "Why and How Tiny Vermont Might Help Save America From Itself by Seceding from the Union."

more...

[originalpckelly]

1. Why the hell did it have to be a cold state?

:grr:

Oh well, more power to them, I agree with them by the way. The people have the inalienable right to peacefully choose to succeed.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

2. LOL No Shit! I Hear Ya There.

[rpannier]

3. Good luck...ain't gonna happen

It was tried once and it failed.

It would also be folly to secede.
Are they going to join Canada?
Be an independent country? Because if they are, they should be prepared to be a fairly poor country.

In fairness they are right about the country being nearly ungovernable.
But if they secede, they need a better plan than to be Switzerland.

[babylonsister]

5. It's the thought, and publicity, that counts. nt

[rpannier]

6. Very true

I hadn't thought about it in those terms. But you are right.
It gets more people thinking.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

4. Let's spread here to Baja Canada.

Washington State, that is. I would so like to live in a non-super power.