Abstract

Blue State Secession

The article looks at a meeting of political activists, upset with the results of the 2004 presidential election, who proposed a secession of various U.S. states from the United States. In the shadow of the election that returned to power the most autocratic and illegitimate government the nation has ever experienced, many are beginning to talk about "blue state" secession. Most of the talk has seemed frivolous, but in Middlebury, Vermont, three dozen people met to discuss and promote the prospect of secession from the United States. The three days of speeches, presentations and debate were sponsored by the Fourth World, an organization based in England devoted to the separatist movements working for independence within the other three "worlds," and by the Second Vermont Republic, a grassroots movement that is ardently working for the state to become a republic, as it was from 1777 to 1791. It is safe to say that not many people knew such organizations even existed, but the passion and earnestness of the weekend's deliberations showed there is a real feeling that consideration of such an extreme measure as secession is not beyond the pale. There are at least twenty-eight separatist organizations already operating in this country, including those in Alaska, Hawaii, Texas and Puerto Rico, in addition to Vermont.