[Publius]

This is a light-hearted trial balloon from the Hard Left. But it's a topic that has intruiged me for years. In this ancient and outdated Publius Essay from 1999 I explored the secession of Texas and Utah under the Hillary Clinton presidency.

I'm working on a new Publius Essay about the coming splintering of the Democratic Party, and I hope to have that ready after the election. As the forces of the Left lose their ability to influence national policy, one of my suspicions is that we'll see more talk like this.

[Shooter 2.5]

All we need to lose is about a hundred miles of Pacific Coastline.

Where's Lex Luther when we need him?

[Steel Wolf]

Here's what we do and how we pull it off: We secede. That's right, we leave the United States and become our own nation. Not forever, just for four years, then we apologize and rejoin the union.

You're assuming that a Democrat wins in 2008. You may find President Rice even less to your liking. She doesn't suffer fools glady, so she definitly won't care for you.

President Bush can't stop us from seceding. What's he going to do? Go to war with us?

Yeah, he wouldn't have to. Most of the state is fairly conservative. You'll only control everything from Seattle to mid Tacoma (everything South of that is where people from Ft. Lewis and McChord AFB eats lunch. They won't be succeeding anywhere). That's a lot of people, but not a lot of resources.*

*(Translation) Within a week even the most die hard vegans will be eating each other.

I'm calling our new nation Cascadia .

After you start eating each other, you can change the name of Seattle to 'Pyongyang-by-the-Bay'.

Millions of people will want to move here, but since we are an independent nation we only let in whom we want, when we want.

You support this?!? Maybe you're not so bad after all. Let's talk about a little place called Mexico, and our plans for a great big wall...

At that point we control the 2008 presidential election. We simply tell the citizens of United States which president we'd like to see in office and they vote him (or her) in, it's a done deal.

Yep, nothing like sage political advice from unwashed cannibals prowling the streets of a rotting metropolis.

[BnBlFlag]

I happen to believe in the right of secession. So......Don't let the screen door hit ya in the ass on your way out!

[ampat]

Stupid reporter.

[KellyAdmirer]

I must have missed something, is having a monopoly on Starbucks and Microsoft (a monopoly on a monopoly, how nice) supposed to be a good thing?

[Libertarianize the GOP]

I am sure that come Nov 3 Seattle would go along with the idea but the rest of the state would not and Seattle has very little of the industry and farming. If Seattle wanted to leave on its own I would say good riddance but we won't ever let you rejoin the United States.

[Steel Wolf]

We will look like Eden to the rest of the country;

I think the word you're looking for it 'Utopia', not 'Eden'. It sure sounds like you're describing Utopia. A real workers paradise if I've ever heard one.

The problem here is that you're not thinking broad enough. You should really get some friends to seceed with you. Oregon, Vermont, Massachusates,etc. You should go with a nice happy name like 'Union of Soviergn Socialist States' or 'The Berkely Pact'. Something to show your solidarity with your fellow progressive revolutionaries.

Anyone have any ideas on other good candidates for succession or names for the new utopia to be?

[eccentric]

Texas considered secceeding from the union about twenty years years. They decided against it because they didn't want to patrol their own borders.--- Okies can be awfully sneaking.

[Physicist]

If three hurricanes in a row slamming into Florida right before the 2004 election isn't a clear sign from the Almighty that he wasn't pleased with how things went in that state in 2000, I don't know what is. Even George should be able to interpret that sign!

Well, considering that his approval ratings in Florida have risen sharply as a result of his response to the hurricanes, there's really only one way he can interpret that sign, if sign it be.

[thoughtomator]

Why don't they just call themselves Canadia?

[Jack Black]

Excellent suggestion you leftist scum. Just don't expect your thin majority to be able to rule this large state. Go take a look at the famous red/blue map again. With an angry US Navy blockading your ports it's gonna get ugly in Seattle when the rest of the states blockades all roads into the city. I guess you have enough coffee beans stored up to last for a while. HA !

[Psycho_Bunny]

President Bush can't stop us from seceding.

I live in Seattle.

I am armed.

I have no qualms about defending my nation against enemies; foreign or domestic.

[melkor]

Friend of mine is writing a web comic about the succession of texas after laura miller declares herself ruller of texas. It throws the us into a new cold war and the comic is mainly about covert ops between the nations.

[Jack Black]

CW II Ping.

[TLI]

Rip off coffee and wine-os... nice.

Here in Texas we have Pantex.  I guess we control the entire planet. right?

[kcar]

After the absence of their two Senators, and having made the rest of the country more conservative via the remaining numbers, who's to say we would just let them back in after 4 years? Probably they'd have a civil war with the East portion of the state if they secede, and the Seattle software and coffee vendors would be hard-pressed to prevail. And if they did, with all those fine apples and cherries there and unprotected by the USA, maybe China would invade and rename it Invadia. Of course, they could always ally themselves with Canada.

[Ethrane]

"A recent CNN poll on swing states showed that Washington was the only state that supports John Kerry even more than it supported Al Gore. Another recent survey showed that Seattle was the most educated city in the United States. Correlation?

I know a lot of "educated people", and only a certain percentage of them are "smart"...

The smart ones must not live in WA.