Secession

No, kids, this isn't one of professor Younce's interesting rants on the War Between the States, although there are elements here. Nope, this one is about radical anti-American activist, Thomas Naylor.

Naylor, you see, hates America. He hates Bush, and he is one of the perpetuators of the "War on Terror is a Myth" ideology. However, we happen to agree on a few things.

First, Naylor thinks that Lincoln ruled with an iron fist, and was a master political manipulator. Beyond that, Naylor suggests that Lincoln was responsible for moving us from a representative government in which the states and the people were superior to the federal government, to a federal system in which Washington is plainly superior to the individual States, and, ultimately, to the people. I tend to agree with this analysis. Before Lincoln, it was "These United States." After Lincoln, it was "The United States."

But, this isn't a rant about Lincoln. Honest, it isn't. You see, Naylor believes that the state of Vermont should secede from the union. So does Donald Livingston, another force behind the Vermont secessionist movement. In my mind, Livingston's arguments tend to be more convincing, but Naylor certainly is the more prolific of the two. At any rate, these guys argue that the citizens of the state of Vermont have the inherent right, if they so desire, to form their own government, separate from the United States, and to be an independent political entity. I also tend to agree with this.

The thing is, regardless of the implications, self-determination is one of our most sacred values. Whether we talk about it with words like independence, self-government, freedom, or whatever, as Americans we believe that human beings are meant to be able to determine for themselves what is best. The citizens of the state of Vermont have that same God-given right, just like their forefathers did when they "seceded" from England.

Yeah, a secessionist Vermont creates some headaches. Border security becomes interesting, at the very least. However, as a land-locked country, Vermont needs to do some serious begging to get the United States to allow planes to fly in, for example. There are workable ways that this sort of thing could still be managed, from the perspective of a 49-state United States.

But a secessionist Vermont does some other things. It gets rid of 3 Democratic electoral votes, more than likely. It gets rid of Bernie Sanders. If Naylor is right, it also gets rid of a lot of disillusioned leftists. Maybe even Michael Moore and Alec Baldwin might take up residence in Vermont. Hell, if they become voting citizens of Vermont, we can always revoke their citizenship and then deny them passports. Or flyover permission. How awesome would that be to have those two nutjobs landlocked for the rest of eternity? I'm thinking a Hillary Clinton presidency might be good right there in Vermont.

If Vermont wants out, I say let 'em go. From then on, when we say "love it or leave it" to some patchouli-smelling freakazoid, we can just point to the nearest Grayhound headed for Vermont.