Proof that conservatives and liberals can get along

[nbs2]

And Tennessee is there they are meeting. (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071003/ap_on_re_us/secessionist_movement_1)

While any state seriously floating secession would get get the hammer dropped on them in minutes, the quantity of noise they are making is surprising.

Now that I think about it - if a state really wanted to get troops home, this wouldn't be a bad idea...

[imac/cheese]

I wonder how the Vermont Dollar would compare to the US Dollar?

[leekohler]

I've been saying we should let the south secede for a long time.

BTW- this is hardly about the left and right getting along. It's about them agreeing to separate. How is that a good thing?

[nbs2]

BTW- this is hardly about the left and right getting along. It's about them agreeing to separate. How is that a good thing?

Yeah, I know - but it made for a catchy title. Plus, the fact that these two groups are willing to work together is comical in light of the moderate left and right squabbling like toddlers fighting over a Mr. Potato Head.

The only good that could come of this fruiting is we would pull out of the rest of the world so fast to take care of this mess, (I'm out of analogies).

[it5five]

If there is one state that needs/have every reason to secede, it's Hawaii.

What the white sugar-barons did do that country and the natives is appalling. We have built resorts over their sacred burial grounds, and pretty much turned their entire country into a tourist-trap state.

[Iscariot]

Just because mommy and daddy are fighting doesn't mean they love you any less.

Except for you, Florida. You're a disappointment to us both.

[SMM]

Interesting idea to have a couple beers debating, but unlikely to happen. How long would it take for another big state to feast on Rhode island? How would we divide up the Nukes? Who gets the Navy, surely not Nebraska? Can you imagine how long it would take to drive across the Ununited States?

[solvs]

I'd like to see them try.

Most of our money comes from the West and North East.

[halfprep455]

If states like Tennessee and other Southern states did succeed, the rest of America would probably become a lot more progressive. The South is the most Conservative area in the US so therefore if we lost them, it probably wouldn't be a bad thing. BTW, they wouldn't last long on their own. As soon as the Federal aid stopped, their "nation" would collapse in no time.

[leekohler]

If states like Tennessee and other Southern states did succeed, the rest of America would probably become a lot more progressive. The South is the most Conservative area in the US so therefore if we lost them, it probably wouldn't be a bad thing. BTW, they wouldn't last long on their own. As soon as the Federal aid stopped, their "nation" would collapse in no time.

I'd hardly shed a tear.

[Queso]

Can you imagine how long it would take to drive across the Ununited States?
Surely proportionally no longer than to drive across the distinct nation states that make up the European Union. A customs union and trading bloc based on the EU (but without its less democratic side and expensive bureaucracy) would be the perfect way forward. You could even keep a single currency.

....or even adopt one that isn't in the toilet. Canadian dollars anyone? :D

If there is one state that needs/have every reason to secede, it's Hawaii.
Yet bizarrely they were desperate for the British Empire to do the typical rape and pillage thing before they joined the USA, even adding the Union Flag to their own to try and tempt us in.

[Josh]

I think it's the idea of people willing to support a secession in their state, to get a way from increasingly intrusive and overbearing gov't policy, is the idea they are trying to get across.

It's not a bad idea, either.

[Stampyhead]

If states like Tennessee and other Southern states did succeed, the rest of America would probably become a lot more progressive. The South is the most Conservative area in the US so therefore if we lost them, it probably wouldn't be a bad thing. BTW, they wouldn't last long on their own. As soon as the Federal aid stopped, their "nation" would collapse in no time.

'succeed' or 'secede'? I guess they both work in this case - succeed at seceding...

[Ugg]

I think it's the idea of people willing to support a secession in their state, to get a way from increasingly intrusive and overbearing gov't policy, is the idea they are trying to get across.

It's not a bad idea, either.

Where does Tennessee stand in regards to education quality and overall health? Is Tennessee a net recipient or net contributor of federal taxes?

Personally, if it weren't for FedEx, TN wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

Before the talk secession, maybe they better get their own house in order.

[Josh]

Where does Tennessee stand in regards to education quality and overall health? Is Tennessee a net recipient or net contributor of federal taxes?

Personally, if it weren't for FedEx, TN wouldn't have a leg to stand on.

Before the talk secession, maybe they better get their own house in order.

Where does the entire US stand in regards to health and education quality?

I agree there is a problem, but I don't think its root is in TN.

Time and time again Federal services have failed to impress, yet we keep deprecated facilities/policies going. Perhaps a new system, without a federal bureaucracy, might do TN (or any state, for that matter) some good.

[nbs2]

Why are we discussing TN? I think they got picked as a location for discussion because of their central location. Most of the folks at the meetings seems to be from the coastal South and VT.