Secessionists Meeting in Tennessee
By BILL POOVEY
Associated Press Writer
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) -- In an unlikely marriage of desire to secede from the United States, two advocacy groups from opposite political traditions - New England and the South - are sitting down to talk.
Tired of foreign wars and what they consider right-wing courts, the Middlebury Institute wants liberal states like Vermont to be able to secede peacefully.
That sounds just fine to the League of the South, a conservative group that refuses to give up on Southern independence.
"We believe that an independent South, or Hawaii, Alaska, or Vermont would be better able to serve the interest of everybody, regardless of race or ethnicity," said Michael Hill of Killen, Ala., president of the League of the South.
Separated by hundreds of miles and divergent political philosophies, the Middlebury Institute and the League of the South are hosting a two-day Secessionist Convention starting Wednesday in Chattanooga.
They expect to attract supporters from California, Alaska and Hawaii, inviting anyone who wants to dissolve the Union so states can save themselves from an overbearing federal government.
If allowed to go their own way, New Englanders "probably would allow abortion and have gun control," Hill said, while Southerners "would probably crack down on illegal immigration harder than it is being now."
The U.S. Constitution does not explicitly prohibit secession, but few people think it is politically viable.
As I've said before here, on this blogsite, my work involves a LOT of traveling during the day. During that traveling, I have seen more Confederate flags flying in the past two years than I can remember seeing at any other time that I can remember.
Having said that, I'm going to say this. I have my own views on the secession question, my own theories on what the outcome of the War Between the States SHOULD have been, and I definitely have my views on Reconstruction. That being said, I'm not ready to commit to a new movement for secession. There are a great, GREAT many things that need to be considered before making such a move, and it can not and SHOULD not be based simply on a few loose reasons. Nor can it be based heavily, to my fellow southerners, on Rebel Pride, which so many of us still do have and cherish as a part of our heritage. There are MAJOR ramifications to be considered, financial, economic, political, governmental, social, militaristic...the list goes on and on.
For now, this bears further watching, and a LOT of heavy thought. We are a nation divided. But we are a NATION, a country, a people. Our history has been one of being able to pull together and depend upon each other AS a nation, as a great nation. That, too, needs to be one of the many things to be considered.
Once and Always, an American Fighting Man.
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