Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
A bunch of teabaggers in rural Colorado got together and decided that they wanted to "secede" from the "librul" state of Colorado and start their own state, North Colorado Teabagistan, "where men are men, women are scarce, and sheep are scared."
This became a cause célèbre in the conservative media entertainment complex which routinely peddles long discredited and unconstitutional Neo-Confederate fantasies about interposition, nullification and secession.
Eleven Colorado counties voted on the ballot question of "secession" on Tuesday, and a majority -- six counties -- said no. The Denver Post reports, 51st state question answered "no" in 6 of 11 counties contemplating secession:
Weld County Commissioner Sean Conway said the 51st state movement is halted — at least in his county — but there were positive benefits from the secession campaign.
"Weld County voters said this is an option we shouldn't pursue and we won't pursue it," Conway said Tuesday night. "But we will continue to look at the problems of the urban and rural divide in this state."
Weld County voters Tuesday soundly rejected the 51st State Initiative 58 percent to 42 percent.
But in five of the 11 counties where the secession question appeared on the ballot, the measure passed by strong margins.
In Kit Carson County, 52 percent of voters directed county commissioners to explore secession and 48 percent voted against. In Washington County, 58 percent were for the initiative and 42 percent against.
Phillips County went 62 percent for and 38 against; Sedgwick went 57 percent against and 42.9 percent for; Cheyenne County voters cast 62 percent of ballots for and 37.7 against; and in Yuma County, 59 percent of the vote went for the breakaway and 41 percent against.
In Moffat County, the question failed, with 54.8 percent voting against secession. In Elbert County, 74 percent of voters said "no" to the idea of breaking away. In Lincoln County, 55.5 percent voted against.
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Proponents say they have become alienated from the more urbanized Front Range and are unhappy with laws passed during this year's legislative session, including stricter gun laws and new renewable-energy standards.
"The heart of the 51st State Initiative is simple: We just want to be left alone to live our lives without heavy-handed restrictions from the state Capitol," said 51st state advocate Jeffrey Hare.
"Secession" is a difficult process. It would require a vote of the state electorate or legislature, and then the U.S. Congress.
That's because "secession" is illegal and unconstitutional. The damn media just can't get it through their heads that the correct terminology is partition and separation. Article IV of the United States Constitution provides for the creation of new states of the Union, requiring that any such creation be approved by the legislature of the affected state(s), as well as the United States Congress.
Colorado is symptomatic of a phenomenon addressed by journalist Bill Bishop in his 2004 book The Big Sort: Why the Clustering of Like-Minded America is Tearing Us Apart. "Americans have been sorting themselves into alarmingly homogeneous communities -- not by region or by state, but by city and even neighborhood." This has led to political polarization, and the inability to compromise for the general welfare.
Mr. Bishop has a website, The Big Sort, where you can read more.
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