Oatney has a plan for solving our political problems. Split the nation in two.
I don’t know that it would be so bad, myself. What’s more, I can guarantee you that if Red State America is left alone to do its own thing, we could get along with anyone, and my guess is that the same is true for the Blue States…Our commerce would be peaceful and our political interaction with each other would be limited. I would also be willing to wager that this would solve the “getting along” problem.
There are several problems with this. David proposes that we have "an amicable parting" I would posit such a thing is nigh impossible, like the fabled "good divorce" the idea of a good national disunion is itself somewhat of a misnomer.
Lets begin with where I see the problems:
1) States are more than Red and Blue. Take a look at USA Today’s County Map and you see there are a lot of Blue Counties in Red States and Red Counties in Blue States.
In addition, people are more complicated than Red and Blue in general. For example the Red State of Florida sends Democrat Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fl.) to the Senate while the Red State of Arkansas sends two Democrats to the Senate. Red and Blue are the way two Presidential Elections have gone, not indicative of all the values of people in that states.
Also, I’d point out that the Red/Blue works as comparison for parting the union only if you forget the narrow margins of some of these places. For example, Bush won Iowa by 10,000 while losing Wisconsin by 11,000 so Wisconsin is then doomed to the hades of Blue America’s rule.
Now, people may migrate, but what you’d be looking at is millions flleeing from marginal places to avoid Red or Blue rising. Others unable to leave, or given a choice between leaving their ancestorial homes or living under a government they abhor.
2) Some of the comments indicated the problem, particularly Clark’s:
Are you suggesting two culturally different countries each with its own standing army, one practically surrounded by the other?Actually not a bad idea, as long as Blue Country has the bigger army so that it can crush Red Country when Red Country defends itself against affronts to its national security through preemptive strikes.
The real challenge here is the fact that if the left were ever going to be willing to accept a national "live and let live" arrangement, they’d obey the 10th Amendment.
I’ll predict that if this ever happened, Blue Americans wouldn’t leave Red States, they’d stay right where they are in positions of Higher learning and State Courts. They’d continue to do what they’ve always done as educators first subverting the morals and values of the Society, while on the Court legislating from the bench to bring about their own will.
Look at your own State, David. Your activist Supreme Court has read a right to abortion into the Tennesee Constitution. The Montana Court is the most insane bunch of clowns to sit on a bench this side of the insane asylum. How is secession going to solve that? Look at those Red States with Liberal Senators, Liberal Congressman and Liberal Governors.
The only way to achieve the Blue/Red seperation is for both Blue and Red Nations to have national purges of those who remained. It’d be nasty and create tons of ill-will that’d spill into those lovely border skirmishes and occassional full-blown wars when you have nations of fairly equal size and military might next door to one another.
3) When does the division stop?
If the nation were to divide, where would it stop. As I’ve mentioned before Red and Blue are extremely arbitrary divisions. What happens when different states because to discover the differences between each other?
New Englanders aren’t the same as New Yorkers. Wisconsin doesn’t have a whole lot to do with Hollywood. You’d begin to see a fragmentation of the nation along these lines:
1) New England States and New York Seperate as they’re a lot of different than the Mid-Atlantic states.
2) Pennsylvania splits off from everyone with its strong Catholic voter base, its different from New England and other more liberal states. Meanwhile Delaware, New Jersey, and Maryland form their own nation.
3) Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota start their own country for similar reasons to Pennsylvania.
4) Illinois, now surrounded by Red States and former Wisconsin brethern starts its own nation.
5) Hawaii Gets Independence,
6) Southern California declares itself part of Mexico, and Civil War breaks out in Northern and Central California.
7) Washington and Oregon form a small Pacific Republic.
So, you’d reasonably have 7 and probably 8 seperate nations in the Blue States.
1) Utah would either be expelled or leave the Red States with a different religious population.
2) The Southern States would break off to restore the Confederacy.
3) The Midwestern States would realize they weren’t like the Southerners or Westerners, with a greater number of moderates and a different approach and style to politics.
4) The Western States would form their own nation.
5)Alaska far from being a source of oil would bale and become the Northern version of OPEC, though much colder. What I think we would end up with would something like this:
The idea that in division will be political peace is counterintuitive. We’ll always find something to fight about and those fights will lead to political parties. Anyone whose been on a Conservative or liberal message board knows that. When we establish that secession is an acceptable conclusion for an argument we’ll get much more of it.