In moves reminiscent of the days that led up to the War Between The States, government officials in Montana and Oklahoma have fired warning shots at Washington D.C. to get out of their affairs, or risk the consequences.

Earlier this year, the Montana Secretary of State issued a statement highlighting the contract Montana entered into the Union with, in which Montana is guaranteed the right to keep and bear arms. This is in response to the pending gun control case of Heller v. D.C. Montana has the nation's largest reserves of coal, estimated at 120 billion tons. This is hardly a state D.C. needs to be upsetting since they garner high priority in the 21st century.

Recently, officials in Oklahoma offered a resolution highlighting their state's rights under the 10th amendment. The 10th amendment is what was invoked when many states began leaving the Union leading up to the War Between The States. Because the constitution doesn't specifically say that states can't leave the union, it is a right assumed under the 10th amendment.

Oklahoma wants an end to federal mandates. They also want an end to federal tyranny. They demand a return of Oklahoman sovereignty guaranteed by the constitution. Oklahoma has essentially asked the federal government to cease and desist in their affairs.

Oklahoma is home to the 6th largest oil reserves in the U.S. Their reserves total an estimated 569 million barrels. In the 21st century, Oklahoma garners high priority because of their natural wealth.

Oklahoma and Montana should be commended for being leaders in the 21st century. In a century greatly lacking such, these states acting on principle are standing up and saying enough is enough. As the very basics of preserving liberalism, as guaranteed in our constitution, are threatened, these states are taking the lead role in returning our nation to the greatness it once enjoyed by standing up for the very liberal principles this country was founded on. It was a country free to live and be unique, a country free from centralized control and the high taxation of a theocratic dictatorship.

Many might call them conservatives, but it's those conservatives willing to defend the rights that guarantee liberalism forever that make them champions. Hopefully, Washington D.C. will start doing the right thing. For the sake of the Union, such instances as witnessed out of Montana and Oklahoma recently won't be necessary in the future as Washington D.C. decides to be American again.

Yeah I'm sure the politicians in Washington are quaking in their boots at the thought of Oklahoma and Montana seceding.

Great! Can they? No conflict? They'll go on their merry way? And when Texas, Florida, all of PA except SEPA, Ohio, Tennessee, Utah, Idaho, South Dakota, Arizona, New Mexico, the South, and California along with everyone else that follows, no conflict? Peace? Fair? Can they keep all their resources too, since corn, soy beans, oil, natural gas, and the likes can't be found in Philadelphia, or Washington?

Yeah, its call China...

But anyway, like any of these states will "leave" the union over gun control...

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TAFKATLB(TheArtistFormerlyKnowAsTheLoveBelow)

I've often thought that winning the Civil War (which was really about whether or not states could leave the Union) was one of the worst things the North ever did.

I strongly suspect that this country would be better off split into 50 separate nations, as it would make everyone happy: it would give the midwest and deep south the freedom they want and mean that the NE and West could stop carrying their worthless asses.

There you go again Simon...So you're going to give away billions of barrels in oil production, as well as billions in oil reserves, billions in coal production and reserves, billions in ethanol production, the food basket, the gross state products, and then you're assuming the Western states want to join the ugliest region in America--and ugliest city in America when it's all said and done. Going to be mighty expensive living with Simon's concept.

Texas, a Southern state, produces 15, 000 military recruits a year. Gen. Petraeus is from New York. Then you take into account that socially Central Canada and Mexico are more in step with Middle America than the fabulous coasts..so certainly something could probably be worked out there as far as an alliance. There you give away billions more in oil and food production. Then you have to "fly-over" these states to get to your western states that you think love you so much.

I think you should do more research before you flap your lips. DC is the biggest leach in the country as far as taking tax dollars and returning little, you know, Marion Barry DC. Suburbs and those "bubba" voters tend to have a higher standard of living, seeing though they have their own water supplies, food supplies, higher household incomes, cleaner environment, lots of land and comfortable housing, longer life expectancy, better schools, safer neighborhoods, lower taxes, lower unemployment; all statistics indicate where the best places in America are to live, and it's not in the cities with Hobo Joe. But some urban areas are exceptions of course, like Manhattan under a GOP mayor in the 90's...do more reading before your make a fool of yourself. Whereas the cities can be fun, the concept is rather obsolete in the modern world. If we could take care of the Department of Education and Federal Reserve, Middle America could probably solve their education and financial problems. I'm not blaming them.

So you discovered sex, wow! Who hasn't? What an enlightenment! Psychology says sexually oppressed. The yellow rays of sunshine cause cancer.

State Master

Yes, these states will leave over guns. Is this really necessary, all because some people can't live up to the standards of being American? Here Simon Simon Simon...come fly over in the world you envision...Doh

Ah, I see now: you're the senile ghost of Ronald Reagen.

Nice to see that you have no grasp of history and little grasp of economics.

Let's take the South as an example: they had a huge labor force and lots of land, so they were able to grow huge amounts of cotton and tobacco.

But all the factories for turning raw cotton into fabric and tobacco into cigars and other products were... in the North. So the South tried to get England to ally with them, as England needed cotton, too. The Union Navy established a blockade and the cotton ended up rotting on the wharves of the southern port cities.

The North could live without Southern cotton, but the South couldn't live without Northern industry, and they didn't have the capital to build factories of their own.

Yes, the middle part of the country has vast natural resources and produces large amount of grain. But the oil and grain are all still shipped... to the east and west coasts for processing. The NE still has the bulk of the country's refining capacity, and if you want to ship anything oversea cheaply, it's got to go through the ports of the East or West coast.

of course freed from the wealthy coasts environmentalism, they coudl easily build their own refineries and ship via canada and mexico. perhaps monterrey will secede from mexico as that country collapses. only a true yankee coudl refer to entire regions as worthless. they might be a bit less worthless if DC and Wall St hadn't shipped their jobs overseas (through skewed tax and regualtory policies) in exchange for financing their spending habits. and whose we, the last I saw, PA was a debtor state as well. PA is still the place where northeast meets south and midwest, for better and for worse. the union will begin to fray during my lifetime as it benefits fewer and fewer states. where woudl california be without cheap power produced in Az? NYC's dominance in finance overshadows the outright depression that majority of the state is in. it is the duty of citizens to engage in revolution every now and again. I believe jefferson penned that thought.
not saying these states are right or will secede, but one could probably effectively argue that they'd be better off without DC. same with PR.

__________________
"You down wit OPM?"
Fumo: "Yeah, you know me!"

Ah, see economics comes into play again: where would they get the capital to fund big projects like refineries? They've have to borrow it from back east. so they'd still be beholden to the richer States on the coasts.

The middle of the country might not be completely worthless, but it doesn't make a fraction of the money that the coast do. On a smaller scale, Pennsylvania has the same problem: all the revenue comes from the edges of the state and supports the middle.

It ain't right and it ain't fair, and as a Yankee, I'm sick of it.

Borrow the capital from overseas and be beholden to China just like the rest of the country.

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– Brigadier General Julius C. Holmes
Allied Forces Headquarters
4 March 1943