President Barack Obama was reelected a few weeks ago, but his win has come with more than 700,000 digital signatures for secession, according to the “We the People” section of the White House website.
Residents in all 50 states have filed petitions to secede from the United States, according to the White House website . The new section of the White House website was created by the Obama administration in September 2011 as a way to petition to government as “guaranteed in the First Amendment,” according to the website.
Michael Mahon , president of Penn State’s Political Science Association , said the losing side in elections is right to be upset their candidate didn’t win.
“Some sides grumble when they lose elections but I’ve never seen secession petitions and uproar to this extent,” Mahon said. “Only time will tell where the Republicans go from here.”
The first petition came the day after the election from a Louisiana man, whose petition as of press time Monday had close to 37,000 digital signatures for Louisiana to secede. This is more than the 25,000-signature threshold for an administration response, according to the White House website.
Pennsylvania has more than 22,000 digital signatures on its petition to secede, while Texas has the most, with more than 117,000 digital signatures as of press time Monday, according to the White House website.
Anthony Christina, the president of the Pennsylvania Federation of College Republicans , said the idea of secession is “complete hogwash.”
“The sacrifices our country made the first time when states tried to secede during the Civil War should not be forgotten,” Christina (senior-history and political science) said. “And for anyone even entertaining the idea of secession, well, that’s just complete malarkey.”
There may be differences on both sides of the political spectrum, but on this issue there is some unity.
Taj Magruder (senior-political science), administrative vice president for the Penn State College Democrats , said these petitions “are insulting to our country’s history.”
“We don’t take these things seriously,” Magruder said. “This is a time to work together to solve problems. It’s a time for unity, not division.”
It’s a move done out of frustration and disappointment, he said.
Sterling Bott (senior-economics) said he read about the petitions on the Internet.
“I think it’s just people who didn’t vote for Obama and don’t believe in what he stands for trying to make a point,” Bott said. “It’s a fantasy of theirs. It’s going to take a lot more than online petitions.”
