THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012
Most red-blooded Americans will be the first to tell you that democracy is the best form of all governments — until their favored party loses a presidential election. Then, all bets are off on what they will say and who they will curse.
I admit that during the darkest years of the Bush administration, I may or may not have been one of those people who doubted the efficacy of the democratic process, and I may or may not have had some choice words for the 50.7 percent of the population that voted to keep that man in the Oval Office.
But even then, I thought, what can I do? It is my country’s course, for better or worse, and I knew that inevitably, the pendulum would swing once again. Until that happened, I would see things through.
Eight years and one especially bruising election later, things have changed, and it seems that a certain segment of the population is no longer willing to follow the very fine American tradition of loudly griping while occasionally screaming, "I told you so" on and off for four years.
Thousands upon thousands of these disgruntled whiners have signed a number of petitions that have been pouring into the White House, with the aim of promoting the idea that their respective states should secede — secede — because of Obama’s reelection.
I’m sure at least some of the signatures are farces, included by caustic people like me who just want to a pain in the ass; I cannot say that I have not been tempted a number of times to sign the 100,000-person petition demanding that Texas secede.
And, I daresay an even larger portion come from broke, obese southerners who, despite being on disability or Medicare or Social Security, despise the federal government every bit as much as they rely on it. The signatures of these hypocritical louts should simply be laughed at.
But the most frightening, however, are the ones who think that secession is truly not only a plausible idea, but a good one. And believe it or not, they actually exist.
After such a prolonged and brutal election season, it doesn’t surprise me that people feel disenchanted. But the fact that these sniveling cowards wish to walk the child’s path of "I’m taking my ball and going home" is pathetic beyond comprehension and a disgusting insult to every man and woman who’s fought under the American flag in the past 236 years.
The petitions illuminate an incredible failure on the part of their signers to comprehend history; this dance has been done before, with terrible consequence. Make no mistake: hinting that this nation’s sons and daughters should be forced to go through the storm of civil war again is borderline treasonous — as is advocating secession in any way.
And, perhaps most importantly, it’s a sign of absolute, utter cowardice. Every single signee who is actually advocating separation from the United State of America is a coward, and we should all be ashamed that they ever considered themselves Americans in the first place.
They are weak, worthless mice who have soiled themselves in fear and decided that flight is a better option then standing and fighting it out in our legislators’ great halls the way our Founding Fathers intended. They are an abomination to the democratic ideal, and if I had my way, signing one single petition supporting secession would eternally strip them of their right to vote, hold public office, or lay their hands on an American flag.
While trust in government may be at historic lows (and that may be warranted after the past three decades), we are still the player on the world stage, and we've attained that position because over the past two-and-a-half centuries, we've held together even in times of great trouble.
That includes our first Civil War, the graves of which should serve as stark reminders of the fires that will inevitably test nations of the truly divided.
We would be wise to heed their lessons.
Email: janoski@northjersey.com
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