Historic Vermont Meeting...Passes Resolution to Secede from the U.S.
Terri
when/if they hear about one state wanting to leave? What happens when
one "member of the group" does something radical? Will others follow
suit?
Terri
http://www.arcticbeacon.com/articles/article/1518131/36584.htm
Historic Vermont Meeting in State Capital Passes Resolution to Secede
from
the U.S.
The members of a peaceful freedom-fighting group want no part of
neo-cons
running the imperialistic U.S. government. Plan to secede from the U.S.
gaining
momentum in the fiercely independent Green Mountain state.
By Greg Szymanski
2 Nov 2005
The neo-con band of criminals running Washington, trampling on civil
rights
at home and invading countries at will overseas, has led a large group
of
strong-minded Vermont freedom-fighters with no choice but to secede
from the United
States.
And last Friday at the state capital building in Montpelier, a historic
independence convention was held, the first of its kind in the United
States since
May 20, 1861, when North Carolina decided to leave the Union.
A packed House Chamber in the Vermont statehouse, with more than 400
gathered, started the daylong secession convention with a speech by
keynote James
Howard Kunstler, author of The Long Emergency, and ended with a
resolution passed
to secede from the United States.
Most people think of secession as impossible if not treasonous, but the
concept is deeply rooted in the Declaration of Independence, reminding
us that
"Whenever any form of government becomes destructive, it is the Right
of the
People to alter or abolish it and to institute new government."
And with the neo-con takeover of Washington, including all its branches
of
government that transforming America into a one-party dictatorship,
that's
exactly what the resolution passed in Vermont seeks to do by members of
grassroots
movement growing in numbers daily.
Although the resolution is the first step in the long process that
needs
support from the state legislators - as well as an officially
recognized
convention - the grass roots group called the Second Vermont Republic
passed the
following citizen's resolution:
"Be it resolved that the state of Vermont peacefully and
democratically free
itself from the United States of America and return to its natural
status as
an independent republic as it was between January 15, 1777 and March 4,
1791."
Even though critics give the secession group 'a snowball's chance
in hell,'
organizers are firmly convinced in the present-day tyrannical political
climate secession will not only succeed but will prosper.
'This could only happen in Vermont where people are still fiercely
independent and fed up with the course the American government is
taking," said Thomas
Naylor, the head of the group calling itself the Second Republic of
Vermont.
"We have a lot going for us and if you think about it, we have a lot
in common
with Poland's Solidarity movement, who many said would never succeed.
"But Poland did get its freedom, mainly because it was a country
liked around
the world, sort of like how people in America feel about Vermont. When
people
think of Vermont, they have a warm and fuzzy feeling, an image of black
and
white Holstein cows and beautiful scenery. I can also tell you there is
now
closet support in the legislature now and we are serious about getting
the
support needed to secede from the United States.'
Naylor, a former Duke University economics professor, said from his
Vermont
home this week that statewide independence is really a euphemism for
secession,
adding Vermont also will seek to join the group of Unrepresented
Nations
similar to the Lakota Indians and other international indigenous
people.
"Secession is one of the most politically charged words in America,
thanks to
Abraham Lincoln," said Naylor, adding he had been writing about
secession for
the better part of 10 years but the movement picked up tremendous steam
after
9/11. "Secession really combines a radical act of rebellion grounded
in fear
and anger with a positive vision for the future.
"It represents an act of faith that the new will be better than the
old. The
decision to secede necessarily involves a very personal, painful
four-step
decision process. It first involves denunciation that the United States
has lost
its moral authority and is unsustainable, ungovernable and unfixable.
Second,
there is disengagement or admitting 'I don't want to go down with
the
Titanic. Third, there is demystification that secession really is a
viable option
constitutionally, politically and economically. And finally, defiance,
saying 'I
personally want to help take Vermont back from big business, big
markets and
big government and I want to do so peacefully.'"
What started out as Naylor's little fantasy to have an independent
country
made up of Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine, has already grown from a
small
group of 36 several years ago to a packed House Chamber in the
state's capital.
Claiming to have a membership of 160 as of last April, Naylor said the
numbers
have doubled or even tripled.
""I'm getting calls from all over the country supporting our
movement,"
said Naylor. "Although there are more than 20 states with some kind
of secession
movement, Alaska and Hawaii being the best examples, I think Vermont
really
has the best chance at succeeding at seceding."
Besides holding the Vermont independence convention in Montpelier, the
smallest state capital city in the United States, it also has the
reputation as
being the most fiercely independent and anti- big business, being the
only one not
allowing a McDonald's in the entire country.
"First and foremost, we want out of the United States. It's not
just an
anti-Bush statement and if Kerry was elected, we still would have
wanted out,"
said Naylor. "The reality is that we have a one party system in this
country,
called the Republican party, that is owned and operated and controlled
by
corporate America. So it's not just a Bush protest, but a protest
against the Empire.
Although many critics have said the mighty U.S. would not stand for
Vermont's
secession, Naylor as will as others disagree, including Jim Hogue, a
talk
show host on Vermont Public radio.
"There's nothing they would want here. There's no oil, just
mountains.
We're just not important enough. We're funny, we're small and
we're peaceful,"
said Hogue several months ago in an article in the Montreal Gazette.
With most Vermont politicians, including the Congressional delegation,
ignoring the grassroots secession movement or just laughing it off as
good theatre,
Vermont's Lt. Gov., Brian Dubie, has weighed in on the issue, giving
it a
certain amount of merit but stopping short of outright support.
"I really salute their energy and passion," he said in a local
press
interview. "we have an obligation to think of what is in our best
interest as a state
and for the people of out state, even as we approach federal and
national
issues."
Besides Naylor and Kuntsler, others who spoke at the Oct. 28
independence
convention included Professor Frank Bryan of the University of Vermont;
Kirkpatrick Sale, author of Human Scale; J. Kevin Graffagnino,
executive director of
theVermont Historical Society; Professor Eric Davis, Middlebury
College; Shay
Totten, editor of the Vermont Guardian; and Dr. Rob Williams of
Champlain
College.
______________