The Secession Plan

       I originally wrote this article back in 2015 and had it published on The Patriot Post’s Grassroots Commentary section.  I feel that it, or at least many parts of it, remain relevant today.  Majorie Taylor Greene spoke about a national divorce and it made me think “Something about this line of thought sounds familiar.”  I’m not so conceited to think she may have gotten the idea from my article.  I’m not what you would call a powerful voice in conservative circles.  I do believe the coincidence highlights the prevalence and persistence of these ideas.  Read below for thoughts from the past.  Please like and comment.  As before, I love debate and am willing to listen and discuss with both sides.

July 9, 2015

With the current agenda-driven lawlessness infecting D.C. politics and the metastasizing liberal PC culture waging war against conservative ideals and religious liberty, why are we trying to save America? The America many of us grew up with is dead and the Washington politicians are doing a “Weekend at Bernie’s” puppetry act with the corpse in hopes of perpetuating their elitist lifestyles. They speak in Rockwell tones, yet push Marxist values, all the while standing in front of an American flag backdrop and wearing their American flag lapel pin. That is what makes a true Patriot, right? American flags and flowery words. The current sociopolitical divide between the Right and Left is so wide that it demands action beyond bipartisan Congressional politics. This fomenting animosity calls for an action so drastic, some may consider it un-American. It calls for a, amicable if possible, divorce from the government that openly mocks conservative values and persecutes those who embrace their constitutional rights. Secession was stopped once by a government who did not respect the wishes of the people. Through violence, it reigned in the “rebels” and held the Union together. Now, 25 percent of the American population views secession as a viable and prudent option. Why can’t we embrace this idea and create a land that espouses conservative values and the freedoms enshrined in the Constitution instead of trying to resuscitate the lifeless husk that was once America?

STEP ONE:

The first step is to find a leader. A public figure of note who truly loves conservative values and advocates true freedom; one who can present the idea for secession in an articulate and professional manner. I would recommend Ted Cruz or Bobby Jindal to take the reins and lead the charge. A clear voice of leadership will be like a beacon to those who are truly ready for change. I read the comments all over the Internet and conservatives are angry and tired. A person who can unite those feelings into a strong movement is the first step.

STEP TWO:

The charter document to define what values and principles the new country (I like the name North American Alliance of Conservative States, or NAACS) would be based upon could be constructed by applying minor modifications to the U.S. Constitution. Clarification of the existing Bill of Rights, especially on the First and Second Amendments, would be paramount. Ensuring no law could be passed to change or modify the responsibilities of the central government beyond those specifically outlined in the Constitution would need to be emphasized. The bulk of legislative power would be the responsibility of the state legislatures. The federal government could not trump a state law. Officials elected to governmental positions, both state and federal, would be limited to two (2) four-year terms. Government service would be a temporary patriotic duty, not a career. Members of Congress would not be allowed to vote to change their benefits, terms of service, or pay. Regulating and restricting government encroachment of the rights of the citizens would be of the greatest importance.

STEP THREE:

Obviously, we couldn’t split the country based on red state/blue state demographics. This would divide the country into too many separate parts with too many boundaries to enforce. A straight line from the northern border of North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona would form the northern border of the NAACS. This would require conservatives to abandon some red states, but to have an amicable divorce, concessions must be made. The NAACS capitol should be centrally located; Dallas and Little Rock are fairly central in the landmass. U.S. federal land in these states would return to the ownership of the state. Any U.S. government assets would be returned to the United States with the exception of National Guard assets, which would be retained by the parent states as part of the state militia.

In the next part of my plan I will go into trade factors, international relations, citizen relocation, and military considerations. The time for fruitless battles in Washington is over. The conservative culture is being stymied beneath the jackboot of political correctness and moral ambiguity. The cancer of corruption has spread too far in the body politic. Please leave comments letting me know your opinions.

In last week’s article, I discussed the need for an amicable secession that would establish a new southern country centered around conservative values. Some of the topics discussed were the necessity of a strong leader and an even stronger founding document; one that severely limits federal responsibility and strictly restricts federal growth. The bureaucratic monstrosity that is the federal government must not be allowed to resurface in the North American Southern Alliance (new proposed name).

STEP FOUR:

One of the hardest parts of the plan will be the relocation of interested citizens from the United States to the NASA. To accomplish this I suggest a one-year grace period during which citizens can relinquish their U.S. citizenship and relocate to the NASA utilizing an abbreviated immigration process. This year would allow people to find new residence and employment in the new country without feeling overly rushed to make a decision. After the 12-month deadline all citizens immigrating from the north would be treated as foreign nationals and be held to a much more stringent immigration process. This plan does not mean that if you are liberal/progressive you have to move out of the NASA. Everyone who loves freedom is welcome. This plan simply means that conservatism will be paramount in the establishing document of the new country.

STEP FIVE:

A recurring comment on the last article was how dangerous splitting America’s military forces would be to the citizenry and the stability of the world. I have to wholly disagree. The feckless leadership in Washington is doing nothing for world stability except making it worse. ISIS and John Kerry in Iran are proof that things can’t get much more dangerous for the citizenry. A large portion of the United States military identify as strongly conservative. I don’t have exact numbers, but I will low-ball and say that around 50 percent would defect. Military personnel would be allowed to transfer to the new military while retaining their time in service and paygrade during the 12-month grace period. If the split were to be amicable, as we all hope it would be, negotiations could be made for military hardware (tanks, planes, ships) assigned to U.S. bases located in the NASA. As long as both sides agreed to a treaty promising assistance and cooperation in maintaining national security, the USA and NASA would be as safe from foreign threats as they are today.

STEP SIX:

The last item for consideration would be trade. The Mississippi River would be a neutral trade route, as it passes through both countries. Goods passing across the NASA northern border would be subject to tariffs. Sales tax would be the only method of income taxation in the NASA. Imported goods would be taxed heavily to help promote consumption of NASA-made goods. Export of goods and resources would be encouraged and supported. The free market would determine what goods would be consumed, not government mandates. The government would be expressly forbidden from establishing any policy or agency that would interfere with free market principles. Sorry corn.

This concludes my secession plan. It is not a perfect or a complete plan. It is merely a rough draft, meant to spark conversation and thought. If this plan were to come to fruition, I truly believe that the American people would be a happier, more prosperous people. The division of public opinion is so wide and filled with animosity that I don’t think we can recover. I don’t harbor any ill will towards liberals; I just think that their view is so skewed from what I believe is right, I don’t want them anywhere near my government. I think that is the common feeling among most conservatives. I also believe that the metropolitan areas are overpowering the rural and suburban conservative community politically, to the point that the conservative viewpoint is not accurately represented in both state and federal governments. With my plan, both views could be represented accurately with minimal resistance from the opposition. Liberal policies would run the U.S. and conservative principles would govern the NASA. I appreciate the responses to the last article. I hope to get the same reader participation to this one.

Protesting the Protests

               The recent marches, protests and rallies against President Trump have given me a few revelations in regards to the practice of “protesting”.  First: Most modern day protests are irrelevant.  Not because the protesters opinions are unimportant, though sometimes they are, but because the protesters themselves have no value to those they are protesting against.  Those protesting President Trump, for example, are not people who voted for him or people who can actually influence policy.  Labor strikes are negotiated and compromise is made because the laborers are necessary for the profit of the company.  Those protests matter.  A bunch of jobless students, professors and other liberal nuts that are not influential in politics…not so much.  They are also irrelevant because the same people keep protesting after they have already achieved what they were originally protesting for.  Take the LGBTQXYZ community for example.  They have achieved all of their original goals of equality, acceptance and marriage.  So why are there still marches? 

                Second: Most activists think that if they shout, chant, march and hold up signs then they will get their way.  I’m sorry to say that is a childish mindset and downright disappointing that an adult would actually think that way.  Without any of the above mentioned value, you are only impeding traffic and making no real progress.  Protestors make for a few good sound bites for the MSM, but at the end of the day the train keeps rolling.  Just look at the pipelines.  Thousands of picketers and squatters and they are still going up.  All of the “Resistance” marching ad nauseum against the President and guess what?  He’s still the President.  Protest without adequate force or a valuable bargaining chip is just whining.  If you are going to whine, please don’t make me late for work because of it.

                Third: The progression of protest is stuck at the first stage.  Before I start this point I want to make it clear that I am neither advocating nor condoning violence.  I am merely writing this as a point of logical thought.  The natural progression of protest begins with the demonstrations, marches, rallies, etc.  When the voices of the people are unheeded, the movement progresses to a resistance of action.  This is usually marked by applications of violence, sabotage, vandalism, etc.  If acquiescence to demands is not met, then a full blown revolution is the final stage.  Civil war, coup d’état, regime change; whatever you call it, it results in a change of governance and culture.  Most today would call this terrorism, but this is the course of events that led to the birth of our country.  Protesters marching in the streets in today’s society lack the fortitude to engage in such acts and are therefore stuck at the first stage, occasionally dipping a toe into the second.  If the change you desire hasn’t happened after the first two or three protests, the first stage isn’t going to cut it.

                American protesters are lucky, though.  They can march and march until their feet fall off and no one will bat an eye.  However, the citizens of Russia are having a harder time of it.  Russians (largely teenagers) protesting the rule of “President” Putin are being arrested in droves for unauthorized protesting.  Could you imagine if protests against Trump were met with hundreds of arrests for unauthorized protesting?  Why, there would be protests against the arrest of protesters.  The difference between the Russian and American protesters is that the Russians are protesting against actual tyranny and oppression; the Americans are manufacturing causes to protest against.  The American Left is not oppressed, persecuted, suppressed, abused or any other imagined offense.  They are simply bored and have a need to feel important, even when they aren’t.          

Hashtag Sheep

The recent attack on London was horrific.  It was a terrible act committed by terrible people.  It was also a glaring failure of leadership by European politicians as a whole.  They encouraged acceptance of un-vetted migrants for the sake of political correctness and the appeasement of liberal, bleeding-heart voters.  They invited wolves into the fold and everyone is shocked when they kill a few sheep. 

     But what do the sheep do when the wolves attack?  They defend the wolves and call the shepherds racists.  For too long now the liberal left has been unwilling to accept any narrative or evidence that runs contrary to their agenda.  Islamist terrorist attack after Islamist terrorist attack ad infinium and they still claim that the perpetrators aren’t Muslim.  I’m sorry but if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck and kills while reciting passages from the Quran, it might be a Muslim duck.  Not all Muslims are terrorists, but all recent terror attacks are committed by Muslims. 

     It’s amazing how people online were defending the “real” Muslims before the attack was even labeled as a terrorist attack.  Why can’t people just be honest?  Or is it that liberal society has so conditioned us to be accepting of those who wish to do us harm.  Society also refuses to demand condemnation from so-called peaceful mosques and imams.  I can tell you that if a group of Christians were committing these atrocities in the name of Jesus, every preacher and priest across the globe would be renouncing them and disavowing them.  The response from the Muslim community is token, at best. 

     Why do the people of the Western world think that “standing in unity”, crying for peace and lighting candles will deter these attacks?  To the jihadi, these acts are weakness and simply encourage more of the same.  They don’t care that you defend the Muslim faith every time they kill in the name of Allah.  They don’t care that you changed your profile pic to a flag.  They certainly don’t care that you “stand strong” while not actually doing anything to defend yourselves.  Until you literally fight back, then you are a victim waiting for your turn.  Jihad is a holy WAR.  It doesn’t get solved with hashtags. 

Endangered Species

                We are teetering at the precipice of cultural change.  Actually, we are slowly slipping downhill and accelerating.  My wife told me the other day when we were cutting down a tree, “You never let me help with things where I might get hurt.”  My response was “I’m classically trained.  A man is supposed to protect his woman from danger.”  The change we are in the midst of is turning this mentality into an endangered species.  Men who behave like men are a dying breed.  Feminists, leftists and most of the other “ists” will say that is a good thing and spout some nonsense about misogyny, patriarchy or facism (even though very few of them actually know what real facism is).  They will applaud the death of the “rugged man” persona, who relishes manual labor and prides himself in adhering to traditional gender roles.  They will only be happy until everyone is either some amorphous gender chameleon or a fervent feminist extremist.  They will only be satisfied until everyone is beholden to their leftist ideology and submits to the whims of the State. 

                I hope the day doesn’t come where holding a traditional conservative worldview will land you behind bars.  However, I feel that day is right around the bend.  Conservative professors are tending their resignations due to backlash from being public about their conservative beliefs.  Any outcry against leftist indoctrination is met with screams of bigotry and racism.  People have lost their jobs for not supporting liberal ideas.  Riots have broken out at colleges because the children attending these indoctrination centers can’t bear to have someone speak about conservative views.  They riot because of WORDS.  They are oppressed because right wing words make them feel bad.  They are pitching temper tantrums and blocking interstates because they don’t feel that white people and cops appreciate black lives enough.  Whiny childish behavior is replacing masculine stoicism.  “Suck it up buttercup” is being replaced with “You don’t like the new President so why don’t you take the day off from COLLEGE.”

                We as real men need to ensure that we instill a sense of manliness into our sons.  Take them out to enjoy the smell of gunpowder in the air.  Teach them how to safely operate the tool known as a gun.  Four wheelers, tractors, bulldozers and backhoes; give them the thrill running petroleum powered machinery.  Teach them about nature and life by taking them hunting.  Taking a life to provide food is a hefty responsibility and one that is forgotten by continuous trips to the supermarket and fast food chains.  Encourage outdoor exploration and camping.  Lastly, teach them the art of being a gentleman.  Tell them about being a stalwart protector of women and respectful towards them in word and action.  Feminism and womens’ studies aren’t going to help end the sexual assaults and violence against women.  Fathers who teach their sons how to treat women like a REAL man should are.  The death of manliness and gentlemanly masculinity means the death of traditional chivalry and all the values associated with a traditional upbringing.

                I personally like opening the door for my wife and protecting her from danger.  But I’m just a classically trained dodo on the verge of extinction.          

Soft and Unprepared

                A large swath of the American population will not survive a global catastrophe.  This is the thought that goes through my head as I look at the news with all of the protests and marches and people being “offended”.  The culturally enlightened liberal Left has become so soft that they are doomed should any real apocalyptic scenario strike.  Sans government and the protections provided by such, what on Earth would they do?  Without the Constitution to protect their fragile sensitivities, how could they function?  Most seem to feel that society and civilization are immortal and will always be there to protect them.  The culture of the “preppers” holds the antithesis of that opinion.  They believe that society is doomed to fail and they are getting ready for the collapse.

               

I’m not saying that everyone should become a prepper.  However, I do believe that everyone should consider the possibility of a collapse or major disaster and at least have a plan.  Everyone should ask themselves how they would respond to different situations they may run into in such a scenario.  In a lawless world, human beings can turn rather savage.  Encounters with strangers in such a world can turn deadly in the blink of an eye.  Hunger, thirst, medical needs, warmth, shelter; these are all things that will not be readily available once it all goes belly up.  These are also things that can get taken from you by others.  Everyone, especially the feel good Left, would expect humans to treat each other with some humanity and respect.  That all goes out the window when someone hasn’t eaten for days and you have food.  Would you trust a stranger not to harm your wife and kids, especially in the morally inverse society we live in today?

                People are selfish.  By nature, self-preservation is the strongest of all emotions.  Now, we have a society that is coddling everyone and embracing everyone’s feelings as law.  How does that behavior evolve once we remove civilization?  Those same “snowflakes” now feel that you having too much food isn’t fair.  You need to share or they will make you share.  Your success at survival offends them so you need to take care of them.  Lack of ability necessitates adaptation.  Do they adapt into doers (hunters, gatherers, farmers) or takers (bandits, looters)?  Don’t count on kindness to trump starvation. 

                How many people in urban America actually know how to survive without grocery stores and drive thru windows?  Do they know what they can eat from the wild?  How to find animals to kill for meat?  How to purify water before drinking?  How to start a fire or build a shelter?  You don’t need to be a “prepper” or “survivalist” to learn how to do these things.  A quick Google search and a little bit of practice and you will at least have some rudimentary knowledge of how to not die quickly.  You may, in fact, learn that you actually like this stuff.  Then you can delve into primitive trap-making and other advanced disciplines.  Being prepared doesn’t mean you are some weirdo hoping for the end to society; it just means you are ready in case it actually happens.

                Everyone needs to pull up their big gender-neutral pants and toughen up a little.  Every time someone “offends” you, it doesn’t mean you need to break out the picket signs and call in sick to work.  Every time something on the news makes you sad, don’t block the interstate preventing adults from going to work.  When the power grid goes down and you can’t get your tofu burger and double soy latte, don’t think anybody is going to save you but you. 

Leeches are Gross

                I came to a realization yesterday (actually a long time ago, but reaffirmed yesterday) that there is no way of righting the ship within the current system.  Both parties are incapable of correcting the errors in governance because they are the ones who erred in the first place.  They created the problems they are now fighting to correct.  One might surmise that they create problems so when reelection comes around they have something to campaign on.  The tenure of United States Senators and Representatives has changed drastically since the inception of Congress.  There are more and more Senators who are pushing the limits of how long someone should occupy a position.  It is inevitable that corruption and deceit would seep into a person’s being after having to wade through it for 42 years.

                That corruption is evident in the press conferences when hypocrisy floods the airwaves and people take it for gospel.  Nancy Pelosi rants about the tragedy that will befall America if Obamacare is repealed and replaced; omitting that she was never subject to the law that she champions.  Hillary Clinton preached to the masses about the struggles of the middle class.  When has she ever lived in poverty or the middle class?  How does she have any idea about their struggles?  Bernie Sanders constantly regurgitates the same sour grapes about the wealthy one percent and then buys a $600,000 lake house in Vermont.  The climate Gestapo wants to beat you down about driving a V8 and enjoying affordable power thanks to coal.  All the while, they hop around the globe on private jets and trash public property with their “environmental awareness” demonstrations.  Blatant hypocrisy is the new norm and nobody gets held accountable (unless you are Donald Trump).

                Republicans have complete control of the Legislative and the Executive, but still can’t seem to make any progress.  That tells me that they lack the capability, the fortitude or they aren’t actually trying to make any progress.  They capitulated on the omnibus spending bill and got an increase in Defense spending to show for it.  They passed the AHCA bill through the House and started celebrating while the Democrats hit the media outlets to influence the American people on how bad this deal is going to be.  The Republicans should be pushing the agenda through like a Ford assembly line, yet are dragging their feet on issues due to a petulant Democratic caucus.  The Democrats are utilizing the ineptitude of the Republicans to bolster their base (who use the momentum to protest and further alienate themselves from the other party) and the Republican base is left feeling dejected.  The only people who win in these situations are the politicians.  They still get paid even when they repeatedly fail their constituency and they get reelected because they have the power and money to crush most opposition.  If things get to competitive in their districts they will simply redraw the district lines to suit their needs.

                To truly revamp the system and end Washington corruption, drastic measures are necessary.  The current ruling class must be tossed out all at once and new blood must be pumped into the system.  You can’t get rid of a cancer by only excising part of it.  The remnants will infect the new cells and the cancer will spread.  You must remove the whole tumor in one operation.  People will argue “If nobody knows how to run the government then how will anything get done”?  How did the Founding Fathers create the great American Experiment?  They were wealthy, prominent in society and highly intelligent, but they weren’t people who had spent 30+ years in politics.  However, I do understand that such measures are unrealistic in today’s society.  However, we can push for greater accountability from those who are there. 

We don’t “need” career politicians; we have just gotten used to them.  What we need is fresh and innovative ideas at regular intervals to keep the Republic operating at peak efficiency.  Not musty, old and tired policies from decades past.  We need to hold these people accountable to the will of the people that put them there.  They are merely a suited-up mouthpiece to project the desires of their constituents.  Their personal feelings and beliefs are inconsequential when it comes to the passage of laws.  If they vote contrary to what the people want then a recall election needs to happen to put someone in the seat who will listen.  Enough with accepting the excuses and hypocrisy of the Washington elite. 

Every Senator and Representative should be changed out after 8 years, regardless of the quality of their work, with 4 year.  You get in, get the job done and then go home.  You get two terms, just like the President.  This helps prevent the implementation of unfavorable Presidential agendas from the previous administration.  The President leaves office and takes his Congress with him.  I imagine the only people who would be against this particular method would be the Congressional leeches and the lobbyists.  Those who actually put America first would be onboard and walk away after 8 years with their head held high.  Being a Congressman should be a public service, not a career.            

                  

               

Dear Mr. President

The following is a letter I drafted up to send to President Trump.  I don’t know if I will send it or if I do, if he will ever see it.  I am posting it here so there is some record of my opinion, however insignificant it may be.

Mr. President,

                I am writing in regards to the passage of the omnibus spending bill.  A bill that delivers none of your campaign promises, but gives the Democrats everything they could hope for as the minority party.  I have accepted your promise to stand firm in September and I truly wish for the best.  Unfortunately, I feel you have already set the tone by capitulating under the threat of a “shutdown”.  The Left has a methodology of finding a weakness or a trigger word that gets them what they want and then publicly utilizing said weakness to bend the will of Republicans.  If you cower at being called a racist, they will say “If you don’t sign this bill increasing welfare spending then you don’t care about minorities”.  This causes a knee-jerk reaction from Republicans not wanting to hurt their chances at re-election and the Left completes their agenda. 

This I believe is what just happened with the omnibus shutdown threat.  Senators McConnell, Cruz and the others present during the last shutdown were lambasted by the media and Democratic Senators for the previous shutdown and I think that made the party as a whole a little gun-shy when it comes to the utterance of the word.  There is a method that I believe only you can utilize to diffuse the manipulation of the Left.  That is a televised speech from the Oval Office.  There would be just you, a camera and a message.  No permission necessary, no extra security required, no debate, no interruptions.  You would be broadcast into an overwhelming majority of American homes and be able to deliver your message to constituents of both parties.

The message should be a preemptive strike against the negative press coverage the Democrats are likely to utilize come September.  It should emphasize that the potential government shutdown is not a true shutdown, but a slowdown.  The government will not collapse and we will not be defenseless.  As with the previous shutdown, essential sections of government will be funded to include the military, border security, the FBI, CIA and other entities necessary to national security.  Utilize this as an opportunity to empower the states.  During the shutdown, functions and services not provided by the federal government will be handled at the state level.  Funding for welfare programs, environmental protection and other bureaucratic “unnecessaries” that aren’t outlined as being federal responsibilities in the Constitution should be reviewed by state legislatures and supported or revoked dependent on the will of the constituents of that particular state.  This is a method by which some of your campaign promises can be fulfilled without having to solely rely on the cooperation of Congress.  By allowing the states to make their own determinations during the shutdown, it creates a case for support or revocation once the “lawmaking” begins again.  The will of the states will be visible in their actions.

Once the states make their desires known through action, the Washington career politicians in Congress can no longer cry out about the will of the people if their actions run contrary to what was displayed.  This will help you hold opponents to the America First agenda accountable to the people they supposedly represent.  I personally would like to see more Oval Office addresses from you.  I think some of your charisma and the emotion behind some of your statements are lost when delivered through a Twitter feed.  Some of the most powerful statements of modern Presidents were made through such addresses and those are the ones that stick out through history. 

I pray for your success and the safety and health of your family.  I truly hope that you succeed in the agenda you set forth during the campaign.  However, if you honestly want to “drain the swamp” you are going to need to pull the plug and dry it out.  You will not succeed if you try to play by their rules and muck around in their quagmire.  Their rules and practices were created by them to further enable and proliferate their way of life and government.  You lost this round because you tried to play their game.  It’s time to scatter the pieces and flip the table over.

 

                                                                                                                Very Respectfully,

                                                                                                                C.J. Johnston