Secession? Count me out.

UPDATE: I heard from somebody who could address Bill Shipp’s assertion about Oxendine. I’ve been told it’s absolutely not true. Oxendine has never mentioned secession as a possibility or something worth considering. The assertion by Shipp is “specious.” Oxendine believes the Federal government’s influence over the States needs to be curtailed and has said that consistently. The source remind me that Oxendine had sent out a press release on this subject. Here’s a portion of it from the campaign’s email:

If Governor, I would support legislation which puts Georgia on record as affirming our sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States and which would serve as notice and demand the federal government, as our agent, cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated powers.

Additionally, I would support legislation which states all compulsory federal legislation that directs states to comply under threat of civil or criminal penalties or sanctions or that requires states to pass legislation or lose federal funding be prohibited or repealed.

Original Post:

Suddenly there seems to be talk of secession. I suppose it’s mostly Texas Governor Rick Perry’s fault, though I can’t find a direct quote by Perry supporting secession. Nevertheless folks like Keith Olbermann, DailyKos and now Bill Shipp are feeding off each other and falling over themselves to bash Southerners in general and the GOP in particular. Shipp takes particular issue with John Oxendine, whom he claims…

…has a team of researchers working on schemes to declare our independence and bid adios to old D.C.

DailyKos meanwhile has a poll of 600 Georgians which declares nearly one-third of Georgian Republicans desire secession. Both Shipp and Olbermann take the Kos polling data as the gospel truth. I would point out that Rasmussen polled Texans and found 18% would vote to secede. That’s a larger number than I would like, but much different that the numbers Kos was showing for Texas. I suspect Rasmussen would find much less support for secession in Georgia as well. That Olbermann swallows this stuff isn’t surprising. That Bill Shipp says he doesn’t like Kos but believes the polling data anyway merely shows the transformation from Conservative Southern Democrat to Radical Kook-Fringe Democrat is almost complete.

Here’s Olbermann’s fair and balanced discussion on all this with some dude from ‘The Nation:’

For a while the tip line was buzzing with complaints about SR632. Indeed Olbermann seemed to indicate is was an overt threat of secession. I’ve read it and find nothing to complain about. The power of the Federal Government does need to be rolled back. That some consider this radical shows how far we’ve moved away from the Constitution.

That being said I do want to issue a word of caution: Politicians must be very careful how the speak and act. There is a lot of anger and frustration out there about the political process. I feel like we’re in a very dangerous time. Politicians must act thoughtfully and responsibly so as to not encourage rash behavior. If it’s true that Oxendine is having people research secession, that’s a mistake and he should knock it off (perhaps someone in the know can clear this up).

I love America and want America to remain the greatest nation on earth. Having a discussion about the limits of Federal power and beating that power back to within the limits prescribed by the Constitution is worthwhile. However, I want no part of secession or talk of secession.