George Rebane
The initiative to launch part of California as a new state, provided for by a number of treaties, agreements, and founding documents, has begun (here). No matter how legal and above board the effort to liberate at least part of the golden state from its mire of tyranny, this effort will be opposed by all the usual political, monied, and anti-American institutions in the land. However, our interest should be peaked in this kind of initiative because it shows that the desire for a return to constitutional liberties and governance is not yet dead and buried.
Jefferson State 2.0,3.0,?
Posted by: Misanthrope | 14 February 2023 at 12:44 PM
An ugly map. Can't see it getting big support.
Posted by: Gregory | 14 February 2023 at 03:44 PM
Gregory 344pm - Agreed and also wrong.
Posted by: George Rebane | 15 February 2023 at 05:25 PM
Wrong that Nevada County is on that map. The county is so solid blue that George refers to it as the "Blue Pimple" in rural California. They would have to carve us out of the map for sure.
Posted by: Paul Emery | 15 February 2023 at 10:49 PM
What a simple creature.
Posted by: Gregory | 16 February 2023 at 06:03 AM
"What a simple creature."
I view it as a somewhat admirable stubbornness. Lacking the ability to use the Trumphate card, he'll go to his other topic in an attempt to stick it to the Nazis. Anything for a laugh.
56% Biden to 41% Trump is nothing to sneeze at. No real surprise as an area evolves from useful activities to a land of non-profiteers, Bay Aryan retirees, coffee shops with WIFI, and entertainment for same. Kudos to Paul for helping produce an area that suits him, even termites gotta live.
An interesting way to carve out states, if you had a mind to, is look for natural boundaries here:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2021/upshot/2020-election-map.html
Of course, it's never allowed since the urban areas have essentially a colonialist relationship with the rest of the country. It's all about resource extraction, food production, large scale garbage disposal, ski resorts and hiking trails, while still owning a majority share via Wall Street. At the same time you pretend munificence by sending some money to the poor flyover areas in a small stream while admiring your own generous self.
Posted by: scenes | 16 February 2023 at 10:36 AM
The county is not solid blue... last November it barely eked out wins for lesser State orifices, 51/49, 52/48.
If GOP voters were barely energized and Dems demoralized, we'd swing Red. Easily.
Punchy just punches.
Posted by: Gregory | 16 February 2023 at 03:45 PM
scenes 1036a
"56% Biden to 41% Trump is nothing to sneeze at"
Yea, it is. I blow my nose in the general direction.
There was no reason to go to the polls in '20 if you didn't want Biden to win. There wasn't a chance in hell Trump would get 50% + one to take it all... so stay at home. Maybe go fish.
The state is seriously screwed up and it's all on the Democratic partying.
Posted by: Gregory | 16 February 2023 at 04:40 PM
No CA, but this would not add a single US Senator. Perhaps a congressional seat.
‘Idaho House Approves Talks To Annex Oregon Counties’
https://thefederalist.com/2023/02/17/idaho-house-approves-talks-to-annex-oregon-counties/
Posted by: Bill Tozer | 19 February 2023 at 09:24 AM
BT 9:24 - I've been following this nonsense for a while. It's never going to happen for the very reason that some folks want it to happen. Salem (and Portland) need to sign off on bodies and land mass leaving their control.
What tyrant does that?
Posted by: Scott O | 19 February 2023 at 10:01 AM
Scott O
“What tyrant does that?”
None. Zip, nada, nilch, or Jack Diddley and his brother Squat.
Posted by: Bill Tozer | 19 February 2023 at 10:40 AM
The new improved Idaho state. Jefferson stateism infects Idaho. Idaho is already a dumping ground for California expatriates as well as California's toxic waste.
Is it really worth it for Idaho to grab all that sage brush in Eastern Oregon for the sake of a few angry MAGA?
The same goes for the new California state.
MAGA can have everything north and east of Yreka, and north and east of Prineville, Oregon - no great loss.
Posted by: Misanthrope | 21 February 2023 at 06:56 AM
The new stateism idea has taken root in Marjorie Taylor Greene's fevered brain.
She now wants Republican states to secede from the union.
nuff said
Posted by: Misanthrope | 21 February 2023 at 07:00 AM
Something that gets lost in the MAGA mindset is the fact that the red states are the most Federally dependent on tax dollars generated by the blue states.
The same goes for the red counties of California.
Lassen county is a good example of a welfare county dependent on federal and state tax dollars.
Posted by: Misanthrope | 21 February 2023 at 07:09 AM
Misanthrope: "Something that gets lost in the MAGA mindset is the fact that the red states are the most Federally dependent on tax dollars generated by the blue states."
Of course.
The centralization of wealth, larger and larger companies, financialization, sees to it that ownership of the flyover states resides in New York, etc. The era of small business, small family farms is over.
It's nice that a government run by a coalition of men-in-dresses, Archer-Daniels-Midland, Walmart and BlackRock, send a little bit of money back to Kansas once they strip it out of there.
But just go on feeling generous while living atop what is basically a colonialist system, or at least the kind of colonialist system that exists when the dominant power produces nothing of value besides insurance companies, banks, and surveillance media. It's simply God rewarding you for your good works.
Posted by: scenes | 21 February 2023 at 08:14 AM
"She now wants Republican states to secede from the union."
It would be simpler to push rule-making and money-thievery back to the states.
The Department of Education would simply be a small office building full of lawyers worrying about the Constitutional rights of students. States would be fully in charge of highway building besides a few federal standards. Reduce the FBI down to information sharing between state agencies.
Never'll happen of course. Bureaucracy is a Chinese finger trap with ever-increasing control. The more outrageous, the stronger the force needed.
Posted by: scenes | 21 February 2023 at 08:21 AM
Might be time to pick out that AR-15 today... a decision is expected in Judge Benitez' court.
Posted by: Gregory | 21 February 2023 at 10:30 AM
"a decision is expected in Judge Benitez' court."
Is there a particular law being overturned?
I guess I could shop for a flare launcher add-on.
Most gun configuration laws are so stupid that it is breathtaking. It's hard to beat pistol stock law for showing that the main qualification for legislators is fogging a mirror.
Posted by: scenes | 21 February 2023 at 11:08 AM
Posted by: scenes | 21 February 2023 at 08:14 AM
I live in California so know all about paying what seem like excessive taxes. But Kansans would merely be owned by a foreign country if they secede unless they want to go the Venezuelan route and nationalize everything.
The companies you mention are all publicly traded by investors worldwide, n'est-ce pas?
What it the "dominant power"? Global elites?
Posted by: Misanthrope | 21 February 2023 at 11:17 AM
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California's so-called Assault Weapons Ban looks to be on the chopping block. Today. We shall see.
The CRPA is on the record they don't think it will be immediate and could take years. We shall see.
Posted by: Gregory | 21 February 2023 at 12:28 PM
As posted many times before on the Great Divide, once accomplished, there will be a gold rush by coastal information-dependent companies to the states that minimize regulations which stunt growth and profitability. Especially when connectivity is being used by workers at an ever increasing scale. There will no longer be need to stay in coastal cesspools when greener pastures beckon - things will be a'changin'.
Posted by: George Rebane | 21 February 2023 at 01:20 PM
"What it the "dominant power"? "
In the United States right now? A coalition of Blue-voting, urban (and large suburb) dwelling upper caste .gov workers, 'knowledge' business executives, people who run the FIRE and non-profit organizations. Typically their organizations produce little of real value. The days of General Motors actually mattering are long over.
"The companies you mention are all publicly traded by investors worldwide,"
...and that ownership is typically held by either the very wealthy, controlled by the very wealthy (see Fink, Larry), public pensions, etc. As opposed to pre-WWII, Kansas is not owned by Kansas, outside interests skim off the profit. Some of that profit is fed back via government largesse.
No doubt, during the Raj, the British complained about all the money shipped off to India to administer the place, not seeing the power and economic imbalances.
Posted by: scenes | 21 February 2023 at 03:02 PM
"there will be a gold rush by coastal information-dependent companies to the states "
or countries.
Bytes are cheap to ship, physical goods are easier to manage and send elsewhere, dunno if there's really any natural advantage the US has going forward besides sheer inertia.
It's worth considering what value California really has.
. A few good deep-water ports.
. The beach
. Some mountain resorts
. World's biggest outdoors hot house, farming in the desert via resource extraction
. The typical mineral wealth of any western state.
Is that enough?
Posted by: scenes | 21 February 2023 at 03:13 PM
Posted by: scenes | 21 February 2023 at 03:02 PM
No doubt, during the Raj, the British complained about all the money shipped off to India to administer the place, not seeing the power and economic imbalances.
Why must you harsh xhir high school Sophomore level thinking on the matter? Not like Miss Anthrope has a masters degree or anything. Dammit there are feelz involved here!
Posted by: fish | 21 February 2023 at 03:19 PM
Lest we forget, the idea of State of Lincoln has be around since the 50’s. State of Lincoln is Eastern Washington breaking off from the west side of the Cascades and joining up with Eastern Oregon and Northern Idaho….at least that was the plan in the 70’s.
It just goes to show ya that folks do not feel they, across large swaths of land, are being represented. And those same folks want nothing to do with the former libturds (now called Democratic Socialists American Marxists). We don’t like you and never will. What nothing to do with you, but they want everything to do with us.
As far as Kanas goes, the terrority then state was having its own Great Divide in the 1830’s and 40’s and 50’s over free state vs slave state among other contentious issues. There were other issues of contention of living together and representation and plans to divide the territory, , but the Civil War came along and put the breakaway Great Divide talk behind. To this day, Kansas has not resolved their issues of representation IMHO. Same for some other states past the Mason-Dixie line.
Posted by: Bill Tozer | 21 February 2023 at 03:28 PM
There'll always be that tension between urban and rural, at all levels. I think where the rubber hits the road is that control of The Big Machine keeps moving up the food chain. Large towns in a county tell the folks in the hinterlands how to run their lives, urban/populous counties run affairs everywhere else, DC tells me how to do things in a million ways. Control tumbles upwards. A million good deeds to be done.
As a practical matter, you end up with the insanity of something like modern California building code, what with solar, fire suppression, etc. etc. requirements, being applied to places and situations in which they make no sense. Live in the little town of Washington? Thou shalt have thy car smogged biannually. These things all make sense to smallish group of people who spend their times in meeting rooms.
Posted by: scenes | 21 February 2023 at 04:09 PM
re: The Great Divorce
There are some pros and cons with a national divorce.
Cons:
I ain’t giving up half my country to those people. America First.
Posted by: Bill Tozer | 23 February 2023 at 06:42 AM