- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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."
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- 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.
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- 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:
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- "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."
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- "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.,
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- 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.
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- "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.
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- "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.,"
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- 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.
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- "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."
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- 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.
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- "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.
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- 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.
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- "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.
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- 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.
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- "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."
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- 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.
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- http://www.arcticbeacon.com/articles/article/1518131/36584.htm
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