It’s been a bumpy transition for the new White House. With all the chaos, it’s been hard to take a second and evaluate the situation.
In November, the American people overthrew the government. We overthrow the government every two years — in the voting booth. Americans hire and fire representatives by filling in a small bubble, or checking a box, with a yellow No. 2 pencil. There’s no wars, no riots and no deaths involved when America picks a new leader to run the world. Not everyone gets their way every election, so there’s usually some pushback from the losing
party. But for the most part, it’s a fairly peaceful transition.
I know many people are not happy about the results of the election, and that’s valid. It’s been a pretty crazy few months, politically.
Brexit is a neat thing too. The actual concept of England breaking from the European Union is pretty scary — no one really knows what’s going to happen. However, the people chose to leave. They decided they wanted to strike out on the their own, kind of like a kid leaving home for the first time.
The Brexit vote reignited the long- standing threat from Texas to succeed. From 1836-1845, Texas was an indepen- dent country. Breaking from the U.S. is an old debate.
The Texas Republican Party rejected a non-binding ballot initiative in December 2015 that would have allowed voters to decide on a secessionist question for the March 1, 2016 primary.
The proposed measure said, “If the federal government continues to disregard the Constitution (and Texas sovereignty, the state) should reassert the prior status as an independent nation.”
Daniel Miller, head of the Texas Nationalist Movement, told Reuters his quarter-of-a-million supporters will try for a statewide vote in 2018.
California has a secessionist movement, too. Calexit is currently collecting signatures to get a secessionist question on the 2018 ballot. The group needs 585,407 signatures and the ballot measure would have to pass.
Louis Marinelli, the president of the Yes California Independence Campaign, equated California’s relationship with the rest of the United States as living in a dysfunctional marriage in an interview with CBS.
I think Calexit and Texit movements should hold off until more research and studies can be done — and they can watch and learn from Brexit.
All these changes, and possible changes, are scary. Things are going to be alarmingly different in the next four years. These changes aren’t happening through violence — they’re happening through democracy. Signatures are collected, initiatives are written, people lobby and canvas and then there’s a vote.
History is being made right now. There are children who are just being born who, by the time they start history classes in school, might be learning about Britain as an independent power in the global economy.
Most people don’t think of the current political situation in America, or across the world, as one to celebrate, but it’s the little things — like not going to war — that we should focus on.
Tess Fox can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @tesstakesphotos