Dear Secessionists:

BARACK OBAMA HAS BEEN RE-ELECTED!  FIRE WILL RAIN FROM THE SKY!  TWO-HEADED CHICKENS WILL RUN IN THE STREETS!  ROVING PACKS OF FRENCH COMMUNISTS WILL ROAM OUR MALLS, CLOVE CIGARETTES CLENCHED IN THEIR TEETH!  AND THEY WILL SMOKE INDOORS, DESPITE THE NO-SMOKING SIGNS.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmzuRXLzqKk]Heaven forfend.Some of you, it seems, have worked yourself into a fine lather about the re-election of President Obama.  Now, I know what it feels like to have the guy you wanted booted out of office, not get booted out of office.  I know what it feels like to think, what the hell is the matter with the electorate?  Why don't people see this guy has failed policies?  How could they pull that lever for a second term?Yeah, I'm talking about Bush.  And while I did vote for Obama in this most recent election, frankly, I would have voted for Jill Stein if I thought a third party stood a ghost of a chance.  For those of you who want to froth about how I should have voted that way to show support for third parties so they can gain a foothold in the electoral machine, I have one word for you: Nader.  The entire system needs an overhaul, starting with a reversal of the Citizens United ruling.  But that's a different blog for a different day.Lately, there's been some sort of crazy talk in the paper and the television machine and on the interwebs about secession, and about citizens petitioning the White House for the right for their states to secede.  Look, I'm all for the rights of protest, and I understand dissatisfaction with how your government manages money and time and people.  But secession, folks?  Shame on you.What sort of spoiled, whiny, entitled, profoundly paranoid, closed mind generates such a response?  Instead of saying, "Hey, look at that.  Maybe I should measure the nation's emotional climate and see what I don't get," these people say, "I'm taking my bat and my ball and I'm going home."  Ooh, careful!  You might learn something.  That's right.  I'm calling you paranoid.  I'm calling you entitled.  I'm calling you totally fucking whiny.  I'm also saying you need to get a better grip on things like "communism" and "fascism" and "entitlement".  And to the people who do the whole "Obama is Hitler" thing: fuck you.  Get back to me once you've read a history book.So first I'd like to know: is this what you think is in the future for Obama, Part 2?Seriously, people.  Worrying about whether or not people can get food on the table or can get affordable health care aren't questions of the government trying to steal your money but rather, questions of basic human decency and legitimate public health concern.  I'd much rather feed people and maintain a decent standard of health then grapple with food riots or a cholera epidemic.  Think about how cranky you got the last time someone messed up your order at your local burger joint, and you had to wait while everyone else ate their dinners around you.  Now imagine you never get that food.  Grow the fuck up.  Shame on you.Supporting a diversity of religion doesn't directly correlate with hating Christianity, and freedom of religion also means freedom from religion.  Your bibles are safe, Christian population, and you're welcome to use whatever words you want to use when wishing glad tidings this holiday season.  Do you get your knickers in a twist when the greeter at the big box discount shopeteria says "Happy holidays" to you instead of "Merry Christmas"?  Really?  Grow the fuck up.  Shame on you.Not every immigrant is dirty, uneducated, and dying to have anchor babies in your back yard, despite what the odious, hateful, skeletal, shrieking head of Ann Coulter may say.  And not every brown person is an immigrant, despite Arizona's stop-and-identify laws.  And before you start pointing out to me that it isn't targeting specific races, let me ask you: how many people of Irish or Belgian descent do you think they ID'd?  Now, how many Mexicans and Native Americans do you think have been asked?  If you can't accept that the US is getting browner around you all the time, then please, do us both a favor and grow the fuck up.  Shame on you.And for the people who think this secession thing has legitimate legs, take a look at this:This is a screen shot from the White House petition page.  In order to sign a petition you need to have an account so you can digitally sign, and all it requires is a name and email.  That's it.  You don't even need to provide a street address.  Do you honestly believe that all of those signatures are real?  I'll wait while you think it over.***I'd be willing to bet money that the Koch brothers have installed an office full of wonks whose sole purpose is to generate fake signatures for these petitions.  Not because anything will come of it in the end, but because it will create a (falsely, I would argue) legitimized legal diversion that by law must be addressed.  Which is just like how them fancy high-falutin' corporate lawyers file motion after motion that requires multiple court appearances, making it virtually impossible for an individual to win against a corporation.  It takes time away from the real business of running the country.Bonus! If the Koch brothers were to win, in this scenario, then they could form their own country and call it Kochistan.  Kochistan.  Say it three times fast and get back to me.Listen, the minute a federal officer shows up at your front door with an acetylene torch, demanding your bible, I will apologize, take back everything I say, and sign as many secession petitions as I can fake-generate before my kitten gets a punch.  But until then, people, please.  Relax.  Read a book, or go for a walk, or something.  Take some Zumba classes.  Work to understand the system, understand the demographic makeup of the country and what the most effective ways are to generate real, legitimate change, if that's what you want.  And for God's sake, please, get over yourselves.[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku6jcUH7ydA]