In a controversial move, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene called for a “national divorce” on Monday.
The post, which was put on Twitter, said “we need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government,” ending with “we are done.” Here’s what that looked like.
In its totality, Greene’s post seems a bit contradictory in that you can’t shrink the current federal government if you have a national divorce because it would no longer exist. Instead, new governments would have to be formed. So is she actually calling for a real national divorce, or is she just making a confusing case for more federalism under the current union?
Given her other statements in the post, I’m going to assume she’s using “national divorce” as it’s normally meant for the sake of this article. So with that said, it’s certainly pretty shocking to see a sitting US House member call for the breakup of the United States. That’s the kind of thing that is normally reserved for purely online personalities. Naturally, some are already acting aghast, including a certain former GOP congressman who I’m not going to bother to promote.
So is a national divorce realistic, and just as importantly, would it solve the nation’s problems? As a discussion point, I’ll say this. I think in an alternate universe, the two major political persuasions in the United States might be healthier and happier if the nation was to agree to separate. As I’ve said before, the current, overbearing far-left push, specifically on cultural issues like transgenderism and parental rights, hitting up against more traditionally minded Americans is not sustainable.
I fear where it may lead as the government gets more and more powerful. What happens when parents start losing their children for not “affirming” their gender delusions? What happens if liberals break the filibuster one day soon and take away gun rights? How do those kinds of tensions play out?
With that said, a national divorce in the universe we inhabit is probably unworkable. Geographically, political populations are not separated by states. Rather, they are separated by street addresses. There are a ton of Republicans in New York and a ton of Democrats in Florida. The totality of the union also provides for the resources and innovations that have made the United States what it is. There are blue states that contribute and red states that contribute.
In a breakup, who gets the military? Who gets the nukes and technology? Would there be some kind of sharing agreement? What happens to Republicans in blue states? Are they stuck or are they given immediate citizenship to where they want to go? If so, how do you stop blue staters from moving to the new “red” country and eventually turning it into what we already have?
Lastly, and this is what sticks the most with me on this issue, given the march of the left, there’s no reason to believe a “blue” union would leave a “red” union alone. Democrats feed off the gaining and use of tyrannical power. For that reason alone, they’d never agree to a mutual separation, and even if they did, they’d seek to undermine the results anyway.
So while I understand the angst Greene is showing, wouldn’t it just be easier to fight for more federalism within the current union? That seems more realistic than a national divorce because if you can’t gain federalism in the current system, you are never getting the buy-in for a peaceful total separation, never mind all the logistical issues.