California and the West Coast Ain't Seceding

“[The] answer is clear. If there was any constitutional issue resolved by the Civil War, it is that there is no right to secede.”-SCOTUS Justice Antonin Scalia

I wrote two posts on this blog explaining why the Texas secession talk was just right wing fantasy chatter, and the real costs of what would happen is Texas did go down that secession road.

Now in the wake of Trump's reprehensible election we have California and the west coast of the US talking secession and possibly joining Canada.  

Some Californians are actually taking it a step further.   They are collecting signatures for a ballot question in 2018 that would repeal the part of the California Constitution that states "California is an inseparable part of the United States of America, and the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land." to be followed if successful by a 2019 independence vote.

I'm going to lay out why it isn't going to happen and why #CalExit is a just as bad idea for liberal progressive folks as the #Texit chatter was for the conservafools.

First, let's start with the fact that the 1869 Texas v White Supreme Court case exists.
The SCOTUS ruled the Constitution didn't permit states to unilaterally secede from the Union, and ordinances of secession were absolutely null and void.


Residents of far northern California, southern Arizona, eastern Colorado, and eastern Washington have bumped into when they have proposed to secede from their various existing states and form a new one Article IV, Section 3 of the United States Constitution

New States may be admitted by the Congress into this Union; but no new States shall be formed or erected within the Jurisdiction of any other State; nor any State be formed by the Junction of two or more States, or parts of States, without the Consent of the Legislatures of the States concerned as well as of the Congress.

So nope, you won't see any more scenarios like West Virginia breaking away from Virginia and forming its own state.

Now, that's the recent history with in-state secession efforts.  Back to the California dreaming of #CalExit

Assuming the ballot initiative votes are successful, it would not only require a constitutional amendment passed by both houses of Congress, but 38 of the states (2/3rds majority)  to say goodbye to California and the rest of the West Coast.

That ain't happening.  Like Texas, major critical military bases are inside the borders of the state of California like Fort Irwin, Camp Pendleton, Vandenberg, March, Travis and Edwards Air Force bases.  The US Navy's 3rd Fleet has a major facility in San Diego.

California also has inside its borders the major ports of San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland.  That's before I even start talking about California's agricultural, industrial, technological and natural resources that are vital to the US economy, two international airline gateway hubs and major interstate highways such as I-5, I-8, 1-10, 1-15. and I-80.

California is also if it were an independent nation, the sixth largest economy on the planet.  As much as it would salve the egos of the right wing yahoos to let California go, they aren't for fiscal and military readiness reasons going to do that.

Lets also talk about politics.  California is the flip side of Texas, and notice you aren't hearing any chatter from Texas since November 8 about secession  

California has the largest congressional delegation with 52 seats.  38 of those seats are held by Democrats including House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, and of the 14 Republicans repping California, one of them is Kevin McCarthy, the House Majority Leader.

Both US senate seats are held by female Democrats in senior senator Dianne Feinstein and newly elected junior senator Kamala Harris, who just replaced the retired Barbara Boxer..  Its 54 electoral votes are also the base electoral vote number for any Democratic Party presidential run..

So just as the Republican Party quietly reminded the Texas yahoos that secession would harm their movement and their chances of getting the White House back, you can bet the national Democratic Party is not liking this news either and will quietly point out a Calexit will do the same damage for our liberal progressive chances at getting the White House and Congress back in 2020.

That's a good enough reason to stick around and use your political and economic clout to help us fight the Trump misadministration tooth and nail.

So nope, as much as some folks in California would probably love to say goodbye to the USA now that Trump is running it, remember that #Calexit is probably not going to happen and political fortunes can swiftly change in four years.