Time to secede in Western Maryland?

Lately, I have been reading in the news about a few secessionist movements in Northern California and Western Maryland. The California movement has no discernible impact on me. The Maryland one does since that's where I'm living right now. The counties that want to break away are Garrett, Allegany, Washington, Frederick and Carroll counties.

Anyway, I came across an editorial in the Baltimore Sun via the Drudge Report earlier today during my lunch break. It's just the kind of crap that I would expect from an editorial writer in a left-wing newspaper from a left-wing city. He's also got it all wrong.

Here's the editorial...

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2013-09-10/news/bs-md-rodricks-0910-20130909_1_new-state-carroll-county-garrett-county

And my response to it...

Republicans have tried voter registration drives for years in this state and others that lean blue, Mr. Rodricks. Outside of the South (and I mean the Real Southern states that were actually part of the Confederacy), those efforts seem to have been pointless. The reasons vary but, there is one common factor into Republican efforts being futile: A large city filled with lots of low-income/low-information voters that side with Democrats every time because that party gives them Food stamps and Welfare checks. In Maryland's case, it's Baltimore. In Michigan's case, it's what's left of Detroit. It would probably happen in Louisiana because of New Orleans if not for the rest of the state being heavily Republican and/or Independent.

Whatever happened to public assistance of this type being only a temporary measure and a last resort? Also, why aren't these people ashamed of having to use these forms of public assistance to survive? You'd think no one ever told them that part of being an American was being as self-reliant and independent as possible... Considering the state of public schools these days, that's almost certainly what happened.

Whatever the case may be, the Democrats have bribed enough fools for so long that they essentially own certain states like Maryland, Michigan, New York and California. It's all very much like Ancient Rome in a number of ways. The ruling Patricians (in this analogy, that would be the Democrats) focus on utilizing the ol' 'Bread and Circuses' routine to distract the city-dwellers from discovering just how badly they are being screwed over. The country folk are just plain ignored and left to suffer while still being required to swear allegiance and pay tribute. Sooner or later, that leads to discontent and wanting to break away from the rest of the country/republic/empire/whatever.

Even worse, the author's description of the rural areas in Maryland that he claims to enjoy so much just comes off as condescending and snobbish. He sees them all as Salt-of-the-Earth types, even going so far as to describe them as being 'rustic.' I don't know about Maryland but, in some parts of the United States, that could be considered an insult. One wonders why he didn't just come out and say that he thought they were Rednecks and enjoyed laughing at them and their much simpler way of life. That's the way he sounds (to me) in this editorial.

For example...

"According to a blog that he writes, Strzelczyk is "a constitutionalist concerned with the legitimate role of the federal government and the infringement of our unalienable rights to life, liberty, and property." He is a software consultant, conservative activist and father of five children. He's 49 and lives in New Windsor, which is a lovely place in Carroll County. I don't know why anyone who lives in New Windsor would complain about anything, but Strzelczyk has a lot of gripes about life in Maryland."

He couldn't even use proper punctuation while denigrating the man and CAPITALIZING THE NAMES AND TITLES like 'Constitutionalist', 'Conservative' and 'Federal.' So, he's not just an Asshole but, he's also a product of public schools too. No wonder he's a Democrat... (See? Two can play that game.)

By the way, my hometown is a suburb of New Orleans named Metairie. It's a truly wonderful place to live and I don't ever want to live anywhere else once I'm a civilian again. That being said, I never had trouble finding something to complain about while living there. Usually, it was traffic on major thoroughfares, too many stoplights and lots of roads needing improvements. No place is perfect, no matter how idyllic it might seem.

The author also denigrates Mr. Strelczyk for even having the nerve to complain about taxes. Why? Taxes in Maryland are quite high compared to many other states. Despite that, the Governor, Martin O'Malley, has raised them more and more. They even passed a tax that essentially taxes the rain. Yes, you read that right. It's supposed to be to very low and used to improve drainage and septic systems. Carrol county rejected it and Frederick County decided not to charge more than one penny per year. That isn't the point, though. The point is that the State is trying to tax people for an act of Nature, which is totally out of their control. That's no way to generate needed funds for infrastructure improvements.

And then, there's the way the author decided to end it all...

"Still, it's a free country, a constitutional democracy. If the people behind the Western Maryland Initiative want to spend their time pressing for secession — instead of, say, trying to bring the Republican Party into the 21st Century, recruiting new candidates, registering new voters — have at it, fellas.

But I think it's easier just to move to the Idaho panhandle, or southern Pennsylvania."

Better yet, the Democrats can quit bribing idiots with supposedly free money and present their arguments to the public in the free marketplace of ideas. Or, are you afraid of getting your ass handed to you? People in Western Maryland are not wrong for being upset at not getting adequate representation in their state government. If you were a true patriot that really did love your state and your people, Mr. Rodricks, you'd be upset that these people are getting short-changed regardless of their differing political views.

In a Free Republic with a Constitutional government, ALL citizens qualified to be electors should have their say, not just members of one particular party. You Democrats rigged the system to your advantage and brainwashed the uneducated urban poor to vote for you to get (supposedly) free money that you'll steal from the so-called 'evil rich/corporate' types through taxation. That's not a Free Republic, it's essentially an oligarchy that engages in predatory organized theft through questionable laws. And that is why all the people/businesses with the means have long since moved to Pennsylvania and Virginia.

- Lord Publius