The White House has finally responded - with a gentle but firm no - to Louisiana's secession petition.
The White House has finally responded - with a gentle but firm no - to Louisiana's petition asking that the Bayou State be allowed to withdraw from the union.
Jon Carson, President Barack Obama's director of the Office of Public Engagement, posted a lengthy response at the White House's website to Louisiana and seven other states where more than the required threshold of 25,000 residents "signed" the online petitions seeking secession. Louisiana's was the first to be filed at WhiteHouse.gov and generated the second-most "signatures" - more than 38,000, far behind Texas where 125,746 residents registered their approval for secession.
Louisiana's petition was filed Nov. 7, 2012, the day after Obama won re-election to the nation's highest office. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee also surpassed the threshold. All but three states - Connecticut, Maryland and Vermont - filed petitions with the White House.
Here's Carson's response:
Our States Remain United
By Jon Carson
Thank you for using the White House's online petitions platform to participate in your government.
In a nation of 300 million people - each with their own set of deeply-held beliefs - democracy can be noisy and controversial. And that's a good thing. Free and open debate is what makes this country work, and many people around the world risk their lives every day for the liberties we often take for granted.
But as much as we value a healthy debate, we don't let that debate tear us apart.
Our founding fathers established the Constitution of the United States "in order to form a more perfect union" through the hard and frustrating but necessary work of self-government. They enshrined in that document the right to change our national government through the power of the ballot -- a right that generations of Americans have fought to secure for all. But they did not provide a right to walk away from it. As President Abraham Lincoln explained in his first inaugural address in 1861, "in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual." In the years that followed, more than 600,000 Americans died in a long and bloody civil war that vindicated the principle that the Constitution establishes a permanent union between the States. And shortly after the Civil War ended, the Supreme Court confirmed that "[t]he Constitution, in all its provisions, looks to an indestructible Union composed of indestructible States."
Although the founders established a perpetual union, they also provided for a government that is, as President Lincoln would later describe it, "of the people, by the people, and for the people" -- all of the people. Participation in, and engagement with, government is the cornerstone of our democracy. And because every American who wants to participate deserves a government that is accessible and responsive, the Obama Administration has created a host of new tools and channels to connect concerned citizens with White House. In fact, one of the most exciting aspects of the We the People platform is a chance to engage directly with our most outspoken critics.
So let's be clear: No one disputes that our country faces big challenges, and the recent election followed a vigorous debate about how they should be addressed. As President Obama said the night he won re-election, "We may have battled fiercely, but it's only because we love this country deeply and we care so strongly about its future."
Whether it's figuring out how to strengthen our economy, reduce our deficit in a responsible way, or protect our country, we will need to work together -- and hear from one another -- in order to find the best way to move forward. I hope you'll take a few minutes to learn more about the President's ideas and share more of your own.