After I posted, I started thinking about Southern Independence. It's reached the point where I think allowing a modified form of the Confederacy to "rise" could be the lesser evil--the differences between America's red, agrarian, culture, and the blue urban-ish culture seem to have become irreconcilable. Grab the country by its northern border and lift, and all the loose wingnuts will roll down south.

Funny how slavery could be an obstacle to the idea today. I realize that literal slavery is (probably) no longer economically viable (but perhaps emotionally attractive to a certain kind of [white] person), but it seems that the association between slavery and the Confederacy is strong enough to creep me out a bit nevertheless. I think that concerns like that could be handled with a Confederate Constitution that includes acceptable guarantees against such risks; and perhaps a general provision ensuring free emigration would prevent slavery from gaining a toehold.

Seems like a political winner to me. Southerners (and Southerners at heart, i.e. conservatives) could gloat that they've finally won their rebellion, after 150 years throwing a tantrum over losing the first time. And the rest of us could feel like we're dumping America's problem on newly-minted foreign shores.

Would you vote for that?