TELL US: Secession Movements: Serious Issue or Just Plain Silly?

A month after Obama's re-election, 150 years after the bloody American Civil War, the White House has been deluged with petitions for states to withdraw from the union.

Most of the petitions and signatures come from the same states which actually seceded in the 1800s and became the Confederacy. But there are would-be secessionists and their petitions from nearly all the states — even Massachusetts.

Texas is where the secession movement has gained most traction.

Even the secession opposition has a petition: to kick out secession-seekers. And the Texas state capital, Austin, has started a petition to secede from Texas if the state breaks away from the USA.

While this can all seem, well, nothing short of silly, the rest of the world is still in the midst of a flurry of separating: the Czech Republic from Slovakia, Russia from several of its former republics, and possibly even — depending on a forthcoming referendum — Scotland  from the UK are only a few examples

The whole question of self-determination is a tricky one.

If a state wants to leave the USA, what is your response — do you say there was a reason we fought the Civil War? That the secessionists are only sore losers and they'll get over it? Or do you say, good riddance — don't let the door hit you on the way out? Let us know in the comments section below.