Nothing says "sore loser" like threatening to leave the country after an election defeat. And that's what hundreds of thousands of Americans have done by petitioning for their states' secession on the White House website. It's reminiscent of the great British tradition of right-wing celebrities threatening to leave the UK if the Labour Party wins power. Alas, they never do. From the demography and geography of the vast majority of signers, it's tempting to conclude that this is just a Republican cry of rage against four more years of President Barack Obama. But it's more significant than that. Strip away the right-wing fantasies about whether or not secession is really possible (it isn't), and you have a movement that testifies to the extraordinary divisions within American politics. The far right feels angry and dispossessed. Rather than getting even, it's threatening to run away.
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Tim Stanley: Secession movement reveals real feelings of some conservatives
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He says it's not realistic, but still shows far right's feeling of dispossession in U.S. politics
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He says election stoked idea of two Americas; conservatives fear they are the new minority
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Stanley: GOP must integrate secession group into mainstream, legitimate politics
In the case of the @placeholder, the states are historically there by choice.