Is It Time for a National Divorce?

Irreconcilable differences. It is one of the most commonly cited reasons for filing for a no-fault divorce. Whether you and your spouse have been married for six years or six months doesn’t matter. All you need to prove – or at least assert – is that a gulf has developed between the two parties that is so wide and so deep that there is no chance of you ever seeing eye-to-eye, let alone getting back together and living happily ever after under the same roof.

Which begs the question: is it time for America to file for a no-fault divorce of its own, citing those same irreconcilable differences between conservatives and liberals/progressives? Before you say, “Heck, NO!” please hear me out.

Just like a husband and wife who have been sleeping in separate bedrooms for as long as they can remember, the Red States and the Blue States have not been the United States for at least a generation. What started out as a starry-eyed love affair in 1776 has long since passed its honeymoon stage. Truth be told, 244 years later, we can’t stand the sight of each other.

Maybe we started growing apart in 1962 when the Supreme Court banned school-sponsored prayer in our public schools. Certainly, the Roe v. Wade decision in 1973 further strained our relationship. And by the time same-sex marriage became legal in 2015, we were no longer on speaking terms.

Just take a peek at the electoral map from any of the past five or so presidential elections. For the most part, it has shown a deep divide between north and south as well as between the two coasts and “flyover country”.

Today – when it comes to core values – California, Oregon, and Washington State have very little in common with Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. And the residents of the Northeast and those living in America’s Heartland may as well be from different planets.

Nebraska is not New Jersey and West Virginia isn’t anything like Virginia. Massachusetts and Missouri? Nope. Illinois and Indiana? Not on your life.

Speaking of life, the Blue States are adamantly pro-choice – including late-term and partial-birth abortions – while the Red States are staunchly pro-life. God and guns reign supreme in the Deep South, but both are persona non grata in the People’s Republic of (fill in the blank with the name of virtually any liberal, Democrat-dominated state).

Patriotic flag wavers are a dime a dozen in Montana, but they are a dying breed in Maryland. And whereas some Democrat states want to defund the police, states controlled by Republicans are proud to stand with the thin blue line.

I could go on and on, listing issue after issue and priority after priority, but the point is glaringly clear. We aren’t “one nation under God, indivisible” anymore and, quite frankly, we haven’t been for quite some time. So, why not just call it quits, parting ways as amicably as possible before things get (more) out of hand?

Of course, dissolving a country requires an exit strategy that is a lot more detailed than one dissolving a marriage… or a business partnership, for that matter. Because there are conservatives living in liberal states and vice versa, people need as much advance notice as possible so they can weigh all their options before deciding where – temporarily or permanently – to pitch their tents.

The obvious first step would be to conduct a national referendum to see if the idea has any merit. If a super-majority (perhaps 80%) favors dissolution, then we move onto Phase 2. That might involve selecting a bipartisan blue-ribbon commission to draw up a map, dividing America’s assets along geopolitical lines.

The Left Coast (CA, OR, WA) could be linked with the Southwest (AZ, NM, NV, and CO) to form one country. The upper Midwest (MN, WI, MI, and IL) could stand alone or join forces with the Northeast (ME, VT, NH, MA, CT, RI) and the Mid-Atlantic States (NY, NJ, DE, MD, and VA). That would leave America’s massive midsection to merge with the Ohio River Valley region and the Southeast, from Texas to Florida.

An equitable allocation of natural resources would be a prime consideration as would be military installations. I would assume that relatively open borders would exist between these newly established American countries as well as mutual non-aggression pacts. And, of course, an attack on one would be considered an attack on all.

Trust me; as a patriot and a student of American history, this is the last thing I want to see happen. But the United States may have reached the point of no return… and I’d rather negotiate a restless peace than to risk an armed confrontation.