Petitions want Pa., N.J. to split from U.S.

More than 400,000 Americans have used a White House website to petition for allowing 33 states to secede from the United States.

Among them: Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware.

A couple other petitions, though, call for these malcontents to be deported or stripped of their citizenship.

The "We the People" website (https://petitions.whitehouse.gov) lets citizens create and sign petitions that begin, "WE PETITION THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION TO:"

"Peacefully grant the state of Pennsylvania to withdraw from the United States of America and form a NEW government," is the kind of wording most of the petitions use.

According to the website, if a petition crosses the 25,000 signature threshhold in 30 days, the White House is required to respond.

Not grant the request. Just reply.

For one thing, the White House lacks the Constitutional authority to let a state secede. For another, the 8,500 people who had signed the two Pennsylvania petitions, for example, represent a minuscule fraction - about 1/10th of 1 percent - of the state's 8.5 million registered voters.

As of this morning, just Texas (64,165) and Louisiana (27,136) had breached the barrier, with, in descending order, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Arkansas and Colorado more than halfway there.

The New Jersey petition had more than 9,000 signatures, Delaware's about 4,000.

Although Texas petition was the site's most popular, the next dozen or so issues had nothing to do with secession.

Except perhaps for one: "Recount the election!"

That got nearly 37,000 votes.

Others concerned mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods, outlawing "offending prophets of major religions," foreign relations, liberalizing marijuana laws, and not allowing the FDA to regulate premium cigars.