With no resolution in sight to the problem of the anachronistic electoral college, at least one bright spark has shown the true way forward - reorganize the 50 United States completely. Wouldn't it be refreshing to swear fealty to Rocky Mountain High rather than boring old Montana? Hasn't Orange County deserved its own state bird for too long? (Proposals on a postcard, please).
Posted by Alan Allport at August 21, 2004 11:06 AMI think Western Massachusetts would be likely to object. True, Massachusetts west of Worcester has been getting TV from Hartford and radio from Albany for years, and as for getting pushed around by Bostonians, that's been going on since at least 1786. But I can't see how it would help to get lumped in with Connecticut.
Also, they've left out the Sphere of Influence, which doesn't quite seem fair. Shouldn't Airstrip One get a vote, for example?
Posted by: Martha Bridegam at August 21, 2004 12:48 PMAlan's not the only one to have thoughts of messing with Texas's state boundaries.
Posted by: Ben Brumfield at August 23, 2004 05:17 AMInteresting, though the author misrepresents the source of the clause. It was not a negotiating demand (for Texas, contrary to popular myth, did not enter the Union by negotiation; it was annexed) but rather an attempt to appease national slavery and anti-slavery factions who were concerned that Texas' incorporation would wreck the Missouri Compromise. It's also debatable whether the five-state-split is legally available now, given that Texas is not within the Union on the terms of the 1845 Joint Resolution any longer, but rather because it agreed to ratify the 13th Amendment following its civil war sojourn. More details here.
Posted by: Alan Allport at August 23, 2004 05:34 AM