ANDERSON, Ind. —
Each Monday, The Herald Bulletin publishes “You Said It,” a compilation of readers’ comments from www.theheraldbulletin.com and the newspaper’s editorial board.
Although the following was not a news article in The Herald Bulletin, the question was posed on The Herald Bulletin’s Facebook site and received a lot of reader response.
Who is Bob J. of Alexandria? He has created a petition for Indiana to “peacefully withdraw from the United States of America and create its own new government.”
- “He isn’t man enough to put his full name.”
- “That’s why he created a petition. He’s not speaking for the whole state, he’s trying to get like minded people to sign it.”
- “Must be someone stuck in segregation land.”
- “Hey, Bob, come knock on my door.”
- “Why give dumb ideas publicity?”
- “Just because they did not get their way, all these Republicans want to leave the union. I am not leaving, nor would I allow my property to be anything but part of the USA. You people want to cry about it and “take your ball and go home” rather than stay with the rest of us and give it a shot. There are borders to the far north and south you can cross. Don’t try to mess up my life, because I got what I wanted, my vote helped my president keep his job.”
- “This is an exercise in sour grapes by people upset with the election. Nothing will come of it. The petitioners are apparently forgetting their Pledge of Allegiance, the part that goes “one nation, indivisible ...”
THB: Since the election, there have been secession petitions in all 50 states. The one with the most people signing is Texas. All petitions are set up at the White House and some 600,000 signatures have been added. This secession mania occurred after President Barack Obama was elected the first time and have now intensified since his re-election. Adam Cohen, writing on Ideas website, said, "The Constitution, which provides processes for new states to enter the union and for current states to divide or reconfigure, does not have a provision for states to leave the union. A state would have to leave by force.”
Crowds find Black Friday easier to navigate this year (story published Nov. 24).
- “Great! I stayed home and shopped online!”
- “Went to Wal-Mart. Have to say while it was crowded, the crowd itself was fine. People were polite, seemed patient, and under control. The Wal-Mart employees rude, disrespectful, and discriminating!
- “The Wal-Mart employees were “rude, disrespectful, and discriminating” and yet you continued to shop there? Why?”
- “Anderson is a joke, nowhere to shop!”
THB: OK, not everyone was satisfied. But stores made a concerted effort to get people off their computers and into stores, and heavy crowds were reported. Because Black Friday actually began Thursday night might account for the lack of strife in stores. And if you were out Thursday night or Friday morning, you’d realize a large number of places to shop in Anderson. And they were full of shoppers. As for the Wal-Mart employees, we’ll take this with a grain of salt. Those shopping had a distinct advantage over those working: Time off with family and friends. Most employees we saw were courteous and ready to help, but maybe later, in their break room, they were saying the same disparaging remarks about the customers they faced. With that, we welcome the season of good will toward men.
