Liberal patriots | The Salt Lake Tribune

This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

As of Tuesday, ABC News reported that petitions for some 36 states to secede from the Union had been signed by more than 400,000 people. Since then, the numbers have surely grown. This, of course, is a consequence of President Barack Obama winning a second term, as well as other related election results.

In 2000 and 2004, my liberal friends and I lamented the election of George W. Bush to two terms. Most of us also believed that his first election was "stolen" from Al Gore, without Gore protesting, presumably for "the good of the country."

I am not aware of any subsequent petitions to secede from the Union, nor did any of my lefty friends move to France. We held our breath for eight years while President Bush's administration supported and implemented policies that were abhorrent to us.

We did so because we were committed to the democratic principles and processes articulated in the Constitution of the United States of America. In other words, we behaved as patriots.

David Iannucci

Salt Lake City