U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Green from north Georgia has suggested that Georgia divorce the United States of America. 

I assume she expects the states that voted for Trump in the 2020 election to follow our lead, not just the old Confederacy to be reformed. This is not, however, 1861 and it is possible that those Trump-leaning states she expects to jump on her band wagon will not be so eager to join – although I don’t think either party to the divorce would be too fussed if North Dakota voted to join Canada.

As the original owner of the United States of America, the Biden voting states would keep the name. The other states could be rebranded as the Trump States of America. (You know how he likes to put his name on things.)

Both parties would opt for the no-fault, easy divorce with an equitable division of property. Since this is not 1861, there will be disputes over property and chattel acquired in the 200-year marriage of the participants. Normal divorce guidelines would favor the party which contributed more to the property or which brought the property into the marriage. As an attorney for the Union, I would insist that it retain control of the interstate highway system. A method whereby Trump state citizens would pay a toll could be worked out.

It is obvious that NASA, a project conceived and executed by the United States of America, would remain under the sole ownership and operation of its citizens. It is not advisable to create Union enclaves inside Trump territorial states, but sometimes it will be necessary. I anticipate that the national parks will also be a bone of contention but visitation rights can be negotiated.

Delta Airlines and other transportation entities will insist that the current Union rules regulating transportation be followed, at least until treaties can be signed between the United States and the Trump States. International treaties signed by the United States will be binding for a specified period until the Trump States can renegotiate with the rest of the world.

It is unclear what laws Trump States will immediately pass but they will certainly insist that schools teach children that Trump won the 2020 election since that is their rationale for demanding the divorce. 

Whether they will teach their children that Democrats are blood-drinking pedophiles and that Q is really running the government or that vaccines do not protect people and germs do not infect them remains to be seen. The United States may simply have to accept that it no longer has a say over these younger citizens’ education. However, land grant colleges are another matter.

The United States of America has invested heavily in the education of its citizens. These older educational institutions may opt to declare independence from the Trump States of America, especially since those states don’t value their work. 

Again, Union enclaves may be an option. Relocating the faculty or moving the school would be tricky. Asserting independence from both parties might be possible with international assistance. Perhaps something could be worked out whereby the Trump States got the athletic teams and the faculty remained within the Union or were the legal equivalent of Switzerland.

Humanitarian concerns will prevent stopping Union aid to the Trump States for pandemic relief. As the Trump States impose restrictions on receiving vaccines and prohibit masks and science-based relief, the Union may be able to establish sanctuary hospitals to provide medical aid. Doctors Without Borders or the UN might be able to help the Trump States with the continuing crisis. Naturally, no one within the Trump States will be able to travel anywhere outside the Trump States without being vaccinated.

An easy, no-fault divorce is preferable to a civil war. It should be clear however that the dissolution of this Union will be as acrimonious as any divorce in which both parties believe the other one has gone insane. 

 

Dr. Jane Elza, Ph.D., retired, is a resident of Valdosta.