Our States Remain United

As suggested in a couple of other posts, we've received a response to the petition to succeed signed at the White House website.

Here is the text of the message received.

Petition Response: Our States Remain United

By Jon Carson, Director of the Office of Public Engagement

Thank you for using the White House's online petitions platform to participate in your government.

In a nation of 300 million people -- each with their own set of deeply-held beliefs -- democracy can be noisy and controversial. And that's a good thing. Free and open debate is what makes this country work, and many people around the world risk their lives every day for the liberties we often take for granted.

But as much as we value a healthy debate, we don't let that debate tear us apart.

Our founding fathers established the Constitution of the United States "in order to form a more perfect union" through the hard and frustrating but necessary work of self-government. They enshrined in that document the right to change our national government through the power of the ballot -- a right that generations of Americans have fought to secure for all. But they did not provide a right to walk away from it. As President Abraham Lincoln explained in his first inaugural address in 1861, "in contemplation of universal law and of the Constitution the Union of these States is perpetual." In the years that followed, more than 600,000 Americans died in a long and bloody civil war that vindicated the principle that the Constitution establishes a permanent union between the States. And shortly after the Civil War ended, the Supreme Court confirmed that "[t]he Constitution, in all its provisions, looks to an indestructible Union composed of indestructible States."

Although the founders established a perpetual union, they also provided for a government that is, as President Lincoln would later describe it, "of the people, by the people, and for the people" -- all of the people. Participation in, and engagement with, government is the cornerstone of our democracy. And because every American who wants to participate deserves a government that is accessible and responsive, the Obama Administration has created a host of new tools and channels to connect concerned citizens with White House. In fact, one of the most exciting aspects of the We the People platform is a chance to engage directly with our most outspoken critics.

So let's be clear: No one disputes that our country faces big challenges, and the recent election followed a vigorous debate about how they should be addressed. As President Obama said the night he won re-election, "We may have battled fiercely, but it's only because we love this country deeply and we care so strongly about its future."

Whether it's figuring out how to strengthen our economy, reduce our deficit in a responsible way, or protect our country, we will need to work together -- and hear from one another -- in order to find the best way to move forward. I hope you'll take a few minutes to learn more about the President's ideas and share more of your own.

Tell us what you think about this response and We the People.

I signed the petition knowing that actualization was not possible, and because the President ran a campaign based on class warfare and Republican demonization.
The President came to power during a period of monetary stress within which blame was attached to the opposing political party.  He was not elected on the value of his monetary prowess, he was elected in-spite of any known measurable ability in the field.  In the wake of these elections against weak moderate candidates the President has come to act in a truculent manner that makes clear his intent to install a socialist styled fiscal model that will overtake by  inefficiency the capitalist construct based on the work of Adam Smith.
Like Roosevelt, a great deal like Roosevelt, President Obama is a skilled politician whose objectives are not congruent with a robust economy.  He is fostering the growth of  government that will increasing depend on the very class it objectifies.
For these reasons I have signed that document as a protest of willful arrogance.
Yes, our states do remain united.

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