We have now reached a point in our public discourse where it is acceptable to openly advocate for the overthrow of our national government. Politicians, without compunction, portray adversaries in gunsights and advocate resolving matters with bullets when ballots fail. Individuals eager to express unsupported, offbeat notions of presidential corruption and lack of citizenship are given implied credibility by media exposure. There is no media filter that separates the responsible from the irresponsible, the benign from the incendiary. With malicious mailings and street corner assassinations, can anarchy be far away? Can we expect governmental machinations like the Ivory Coast and Iraq? Will there be fighting on the floor of Congress like in Japan?

Rather than see our national government dissolve incrementally, I propose we end the union of states and recognize each state as a separate nation, free to affiliate itself as red, blue or red/tea. Divide the District of Columbia between Maryland and Virginia. Cooperation among states would be a matter of survival and natural selection. Some nation states would fail and be ceded to neighboring states. And best of all, foreign wars would cease.

We need to acknowledge that the concept of a union of geopolitical entities as diverse as ours is no longer a viable form of governance.

Arthur Pierce, Randallstown