Salon.com Politics: "It may have seemed something of an overreaction to George W. Bush's reelection last fall, and a bit farfetched. But five months later, a group of Vermonters intent on seceding from the United States continues to soldier on. A new Web site for the cause, Vermont Commons, reminds visitors of the fact that from 1777 to 1791, the citizens of Vermont governed themselves: 'As we enter the 21st century, Vermont Commons is an organization dedicated to the proposition that Vermonters should peaceably secede from the United States and govern themselves as an independent republic once again.'

The peaceable approach may be born of necessity as much as of conscientiousness: Quite a few of the Green Mountain boys are currently unavailable to defend the state's would-be autonomous borders -- serving, as they are, in the Middle East."

(Via Salon.)