Give Me Liberty

Dennis Byrne’s column in yesterday’s Chicago Tribune (Feeling the Heat, Todd?) raised an interesting opportunity. Legally, it is possible for Illinois townships to secede from their counties, and given the shenanigans in Cook County government, I’m sure the idea might appeal to a number of townships there. The problem under current law is that voters across the entire county would have to approve the secession, and why would they vote to let others escape the misery that they cannot?

A bill in the legislature would allow the township to decide for itself on secession, without requiring the rest of the county to approve. Unfortunately, without strong citizen support, the bill is likely to die in committee. I think that many of us have a somewhat negative reaction to the idea of “secession”. We tend to think that the French Canadians in Quebec would be crazy to secede from Canada. And of course our own Abraham Lincoln took a dim view of the secession movement that led to the Civil War.

But let’s go back a little further in our history, to 1776. Our own Declaration of Independence was the ultimate secession document ever written, and probably marked the apex of freedom for all of humankind. George Washington and Thomas Jefferson did not consult with the voters of England before declaring their independence from King George, so why should the voters of Palatine need to persuade the rest of Cook County before freeing themselves from His Majesty Todd Stroger?

The Revolutionary War should have established once and for all time the right of any people, aggrieved by their government, to secede and establish their independence. Even if we are quite content with our situations in Lake County, or DuPage County, or any other county, it’s our freedom too. If we don’t support the principle for our unfortunate brethren in Cook County, we are forsaking our own birthright as well. It would be hard to read the Declaration of Independence again and reach any other conclusion.