The

ended in June 1865. Despite the assurances from some diehard Southerners during the past 147 years that the region would

the union has stood firm, without

of another wave of state secession.

So what to make of the secession petitions from

and currently online? It includes a

with more than 105,000 signatures. (Governors from the states

to the petition drives, but U.S. Sen. Ron Paul of Texas says secession is

)

It's clear the movement primarily is driven by citizens upset with the

on Nov. 6. What's a little less clear is if the people signing the petitions really want to have their states withdraw from the union. Is it a

, or just a

from people upset that Mitt Romney lost?

says the secession petitions really amount to nothing more than "comic relief," and she reminds us that many liberals upset with the re-election of George W. Bush in 2004

. (Reportedly there are some conservatives

. However, very, very few people from the left or right

.) But Dias says it's not all fun and games, though:

Cushman demonstrates that while Dias and others might view the secession petitions as comic relief, there are some who take the movement very seriously. Bob Smiley of the Daily Caller believes Texas has the resources to be successful on its own. The leader of the secession movement in Texas tells Politico that it's not solely a reaction to Obama's re-election:



People wishing for secession should realize their states

if they broke from the union, according to a report from NBC 17 in North Carolina. No. 1, secession from the union

by the Supreme Court. If a state somehow gets around that, there are host of other problems it would confront:

It's doubtful that many of the people signing secession petitions are thinking about how difficult it would be to actually pull it off, so it brings to question if they're really serious. However,

isn't willing to let people supporting the petitions off the hook:

says if states where the petitions are most popular ... mostly in the South ... really want to secede, let them: