West Virginia is one of 39 states where residents are
petitioning to leave the United States peacefully. The petitions
began appearing on the White House website's "We the People"
platform shortly after last week's presidential election. The
platform was created in September 2011 to give citizens an
outlet for expressing their First Amendment right to petition
the government. "We created 'We the People' because we want to
hear from you," according to the website. "If a petition gets
enough support, White House staff will review it, ensure it's
sent to the appropriate policy experts, and issue an official
response." Petitions posted to the website have to receive 150
signatures in 30 days before people can find them through the
site's search function. A petition reaching 25,000 signatures
within a 30-day period "requires a response," though responses
aren't immediate. Petitioning the government or the White House
is not a new idea. Petitions have been used many times in
history to garner attention for an issue