In late October of last year four hundred citizens of the State of Vermont gathered at the state capital building in Montpelier and voted overwhelmingly to petition the state government to secede from the United States.

"The neo-con band of criminals running Washington, trampling on civil rights at home and invading countries at will overseas, has led a large group of strong-minded Vermont freedom-fighters with no choice but to secede from the United States" wrote a supporter named Greg Szymanski.

The group appears to be unhappy by the fact that conservative Republicans now control the Presidency and both houses of congress.

This is not the first time the state of Vermont has considered Secession. It was one of the New England states that made up the Hartford Convention during the War of 1812. The members of the Convention threatened to secede unless the war was quickly ended.

"Most people think of secession as impossible if not treasonous, but the concept is deeply rooted in the Declaration of Independence, reminding us that "Whenever any form of government becomes destructive, it is the Right of the People to alter or abolish it and to institute new government," Szymanski wrote.

Where were these people when we needed them? In 1860-61, thirteen Southern states seceded and were immediately subjected to armed attack by citizens of the other states including Vermont.

Now after a bloody war and nearly a century and a half later, they see the value of the Southern action.

Vermont is not alone in their desire to separate from the Union. Consider, for example, the Kingdom of Hawaii.

"The primary objective of the Hawaiian Kingdom Government is to expose the occupation of our nation within the framework of the 1907 Hague Conventions IV and V and our domestic statutes, and to provide a foundation for transition and the ultimate end of the occupation of the Hawaiian Kingdom," says an article on their web page. They continue, "Article 43 of the 1907 Hague Convention IV mandates that the occupying government, being the United States of America, must administer the laws of the occupied State, being the Hawaiian Kingdom, and any deviation of this mandate is a violation of international law."

This group does not call themselves secessionist. They argue that the incorporation of Hawaii into the United States of America was illegal, and that the Kingdom of Hawaii is an occupied nation.

The same argument is made by the Republic of Texas. On their web page they declare that the annexation of Texas was illegal and that Texas remains an independent nation under occupation.

They claim that they reinstated a provisional government on Dec. 13, 1995 with their capital in Overton Texas. They point to a poll conducted by Texas Monthly Magazine in the early 1990's in which seventy percent of responders supported secession.

Their movement to gain independence for the state was severely damaged last fall when their Capital (headquarters) burned to the ground.

This goes to show that the old saying is correct. If you ignore the lessons of history they are sure to repeat themselves.