In the days following the 2012 General Election, citizens from several northern and southern states, including Louisiana, have openly petitioned the White House to secede from the United States.  In fact, 23 petitions from have appeared on the White House petition website at petitions.whitehouse.gov.  Boasting more than 16,000 total signatures thus far on the Louisiana petition, the petitioners are asking for a peaceful severance from the Union in order give the state the ability to form its own government as a sovereign state.  The petitions for the other states still need a total of 25,000 signatures each by Dec. 10, 2012 in order to be considered by the White House.