The 51st State

There's been a lot of talk in California about splitting the state up into pieces, and now Florida is getting in on the Mitosis craze: the southern half of Florida wants to break away from the northern half.

According to the Orlando Sentinel:

Back in October the City of South Miami passed a resolution suggesting that Florida should be split to create the 51st state. Now, the city has taken it one step further and is requesting a committee be formed to investigate the possibility of splitting the state in two.

The original resolution passed with a 3-2 vote at the city commission meeting on Oct. 7. It outlined the City of South Miami's concerns about global warming, the rising sea level and the impact that they could have in South Florida.

According to Vice Mayor Walter Harris, who proposed the original resolution and its successor, Tallahassee isn't doing enough to meet South Florida's concerns. On Tuesday Harris brought a second resolution to the floor reiterating his previous points and calling for the Miami-Dade County League of Cities to create a committee to see if creating the state of South Florida would be possible.

"The creation of the 51st state, South Florida, is a necessity for the very survival of the entire southern region of the current state of Florida and this cannot be accomplished by one municipality alone," the resolution reads.

Well, okay, I guess this sounds pretty good to me, but two issues immediately enter my mind: is the rest of South Florida really behind this? The plan shows the dividing line starting in Pinellas County, including Tampa and St. Pete as part of the new state, then crossing fairly evenly to include Orlando and Cape Canaveral.

And do we have to call the new state "South Florida"? Can't we come up with some something snazzier? Maybe call the new state "Miami". Or "The Everglades." or "Calusa".