**Written by Doug Powers

The desperation to escape Trump is ratcheting up in California:

“Should California become a free, sovereign, and independent country?”

The question could appear on a statewide ballot in 2018 if a group of secessionists has its way.

Yes California has been pushing for the state to break away from the United States and become its own country for several years.

Marcus Evans, the vice president of Yes California, filed a proposed ballot measure with the Attorney General’s Office on Monday that would appear on the November 2018 gubernatorial ballot.

“We always thought that if we just connected with the people who thought about this, but didn’t tell their friends and family because they would be seen as kooky and weird, that the quiet population would become vocal,” Evans said. “If you don’t want to support our suggestion, that’s fine. Let’s just have the conversation and discuss the facts.”

Yes California’s plan to secede is a long shot.

The measure aimed at the 2018 ballot attempts to strike language from the California Constitution that says the state is “an inseparable part of the United States of America, and the United States Constitution is the supreme law of the land.” It also asks voters if they want to secede from the country.

If voters approve the measure, it would establish a special election in March 2019 to ask voters again if they want California to become an independent country, Yes California wrote in a ballot measure filing.

Great idea. If they wait a little longer they might be able to write their Declaration of Independence on the back of a debt default notice. I’m thinking Jill Stein would be the perfect person to lead the progressives’ newly established anarcho-syndicalism.

An independent California would probably be the shortest running comedy ever produced in the state. Maybe it could at least serve as the inspiration for a wacky sitcom: If At First You Don’t Secede.

**Written by Doug Powers

Twitter @ThePowersThatBe