If the whole is only as good as the sum of its parts, then the entire idea of secession by any single state or group of states from the greater United States of America today is ridiculous.
As with any situation in which there are two large and nearly equal opposing sides battling it out, this year’s presidential election proved that many will approve of the outcome, and many will not.  The president for the next four years has been decided, like it or not, and the most basic and obvious next step for Americans as a society is to take things as they come and work together to resolve differences.  
With that being said, reasonable and civilized discourse is only possible when everyone is ready and willing to bring equal amounts of respect, integrity and consideration to the table.  There will be difficulties, arguments, upsets and protests, but that is the nature of democracy.  To reinforce the usual inspirational advice, people should always make their own judgments while also taking into consideration the feelings of others, as well as what is in the best interest of the greater American community.
Since what feels like moments after the results of the election were revealed, social media and some news groups have picked up on a lot of radical-sounding, end-of-the-country-as-we-know-it trends and opinions.  The most recent is word of dozens of states creating online petitions in an attempt to bring attention to the United States government about multitudes of people out there who would rather secede from the Union than continue to live in a country they have deemed unworthy of inhabiting.  Louisiana, by the way, is second on the list of how many citizens have signed, only after Texas.
Apart from the obvious, surface-level stupidity of this, there are two huge problems with any degree of secession by any one state or group of states; quite simply, it is impractical and un-American.  The latter is obvious.  The same group of folks who may have been viciously celebrating if the election had gone some other way are now somehow so incised that they seriously think the only option would be for their home state to become its own entity, seperate from the United States.  Is there any idea more selfish, more unlike the “standing united” tradition of the U.S., than that of completely severing of political ties because of a few thousand citizens and their political angst?  
As far as the idea of secession being impractical, can these folks signing petitions really not see the short-term effects that secession would cause?  Imagine Texas, a large, well-populated state.  Suddenly, Texas is its own country.  The United States government has been forced to wash its hands of the Lonestar State.  How long will it be until roads need repair?  Who will enforce food and water regulations?  What army will be present when hoards of Mexican drug cartel warriors decide to hop the border?  Certainly not the enormous and qualified United States army.  Perhaps a few thousand rowdy citizens with hunting rifles could keep things at peace…for a few hours.
The ability for people to petition is truly a wonderful and valuable thing to a country that definitely needs it.  Many people out there may criticize a presidential administration for being “everything that’s wrong” or “un-American.”  But the folks that are truly un-American are those unwilling to work with their fellow citizens, those who are unwilling to put aside individual convictions and make sacrifices for the sake of the nation at large.  Not to mention, what happens to all these states-turned-countries in four years when their guy wins the next presidency?