Last week on Tax Day, Texas Governor Rick Perry intimated at the possibility of Texas seceding from the U.S. at some point (supposedly in the not too distant future).
Texas is a unique place. When we came into the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that," Perry said. "My hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention. We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, who knows what may come of that.
I believe that our federal government has become oppressive in its size, its intrusion into the lives of our citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state.
That is why I am here today to express my unwavering support for efforts all across our country to reaffirm the states’ rights affirmed by the Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I believe that returning to the letter and spirit of the U.S. Constitution and its essential 10th Amendment will free our state from undue regulations, and ultimately strengthen our Union.
"I have never seen the power of the grassroots as animated and as focused and as coordinated…It is a very powerful moment in American history.
"I would suggest that members of congress who are filing for election or re-election in eight months are listening."
"They’re hearing everyday working folks saying, ‘Listen, it’s out of control. We’re trying to live our lives and you’re strangling us with your spending and your taxation.
Note, I’m not sure on the ordering of the quotes above, I got them from several sources.
This has provoked a lot of comments both for and against the right to secession (which ended with the Civil War). I, for one, am a proponent of bringing back that right. I agree with almost everything that Gov. Perry said, except for the part about “We’ve got a great union. There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it.” If we can’t keep the federal government under control (and it is supposed to be under our control), then the states need to have some recourse.
Comments by some Democrats were completely foreseeable:
"Talk of secession is an attack on our country. It can be nothing else. It is the ultimate anti-American statement," Rep. Jim Dunnam of Waco said at a news conference.
I don’t see such comments as being anti-American, I think they can be some of the most pro-American comments that can be made. If made by someone that really cares about this country, I think that it shows just how out of whack things have truly become.
