.
What an amazing day, today. Tens of thousands of Americans protesting the Idiot-in-Chief's spending and socialism. A true exercise of the First Amendment. The Founding Fathers, furious over the bastardization of their Cherished Document, would be proud that the people are stirring in their outrage, and mobilizing to act.
And then.... this:
No Rick... it can't.
.
Up until today, you were something of a rising star. But this one singular moment of idiocy dooms you from consideration for President.
.
Today, the focus SHOULD have been on the people. This effort SHOULD have been the result of a broad-based cross-section of everyone from the growing number of disillusioned Obama supporters on the left to the farthest right winger... one who may have had enough long ago, but has now found a way sanctified by law and the American tradition to express his or her anger.
.
What I fear WILL happen, however, is that the leftist organs that are the media today will pick up on your statement, a statement to me as unthinkable as calling for the assassination of our President.
.
Governor, I love Texas. Texas represents many of the characteristics that make this country great. But Governor, the idea that you and the rest of your state could just call it a day, wizz on the fire, call in the dogs and go home to some Nation status is absurd.
.
You know damned well we spent a bloody, horrific Civil War that took decades to even begin to start the healing process. 600,000 to 700,000 or so dead, a figure today that would be millions proportionally due to our population growth.
.
To even HINT of such a possibility is to show the rest of the world a divided America THAT WE CANNOT AFFORD TO SHOW.
.
Governor, SOMEBODY has to be the adult here. Unfortunately, we are not particularly possessed of one in the White House. And that COULD have been you. Maybe.
.
Until today.
.
Regrettably for us, while you may have made inroads with your constituency, you did so at the cost of your credibility to the rest of us.
.
Moderates attracted to this movement have been given pause. The leftwing media will blow through the majority of what was accomplished today to focus on you. The rest of the world generally, and our enemies particularly are emboldened by this kind of talk from our senior leaders.
.
This was a terrible move on your part. And that, Governor, is too bad for all of us.
.
.
.
04/15/2009
By KELLEY SHANNON / Associated Press
Texas Gov. Rick Perry fired up an anti-tax "tea party" Wednesday with his stance against the federal government and for states' rights as some in his U.S. flag-waving audience shouted, "Secede!"
An animated Perry told the crowd at Austin City Hall — one of three tea parties he was attending across the state — that officials in Washington have abandoned the country's founding principles of limited government. He said the federal government is strangling Americans with taxation, spending and debt.
Perry repeated his running theme that Texas' economy is in relatively good shape compared with other states and with the "federal budget mess." Many in the crowd held signs deriding President Barack Obama and the $786 billion federal economic stimulus package.
Perry called his supporters patriots. Later, answering news reporters' questions, Perry suggested Texans might at some point get so fed up they would want to secede from the union, though he said he sees no reason why Texas should do that.
"There's a lot of different scenarios," Perry said. "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, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot."
He said when Texas entered the union in 1845 it was with the understanding it could pull out. However, according to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, Texas negotiated the power to divide into four additional states at some point if it wanted to but not the right to secede.
More:
Actually, in technical terms Texas can. That was included in the treaty by which Texas joined the union. Texas can, under the treaty, return to Mexico or return to independant nation status.
ReplyDeleteIt would, however, require the approval of the Senate and Congress of the USA for this to happen. Texas can NOT do this unilaterally. (And obviously, give how much reality has changed since Texas joined the union under that treaty, separation will never happen.)
FYI ?? I believe this was included in the treaty with the consideration that - given the other states and territories at the time - Texas could have ended up unconnected geographically with the main USA - although there also were other considerations too complex to go into here.
Not saying the comment wasn't stupid - just setting the factual details in place.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and presume that with the concurrence of Congress, it is not too far off to conclude that ANY state could "leave" the Union.
ReplyDeleteIt appears to me that Gov. Perry wasn't particularly interested in getting Congress to approve his plan. It seems to me that he was referring to the very thing you mention: that he cannot, unilaterally, remove Texas from the United State.
There is no conceivable way this could happen; the people of the rest of the country would not stand for it, and that would only leave Gov. Perry with the option of doing that which we both agree that he cannot do: unilaterally leave the United States.
Thanks for providing the additional information, however. Clearly, the people of that time may have been much more far-seeing into the future than many might have believed.