'Why not Texit?': Texas nationalists look to the Brexit vote for inspiration

[malaise]

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/19/texas-secession-movement-brexit-eu-referendum
<snip>
How closely is Daniel Miller tracking the news ahead of the referendum about whether Britain should leave the European Union? “Hourly!” he grins. The Sun’s recent editorial calling for the UK’s departure got him quite excited.

Miller, though, is not from London or Liverpool. He hails from Longview, Texas, and we are talking in a cafe in the bleakly industrial Gulf coast town of Port Arthur, some 5,000 miles from Westminster.

“There are a lot of people asking, if Brexit why not Texit?” he says. “I do talk with some folks over there on a pretty regular basis that are involved in Ukip and the Conservative party.”

The arguments are fundamentally identical, he insists. “You could take ‘Britain’ out and replace it with ‘Texas’. You could take ‘EU’ out and replace it with ‘US’. You could take ‘Brussels’ out and replace it with ‘Washington DC’. You could give you guys a nice Texas drawl and no one would know any different. So much of it is exactly the same.”

Buoyed by the rearguard action at the battle of the Alamo, Texas toiled to free itself from Mexican rule and was an independent nation from 1836 to 1845. But its fiercely solitary spirit did not fade when it became part of the union. Texas Independence Day, 2 March, is still an annual state holiday. In 2003 a state law was passed requiring schoolchildren to pledge allegiance daily to the Texas flag as well as the US flag.
h political avenues and calls for the people of Texas to decide via a referendum. Miller claims that the group has 260,000 supporters. It has fans in Russia among mischief-makers who would relish the break-up of the United States.

It also has advocates in the Texas Republican party, even though removing one of the biggest and most reliably red states from the US would make it far easier for the Democrats to win presidential elections.

Shortly after Obama’s re-election, the White House was forced to respond to a Texit petition that garnered more than 125,000 votes. The answer was no.

[beachbum bob]

1. texas wants to leave....end all federal monies including social security payments going

to texas....remove all the military bases...and build a wall....around texas...hell....doesn't sound so bad to me....lol

[marble falls]

2. I'm on my way out of here and going to Oregon. I'd be glad to weld the door shut behind me....

I don't ever want to run into fugitive Texas secessionists who jump ship.

[CanonRay]

13. Welcome to Oregon

Smart move

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

20. It'll be a lot of work to move all the veterans ...

... from the cemetery at Ft Sam Houston and others. They'll need to be repatriated to the United States.

[hobbit709]

3. The secessionists here are not very many.

Most people realize that if TX seceded, it would instantly become a Third World Nation.

[malaise]

7. That's what I'm told by my nephew

[hobbit709]

9. Morning Malaise.

Have you tried Papua New Guinea? Very similar flavor to JBM-it was started with Jamaican seedlings.

[malaise]

10. Well if you recommend it I'll

have to give it a try. Having a lovely cup of BM right now. Have a nice day bro

[Xithras]

49. Yep. There's a simple financial reason why Texas will never secede

Texas has spent decades wooing American companies from other states with its low tax rates and lax regulatory structure. The moment Texas became an independent nation, all of those companies would become foreign corporations (not multinationals...full blown foreign corporations). The companies would be fucked, and would flee Texas en masse. And we're not talking little companies either. American Airlines? Foreign airlines can't fly domestic American routes. Waste Management? Buy local clauses will prevent them from controlling regional waste services in America. AT&T? Foreign companies can't legally own U.S. telecom infrastructure. And everyone from JC Penney to just about every oil company in North America? Welcome to tarrif's boys and girls! Nafta isn't going to help your non-signatory "independent" Texas! And you won't have any representation in Congress to stop it!

ALL of these companies would flee the state within a year to avoid financial destruction. Texas would be fucked.

[Darb]

4. Then we'd have a real Dumbfuckistan.

Go for it, mensas.

[MillennialDem]

16. I prefer Dipshitistan myself. We could even rename it that in the American English language - just

like say Germany/Deutschland.

[unblock]

5. as long as we can somehow keep austin in the u.s.

[hobbit709]

6. It would be like West Berlin in East Germany.

[Paladin]

8. Ah, yes. The inevitable exception for Austin.

One thing about you DU Texas-Bashers: you're consistent.

[unblock]

39. dude it's a joke, and one that's made in various forms in austin often.

i lived in austin for seven years, mrs. unblock even longer, and she's lived elsewhere in texas as well. we're planning to retire there eventually.

not sure how much time you've spent in austin but variants of that joke get made all the time there.

it's not bashing *texas* it's bashing the secessionist theme that keeps recurring and resonating in various parts of texas -- except, for the most part, austin

[Paladin]

42. I grew up in Austin, lived there for almost 20 years.

I still have lots of old school friends there---most of them very, very conservative. Sorry I missed your humor; generally the "Only Cool Place In Texas" label is applied to Austin in a dead-serious, dead-wrong manner.

And if you're planning on retiring in Austin, I hope to hell you're saving every spare dollar, or that you're coming into a sizeable inheritance. My folks paid $14,000 in the 1950's for the modest home on the north side where I grew up; houses on that street are now going for $500,000 or thereabouts......

[unblock]

43. best investment i never made was a house under a flight path

i looked into buying a house in the 90s. i had enough for a down payment on a small house. best i could find was under a flight path. personally that didn't bother me except i knew i'd have to sell at some point and i know being under a flight path is a major turnoff for many. just not a good investment, i thought.

you know where the story's going, after mueller airport closed it was no longer under a flight path. between that and austin's growth, that house is now over half a million. coulda had it for under $80k....

[Paladin]

44. You probably weren't around when Bergstrom was a Strategic Air Command base.

Back in the early 60's, the sonic booms from the B-52 bombers would rattle our school rooms, and on Fridays the air raid sirens would be tested so we could all hear what imminent nuclear war warnings sounded like. Whole different world.....

[unblock]

46. i was just a little baby in ohio back then. didn't find texas until the mid-80s....

[snooper2]

32. 2015 Dallas municipal election

Mayor[edit]
Mike Rawlings (Incumbent)
Marcos Ronquillo
Richard P. Sheridan (Write-In)

Candidate Vote Number Vote Percentage[12]
Mike Rawlings 30,692 72.95%
Marcos Ronquillo 11,383 27.05%

[niyad]

48. yes, we must. one of my friends just relocated there.

[yellowcanine]

11. Hmm. Didn't they try that once before? How did that work out for them?

[MillennialDem]

17. It worked out well for Texas and poorly for the North eom

[Vogon_Glory]

27. Actually Not So Well

Last edited Mon Jun 20, 2016, 03:15 PM - Edit history (1)

When Texas seceded from Mexico, we found ourselves in a continuous war with our southern neighbor, few internal improvements, the need for high military expenditures, and a massive debt.

When Texas seceded from the US in 1861, our economy went to pot, we got blockaded, attacked by Comanches, and ran up even more debt.

I think Texas ought to remain in the US.

[MillennialDem]

33. I was talking about Texas seceding from the US... it worked out poorly for the

North that they got re-admitted into the union.

[yellowcanine]

34. I was also.

[MillennialDem]

35. It also worked out well for Texas... they don't know how good they have it. I also

laugh when they talk about selling oil to us at a huge markup if they split off.

We'll just buy it from other countries and tell them to pound sand.

[struggle4progress]

12. Yes! Let's get Texas out of the EU!

[treestar]

14. not the same at all

The EU is not a country. Texas is part of a country. And how do they think they'd defend themselves? LOL they would be taken over by Mexico almost immediately. Do they expect we would defend them? lol.

[Kilgore]

15. Will never happen

[malaise]

19. Thanks

[PJMcK]

52. Terrific little video

Thanks for posting this civics lesson, Kilgore. it clearly explains the issues surrounding the suggested secession by Texas from the USA.

The first part of the video's answer is in respect of the Texas economy. This answer is far too simplistic and doesn't address huge areas of the Texas economy. I call your attention to Xithras' post, #49 above regarding the crushing impact secession would bring.

The second part is about the legal aspects and demonstrates why states cannot leave the Union. But one pie chart stood out. It showed the actual ratio of Texans in favor of or opposed to secession. The tiny sliver of secessionists was almost completely obscured by those opposed. Yet this micro-minority gets media attention giving them credibility and a megaphone they don't deserve.

The stupid runs deep in some people, but you already knew that.

[MillennialDem]

18. Let them go!

[pampango]

21. Texas' tea party wants secession. The UK's 'tea party' UKIP wants secession. I see a pattern.

The far right in France, Sweden and many other European countries want their countries out of the EU. The Texas GOP also wants the US out of the UN and every other international agreement and organization they can think of.

It seems that the far right is very big on states' rights, national sovereignty and 'us vs them'. They are not so big on international cooperation.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

22. "Life in Lubbock, Texas, taught me two things: One is that God loves you

"Life in Lubbock, Texas, taught me two things: One is that God loves you and you're going to burn in hell. The other is that sex is the most awful, filthy thing on earth and you should save it for someone you love." - Butch Hancock

[malaise]

23. Best laugh for a few days

Thanks

[Iggo]

24. "The answer was no."

[Algernon Moncrieff]

25. If a Democrat is elected to the WH, I suspect they will at least pursue it

However, here is what they could also do. IIRC, the document that admitted the Republic of Texas to the Union allows the state to break up into as many as five states. So it's be like Texas -- but with 8 more Senate seats.

[LanternWaste]

26. Texas really has no more, nor no less ability to break into multiple states than any other state.

The Texas Annexation Treaty you allude to (originally created to balance slave v non-slave holding states) has been superseded by Art. 4, Section 3 of the US Constitution. Texas really has no more, nor no less ability to break into multiple states than any other state currently has.

"New states may be admitted by the Congress into this union; but no new states shall be formed or erected within the jurisdiction of any other state; nor any state be formed by the junction of two or more states, or parts of states, without the consent of the legislatures of the states concerned as well as of the Congress of the United States...."

[Algernon Moncrieff]

31. Thanks!

[NYC Liberal]

36. Actually, that "Texas Annexation Treaty" doesn't even exist.

The annexation of Texas was approved by a Joint Resolution of Congress (here) and mentions nothing about secession.

[LanternWaste]

37. Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States is informally called the Texas Annexation T

Joint Resolution for Annexing Texas to the United States (approved by congress spring of '45) is informally called the Texas Annexation Treaty. originally, a satirical jab by the Whigs towards Houston after the US senate rejected the Tyler-Texas Treaty.

(Source: Storm over Texas by Joe Sibley)

[NYC Liberal]

38. I know, but it says nothing about secession like a lot of those secessionists claim.

[DetlefK]

28. If Texas leaves, they are no longer the largest buyer of US-schoolbooks...

And that Texas-committee would no longer have indirect control over what kids learn US-wide.

[Vinca]

29. Texit works for me. Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

[DetlefK]

30. Imagine the discussions at the US-Texas-border:

"Passport please."

"What is the purpose of your visit?"

"Do you have a visa?"

"Alright, we're gonna need your fingerprints and your biometrics."

"No, the 2nd Amendment does not apply to you, because you are not a US-citizen. Your gun stays in Texas unless you have a special permit to import weapons."

"That's a lot of cash money you have with you. We're gonna have to impound the money, because it could be connected to drug-trade. Don't worry: You can get your money back if you can prove that this money has nothing to do with drugs or any other crime."

[steve2470]

40. Texas is a good state

Let's keep some perspective that MANY good people live there, including Texas Democrats.

[Warren DeMontague]

47. That is true, and should be kept in mimd.

Still, you're talking what is essentially the right wing equivalent to California in terms of population.

[malaise]

51. One of my nephews and hsi family live there

they were all born there as was his sister - second sister lived their for decades.

I posted an interesting article

[Warren DeMontague]

45. Threaten me with a year's worth of ice cream sundaes and deep tissue massage, why dont you

No, please! Please dont go!

[TexasMommaWithAHat]

50. We won't always be red!

Just give us time.