A political mentor of mine has tried, over the years, to sear into my mind the primacy of social mood. When the social mood is with you, politics is like rolling downhill in a heavy truck. When it’s against you, it’s like pushing on a string. Better to make money, learn practical skills of taking power during the good times, and then wait for the bad times to make our political moves to fix the country.
So many of us true conservatives have labored for years in the wilderness trying to get people to wake up. And I knew the solution, at least a necessary but not sufficient piece of it: secession. But in the Bubble years, I was hesistant to talk about it, lest I sound crazy. My wife would cringe when the subject would come up in conversation with other people, unless I would say too much and possibly have people think me some sort of extremist.
Now, when the social mood has finally cracked after years of optimistic delusion, even the Governor of Texas is talking secession. It has happened so fast I don’t even feel like I can believe it. My friend was right: all of the intellectual arguments in the world are nothing compared to the tidal wave of social mood. Our only hope is to channel and shape the wave, but it cannot be created.
Here are the relevant videos from yesterday as featured on Drudge for those who missed them:
And now today he makes it more explicit:
Speaking with reporters after a tea party rally in Austin today, Gov. Rick Perry said Texas can leave the union if it wants to.
“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.”
If you’ve ever wanted to get involved in politics, the time is now. True conservatives have never enjoyed a better time in recent history when they can say what they mean instead of censoring themselves. Trust me, Rick Perry mostly wants to get re-elected, and if he’s saying this stuff, it at least means it is working for him politically.
But is he sincere? Honestly, who cares? I hope he is, and I have removed my anti-Perry posts from this blog in case he is a true repentant, a man like many Texas patriots before him who were mediocre politicians until a time of crisis struck. Here is an email I sent a friend yesterday:
A necessary but not sufficient step towards secession. Perry is a slippery fox, but his rhetoric surprised me, implying one or both of the following statements are true:
A. A major state governor actually feels this way.
B. A major state governor believes this kind of rhetoric will get him re-elected in 2010.Both are positive developments.
Part of me thinks this is his revenge against the Bush-Rove crowd who is running Hutchinson against him. As an Aggie of humble origins, there really is no limit to how far to the right he can go. He can say and do things she can never do, because her Dallas liberal friends would be embarrassed. But Perry’s West Texas hometown is probably already on-board a secession platform anyway.
What was probably the icing on the cake for the tea parties was when Rick Perry, Texas’ governor stated that Texas can secede from the union. That will draw a lot of attention but more importantly it sends the message that these movements are serious for such strong words to be used. While the media will say they Texas does not have the right to do this outright (there are some court cases which agree, there are certain paths they can take to get this goal).
While they do not have the right to do this outright, there are certain paths they can take to get this goal. Come on, you know this is possible because this is the same country which gives exceptions to tax cheats through cleaver legal
maneuvers.
Really it is just using the legal system creatively.
Texas probably has the best chance at success. Here is just one way how it can work. The annexation agreement made when Texas joined the union provided that Texas would be able to divide into 5 states. This would create 8 more conservative Senators.
If Texas were to try to divide and be rebuffed, the US would be in violation of the agreement and Texas should be able to go free.
It is not all that far fetched.
Regardless of the TX situation, the movement was larger than expected. And it is just a start because the thing about grass roots is that it will only take hold, grow and spread.
Some pics here:
http://tinyurl.com/texasmayleave
I’m sorry, but I’m guessing none of these Tea Parties would have happened if it was a Republican President that had introduced these insane government expenditures. I didn’t see any when Bush wanted zillions for the banks….I hope that Perry’s consideration of secession is sincere, but until the Tea Partiers realize that Republicans ain’t all that much better than the crazy Democrats, nothing will ever change. I’m willing to bet that absolutely nothing will come of these symbolic ‘mini-rebellions’, but I will admit that it’s good to see everyone’s dander up a little.
Tom,
I have had the exact same thoughts about Perry. He either really believes what he is now saying, or is astute enough to realize that the tenth amendment is popular among conservatives in Texas. I hope we hear a lot more talk about secession from our Texas leaders. I hope he has seen the light and is trying to repent and be redeemed. But remember, this is the guy ready to sell the largest public works project in history (Trans Texas Corridor) to Spain just 12 months ago. He has shown himself a whore to Europe and has vetoed legislation that hurts private property ownership in Texas.
As far as his being an Aggie- A&M has embraced and enshrined the Bush’s. We don’t need group think right now. We don’t need Republicanism. We need someone willing to stand aganinst authority and lead us out of the pack and back to the Constitution. Perry’s sweet words, alone, will be too little too late.
I’m sorry, guys. Call me jaded, but until I see one of these flying over the Governor’s Mansion, I’m throwing the BS flag at Perry. He’s a political maneuverer from way back, and talks out of at least three sides of his mouth. As soon as the dust settles over the gubernatorial election, he’ll be back to selling out to the highest corporate bidder.
Mitch, you give him too much credit. He also tried to whore out all of Texas’ daughters to Merck. That puts him square in the middle of son-of-a-bitch-land in my book. Also, leave us not forget that he endorsed Giuliani right out of the gate. That should tell you all you ever need to know about his conservative credentials: they’re as much lies as the day he wrote them.
If Perry is the only way to secession, count me out. He is a snake, and will always be a snake. Like I said in November, the lesser of two evils is still evil, and I–we–have a higher calling to answer.
Before we win, opportunists will adopt our positions. This development is a necessary but not sufficient step towards winning. That encourages me.
Perry’s comments are extreme enough that I do hold out hope there’s something real behind him. You seem upset that he’s a politician, Brian. There are always going to be lying, thieving politicians on this side of heaven. Our job is to make sure they fear us more than the other side on every issue. Being morally indignant about the fact that people are fallen, sick creatures is not moving the football.
No, I expect him to be a politician. What I find upsetting is that people who should know better–and I don’t presume to include you in their number, I know you know the score with him–will use this little episode to convince themselves that Perry’s a bona fide conservative. The same kind of somnambulant voting pitted McCain as the “conservative choice” against Obama.
The problem that I have with Perry is that he’s so very good at saying whatever he has to in order to get elected, then abandoning all pretense once the dust settles. He will neither lead a secession movement, nor support one once he is back in office. So, while I understand your hope in seeing a mainstream politician paying lip service to the only sane option, I do not share it.
Not to mention, a top-down approach would leave the current power structure in place, and we’d only trade one master for another. The only way to break the Beast’s back is through a massive, atomized groundswell of a common movement. In secular terms, anyway. Looked at from that point of view, Perry pretending to support the cause is a hindrance, not a help.
I look at it this way. Government can be no better than, but worse than the people. It cannot improve or perfect man, but it can degrade him faster. In this particular case, I think fedgov is significantly worse than the people of Texas, and if Texas had its own government it would be a vast improvement, though not perfect of course. It would not be a “beast” like the feds, as it would be a constitutional government over a natural nation. Every government has problems and perfection is unachievable. I do believe the problems with fedgov are intractable and a collapse to a more sustainable political order would be a positive development.
I don’t disagree with that.
What makes me actually recoil, though, are the morons claiming that Perry’s TelePrompTer reading (or does he memorize?) somehow lends validity to any secessionist movement. Insofar as he’s a useful idiot, I support Perry fully here; but no further. Besides, Austin’s only a couple hours’ drive away, should a “direct-action impeachment” of “President” Perry be required.
By the way, would you be so kind as to indulge me by sending me an email? I’ve been mulling over a project I’d like to discuss with you.
I agree 100% with what Rick Perry said on Wednesday.
Just wanted to get that out up front before I began the next bit of my comment.
To secede, for any state to secede not just Texas, but any state, the consequences would be… unfathomable. The destruction of basic daily needs such as food, water and power would be nearly instant, and if you think that any federal government would allow peaceable secession, I have a bridge to sell you. I wouldn’t even put it past the current administration to use nukes against a secessionist state if it was clear he was losing. Not to mention that other nations such as China would see such a break up as an invitation to cause trouble or even to stage an invasion, while I don’t buy that whole “global society” crap bandied about by educators and politicians, we do have a more informed world, and a more mobile world, which would enable the stronger enemies of our nation to strike while we were weak.
Not to mention I really don’t see how any such plan would meet with success. Now don’t get me wrong, I see armed resistance against a tyrannical federal government as the whole point of the 2nd Amendment, one cannot read the federalist papers and think anything else. And the time may come where the infractions against our inalienable rights may require a choice between the horrors to be found behind the door of secession, and the life of slavery which really isn’t a life at all. But, we aren’t there yet.
The tea parties have to grow larger, louder and more disruptive.
Just to throw this out there, I heard an interview with Perry from the day after the press conference cited above. The reporter asked him whether the date for secession was set, and Perry couldn’t distance himself from the secession idea fast enough. He blathered on about Texas having a heritage that Pennsylvania and Ohio haven’t. He, so it seems, had just been saying that, theoretically of course, Texas could secede, a point with which a TAMU history professor, apparently of some repute, takes umbrage.
So, Perry’s a flim-flam man. Who knew? Who even suspected?
I’m shocked at you, Mitch! Are you saying that showing up at the Reflecting Pool in DC, realizing your EPA permits are not approved, and offering to throw down plastic sheeting and pick up after yourselves later isn’t disruptive enough?
What do you expect? Burning
the flagObama in effigy? (With the proper fire permits, of course!)err, “showing up with your tea bags at the Reflecting Pool”