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My Short Take On Texas Secession

Wednesday, May 06 2009 @ 10:02 PM CDT

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by Daniel Miller

I was asked recently to address the issue of Texas secession. This topic is permeating every aspect of living in North America right now and rightfully so.

There are so many directions that I could tackle this topic to cover all of the bases.


The issue of secession and independence is hot right now and there is a tremendous amount of discussion about. Some of which I am proud to be involved. I am under no illusions that this issue can be addressed in a single missive. I am also not under any illusion that everyone will agree with what I have to say. What I can do is present facts, both historical and present, and make logical, well-reasoned conclusions based on those facts through the context of my personal values.

Although I could talk about governmental theory and the social contract, I want to start by giving you an analogy. Imagine for a moment that you are married. Not a stretch for some of you since you are married or have been in the past. Now imagine that your spouse had done the following:

- Taken your paycheck and spent it on drugs to the point of running you into serious debt
- Rendered you and your children financially strapped to the point of financial ruin
- Taken your money and given it to your neighbor so that "we can be friends"
- Actively worked to turn your kids into "abusive" clones and against you
- Ran up gambling debts that you and your children had to pay
- Repeatedly cheated on you but promised that the next time would be different
- Made decisions for you that were detrimental without your agreement
- Put a second, third or fourth mortgage on your home without your consent
- Promised that they were placing money into your retirement but they were really spending it on frivolous items which would render you destitute at retirement
- Refused to put locks on the door even when your house has been broken into, your property stolen and you have been raped repeatedly
- Failed to come to your aid when you were injured or sick
- Became domineering and controlling to the point of obsession
- Refused to let you speak your mind about these problems and when you did labeled you as "unstable" and "fringe"
- Threatened to beat or kill you if you ever leave

What would you want to do in this situation? If you said anything short of "divorce" please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233).

But did you catch that? D-I-V-O-R-C-E! Divorce and secession are the exact same thing. Let me prove it. Here is an excerpt from the US Declaration of Independence:

"Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security. "

Thomas Jefferson, as well as the other Founders, were well aware of the role of government in relation to the people. This principle was embodied in the Texas Constitution Article 1 Section 2 which states:

"All political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and instituted for their benefit. The faith of the people of Texas stands pledged to the preservation of a republican form of government, and, subject to this limitation only, they have at all times the inalienable right to alter, reform or abolish their government in such manner as they may think expedient. "

The Founders acknowledged our ability to enter into a social contract and they acknowledged our inherent right and duty to exit the contract at the point that it became destructive.

Back to our analogy...

No one would ever go to someone suffering under the conditions that I listed above and ask or state any of the following:

"Aren't you afraid that you'll get beaten or killed if you leave?"
"Marriage is permanent. No matter what."
"You need your spouse's permission to leave."
"Well, the grass always seems greener on the other side but really it's not."
"If you leave you will have to start from scratch so maybe you should stay."
"So what if you're having these issues. You're stronger as a couple."
"If you leave you'll just wind up with someone equally abusive."
"Your spouse beat you before. They'll do it again if you try to leave."

Why would you ask or say this to someone living under those conditions? Because it's morally reprehensible to do so and only someone who is evil would suggest something so morally repugnant.

Perhaps you fail to see how this analogy fits. Let me make the connections for you.

The 13 Colonies were individually part of Great Britain from which they declared independence (seceded). Here is the relevant excerpt from the US Declaration of Independence:

"That these united Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States, that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. "

These 13 Colonies became 13 distinct and independent States equal to the "State of Great Britain" each with it's own national character. These 13 distinct and independent States entered into a compact of collective defense, foreign policy and commerce called the United States of America. This agreement is similar to and on which the United Nations was originally supposed to be based. Independent, sovereign nation-states who would work together for a common goal. To this end, they drafted a Constitution which was meant to govern the relationship between them. It was the embodiment of John Locke's concept of the "social contract". It established a governing body whose sole function was to carry out the 17 legitimate functions granted to it by the states and the people with all other rights and functions reserved for the states and people.

The Founders had no need to address political divorce (secession) in the document because the right to do so existed before the Constitution and was the sole mechanism that gave them the ability to even draft the Constitution. I'm fairly certain the secession wasn't specifically mentioned in the Constitution of Great Britain at that time either.

This was the understanding when all States entered into the United States of America. That includes Texas. It was part of the contract.

Without going into the longest history lesson you would ever have to sit through, suffice it to say that it is not unknown that the Federal Government has overstepped it's boundaries at the drop of a hat and continues to do so today. Don't believe me? Here's a VERY general overview, though I am willing to provide details on specific points if asked:

- Unfunded Mandates
- Excessive taxation without adequate representation
- Frivolous spending of our tax money while our problems can't be adequately addressed due to a lack of funds
- Faltering economic system
- Placed our monetary system into the hands of a private bank who devalued our currency and manipulated our economy at will
- Pilfering and failure of the worst Ponzi scheme in history (Social Security)
- Erosion of the separation of powers
- Repeated and willful violations of the 1st Amendment
- Repeated and willful violations of the 2nd Amendment
- Repeated and willful violations of the 4th Amendment
- Repeated and willful violations of the 5th Amendment
- Repeated and willful violations of the 9th Amendment
- Repeated and willful violations of the 10th Amendment
- Forcing our system of education to become a tool of social engineering
- Leaving our border less secure than at any time since our independence from Mexico
- Sending our sons and daughters to war without a declaration of war from Congress as is required
- Taking our tax money and failing to provide the services promised
- Unlawfully restricted trade in areas where trade needs to be expanded and shoved free trade down our throats at the cost of jobs and to the detriment of our economy
- Failed to respond to all petitions for a redress or these grievances
- Sought to redefine the Constitution to suit it's own ends
- Failed to render sufficient aid in disregard to the Preamble's call to promote the general welfare
- Instituted an impossibly massive bureaucratic system with more laws and officers than allowed by the Constitution and good sense to do nothing more than control us and "eat out our substance"
- Overtly attempted to subvert legitimate protest and dissent
- Taken our money and given it to foreign countries with the effect of inciting hatred against us
- Expanded their imagined jurisdiction over us through creative interpretations of the "interstate commerce" clause in the Constitution

Trust me. I could go on but it would be overkill. But imagine for a moment that the United Nations had done these things to the United States. The politicians would be screaming from the rooftops to withdraw from the UN. We would suddenly have 300 million fans of secession.

But fear not. This is not a scary thing. It's not an easy decision to make. Divorce never is. But this is not scary. This is where the impetus is placed upon the United States. They have had plenty of opportunities to make the marriage work. We have been subject to an endless parade of politicians who have promised to "turn things around". Things haven't turned around. They've only gotten worse.

Now Texas and 30 other states are sending notice to the Federal Government. They are standing up and saying:

We know what your responsibilities are.
We know what are rights are.
We are telling you to line it out or else.

I don't believe they will listen. Why? Because self-determination is a global trend. John Naisbitt wrote in his 1994 book Global Paradox: "The world's trends point overwhelmingly to economic interdependence and political independence." The advent of the technological revolution has given the people of the world a new drive to find themselves and to assert their right of self-determination. There has been a spike in the number of recognized countries around the globe in the past 30 years. Don't believe me? Go look at an encyclopedia from 1980 and then look at the list today.

As homogeneous as some like to think of the United States, it is far from it. We are tied by blood and some common history but economically, culturally and politically we are different. The novelist John Steinbeck said, "Texas is a nation in every sense of the word." Nations are a distinct people. States are where they call home. And Texas is the home for Texans - a nation-state for a nation.

Not only should we be independent, but we can. Easily. Here's some stats for you:

Texas Gross Domestic Product - $1.245 Trillion (ahead of 209 other countries)
Texas Population - 23.9 million (ahead of 143 other countries)
Texas Labor Force - 11.3 million (ahead of 178 other countries)
Total Taxes Paid By Texans To Both Federal & State Agencies (Representing a Total Potential Budget For An Independent Texas) - $303.4 billion/year
Projected Military Expenditure of an independent Texas (Global 4% average of GDP) - approximately $50 billion/year (ahead of 216 other countries)
Texas Exports - $150.8 billion (ahead of 193 other countries)

And this is the tip of the iceberg. We have deep water ports, the energy and natural resources, the agriculture, the science and technology, the infrastructure and the manufacturing capacity. Imagine how much more efficiently we could use these without the Federal barnacle attached to our hull. Most of all, we have the desire for freedom, the will to succeed and the pride to tie them together. We absolutely have the ability to fulfill the words of Sam Houston when he stated that "Texas will again lift it's head and stand among the nations."

A clash with the United States Federal Government is not inevitable. It is solely determined by the willingness of the rest of the States to use force to keep us in this marriage or to follow a route that we and other States who wish to follow this course of action have avowed which is the path of peaceful separation.

It is important to reflect on the words of Thomas Jefferson. Speaking on the carving out of new States from the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, Jefferson states that should the inhabitants of the new territory wish to secede from the Union at some point in the future, he was perfectly fine with that:

"...Besides, if it should become the great interest of those nations to separate from this, if their happiness should depend on it so strongly as to induce them to go through that convulsion, why should the Atlantic States dread it? But especially why should we, their present inhabitants, take side in such a question?...The future inhabitants of the Atlantic & Missipi [sic] States will be our sons. We leave them in distinct but bordering establishments. We think we see their happiness in their union, & we wish it. Events may prove it otherwise; and if they see their interest in separation, why should we take side with our Atlantic rather than our Missipi descendants? It is the elder and the younger son differing. God bless them both, & keep them in union, if it be for their good, but separate them, if it be better."

And again in 1804:

"Whether we remain in one confederacy, or form into Atlantic and Mississippi confederacies, I believe not very important to the happiness of either part. Those of the western confederacy will be as much our children & descendants as those of the eastern, and I feel myself as much identified with that country, in future time, as with this; and did I now foresee a separation at some future day, yet I should feel the duty & the desire to promote the western interests as zealously as the eastern, doing all the good for both portions of our future family which should fall within my power."

When the New England Federalists considered secession, he stated:

""If any state in the Union will declare that it prefers separation ... to a continuance in the union .... I have no hesitation in saying, 'Let us separate.'"

Even Abraham Lincoln, while in Congress in 1848 stated:

"Any people anywhere, being inclined and having the power, have the right to rise up and shake off the existing government and to form one that suits them better. Nor is this right confined to cases in which the people of an existing government may choose to exercise it. Any portion of such people that can, may make their own of such territory as they inhabit. More than this, a majority of any portion of such people may revolutionize, putting down a minority intermingling with or near them who oppose their movement."

In the final analysis, secession and freedom are more American than apple pie. It is, as Texans, our heritage twice over.

I have overstepped my bounds in posting this with many of you. But I don't do this lightly. This is an issue, not for the 19th century, but for the 21st century and beyond. I have six children whose future rests in my hands. I do not want them to look at me in my old age, when the opportunity of freedom and independence may have passed, when their freedom has all but evaporated and been replaced by a complete and total despotism, when their economy is wrecked and they worry about feeding their children because of debts that mounted before I was born and continued unabated in my lifetime, and ask me "Why, Daddy?" I cannot fathom the shame and regret that I would feel in that instance.

I think also of the past as well as the future.

When Colonel Juan Seguin was sent to San Antonio de Bexar by General Sam Houston to give the Alamo defenders a proper burial he gave the following speech:

Compañeros de armas: Estos restos que hemos tenido el honor de conducir en nuestros hombros son los de los valientes héroes que murieron en el Alamo. Sí mis amigos, ellos prefirieron morir mil veces a servir el yugo del tirano. Que ejemplo tan briIlante, digno de anotarse en las páginas de la historia. El genio de la libertad parece estar viendo en su elevado trono de donde con semblante halagueño nos señala diciendo: "Ahí tenéis a vuestros hermanos, Travis, Bowie, Crockett y otros varios a quienes su valor coloca en el número de mis héroes.---Yo os pido a que poniendo por testigo a los venerables restos de nuestros dignos compañeros digamos al mundo entero. Texas será libre, independiente o pereceremos con gloria en los combates.

Translation: Comrades in arms: These remains which we have had the honor of carrying on our shoulders are the ones of the brave heroes who died in the Alamo. Yes, my friends, they preferred a thousand deaths rather than surrender or serve the yoke of the tyrant. What a brilliant example. Worthy indeed of being recorded in the pages of history. The genius of liberty seems to be witnessing from its high throne, from whence with praising look points out the deed saying: "Here you have your brothers, Travis, Bowie, Crockett and a few others whose valor, places them in the number of my heroes.---The worthy remains of our venerable companions bearing witness, I ask you to tell the world, Texas shall be free and independent or we shall perish with glory in battle."

There is no battle now. I pray to the Almighty that there never is and I work now to make sure that there is not.

So I leave you with the opening words of the Texas Declaration of Independence. It's been posted before but it bears reading now as the meaning and intent behind the words are more poignant and relevant than perhaps they were when they were penned.

"When a government has ceased to protect the lives, liberty and property of the people, from whom its legitimate powers are derived, and for the advancement of whose happiness it was instituted; and so far from being a guarantee for their inestimable and inalienable rights, becomes an instrument in the hands of evil rulers for their suppression. When the federal republican constitution of their country, which they have sworn to support, no longer has a substantial existence, and the whole nature of their government has been forcibly changed, without their consent, from a restricted federative republic, composed of sovereign states, to a consolidated central military despotism, in which every interest is disregarded but that of the army and the priesthood, both the eternal enemies of civil liberty, the ever ready minions of power, and the usual instruments of tyrants. When, long after the spirit of the constitution has departed, moderation is at length so far lost by those in power, that even the semblance of freedom is removed, and the forms themselves of the constitution discontinued, and so far from their petitions and remonstrances being regarded, the agents who bear them are thrown into dungeons, and mercenary armies sent forth to enforce a new government upon them at the point of the bayonet.

When, in consequence of such acts of malfeasance and abduction on the part of the government, anarchy prevails, and civil society is dissolved into its original elements, in such a crisis, the first law of nature, the right of self-preservation, the inherent and inalienable right of the people to appeal to first principles, and take their political affairs into their own hands in extreme cases, enjoins it as a right towards themselves, and a sacred obligation to their posterity, to abolish such government, and create another in its stead, calculated to rescue them from impending dangers, and to secure their welfare and happiness."

http://texasnationalist.com

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