Secession

I wrote this in 2008 after an old friend told me her son had asked about secession....


In the past few weeks, I have been hearing a lot of talk about what to do about the changes that the Obama Administration if forcing on us. Last week, at last count, there were about 2000 Tea Parties with about 1,000,000 in total attendance across the nation.
Of course, the Liberal hate groups have been running roughshod over the movement. In their minds, a demonstration has to be backed by powerful organizations, like International ANSWER and MoveOn.org. There can be no grassroots expressions of the anger being felt by millions over what Congress and the President has done and plans to do, in their minds.

And NO, I will not explain what “teabagging” means, children and mixed company may be reading this chronicle.

And to the two-bit actress who called all of us racists for protesting Washington DC’s actions, I dare you to come to San Antonio and say that to my face.

Well, at the Austin Tea Party (which had about 2000, everyone else was in SA rocking to Ted Nugent) Governor Rick Perry made a speech that got a lot of tongues wagging. He mentioned that Texans are an independently minded lot and that if the circus in Washington does not stop, a lot of Texans will feel that there is only one thing to do.That was interpreted to mean secession.The Dems in the Legislature immediately demanded the Governor retract those statements. He has not done so.

I was asked a question about secession from an old friend I recently reconnected with via Facebook. Her youngest son had raised the question and she then asked me.

This essay is the answer.

The process of secession is the easy part; a State Legislator submits a bill in order to create Articles of Secession. If that bill is approved, the Governor signs it into law. Another method would be a full vote of the people. For example; South Carolina seceded on December 20, 1860 on a vote of the Legislature. Virginia settled for a popular vote in 1862.

That would be the easy part.
The mechanics of Secession would be difficult at best. I feel that the following questions would have to be answered before even going there;

How would a Texas Dollar be backed? Gold? Oil? Silver? Commodities? (I prefer Sam Houston on the TX$1, William Barrett Travis on the TX$5, Jose Antonio Navarro on the TX$10, Juan Seguin on the TX$20, Stephen F Austin on the TX$50, and Mirabeau Lamar on the TX$100, the coins would feature Fannin, DeZavala, and Susannah Dickerson, the only Alamo survivor)

How would the borders be protected? Instead of watching one border, we would also have to watch the Sabine and Red Rivers, as well as the West.

What about Defense? We would need to form an Army and Air Force straight away. Those of us who are veterans would have to become training cadre from Day 1, and we would be vulnerable until sufficient numbers can be fielded. Would we also need to become a nuclear power in order to keep the rest of the US at bay? The other complication would be coming in from the sea; three task forces could bottle up Houston, Beaumont/Texas City, and Corpus Christi, cutting off access to the sea. (And a revamped USS Texas would not be able to hold them off, despite the premises of a book I read back in the 80’s)

Would the US allow the transfer of Federal assets to the new Republic?

Would other nations recognize the new Government?

How many social programs would we need to maintain?Would we need to revamp our tax system?

How about trade treaties?

What type of education system will we need?

And finally, do we have the political will to pull this off?

Answer those questions, and I will be the first to shout “UP WITH SECOND REPUBLIC OF TEXAS.”

I will tell you all plain, it would not be an easy decision for me to advocate secession. I have worn the uniform of the USAF for 25 years. I have done many things while on Active Duty and as a Reservist:

I have stood guard, in double-digit below zero temperatures, over aircraft that were ready to go on short notice against the Soviet Union.

I have done the same thing in full chemical protection gear and gas mask for hours on end in order to fight a war that, Thank God, never happened.

I was part of a Ring of Steel at Mildenhall as we protected the base from terrorists during Desert Storm.

I stood guard in the burning sands of Saudi Arabia, TWICE.

I helped guard aircraft that were a three-minute supersonic flight away from the Korean DMZ.

I volunteered to go back on Active Duty after 9-11.

I fought to stay in the Service after being diagnosed with Type II diabetes.

I dropped a stripe in order to retrain as an Education and Training Manager.

I will finish my service, Lord Willing, as the 433 AW Staff Agencies Training Manager and will finally lay down my uniform on July 1, 2016.

I will do like Robert E. Lee; if my State decides to go its own way, I will go with her.

The Texas Founders would expect no less.