Good Lord. Now my state has a ballot to secede that's been approved.

[w8liftinglady]

http://trailblazersblog.dallasnews.com/2012/11/close-to-17000-have-signed-we-the-people-petition-asking-white-house-to-allow-texas-secession.html/

25,000 have signed it.
Rick Perry says "We are One"

He forgets... he started this shit.
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0811/61030.html

[aletier_v]

1. been around a lot longer than Perry

you think he invented it?

[w8liftinglady]

3. lol...no... but he enjoyed reviewing it when Obama was elected the 1st time

[freshwest]

24. Ah, I remember that in the seventies. Who can forget those Christian bumperstickers about Yankees:

Texans for Secession: Join OPEC!

Let The Bastards Freeze In The Dark!



Free-dumb! Liberty!

Staying classy there, refusing Medicaid, giving tax breaks to billionaires, shutting down schools and fracking the place til they die of thirst. Nice job, Rick the Hair Perry, we knew we could count on you to fuck things up worse than ever.

And soon to be followed by Jorge Prescott Bush! From one Shrub to another one... Oh, great.

Calling all Dems, shut these fools down now! Proud of the turnout to regain the legislature.. Keep on these clowns.

[JaneyVee]

2. When a foreign Nation attacks Texas whose military will they be using?

[aletier_v]

5. outsourced to mexico

[The Second Stone]

6. Texas Air National Guard!

This is going nowhere except to speed the destruction of this wing of the Republican party.

[dtom67]

11. still

They are still waiting for W Bush to show up!

[Berlum]

32. Republicans trying to go AWOL on America again.

[Hugabear]

62. Will George W. Bush serve as their High Commander?

After all, he has the experience, doesn't he?

[oldhippie]

14. Texas Rangers

Yeah, I know it wouldn't be fair to the foreign attackers, but what we gonna do?

No foreign army in its right mind would attack Texas on the ground. There would be a whole new definition of "resistance."

[LTR]

19. Walker: Texas Ranger

It is Chuck Norris after all!

[MineralMan]

4. I don't think there's a ballot. There's not going to be an election.

It's just a bunch of nutballs posting a petition that will go nowhere. Not to worry.

[w8liftinglady]

9. you know that, I know that....but THEY-

think we're gonna by gosh defend ourselves against the evil socialists.

[dtom67]

7. sweet!

When we invade texas, we can break it up into 5 or 6 US protectorates and appoint Democrat
governers for each!

[HooptieWagon]

10. Good idea! We'll make them a territory...

With an appointed Governor. As a territory, they also lose right to vote for POTUS and representation in Congress.

[smaug]

17. Time for serious Reconstruction

Yup, let'm vote on it. If the majority are actually idiotic to vote to secede, then let Reconstruction return - militarily. Lots of African American and Hispanic troops. Oh, and they'll lose their Senators and 36 representatives in the US House. Uh oh... Boner is no longer Majority Leader!

Then President Obama will have a majority in all 3 elected branches...and can appoint his selection of governing persons from the natives of the occupied territory. Heh. Don't think the baggers thought of that, did they?

[kydo]

72. damn you now I have to go find the monitor cleaning stuff

I was eating lunch when I read your post.

[HooptieWagon]

8. Cut off their federal funds.

Close US military bases and govt projects like NASA, and cancel all govt contracts with Texas-based companies. I give them 6 weeks before they come crawling back on their knees.

[savebigbird]

12. Blah

Now more than ever our country needs strong leadership from states like Texas...

No offense to Texans, but I have just two letters for these petition people...

G.W.

as in "Bush."

Their argument is invalid.

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. I say, and I love you Texas, we need to shut this down

Referendum, only valid if 80% of all registered voters well, vote,

You need clear majorities.

If 20% vote for secession I will be utterly shocked. But it will stop this talk and show they are a clear minority.

[aletier_v]

18. why the need to shut it down if it cant happen?

[nadinbrzezinski]

20. Because these fire eaters need to realize they are a minority.

I know that legally US v Texas decided that in 1876, the SCOTUS told them at the time that once in, you can't leave.

[aletier_v]

21. strange but i never worry about low probability events

i think you think that its more possble than you think.

[nadinbrzezinski]

30. No, I just think Confederates

And neo conservatives are within an even larger bubble than conservatives.

Regardless, won't happen and due to legal precedent the WH will ignore it. Also given perry went there, the chances of perry or legislature picking this up are slightly higher than flying pigs. The rest of the states, about flying pigs.

I worry though was an angry motivated, well armed, minority might do next though.

[billh58]

15. These Rednecked Ass-hats

have conveniently forgotten why we kicked their asses in 1865, and that the land they mistakenly believe to be theirs was assimilated by the Union on behalf of the Federation of the United States of America.

They want to leave? Bubbye! But we Americans get to keep all of their shit (just like after the Rapture) AND the fucking land.

[Matariki]

16. Sure, let them go ahead

Then we can do a preemptive strike on the Republic of Texas and put all the foreign 'enemy combatants' in indefinite detention...

After that, the sane people can reapply for Statehood.

[kestrel91316]

22. Citizen "petitions" on the WH or any other website carry ZERO legal weight.

They might get attention, but they won't get anywhere.

[w8liftinglady]

25. Especially when it's the LEAD STORY in the Dallas Morning News.

http://www.dallasnews.com/

[Indpndnt]

35. Lol! Wow, they're really trolling for readers, now.

I know the newspaper industry is hurting, but that's just ridiculous.

[JVS]

37. While you're right, I am beginning to worry about stuff starting to carry weight eventually.

At what point will these republican politicians take things to the point where it is serious?

[JoeyT]

38. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

Even here the demographics are gradually turning against the Republicans in general, and the secessionists don't even have the support of all of the Republicans, and lack the support of anyone that isn't one. Basically the first time they actually manage to get a vote of any sort on it they're going to find out they're about 20% of the population at best. Even in the deepest of the South.

[ohheckyeah]

57. Never going to happen.

They know they can't make it on their own...the wing nuts may not but the politicians know.

[WinkyDink]

23. Hmmm... Texas to secede....hmmmmmm...Trying to think of the down-side......

I'm such a wicked Yankee!

[coalition_unwilling]

63. 41% of Texans voted for Obama. Presumably, that 41% are not

interested in having their U.S. citizenship revoked.

[maxrandb]

26. Well, from what I've been told by experts

if it's a "legitimate" secession, the Federal Government has ways of shutting that whole thing down.

[AlinPA]

75. !! Good one.

[WillyT]

27. K & R !!!

[bhikkhu]

28. Wait until they start burning the flag and trash-canning the constitution

If they do, they're seriously screwed. If they don't, they're just assholes and hypocrites.

[WinkyDink]

31. Lighten up, Francis.

[louis c]

51. Let's see if I can't get your math correct.

President Obama's popular vote victory margin came from the states he lost.

How silly of me not to understand such irrefutable logic.

By the way, how you really brag about how well your state voted is when your entire Congressional Delegation is Democratic, your 2 Senators are Dems, your Governor is a Dem, both branches of the legislature are super-majority Dem. and the Democratic candidate for President wins your state by 23 points.

Now, that's progress.

[BarackTheVote]

58. Wait, what?

Romney won Texas by over a million votes (>4.5 million vs. Obama's <3.3 million). So take away Texas and Obama wins by more than a million additional votes.

[Indpndnt]

59. For the future. As we turn blue. Turn Texas blue and it's over.

That was my point. With 38 electoral votes, millions of Dem voters, and millions more potential Dem voters who haven't even registered or don't bother to vote, the presidential elections would be a cakewalk when added to the rest of the country. There is no way around that. Even if Dems lost some smaller states, they would still win if they take the time and resources to GOTV in this state the way they did in the swing states this year. Arizona (11 EV) is probably closer, though. Still, 38 electoral votes and the possibility of putting the popular vote over the top? Why take the chance of losing Ohio or Florida to voter suppression every election? Until those states have Democrats in charge, we need a way to guard against that possibility being the deciding factor every election. We need a big state to flip. That's Texas. Plus, I'd really like to never see another Texas repub on the national stage. That would be a huge bonus for all of us.

ETA: Forgot to mention that you're right, btw. The post you responded to was poorly worded and not what I intended. I need serious sleep.

[gollygee]

33. This is just a publicity stunt by bad losers

They'll get over it.

[kwassa]

40. Indeed. You nailed it.

[reformist2]

34. Repug leadership has sown the wind, now are reaping the whirlwind.

Good luck to them trying to rein their crazy followers back from the brink. Good luck to them when they tell their followers that Obama isn't a commie/marxist/end-of-america/end-of-the-world/antichrist after all. They're going to need it.

[Agnosticsherbet]

36. Do these racist dickweed know that the President hasn't the authority to let them secede?

I'm not surprised, they did the same thing after the 2008 election.

[billh58]

39. From an NBC News article:

According to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, a 1866 proclamation signed by then-President Andrew Johnson clearly spelled out that no state had the right to leave the union:

"...It is the manifest determination of the American people that no State, of its own will, has a right or power to go out of or separate itself from, or be separated from the American Union; and that, therefore, each State ought to remain and constitute an integral part of the United States..."

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/11/12/15117305-petition-for-texas-to-secede-from-us-reaches-threshold-for-white-house-response?lite&gt1=43001

[Honeycombe8]

41. I'm in TX and hadn't heard this. What a source of outright SHAME for this state. It was started by a

a wacko in Arlington, TX.

They've apparently got the # of signatures necessary for the petition to be considered? Only 25,000. How can a small number like 25,000 get a state seceded? Or is that number for something else? Don't know how this works.

[SpartanDem]

42. If you can get can 25,000 in a month the WH will issue a response

from the appropriate people that's it.

[Honeycombe8]

43. Oh. Phew. I don't have to move! nt

[Indpndnt]

44. Lol! No, we're safe.

In fact, I'm not even sure if these petitions require signatures from residents of the named state only. The others I've seen referenced here today do not. The petitions for Oregon and NJ were started by outsiders, I believe. Oregon and NJ? Folks don't have enough to keep them occupied.

[tjwash]

45. yep..chuck was the deciding signature it needed

[cherokeeprogressive]

46. Approved for WHAT, exactly? Can we PLEASE remember that TX has >25,000,000 people?

Jesus freaking Christ already...

Texas AIN'T seceding. Texans DON'T want to secede. People would DIE to keep Texas in the Union. Less than 2/10ths of a percent of the population sign an online petition and we act as if it's already in the works... only a matter of time... {{{{whatever will we do}}}}?

Rick Perry was probably trying to read from a a quarter and got it wrong. He saw E Pluribus Unum and all he could remember was the ONE part.

[Indpndnt]

47. Those signatures are from all over the U.S.

Anybody can start one of those and anybody can sign it. Oregon and NJ have petitions to secede, too. I don't believe citizens of those states started those. Anyway, here's another one:

"Strip the Citizenship from Everyone who Signed a Petition to Secede and Exile Them"
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/strip-citizenship-everyone-who-signed-petition-secede-and-exile-them/ZbMjcwPf

I'm pretty sure that one's not going to result in anything, either.

[brettdale]

48. The White House should call their bluff

and say, sure if you want to, but the people of Texas have to vote for it.

[justice1]

49. Hope everyone that signed, has a Texas I.D. don't want any fraud.

[Jack Sprat]

50. Time to close all those military bases

and federal buildings. San Antonio is in for a big drawdown in government jobs, not to mention the economy built around those military installations.

Can the other states bid on these relocated forts and bases now that Texas is leaving? Gosh, that's not going to leave Texans much besides pasture land, praire, and stockyards.

[kentauros]

61. Well, that show how little you know about the state of Texas.

Here's two non-federal government places in the state that would contribute to major economic havoc to the rest of the country if they were suddenly cut off:

The Port of Houston
The Texas Medical Center - you know, where Gabby Giffords was rehabilitated?

[Horse with no Name]

65. But...the Port of Houston would cease to be important

except for Texas imports, and The Texas Medical Center would end up shutting down due to lack of Federal funds.

[kentauros]

66. To the best of my knowledge, The TMC gets most of its funding

from private sources, either directly related to the medical industry or from those in the oil industry. And the Port of Houston would not cease to be important. I really don't know where you get that. Look at that link. There's a chart there of sixteen major ports in the US. Eleven of them are in states that y'all would be willing to allow to secede.

Do you truly think that allowing even a single Southern state to secede would not negatively impact the rest of the country? Your economy would be as trashed as ours.

[Horse with no Name]

67. 16 major ports in the US. Exactly. Bringing imports into the US. Exactly.

However, IF Texas seceded, the imports for the US would not come into Texas--they would be diverted to another port. The same goes for the rest of the ports.

Almost every hospital takes Medicare and Medicaid. It is a significant part of their funding--upwards of 50% in some hospitals. A significant number of educated and sane people would leave the state if they became its own country. You would hemorrhage doctors and ancillary staff at all hospitals--not just there in Houston.

The majority of the states that want to secede are the biggest recipients of federal welfare. So no, I don't think there would be much economic impact at all. The people that don't mind paying taxes wouldn't have to fight with the hillbillies that don't.

The country of Dumbfuckistan would be very vulnerable to attacks from other countries--especially since they would have no military and are not landlocked--they have the ports as you pointed out.

I definitely would want laws that prevented anyone that stayed in Dumbfuckistan to not ever be allowed in the US ever again.


I LIVE in Texas. This is stupid talk but to think that Texas would be a viable country is ridiculous.

[kentauros]

68. Where did I ever even suggest that Texas would be a viable country?

I'm trying to pop this equally ridiculous bubble that the rest of the United States would survive the secession of even one state!

We are the "United States of America", not the "Sometimes and/or Preferably Not United States of America"

You also seem to think that the remaining few ports could easily take on the surplus of tonnage. It would be a logistics nightmare shutting down just one port, and even more of a nightmare redirecting the surplus to the other ports. You'd have to expect a considerable number of goods to have their prices skyrocket, further impacting the economy in the U.S. negatively.

And then there's the number of oil and chemical plants in Houston. You wouldn't be shutting those down and moving them to other ports. It takes at least two years just to design and build one from scratch. So, oil, chemical, and plastics prices would also skyrocket.

By the way, while I'm not a link-hoarder and don't know where to find the exact info, it has been well-established by many other DUers that Texas pays out more in federal money than it receives.

[Horse with no Name]

69. Actually Texas takes in more federal money than it pays out

http://www.politifact.com/texas/statements/2011/apr/22/rachel-maddow/msnbc-host-rachel-maddow-says-texas-routinely-rece/

[kentauros]

71. Okay, yet I know I have read other posts

listing federal sites that contradict that. So, who's right?

And really, why does it matter? As I stated before (and it seems is being dismissed for some weird reason) we live in the United States of America. Who cares whether one state is taking in more than another? That's about like complaining at work because your co-worker that does the same job is making ten cents an hour more than you. We're all in this together. Why continue to separate us?

[NYC Liberal]

52. How many of these people wave the flag and judge others "unpatriotic"?

[Go Vols]

53. ......relatively progressive enclaves like Oregon and New York.

All told, petitions have been filed on behalf of 20 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oregon, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas.

[Angleae]

56. I wouldn't be surprised if people in all 50 states have started one.

Any idiot can start a white house petition from the looks of it, it just needs a certain number of signatures (150?) to become publically visible and there are far right loons in every state.

[chalky]

55. "Rick Perry’s office says he ‘believes in the greatness of our Union'...."

What (P)Rick Perry believes in is the greatness of our federal dollars, and he know his ass will be crucified the moment those dollars dry up.
Dumb shit. I'm damned near tempted to cheer these fuckers on so Perry can live with the monster he created. And when the US comes a-knockin' at our door, I'll be the first one waving the white flag.

[psychnurse]

60. Watch Them Cry

After the Civil War the Feds opened up many military bases in the southern states. These bases bring in a large influx of federal monies. Lets just start closing some of those military installations and move them to the north and watch them cry. Move other federal programs, such as the C.D.C., out of Atlanta and watch them cry.

It is like Quebec, Canada. They want to secede, but they still want the rest of Canada to subsidise them with federal taxes to help keep their programs going.

[craigmatic]

64. As tempting as it sounds we can't let these assholes leave.

[Ganja Ninja]

70. There's enough racist dirtbags in every state in the union to come up with a petition.

That's about all they can do is petition.

It's too bad we can't take every last one of them and throw them out of the country.

[Mike Daniels]

73. It's amazing that all you need is 1/10th of 1% of the state population to petition to leave the USA.

n/t

[KamaAina]

74. I think I'll sign that

under the name "Heywood Jablome".