Thanks, Nora. It's everywhere. Like Lincoln said, we can't build an impassable wall. We have to figure this out, and the way we figure it out is to defeat the fascists.
Well one option that Texans have if they really want to assert themselves is to subdivide into up to five states, each of which would have two senators. Texas is the only state to have this right; it was included in the 1845 annexation treaty.
Imagine if Texas, with a population larger than the six New England states, had nearly as many senators.
If Democrats are, in fact, a majority in Texass, they sure as hell don't act or vote like it. Sure, Republicans do everything they can to make it harder for non-white non-rural voters to actually vote, but that's no excuse. Abbott and the other Christo-fascists have terrible governing records. The power grid, COVID, natural disaster response, mass shootings are all fodder for attack ads. Long past time for them to be tarred with the brush of truth.
The Texas GOP is borderline criminal in its voter suppression / intimidation. It is very, very effective. If we can get people to the polls, Texas will turn blue.
So, to my earlier point, where is the Texas version of Stacey Abrams? That's what it is going to take to get people to the polls. A couple of weeks ago there was an op-ed in the NYT about how Abbott and 4% of Texas voters (Republicans who vote in the primary) are ruining the state for everyone else. Seems like within the remaining 96% there ought to be enough Democrats and disaffected Republicans highly motivated to throw out Abbott, Patrick and Paxton, if not a substantial number of Republican legislators. Out of this large group, there ought to be at least one or two charismatic figures who can lead the revolution.
I'm a Texan, and i understand your opinion. My own county's DA's office got a black woman (Crystal Mason) convicted for voter fraud in a truly trumped-up prosecution that has--Mirabile dictu!--been remanded by the state's highest criminal appeals court. At least my city is home to the grandmother of Juneteenth.
Thanks. Good research, wise observations. Only one typo. You might like to know that for several years now there has been popular talk in Austin of seceding from Texas. With the recent declaration of “principles” by the state’s Republican Party, the secession of Austin has become more widely discussed. If Texas can leave the Union, Austin can leave Texas and apply to the US for protection as a US territory, like Guam or Puerto Rico. Personally, I’m in favor.
When I brought this up, half-jokingly, on The Five 8, Jen Taub asked what we'd do about Austin -- if it would be like West Berlin, and we'd need an airlift.
Great article. TX GOP is sinking, throwing anything out there to distract/divert from the J6 Hearings which will continue to expose the GOP's nefarious ways at the state and federal level. Typical modus operandi of the GOP. Eventually their voters will see they've been duped and will turn on them. It's starting to happen.
I hope so. I mean, how many more times can the power go out in the heat of summer? The troika in charge of the state are so corrupt, so evil. And yet the GOP keeps winning.
Jun 21, 2022·edited Jun 21, 2022Liked by Greg Olear
I too oppose Texas secession but for a different unstated reason.
I think it's very well possible that if Texas were allowed to secede it wouldn't be long before it began to declare war on the surrounding states because many Texans regard those states as also belonging to Texas.
Northern Mexico from which Texas enslavers revolted (Mexico had abolished slavery), included parts of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming. In fact Texas' enslavers confiscated 55% of Mexico. It's not a leap to believe that armed Texas' militias would invade those states for their resources especially water.
I would rather have Texas on the inside of the tent pissing out instead of on the outside of the tent pissing in.
Jun 21, 2022·edited Jun 21, 2022Liked by Greg Olear
This argument is an example of no longer seeing the forest because of all the trees.
Yes, the original 13 colonies were basically like African colonies of European nations: they were separate countries. Could any one of these 50 states become an independent nation of its own? You can argue that only one of the original 13 colonies, or a state that was briefly an independent nation, can return to independent nation status. But even that is a specious argument, because if a large majority of a state’s residents wanted to secede, and if a large majority of the rest of the US agreed, it would happen.
By the way, Texas is not the only state with brief history as an independent nation. California is as well.
And what about Puerto Rico? And the Marianas and Guam, et al? They are conquered territories. They could decide to be independent nations, and certainly they have every right to be.
And then, to really get right down to it, we would have to consider that all of America and Hawaii and the conquered Pacific and Caribbean territories have been stolen from their rightful owners. This entire argument of Texas’s secession is based on the premise that the European invasion of the New World is legitimate. You could make a very strong argument that no whites, no people of European heritage, have any rightful claim to the New World whatsoever.
Consider this: every single Native American “reservation“ is legally an independent nation, a free nation with the legal right to establish its own laws and its own entry restrictions.
All of that aside, the main point is this: the Neanderthals are the ones wanting to secede. The heirs to the Stone Age traditions of racism and sexism and gay-hating are the ones who want to escape their fate. They will not escape it. The society of diversity and equality, like the Borg, is bearing down on them and they will be assimilated. Sorry, bozos, your destiny is assured. One day you too will be planting Biden flags and affixing rainbow stickers to your vehicles. By the way, leave Greg’s stickers the fuck alone, or I’ll have to come out there and have a talk.
"(I know, I know. Schumer would still find a way to fuck it up. But let’s indulge the fantasy.)"
STOP READING MY MIND!! It's rude.
Personally, I sort of like the idea of the Lone Star State being split into however many states it takes to settle them down. Abbott seems to be running that State as a little fiefdom in the south already, so he can be governor of the Christofascist portion left over -- paint-by-number pictures of Jesus with an AR-15 required artwork in every home.
Every election we hear that Texas is about to go blue, or at least purple, and it doesn't happen. That too would settle them down. The only thing I can attribute this phenomenon to is that EVERY red voter goes out to vote in EVERY election and blue voters only MOST of the time. If Democrats are actually the majority in Texas, then they should be voting like it! Then we wouldn't have the GQP "platform" we got last weekend that came slithering out of the State's GQP convention. A document that prompted me to actually tweet @TexasGOP that it was the most disgusting thing I'd EVER read and sounded like Randall Flagg's manifesto for New Vegas after Captain Trips killed everyone. I encourage everyone to read it because the fascism from these "small government" people goes WAY beyond the stuff that made the headlines regarding gays and transgender people.
If Texas doesn't want to split itself into separate states and the Dems can't gain a foothold in the State Legislature and the Governor's office (Go Beto!), then they SHOULD secede. They do not currently represent the values or customs of the majority of the people of the rest of the United States, i.e., the Union. We might as well invite Syria or Iraq to be a state for all the commonality they represent. They already ACT like an independent nation and if they want to be a "Lone Star," let them. Ramifications be damned. I am sick to death of all this shit!
See Bret's comment on how Texas CAN divide into many states.
The GOP there is just really really good at voter suppression. And the men running the state are evil, full stop. I don't understand why people WANT evil.
Many thanks from a sixth-generation Texan for your balanced opinion of Texas citizens. I and my friends can't figure out how the crazy mean guys keep getting elected. I'm in Fort Worth, which is still appallingly red; at least my hometown, Dallas, has waked up some.
Thanks, Nora. It's everywhere. Like Lincoln said, we can't build an impassable wall. We have to figure this out, and the way we figure it out is to defeat the fascists.
Well one option that Texans have if they really want to assert themselves is to subdivide into up to five states, each of which would have two senators. Texas is the only state to have this right; it was included in the 1845 annexation treaty.
Imagine if Texas, with a population larger than the six New England states, had nearly as many senators.
Please don’t give them ideas. The lunatics are already running the asylum here
I'm looking forward to November when we the voters will clean house.
All the more reason to nullify that treaty!
If Democrats are, in fact, a majority in Texass, they sure as hell don't act or vote like it. Sure, Republicans do everything they can to make it harder for non-white non-rural voters to actually vote, but that's no excuse. Abbott and the other Christo-fascists have terrible governing records. The power grid, COVID, natural disaster response, mass shootings are all fodder for attack ads. Long past time for them to be tarred with the brush of truth.
The Texas GOP is borderline criminal in its voter suppression / intimidation. It is very, very effective. If we can get people to the polls, Texas will turn blue.
So, to my earlier point, where is the Texas version of Stacey Abrams? That's what it is going to take to get people to the polls. A couple of weeks ago there was an op-ed in the NYT about how Abbott and 4% of Texas voters (Republicans who vote in the primary) are ruining the state for everyone else. Seems like within the remaining 96% there ought to be enough Democrats and disaffected Republicans highly motivated to throw out Abbott, Patrick and Paxton, if not a substantial number of Republican legislators. Out of this large group, there ought to be at least one or two charismatic figures who can lead the revolution.
Be Beto! (With apologies to Melania for usurping her campaign)
I'm a Texan, and i understand your opinion. My own county's DA's office got a black woman (Crystal Mason) convicted for voter fraud in a truly trumped-up prosecution that has--Mirabile dictu!--been remanded by the state's highest criminal appeals court. At least my city is home to the grandmother of Juneteenth.
Brilliant. Thank You.
Thanks. Good research, wise observations. Only one typo. You might like to know that for several years now there has been popular talk in Austin of seceding from Texas. With the recent declaration of “principles” by the state’s Republican Party, the secession of Austin has become more widely discussed. If Texas can leave the Union, Austin can leave Texas and apply to the US for protection as a US territory, like Guam or Puerto Rico. Personally, I’m in favor.
When I brought this up, half-jokingly, on The Five 8, Jen Taub asked what we'd do about Austin -- if it would be like West Berlin, and we'd need an airlift.
Great article. TX GOP is sinking, throwing anything out there to distract/divert from the J6 Hearings which will continue to expose the GOP's nefarious ways at the state and federal level. Typical modus operandi of the GOP. Eventually their voters will see they've been duped and will turn on them. It's starting to happen.
I hope so. I mean, how many more times can the power go out in the heat of summer? The troika in charge of the state are so corrupt, so evil. And yet the GOP keeps winning.
I too oppose Texas secession but for a different unstated reason.
I think it's very well possible that if Texas were allowed to secede it wouldn't be long before it began to declare war on the surrounding states because many Texans regard those states as also belonging to Texas.
Northern Mexico from which Texas enslavers revolted (Mexico had abolished slavery), included parts of California, Nevada, Utah, New Mexico, most of Arizona and Colorado, and parts of Oklahoma, Kansas, and Wyoming. In fact Texas' enslavers confiscated 55% of Mexico. It's not a leap to believe that armed Texas' militias would invade those states for their resources especially water.
I would rather have Texas on the inside of the tent pissing out instead of on the outside of the tent pissing in.
Good point, although I like the chances of the US military against the Texas armed militia.
I'm never more informed than when reading your posts, Greg. (Also, HCR) Many thanks!
Thanks. HCR puts me to shame, though.
You're in a slightly different lane, so it's all good!
This argument is an example of no longer seeing the forest because of all the trees.
Yes, the original 13 colonies were basically like African colonies of European nations: they were separate countries. Could any one of these 50 states become an independent nation of its own? You can argue that only one of the original 13 colonies, or a state that was briefly an independent nation, can return to independent nation status. But even that is a specious argument, because if a large majority of a state’s residents wanted to secede, and if a large majority of the rest of the US agreed, it would happen.
By the way, Texas is not the only state with brief history as an independent nation. California is as well.
And what about Puerto Rico? And the Marianas and Guam, et al? They are conquered territories. They could decide to be independent nations, and certainly they have every right to be.
And then, to really get right down to it, we would have to consider that all of America and Hawaii and the conquered Pacific and Caribbean territories have been stolen from their rightful owners. This entire argument of Texas’s secession is based on the premise that the European invasion of the New World is legitimate. You could make a very strong argument that no whites, no people of European heritage, have any rightful claim to the New World whatsoever.
Consider this: every single Native American “reservation“ is legally an independent nation, a free nation with the legal right to establish its own laws and its own entry restrictions.
All of that aside, the main point is this: the Neanderthals are the ones wanting to secede. The heirs to the Stone Age traditions of racism and sexism and gay-hating are the ones who want to escape their fate. They will not escape it. The society of diversity and equality, like the Borg, is bearing down on them and they will be assimilated. Sorry, bozos, your destiny is assured. One day you too will be planting Biden flags and affixing rainbow stickers to your vehicles. By the way, leave Greg’s stickers the fuck alone, or I’ll have to come out there and have a talk.
Thanks, Roland. I don't know if it was a MAGA dick or just some kid pulling a prank, who did the bumper sticker. Crazy, though. And infantile.
"(I know, I know. Schumer would still find a way to fuck it up. But let’s indulge the fantasy.)"
STOP READING MY MIND!! It's rude.
Personally, I sort of like the idea of the Lone Star State being split into however many states it takes to settle them down. Abbott seems to be running that State as a little fiefdom in the south already, so he can be governor of the Christofascist portion left over -- paint-by-number pictures of Jesus with an AR-15 required artwork in every home.
Every election we hear that Texas is about to go blue, or at least purple, and it doesn't happen. That too would settle them down. The only thing I can attribute this phenomenon to is that EVERY red voter goes out to vote in EVERY election and blue voters only MOST of the time. If Democrats are actually the majority in Texas, then they should be voting like it! Then we wouldn't have the GQP "platform" we got last weekend that came slithering out of the State's GQP convention. A document that prompted me to actually tweet @TexasGOP that it was the most disgusting thing I'd EVER read and sounded like Randall Flagg's manifesto for New Vegas after Captain Trips killed everyone. I encourage everyone to read it because the fascism from these "small government" people goes WAY beyond the stuff that made the headlines regarding gays and transgender people.
If Texas doesn't want to split itself into separate states and the Dems can't gain a foothold in the State Legislature and the Governor's office (Go Beto!), then they SHOULD secede. They do not currently represent the values or customs of the majority of the people of the rest of the United States, i.e., the Union. We might as well invite Syria or Iraq to be a state for all the commonality they represent. They already ACT like an independent nation and if they want to be a "Lone Star," let them. Ramifications be damned. I am sick to death of all this shit!
Randall Flagg FTW!
See Bret's comment on how Texas CAN divide into many states.
The GOP there is just really really good at voter suppression. And the men running the state are evil, full stop. I don't understand why people WANT evil.
"The tumescent States’ Rights hard-on..."
Now that there's some fancy pants writing. Falls under the Department of Redundancy Department...
"Tumescent" means that it's BECOMING swollen, with more swelling yet to do, so it isn't redundant. I thought long and hard [ahem] about that line...
Ah, ye old incipient erection...
Very powerful. Well said!
Many thanks from a sixth-generation Texan for your balanced opinion of Texas citizens. I and my friends can't figure out how the crazy mean guys keep getting elected. I'm in Fort Worth, which is still appallingly red; at least my hometown, Dallas, has waked up some.
Yaaassss!