Posted on Evans Politics, April 17, 2009. Visit Evans Politics today!
From MyDD, April 16, 2009, has a great piece by Todd Beeton, titled, "Perry Won't Say No to Secession" :
"Yesterday, to gain some conservative cred and lay the foundation for support among the Texas grassroots for his 2010 re-election, Governor Rick Perry of Texas spoke to the teabaggers and during a Q&A seemed to put the secession of Texas on the table.
'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. 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, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot.'
More from MyDD:"When asked to clarify, Perry issued a sort of denial that he okayed secession, claiming that all he said was the 'we've got a great union' part. But then when asked point blank 'do you really want to secede from the union' he didn't say .no.' He literally wouldn't commit to remaining a part of the United States.
"Glenn Beck on his radio show yesterday:
"You can't convince me that the founding fathers wouldn't allow you to secede. The constitution is not a suicide pact. ... [States] have a right to back out."
.....
Beck claims that 23 states' legislatures are working to pass resolutions claiming to limit the federal governement's power. On tax day, he was at a Tea Party at The Alamo, praising the Texas secessionists:
A day later Fox News' Sean Hannity was supporting secession on national TV. As Geraldo says in the interview, "this is the kind of rhetoric that makes conservatives look crazy.":
Rachel Maddow had a great story on the sucession movement on her show from April 16th. She said that Texas Governor Perrry is not actively pursuing secession at this time, but has introduced legislation which 'asserts Texas' sovereignty,' that Oklahoma passed its own sovereignty resolution on April 15th, that seven other states have had sovereignty legislation introduced, and that 20 states besides Texas have 'sovereignty movements.' As Maddow concludes, 'three months out of power and now it's time to break up the country':
How many people, exactly, support the idea of seceding from the United States? Back on July 23rd, 2008, long before the conservatives were out of power, Zogby did a telephone poll of 1,209 Americans to find out:
"UTICA, New York – One in five American adults – 22% – believe that any state or region has the right to 'peaceably secede from the United States and become an and become an independent republic,' a new Middlebury Institute/Zogby International telephone poll shows." Even worse, 18 percent would support secession in their own state.
<tbody>
I believe any state or region has the right to peaceably
secede and become an independent republic: | |
Agree | 22% |
Disagree | 73% |
Not sure | 5% |
</tbody>
"Asked whether they would support a secessionist movement in their own state, 18% said they would, with those in the South most likely to say they would back such an effort. In the South, 24% said they would support such an effort, while 15% in the West and Midwest said the same. Here, too, younger adults were more likely than older adults to be supportive – 35% of those under age 30 would support secession in their state, compared to just 17% of those over age 65. Among African Americans, 33% said they would support secession, compared to just 15% of white adults. The more education a respondent had, the less likely they were to support secession – as 38% of those with less than a high school diploma would support it, compared to just 10% of those with a college degree."
I would support a secessionist effort in my state: | |
Agree | 18% |
Disagree | 72% |
Not sure | 10% |
Apparently, there is a base of people, extremists, the uneducated, people to whom Fox News is pandering this garbage, for whom the idea of breaking away from the "control" of the United States governement has actual, popular appeal.
The Georgia Senate was one of the state legislative bodies which have actually passed sovereignty resolutions, and in this case it's pretty extreme. See Talking Points Memo D.C., "Georgia, Oklahoma and South Dakota: Perry's Got Nothing On Us,"; here:
"On April 1 of this year, the Georgia Senate passed a resolution affirming their belief that the U.S. government is on the verge of nullifying the Constitution--that, for instance if Congress passes any "[f]urther infringements on the right to keep and bear arms," that'll be it, in their eyes, for the olll' U.S. of A:
all powers previously delegated to the United States of America by the Constitution for the United States shall revert to the several States individually. Any future government of the United States of America shall require ratification of three quarters of the States seeking to form a government of the United States of America and shall not be binding upon any State not seeking to form such a government.
"The vote was 43 - 1.
"...Lest you think this might be a complete fluke, though, the similar South Dakota House resolution passed 51-18, and the Oklahoma version passed 83-13 in the House, and 25 to 17 in the Senate.
"These resolutions have their roots in the sort of radical right wing movement the Department of Homeland Security has warned law enforcement officials about."
The Homeland Security warning has drawn fire from the right wing, which claims they and their right to free speech are being singled out. But when an entire TV network embraces this ridiculous garbage, can free speech be in question? Still, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano had to defend the report - read the story on this at CNN, here. See CNN's video on it, here. Read the story at OpEdNews, "Chuck Norris is Advocating Armed Insurrection Against the United States," here.
The powerlessness of the right wing, extreme base of the Republican party, except in certain Southern and rural states, has led to radical movements that are even being embraced by legislators and governors. I thought we had settled this 145 years ago.