I’m Drawing a Line in the Sand

First, let me say, I am a native born Texan, so using such an euphemism is ingrained into my DNA and apropos. I was born and raised in Abilene out in West Texas (yeah, it’s actually a separate place–especially in state-of-mind), it’s a big, little town, home to oil and ranching, cotton farming and vineyards, and friendly-to-the-extreme, God-fearin’, hard workin’, honest, my word-is-my-bond and my handshake-is-my-signature folks. It’s a huge place out there where you can drive thirty miles on a US highwayand meet one car (only) in the middle of the day; where if you come up behind a farmer/rancher driving a little slower than the posted 70 mph speed limit and certainly slower than your interpretation of that same limit, which is probably closer to 80 mph, he’ll pull onto the shoulder so you can pass safely without having to change lanes into the on-coming traffic; where we spend most of Sunday in church no matter what denomination or faith you are and we take high school football as a second religion. It’s also a place where the term Yankee isn’t meant to refer to a NY baseball team, it’s a term for someone from “up North” and someone we have a hard time understanding (not just in language) but how they think and live; so sometimes it’s a derisive term, but mostly it’s just a description. The old joke in Texas is that a Yankee is someone that lives up North, a damn Yankee is a person that comes from up North to visit, and a G-damn Yankee is someone from up north that comes down to Texas and STAYS!  BTW (in full disclosure), I’m married to one of those and she’s a real nice lady, and fortunately has lived in Texas for over 20 years so has been naturalized as a Texas citizen.

Now, all that said, I’m also an American. I served my country in the US Navy riding a submarine and have lived in many of states through my Navy days and since. Since, 9/11, I tear up and get a lump in my throat EVERY time I hear the National Anthem, and would have gladly served again in the military after if they’d had me (too old now). And what’s going on in this country right now tears my loyalties. I cannot speak to all Texans’, West or the remainder of the state (about half), politics; I can only speak to mine and y’all know what that is–just so you know, yesterday DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano confirmed (stood by the Departments assessment) that I am a frakkin’ right-wing extremist radical inclined to become a violent militia member because I am anti-abortion, anti-illegal immigration, anti-massive government and socialist spending and any number of other criteria that was listed in the assessment.

So, to the three extremist issues that are burning up the blogs (all sides) today are the aforementioned DHS assessment, the Tea Parties yesterday (which should give the DHS agents plenty to worry about–see the Google map of the Tea Parties across the nation) and Texas Governor Rick Perry’s support of House Concurrent Resolution (HCR) 50 in support of states’ rights under the 10th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution by re-establishing our state sovereignty (along with 10 other states) and the declaration that Texas could leave the Union if it wants (that ought to get HRO and Jannie Napolly’s panties in a bunch, as well as automatically get the whole damn state on the DHS assessment list)–of course the latter is not as easy as every one thinks, especially Texans.

The popular belief is that Texas retained it’s Right to Secede from the Union after re-admittance following the Civil War, but unfortunately it’s a misinterpretation. The only right we retained pertaining to changing the state’s status in the U.S. is that we could divide into 4 separate states–we ain’t goin’ to do that by the way. BUT, here’s the kicker, with re-establishing our State Sovereignty (if it passes the Texas House, of course) we could be one step closer, we have a clause in our state constitution which allows (in plain terms) us to re-write the Preamble and thereby Secede by specifically saying that things (basically) changed in the United States and therefor not we bought into when we were re-admitted. I couldn’t find the one I saved, but here is a link that explains this all pretty well–I don’t endorse or agree with everything there but it’s mostly neutral and straightforward 

So, here I am struggling to decide what I should say or do next. All I can rally do is write here, release my frustration and anger at what His Royal Obamaness and his minionsare doing to our country with out-of-this-world spending, inflating our currency by printing trillions of dollars backed by nothing, degrading our security by downsizing the military, relabelling Terrorism (man-caused disasters) and War on Terror (Overseas Contingency Programs) and having our Homeland Security chasing and watching those of us that oppose the list above. as well as. installing the most far left group of people into the US Government EVER, all the while bad mouthing us on foreign soil and bowing to a Saudi King’s knees (if you watch the video from behind BHO, you’ll see he damn near curtsied). Queen Nancy, TheLeft, the LooneyToonLEFT, MSNBC & CNN has attacked the Tea Parties yesterday and misrepresented what the whole concept was about (Tea Parties at the Alamo here &  Jones Plaza in Houston here; and I imagine there’ll be plenty of those basement-dwelling, hammer-n-sickle, greasy-haired, mommy-supported, orange-fingered Cheetos-eating, socialist check-grabbing human wannabes will be more than glad to see Texas go (and we not be associated with them). They dubbed us with the term “tea-baggers” (see Ann Coulter’s take on the Parties et al)to indicate that we were all out sucking (excuse the image and honesty here) scrotums and giggling about it. Excuse me? I guess it takes one to automatically know the definition to use it in the first place–I had to go look it up.

To simplify this for me, and maybe you, I’ll use a resurgent term from one of my sons’ namesake, William Barrett Travis, and say I’m Drawing a Line in the Sand, and I will make my stand here. I will work to ensure the United States continues to be the Country our Fore Fathers founded and built. I will support the United States within the limits I am allowed, but if it comes to it and I can’t recognize this great country for which our flag stands and we the people are the voice, then and only then, I will support and vote, and fight if need be, for Texas secession from the union. I pray that God grant it never comes to that, but unless the G-damn Yankees stop us, this state will not be ruled under socialism and if the rest of the country wants to be the United Socialist States of America, that’s fine, and maybe they can admit Puerto Rico as a state to replace us–what kind of trade would that be? We were a sovereign nation, The Republic of Texas, and we can be once more if pushed to it. I’d like to see 25 cent a gallon gas again, just t0 mention one advantage of the myriad of the thousands that tempt us to go our own way. Needless to say there are folks that will think this traitorous and that we are cowardly sore losers because we didn’t win the election. What it really means is that Texans think for themselves, we are Texans and Americans simultaneously (most others can’t understand this–we will more than likely answer “Texas”, when asked abroad where we’re from), we’re a bunch of  independent folks and if we’re going to pay taxes, we’d just as soon it goes to make Texas and Texans’ lives better than support freeloading, union-loaded, gimme-gimme for nothing socialist issues that barely affect us here.