Maybe we should let Texas go
The Front Page
Morning Update
Wednesday, July 6, 2022
By Ken Tingley
Over the past year and a half I’ve really grown to appreciate South Texas.
I’ve spent more than a month in San Antonio over the past year. I’ve gone to Texas and Texas-San Antonio football games (San Antonio was the better team last year), strolled the Riverwalk, saw the Spurs play twice, was bored by the Alamo and enjoyed one of the finest dinners I’ve ever had from atop the turning Tower of Americas restaurant.
I visited, Austin, Houston and Corpus Christi along the way and enjoyed them as well.
So I’m sorry to see them go.
If you had not heard, the Republican Party in Texas has decided it should consider seceding from the union and and form its own country.
It reminded me of the debate that comes up from time to time in the North Country that New York City and New York State should be separate states. At least we don’t want to join Canada.
But when the smart people crunch the numbers, it turns out that New York City is the driving force in providing us with much of our state aid. Without it, we would be much worse off.
Over the past week in Texas I haven’t heard any of the many nice people I’ve met talk about secession. I haven’t seen any “Let’s Leave” signs, although I did see an advertisement for funeral planning in a cemetery. While not in the best of taste, it is enterprising.
It’s not clear if any of the talk about secession is legal or not - certainly the last time it was tried in 1860 things did not work out well - but everyone has to have goals.
The Texas Republicans still believe the big lie about the last election. With that in mind, I would urge them to make Donald Trump their very first president, or maybe emperor would be more appropriate.
Perhaps, it is just time to let Texas and all that oil go. After all, that would solve most of that pesky immigration problem along the Rio Grande. And frankly, I’ve never been a big fan of the Dallas Cowboys.
But Texas Republicans may be voting with their hearts and not their heads. You have to wonder if they considered that every Texan over the age of 65 would lose their Social Security and Medicare. That is going to annoy a lot of senior citizens.
The state would also lose every military base - and all those lucrative defense contracts with them. The U.S. would take its fighter jets, tanks, bombers and munitions from bases like Fort Hood and Fort Bliss to another state. They and the communities that around them would become ghost towns. Lockheed Martin would have to move all its manufacturing facilities for aircrafts, satellites and defenses systems from Fort Worth back to the United States. Texas would lose a lot of good paying jobs.
Without that military presence, Texas would have to recruit thousands of new soldiers, training and weapons for its own national defense. It would quickly be in a lot of debt.
Perhaps, it could do business with the United States after its created its own currency - Alamo dollars - with portraits of Davy Crockett and Sam Houston on the currency. Or maybe it might opt for more contemporary legends like Ted Cruz or George W. Bush.
Then there are its borders. If Texas has problems with Mexico now, it would also have to secure its borders with New Mexico, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Texans would need a passport to travel to the United States and maybe a visa to work in another state or attend college there.
If Texas were to go forward, the United States could yank all those federal dollars for university research, airports and highway construction. Texas would lose its mail delivery service, environmental protection agency - it might like that - and other regulatory agencies that keep citizens safe.
And the next time a tornado levels some poor community and the governor declares the area a disaster area, well, there will not be any funding from the federal government anymore.
Lumped into the secession idea is the repeal of the Voting Rights Act which makes the whole idea much more sinister. The Voting Rights Act prevented the government from stopping black Americans from voting.
Considering that Texas is about 13 percent black with 3.6 million African-Americans, the Lone Star State could quickly have a significant Civil Rights problem.
A poll from 2016, found just one in four Texas supported leaving the union.
Considering the divide in the country today, it may be much higher now.
I’ve loved my time in Texas, but maybe we should let them go.
The hypocrisy
I stumbled on a long Facebook post celebrate George Washington’s faith and commitment to religion.
And yet, he owned slaves.
Tweet of the Day
Maybe Tennessee too?
“At least we don’t want to join Canada.”
Speak for yourself. I can’t imagine what my ancestors were thinking. At least they stopped well before Louisiana.
Maybe we should let Texas go. As an experiment. They might be a bit more humble if they have to come asking to be readmitted.