Antonin Scalia: "There is no right to secede"

By GottaLaff

Thank you, Markos, thank you... for linking to this:

(click on image to enlarge)

The Tea Tantrumers and Ricky the Seceder will be so disappointed

Rick Perry 2012: The secession candidate

By GottaLaff

How does one run for president of a country one has decided to secede from?

Texas Monthly has a nice profile of Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), whose "fortunes have gone in opposite direction" of his primary challenger, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX). [...]

"If Perry defeats Hutchison in the March 2 Republican primary and goes on to win a third full term in November, he will immediately join the crowd of potential presidential aspirants in 2012 -- if he hasn't done so already."

Maybe instead, he could be King of His Seceded Acreage. That way he wouldn't even have to be elected, and he could appoint his Vice King. Or maybe 3 Vice Kings and a footman. Or footperson, if he's in a politically correct mood.

King Ricky of the Seceded Acreage of Rickyton. No election necessary.

Poll-itics: Give California and Texas the boot

By GottaLaff

Greg Mitchell found an interesting poll. Yeah, yeah, there were numbers about jobs and Cheney and marijuana and the swine flu, blahblahblah. But looky here:

[O]nly 60% say the U.S. should stay intact, with 10% voting to lop off Calif and 8% get rid of Texas.

Hey, I live in California! What are we, outcasts? Then again, we'd avoid that Big Scary Marxist Fascist Obama Government Takeover of our state.

See? There's always a silver lining.

We're Sitting on a Powder Keg: Special Comment by my 72-year-old friend

By GottaLaff

My very caring, impassioned 72-year-old Twitter pal, who goes by the name 42bkdodgr, would like to share his feelings about something many of us see, including him, as a rapidly looming threat, all the hate speech and hostility we've witnessed recently... and I am more than happy to oblige.

Take it away, 42bkdodgr:

Powder Keg

In July, I wrote that I haven’t seen so much hate in this country since the Civil Rights movement. Since then the hate and anger has only gotten worse, and it will continue to get worse. You may wonder why I feel this way and what makes me upset about this hate and anger.

I get upset, when commentators are allowed to call the President Obama a “racist”, compare him to Hitler, question his place of birth-- with no disciplinary action taken by the media outlet.

I get upset when sponsors have removed their advertisements because of “racist “remarks and the viewing audience continue to grow. These commentators by their words and actions have encouraged mob rule at Town Hall meetings, instead of encouraging real discussions about the issues.

Their encouragement has led to demonstrators appear outside Town Hall meetings carrying signs “ It’s time to water the tree of liberty”?”, showing President Obama with a Hitler style mustache, questioning his religion; and demonstrators carrying loaded guns to the events. All this indicates to me they are directing their programs to a very narrow minded group of people.

I get upset when you have Republicans, discussing the Health Care Reform Bill, make misleading remarks and misrepresent provisions in the bill by making such statements as “pulling the plug on grandma”, “Death Panels” Death Book”, or such a ludicrous statement as, “What we have to do today is make a covenant, to slit our wrists, be blood brothers on this thing. This will not pass. We will do whatever it takes to make sure this doesn’t pass.”

These statements are made to frighten and scare their constituents and to rile their base.

When I take into consideration the hate being spewed by the right wing media together with the misleading and misrepresentations made by the GOP about the Health Care bill I have come to the conclusion: This country is sitting on a powder keg that I think is ready to explode. When it does, no good will come from it. I hope our politicians come to their senses and turn the country away from the hate and anger we are seeing.

While there have been Democrats in both the House and the Senate who indicated they may vote against a HCR Bill, not one Republican has indicated they will vote in favor, I find it extremely hard to believe that not one Republican favors a HCR Bill with a public option.

Then there are the politicians who promote that their state should secede from the Union.

We have become a nation where party comes first before the people.

Thank you once again for a relevant, heartfelt, and thought-provoking piece, 42bkdodgr. We need more like you.

The go-to secession VIDEO: "Houston, We Have a Solution"

By GottaLaff

This Andy Cobb video is the perfect sequel to my earlier post titled, "Just Secede Already". This is dedicated to all the various -thers, starting with the whacked-out "tenthers":



Big h/t: Wolfe Tone, of A Bodenstown Perspective

Just secede already

By GottaLaff

Hey "tenthers", don't let the door hit ya...

A organization calling itself the “Texas Nationalist Movement” plans to march on the Texas capitol tomorrow to demand “Sovereignty or Secession”:

Texans will converge on Austin to deliver a petition to Restore America by Demanding our Sovereignty or we will be forced to call a vote for Secession.

This is straight out of the Declaration of Independence and our right to “alter or abolish” our government if it has, “after a long train of abuses” refused to protect the rights of the people.

At present, the Texas Nationalist Movement has a petition with 1 Million signatures directly calling for a vote of secession.

We are calling for an orderly process that will allow our federal government to fall back in line with the Constitution. We are reclaiming our states rights and our individual rights. [...]

We must stand up and be counted or we will find ourselves in another government. Either we restore America, we will live in a Marxist dictatorship, or we will secede and start over again.

And by all means, tenthers, take the TeaDeathers and Birthers -- plus any other -thers you can scrape up-- with you.

Secession-touting Hannity angry U.S. flag taken down in Texas

I'd guess that even if you confronted him with it he'd just not understand. Via Jed.

Hey Gov. Perry: If Texas secedes, it gets no federal help for swine flu

By GottaLaff

First Gov. Ricky jumps on the secession bandwagon, then he denies it, then he says we're jealous of Texas for all the wrong reasons, and now he has his hand out. Wild guess: Consistency is not his strong suit:

Gov. Rick Perry (R-TX) [...] is requesting help from the federal government to deal with a possible swine flu pandemic:

Gov. Rick Perry today in a precautionary measure requested the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide 37,430 courses of antiviral medications from the Strategic National Stockpile to Texas to prevent the spread of swine flu. Currently, three cases of swine flu have been confirmed in Texas.

Oink.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry thinks we're jealous his state

By GottaLaff

Stop me if you've heard this one before. It's a real knee-slapper... Gov. Ricky thinks we're jealous of his state:

Gov. Rick Perry’s turn in the states’ rights spotlight brought him national attention and made Texas a late-night punch line (not the first time) — and he’s not through, yet. [...]

Perry will moderate a forum Monday on President Barack Obama’s first 100 days.

Expect more talk about out-of-control Washington spending, says spokesman Mark Miner, with much time spent listening to people at the Dallas-area stop on a tour by three conservative radio talk-show hosts.

Perry himself says he doesn’t worry about a national reputation. He emphasizes he didn’t advocate secession when asked about it after an anti-tax Tea Party in Austin, though he suggested Texas has the right to leave the union.

Perry must have forgotten about this, this, and this:

Perry Raises Secession at Tax Protest

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) said that his state could secede from the United States because "the federal government has strayed somewhat from what our founders wanted and is choking Americans with excessive spending and taxation," reports the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Said Perry: "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."

Should someone with such a poor memory be holding a public office as important as governor? Let's sleep on that. We have bigger fish to fry.

See, now Ricky's accusing us of being jealous. Of Texas. Economically. Choose any of those last three points and do what you will with them:

To those who might poke fun at Texas or call it backward, he says, they are “most likely jealous of this state’s position ... economically.”

Chagrined or incredulous might be more accurate, some say.

Some very well might. Why, here's Some now! Larry Sabato:

“This was a throwback to the Old South, a South that was out of the mainstream and viewed as something of an embarrassment. You think of people like George Wallace when you think of the claim of states’ rights. I don’t think that’s the image that modern Texas wants,” Sabato said.

As for the Texas economy, Sabato suggested that Gov. Ricky's rhetoric "could chill businesses and top faculty pondering a move to Texas."And Stephen Hess isn't any kinder:

Stephen Hess of the Washington-based Brookings Institution said Perry “is no George Wallace.” He said Perry has “certainly damaged his own reputation” among those who closely follow politics.

But when asked whether the talk could affect Perry’s national reputation, he said: “The answer is, ‘Who?’ You couldn’t find very many people who could tell you the name of the governor of Texas, or any other governor with the exception of the governor of California, at this moment.”

So it pretty much boils down to this: We're all jealous of a guy named "Who?"

Poll-itics: Half of Texas Republicans Support Secession

By GottaLaff

Kinda makes you reminisce about this, doesn't it?

I betcha those who support secession just want to cash in on this stuff. Gee, it's a cryin' shame these self-proclaimed patriotic Rushpublics don't want to be part of Amurka any more. You remember Amurka... the country they swore they loved so much during Election 2008:

A new DailyKos/Research 2000 poll finds that 48% of Texas Republicans think their state should be an independent nation while 48% think it should remain part of the United States.

It's a tie?

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) raised the idea of secession at a recent tax protest.

Among all Texans, 61% want their state to remain part of the Union while 35% prefer an independent nation.

35%? Who do they think they are, the Nation of Dick?

VIDEO: Ron Paul says secession 'worth a discussion'

By GottaLaff


I wonder if eBay sold Texas yet. It's worth a discussion. And saying Ron Paul is losing it is worth a discussion, too:

"It is very American to talk about secession. That's how we came in being. Thirteen colonies seceded from the British and established a new country. So secession is a very much American principle," Paul said in a video posted on YouTube.

The self-professed libertarian, who garnered a substantial grassroots following when he ran for president last year, stopped short of endorsing secession for his home state, but said the idea is "worth a discussion."

"What about all the strong endorsements we have give the past decade or two to all the republics that seceded from the Soviet system? We were delighted about it," Paul also said.

Seceding from my promise to myself to be civil about Ron Paul is worth a discussion.

If at first you don't secede, sell Texas on eBay

By GottaLaff

I wish the seller all the sec-cess in the world:

(click on image to enlarge)

Bush's living there may be a deal breaker.

H/t

VIDEO--Rep. John Culberson on Hardball: Obama, Pelosi are "trying to turn America into France"

By GottaLaff

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

Tweety let Rep. Culberson get away with saying that the Tea Tantrums were "a spontaneous horizontal reflection of the mood of the American people" (at about 8:05). My jaw dropped... and not just because I had no idea that an uprising could be horizontal. In fact, I had no idea that Rushpublics ever got horizontal at all. But that's another post for another time.

In the blink of an eye, Culberson went on and on ad absurdum about wanting the government out of Texans' lives. There go all those durn Texan libraries, fire and police stations, schools, etc., etc. And this blowhard even brought back that old chestnut, France. Yes, France.

Indeed, we are at a tipping point, he ranted. I'll have him know I haven't been tipped once.

But Tweety did have his moments, starting at about 7:20 and notably at about 10:22 ("You say you love the country, but you can't wait to leave it").

See "Tantrums, Tea: Backfiring".

VIDEO: MisinterPerrytation

By GottaLaff

Ohhh, so this is what he really meant:

"I was kinda thinking that, maybe the same people who hadn't been reading the constitution right were reading that article and they got the wrong impression about what I said," he told reporters as in the Texas State House.

"Clearly, I stated that we have a great union. And Texas is part of a great union. I see no reason for that to change. I think that may not be the exact quote, but that is, in essence what I said," he added. [...]

In clarifying his remarks Thursday, Perry also said he has "never been prouder of Texans" for standing up to Washington, DC. [...]

Meanwhile, Texas Democrats have sharply criticized Perry's original comment, calling it an "attack on our country."

"It is the ultimate anti-American statement," State Rep. Jim Dunnam of Waco told reporters Thursday.

Aww, come on, fellow Dems. Go easy on the guy. It's so obvious we all... all... got the wrong impression. All of us.

It was clearly our mistake. We should have been examining the essence of what he said, not what actually came out of his big, fat, treasonous mouth.

Our bad.

VIDEO-- Hardball: Tom Delay Defends TX Gov. Perry's Remarks About Texas Seceding

By GottaLaff

To repeat my earlier bad pun, if at first you don't secede, try, try again. I repeated it because I am otherwise speechless as to why Tom DeLay exists, given that his brain has seceded from his body:

If at first you don't secede, try, try again

By GottaLaff

Texas Secede!

For an independent Texas Republic

www.TexasSecede.org

Commenter Babzter found this fun, informative little site for us. New! Improved! Fun for the whole family!

Texas Secession Facts

• Doesn't the Texas Constitution reserve the right of Texas to secede?
• Didn’t the outcome of the “Civil War” prove secession is not an option for any State?
• Didn’t the U.S. Supreme Court in Texas v. White prove secession is unconstitutional?
• Is Texas really ripe for a secession movement?
• How would Texas—and Texans—benefit from secession?
• Are there any organized efforts to promote a Texas secession?
• Why exactly are y'all selling this stuff?

For more Texas-sized inspiration, toddle off to this Very Special Web Page. Your every question will be answered, your every revulsion will be realized, your every mockery will be vindicated.

And that's not all, folks! A flag like this can be yours, for only $12.95! Get yours today!

And the Rushpublics are still outraged over that DHS report? Really?