Hey y’all!
One hundred fifty-four years ago this week, citizens across the great state of Texas voted by a wide margin to secede from the United States. This vote finalized the state’s intentions of joining the Confederacy in the Civil War. Of course, the state declared the Ordinance of Secession null and void five years later in 1866. But those five years are something that most proud Texans hold on to for dear life. There are even some people in the state who actually think it is something we should do again.
The group Republic of Texas held a Valentine’s Day meeting that was raided by several different law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, the Brazos and Kerr County Sheriffs’ departments, the Texas District Attorney’s office, the Bryan Police Department, and my personal favorite, the Texas Rangers (the law enforcement group, not the baseball team). The meeting was held in Bryan, Texas, about 100 miles northwest of Houston.
I can just imagine Chuck Norris kicking down the doors of a meeting hall where this event took place and these guys getting a what’s what kind of talking to.
Apparently the Republic of Texas group actually believes that Texas was unlawfully annexed in 1845 and should be recognized again as an independent nation. Sure, maybe this seems like a normal day in Texas–Texans sitting around talking about “the good ol’ days” (when none of us was actually alive) and how Texas would do so much better as a country of its own than attached to the whole of the United States. It’s just nuts to think that there are people who are actively seeking legal ways to make this happen.
You must be wondering why this silly group of people was raided on the most romantic holiday of the year. Well, instead of tending to their sweethearts, the group decided it was the right time to “simulate legal process.” They sent a legal summons to a Kerr County judge and banker to appear before the group’s “court” over the foreclosure of a residence belonging to a member of the group.
Wait. What!?! What exactly does a foreclosure have to do with seceding from the union, or anything with the state of Texas? Absolutely nothing.
Kerr County Sheriff Rusty Hierholzer told the Houston Chronicle that this group has had many dealings with the County and City police, “flooding the court with simulated documents.” Also known as wasting the government’s time and killing trees for a lost cause.
Though I was born in Germany I am definitely a fifth-generation Houstonian and I take serious pride in all things Texas, but even I have a hard time truly believing that seceding from the union would be a good idea. Sure, Texas is the greatest state in the country, but I don’t think it would be as great without the rest of the states and the federal government.
Let’s keep talking and dreaming about seceding, but let’s not actually do it. That would just be foolish. Plus, we usually have a Texan in the White House every couple of Presidents, anyway.