# Why not let Texas secede? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 15, 2013, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264 "2013-10-15T00:40:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/121 "2013-10-22T05:16:16Z")
> [@knel3030](#): > > I was just thinking of Texans as being more independent minded and less susceptible to federal pressuring. Not really, They are just more suspectible to pressuring by wealthy oil billionaires and heretical clergymen. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/122 "2013-10-22T06:16:09Z")
And it’s not like people just pulled this idea that Texas and other states want to secede. The governor of Texas has mentioned it, there were petitions to the Whitehouse to allow states to leave the union, and it’s not uncommon to see Confederate flags on display in the south. I guess the onion was right: > [@](#): > > For the 135th straight year since Gen. Robert E. Lee’s surrender at Appomattox, representatives for the South announced Monday that the region has postponed plans to rise again…“Yes, sir. The South will rise again, and when it does, I’ll be right up front waving the Stars and Bars,” said Dock Mullins of Decatur, GA. “But first, I gotta get my truck fixed and get that rusty old stove out of my yard.” [http://www.theonion.com/articles/south-postpones-rising-again-for-yet-another-year,377/](http://www.theonion.com/articles/south-postpones-rising-again-for-yet-another-year,377/) ---
**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/123 "2013-10-22T08:01:29Z")
> [@ExTank](#): > > :rolleyes: Riiiight. Because Texas can’t afford any of those missiles, planes, or helicopters being made. In Texas. _ **A+** _ Right? You tell 'em, ExTank! 😛 And we wouldn’t be able to provide fuel for our vehicles or electricity for our homes, because we don’t have the infrastructure to manufacture and distribute those things, either. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/124 "2013-10-22T12:10:18Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > And it’s not like people just pulled this idea that Texas and other states want to secede. The governor of Texas has mentioned it, there were petitions to the Whitehouse to allow states to leave the union, and it’s not uncommon to see Confederate flags on display in the south. First, anybody (and I mean ANYBODY) can start a petition at the White House web page and get a few thousand signatures. I’ve done it myself. It means nothing. Heck, if ONE Southern crank started a secession petition, he could’ve gotten a few thousand signatures from Stephen Colbert viewers. Second, Governor Rick Perry made ONE offhand comment about secession, at a partisan affair. Has he EVER mentioned it in front of the legislature? NO! ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 12:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/125 "2013-10-22T12:24:40Z")
So you hold the anonymous users of a message board to a higher standard than the governor of Texas? We have to be careful with our comments, but he can throw out terms like secession and we’re all supposed to just roll with it? ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2013, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/126 "2013-10-22T12:34:53Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > So you hold the anonymous users of a message board to a higher standard than the governor of Texas? We have to be careful with our comments, but he can throw out terms like secession and we’re all supposed to just roll with it? Perry never used the term. His two remarks on the subject [were:](http://www.factcheck.org/2011/08/what-perry-really-said-about-secession/) > [@](#): > > Shannon: Some have associated you with the idea of secession or sovereignty for your state. … > > Perry: I think there’s a lot of different scenarios. Texas is a unique place. When we came in the union in 1845, one of the issues was that we would be able to leave if we decided to do that. > > You know, my hope is that America and Washington in particular pays attention. We’ve got a great union. There is absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what may come out of that? But Texas is a very unique place and we’re a pretty independent lot to boot. And: > [@](#): > > Some Perry critics have also pointed to another statement from Perry, this time to a group of tech bloggers taking a tour of his Capitol offices the month before the tea party interview. At one point, according to audio posted on YouTube, Perry tells the group, “When we came into the nation in 1845, we were a republic. We were a stand-alone nation. And one of the deals was, we can leave any time we want. … So we’re kind of thinking about that again.” > > The line was met with laughter, suggesting it was not meant as a serious position statement. > > “You do that and I’ll move in!” someone is heard to joke back, to more laughter. Lastly, Perry has been unequivocal that he [doesn’t advocate secession.](http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57548931/) ---
**Author:** ![Snupzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@Snupzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snupzilla)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/127 "2013-10-23T03:05:09Z")
> [@aNewLeaf](#): > > Furriners are not always welcome in Texas. As a white male, you’ll be relatively safe passing through unless you speak to anybody. > Or if you are in a bus. Busses get stopped and searched in Texas. :dubious: Did you see this in movie or do you speak from experience? I’m going to guess the former. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/128 "2013-10-23T04:13:42Z")
So Perry doesn’t support secession, but flirts with it to appease his ignorant base, but then when the rest of us say that Texas leaving is a fine idea, the people of Texas get all butthurt, got it. If they don’t want to be a laughing stock, they should stop doing ridiculous things and electing ridiculous represntatives. ---
**Author:** ![Snupzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/54ee81/32.png) [@Snupzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snupzilla)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/129 "2013-10-23T04:44:01Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > So Perry doesn’t support secession, but flirts with it to appease his ignorant base, but then when the rest of us say that Texas leaving is a fine idea, the people of Texas get all butthurt, got it. If they don’t want to be a laughing stock, they should stop doing ridiculous things and electing ridiculous represntatives. You’re right, people that live and vote in political territories that elect idiots probably don’t have the right to argue over the factuality of anyone’s statements about that territory in a thread of a forum called Great Debate. They should humbly accept all statements made by others regardless of reality because they failed to convince the majority to not vote for idiots. ---
**Author:** ![Human\_Action](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@Human\_Action](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Human_Action)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/130 "2013-10-23T12:54:38Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > So Perry doesn’t support secession, but flirts with it to appease his ignorant base, but then when the rest of us say that Texas leaving is a fine idea, the people of Texas get all butthurt, got it. It’s almost like “Rick Perry” and “the people of Texas” are entirely distinct entities. Why should the people of Texas, or anywhere, roll over for people arguing that _the union would be better off if their state were ejected from it_? Because the governor of Texas made some veiled remarks to jab at Washington? That’s an absurd proposition. > [@madmonk28](#): > > If they don’t want to be a laughing stock, they should stop doing ridiculous things and electing ridiculous represntatives. [Essentialism.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Essentialism) Offered without further comment. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2013, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/131 "2013-10-23T19:22:57Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Fuck that. I want their oil. Which is why, if Texas were to secede, we would own the rest of the USA in short order. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/132 "2016-11-13T00:22:13Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > States can’t secede. We had a minor skirmish over that some time ago. And about 80 years later we created the United Nations, the United Nations charter and the US blessed it by signing it. Chapter 11 gives us that right. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/133 "2016-11-13T00:25:03Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > It would be cmpletely unfair to the Texans who don’t want to secede. US citizens shouldn’t be forced to become citizens of a foreign power, that’s just crazy. One could make the same fairness argument about a president elected WITHOUT the majority of the vote. Apparently it’s perfectly fair to force shit down people’s throats. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/134 "2016-11-13T02:00:45Z")
Texas can secede if they want, but you should keep their barbecue. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/135 "2016-11-13T02:46:03Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > And about 80 years later we created the United Nations, the United Nations charter and the US blessed it by signing it. Chapter 11 gives us that right. Chapter 11 (Sections 73 and 74) of the Charter have nothing to do with Texas. Or any other state of the union. Texas has a “full measure of self-government” within the meaning of the Charter. \ ---
**Author:** ![Duke\_of\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Duke\_of\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke_of_Rat)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/136 "2016-11-13T03:06:11Z")
I thought it was California trending on secession this time? [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=810037](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=810037) ---
**Author:** ![octopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/octopus/32/3716_2.png) [@octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/octopus)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2016, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264/137 "2016-11-13T07:37:58Z")
> [@Morgenstern](#): > > And about 80 years later we created the United Nations, the United Nations charter and the US blessed it by signing it. Chapter 11 gives us that right. Nope. US can veto what it wishes at the UN. And the US has the bigger army. How many divisions does the UN have? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-not-let-texas-secede/671264.md?page=6)