Texas establishment scared of Texas secessionists scaring away investors.

This is the Texas Monthly article in response to The Altantic article about secession.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/texas-secessionists-2019/

This is The Atlantic article to which the Texas Monthly was responding. .

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/12/the-secessionist/600739

Now I have blogged on how the Texas Nationalist Movement has over represented itself and the support isn't as extensive as they claim in terms of activists. However, the Texas Monthly article is wrong and misleading by trying to say the support for Texas secession is miniscule or a trivial few.

They refer to the 2016 Texas State Republican Convention and that the issue was raised, what they don't mention, and don't mention in the article about the state convention for which they provide the link, is that the vote against secession was 16 to 14 with one abstention in the platform committee. This is not a marginal group of people and a reasonable sample group of representative Texas Republican Party leaders.

What is also not mentioned is that Texas Boys State voted for secession.

https://www.chron.com/news/politics/texas/article/Texas-Boys-State-votes-to-secede-for-Union-11247209.php

But more importantly opinion polls have showed a fair degree for support for secession. One of them showed that 60% of Trump supporters in Texas wanted to secede if Hillary Clinton was elected in 2016.

The Texas Monthly article tries to assert that the support for secession is trivial.

It’s not impossible to imagine things like the 2016 floor debate going differently at a future GOP convention—we do live in unpredictable times!—but for now, you can fill a few stadiums with people who like to fantasize about the idea of secession, but that still leaves a whopping 98.7 percent of the state full of people who are happy where they are.

I am not saying that there is a serious mass movement for secession in Texas at this point and if Donald Trump is re-elected in 2020 there won't be for at least four more years.

I am not saying even with Donald Trump not re-elected that it is a sure thing that there will be a mass secession movement.

I am saying two things.

1. This Texas Monthly article is very selective in what it chooses to evaluate the potential for a Texas secession movement in Texas and the extent of support and possible support.

2. Secession movements have a habit of going from obscurity to being significant. As scholars have pointed out nations are imagined. Imaginations are not cast in concrete but are full of flux. Secession is also a topic that is discussed much more now days.  We see nations will real secession movements and real possibilities of secession.

If there is wide spread alienation in Texas from the national government the Texas nationalist movement could suddenly be a mass movement.

What Texas Monthly is scared of is that some fund manager may start thinking things about what their funds exposure is to Texas mortgages. The moment there is even rumor that some fund managers are thinking of limiting exposure Texas real estate mortgages will have to pay a point or have maybe higher down payments or something.

Even worse will be trying to get corporations to locate to Texas when other potential sites will point out that they don't have a secession movement or the potential of armed right wing militias.

Then there is the issue of recruiting talent to Texas. They probably don't want to face even the remote possibility that there children will have to apply to immigrate into the United States. No one wants to move to loony land.

Texas Secession at the 2016 Texas State Republican Party Convention

The debate over secession at the 2016 Texas State Republican Party Convention video has been released.

You can watch and listen at this link.

https://texasnationalist.com/news/video-released-of-republican-debate-on-texas-independence

The proposal was defeated by the platform committee 16 to 14.  Fairly close I think for a party that claims to be patriotic.

The relevance is that the Texas Nationalist Movement is planning to get some measure passed at the 2018 Texas State Republican Party convention.

https://texasnationalist.com/news/tnm-rpt-past-and-future-part-1


What is in this movements favor is there is no longer the presidential campaign of Ted Cruz to ferociously oppose it.

Against it is that Donald Trump did get elected president and to advocate secession would undermine him, and the potential base for secession is largely the same people who support Donald Trump.

The Republican Party state convention is June 14, 2018.

As I have explained before, the secession movement would only start up if its potential base lost hope in Trump or the Republican party's current ascendancy in national politics, or the federal government passing gun control legislation. None of these things is going to happen between now and the June 14, 2018 Republican Party state convention.

If, and I emphasize if, there is some "blue wave," in the 2018 Nov. elections, then the Texas secessionist movement will start gaining traction.

These page and video links are posted so people know what is surfacing in the Texas Republican Party.

This is the link for the Republican Party state convention.

https://www.texasgop.org/2018-convention/

Kathleen Harnett-White and her article about Texas and secession in "Texas Republic" magazine is in the news. IMPORTANT UPDATE

Earlier this week I supplied Andrew Kaczynski the article that Kathleen Hartnett-White wrote for Texas Republic magazine about Texas being better off as an independent republic.

The article is online at this link:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/26/politics/kfile-hartnett-white-texas-independent-republic/index.html

You collect things and it sits on the shelf for years and years and you wonder if it will ever serve any purpose and 20 years later it does.

Do not confuse Texas Republic magazine with the Republic of Texas movement. Texas Republic was a publication of the Lynn Landrum Society. William Murchison did an interview for Southern Partisan magazine to introduce the magazine to its readers. It was a magazine for the right-wing in the Texas conservative establishment. In Texas the magazine wasn't fringe. Last issue was published in 1996.

The first issue was in dedicated to M.E. Bradford, a professor at the University of Dallas who spent his life trying to undermine civil rights in America. Bradford was the leading intellectual for the neo-Confederate movement and was a major figure in getting it started.

I sent Kaczynski some writes I did on the magazine also.

It should not be surprising that at the 2016 Texas State Republican Party convention that the vote against secession was only 16 to 14. It should not be surprising that Boys State in Texas voted for secession.

IMPORTANT UPDATE:

You can read the article that Kathleen Hartnett White wrote for Texas Republic at this link.

https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4118046-KHW.html

OTHER UPDATES:

The story of Kathleen Hartnett White's essay in Texas Republic magazine is beginning to get some traction in the media. These are some other sites carrying the story.


https://www.rawstory.com/2017/10/trump-environmental-pick-once-claimed-texas-would-be-better-off-if-the-state-seceded-to-avoid-regulations-report/

http://thehill.com/homenews/administration/357410-trump-environmental-nominee-texas-would-be-better-off-as-an

Starting to write the book on Texas Secessionism

I am starting writing the book on Texas Secessionism.

The current working title is "Prelude to Texas Secessionism and Fighting for an American Texas."

It will start out by discussing the recent efforts of Texas secessionists, then go into the origin of Texas secessionism detailing Texas Republican Party and Texas conservatives' involvement in neo-Confederate ideas and accommodation of the Confederacy and also the right wing interpretations of Texas secession from Mexico.

I will review "Texas Republic" magazine, detail Texas conservative involvement in "Southern Partisan" magazine.

I am going to include some short essays against Texas secession, how to oppose Texas secession, and counter measures against Texas secession. If in the eventually the state of Texas does decide to secede, your town or county can also secede right back to the United States.

This will be somewhat straight forward to write, but I regret I won't be able to have it in time for the day of the election but will likely have it by the end of Thanksgiving week.

In a recent poll 3 out of 5 Trump supporters said they would support secession of Texas if Hillary Clinton was elected president. I think at this time it is very likely that Hillary Clinton will get elected President. So I think the Texas secession movement will really start gaining more traction then.

https://www.amazon.com/Edward-H.-Sebesta/e/B01JUS2YJW

You can purchase the current version of the Kindle version of the book.  The hard copy version is coming in the mail and this week I am doing proofing.

I will be updating the Kindle version, but with this Kindle version you can learn about the neo-Confederate campaign against social justice in American.

Had maps professionally made for the book.

When you pander to craziness there are consequences

http://www.thetnm.org/texit_action_9_13_2016

Texas State Rep. Phil King just wants to have a hearing to complain about the Federal governments overreach. There isn't really any problem with that. All government actions should be open to questioning. The hearing is invitation only. This is a sort of thing where the speakers get credibility and can sell their book or promote their show or something. King can go back to supporters and say he is fighting the Federal government. It is a free country.

However, since the Republican Party has pandered to craziness, the Texas Nationalist Movement has an expectation that they should be invited to the hearing.

So they are arranging a big call in to King's office. The link is for the call in.

The Texas Republicans are getting the consequences of their actions.

A resolution for your county or city to vote against Texas secession UPDATE:

Forever American Declaration

INTRODUCTION:

This is a declaration for your city or county to make in response to proposals of Texas secession.  It serves multiple purposes. One it establishes that your city or county will remain a part of the United States of America in the unlikely event that Texas secedes.

One of the assumptions of Texas secessionists is that if they get Texas to secede because they are unhappy with the politics of other Americans we all necessarily have to go along with it. We can secede too, if necessary, right back to the United States of America.  Texas secessionists should be confronted with the possible breakup of Texas driven by their folly.

Hopefully it never comes to that. More importantly the Forever American Declaration is a means by which Texans, who want to stay in the United States of America, can publicly declare so. The fact that a large number of Texans don’t want to secede and are committed to not to secede thus will be known. 

Perhaps more importantly we need to get elected officials to take a stand on this and identify which elected officials are either sympathetic to Texas secession or not willing to take a stand against it. Some people view the 16 nay to 14 yea, with one abstention, vote against Texas secession by the platform committee at the Texas State Republican Party convention in May 2016 as something positive. It is appalling. It should have been 31 to 0 against. Those voting for it should not be considered patriotic at all, instead enemies of our nation.

DECLARATION:

We, (legislative body) of (city or state), declare that (city or state) is forever a part of the United States of America and will remain so under all circumstances by what means are necessary to do so. No claim of sovereignty by any group seceding from the United States of America will be recognized nor any authority claimed by secessionists nor any laws passed by secessionists.

UPDATE: This could apply to any place in the United States of America where there is a secession movement. It would work the same way and have the same impact. 

Podcast of the Texas Republican Party secession debates.

Sound track of Texas Republican's arguing for secession at the Texas State Convention

What is interesting is how loud the cheering is for the secessionists. The anger against the United States.

https://www.texasobserver.org/texas-miracle-podcast-7-sound-secession/

The craziness is boiling to the surface.

CRAZINESS TAKES OVER TEXAS REPUBLICAN PARTY UPDATE: By small margin late night vote secession removed from platform.

I have been following the Texas Nationalist movement. It has continued to surprise me.

First they get a resolution for a secession voted on by the Texas State Republican Executive Committee, and though defeated they get one-third of the committee to vote for it and discover that those voting against are scared to go on record as being against it.

Then later, they they get the resolution passed in somewhere between 10 to 22 county GOP conventions.

Now it is reported that a platform plank on secession will be both debated and voted on at the Texas State Republican Party convention in Dallas, TX.  This is getting real.

http://www.chron.com/news/politics/article/Texas-GOP-to-debate-secession-on-convention-floor-7462082.php

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/05/texas-republicans-gop-secession-resolution

My previous blog postings give background information on how this Texas secessionist movement has progressed developed.

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/search?q=texas#.VzPcdPkrKiM

The very fact that it will be debated and voted on at the Texas Republican Party state convention is a tremendous advance for the cause. They will get volunteers and next time they do a signature drive to get the secession resolution on the Texas Republican Primary ballot (You can do this in Texas.) they will get the signatures. It doesn't matter if the vote is 3 to 1 or 4 to 4. If the measure loses 2 to 1, it will be a tremendous victory for a new secessionist movement.

Don't think that they can't get one-third of the delegates voting for them. They got one-third of the State Republican Executive Committee to vote for the measure. Delegates will worry also how it will impact their careers if they vote against it. Everyone thinks they can vote for it and avoid the Texas nationalists targeting them because someone else will vote against it, or that in the end it is a joke.

Also, this secessionist sentiment has roots in the Republican Party. I have the run of the Texas Republic magazine and it includes many prominent Republican officials and the magazine is sympathetic to the Confederacy and secession. It had neo-Confederates involved.

UPDATE:

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/State-GOP-rejects-secession-proposal-7468180.php


What is notable that the platform committee waited until late at night to reverse their vote and pull the measure. Even then it was 16 to pull, 14 for the secession item, and 1 abstaining for the 31 member platform committee.

The fact that the vote wasn't 31 to 0 should be cause for concern.

The Texas Nationalist Movement hasn't had at the time of this update a comment on losing. It seems they tend to report victory quickly, and defeat late, if at all.

Going as far as they did with this effort, they have achieved a victory in terms of making the possibility of secession more plausible, getting more people aware of their movement. It would be reasonable for them to expect that with the next state convention they might pick up a couple votes and it would be out for a vote by the convention.

I think that if Donald Trump is elected, they will face a difficult time getting support. If Hillary Clinton is elected, I think the Texas Nationalists will get  a lot of support and will win the vote at the next Republican Party state convention. At some point the Republican Party base will realize that their agenda has no future in the nation. At that time there will likely be secession movements all over the place.

Texas Nationalist Movement Petition, What happened? /Prospects for Texas Nationalist Movement

The Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM) http://www.thetnm.org/  on their web page was reporting on the progress of their petition to get a secessionist measure on the Texas Republican Primary ballot.

The deadline was Dec. 15, 2015. So how many signatures did the Texas Nationalist Movement get?

This was one news item at their web page on the petition that is still online.
http://www.thetnm.org/petition_2015_we_are_close

They evidently had a online event about what to do next after the petition campaign.

http://www.thetnm.org/hangout_tnm_petition_next_steps?recruiter_id=1379

How many signatures? Did they reach their goals?

My guess is that they fell somewhat short of signatures, and they only had to get 68 thousand some signatures. A discussion of actually how many signatures they got would show how insubstantial their movement is. I am surprised, I thought they could have gotten the signatures. In a state of 27 million plus people, 11 million plus white people I thought they would have gotten enough signatures. https://www.dshs.state.tx.us/chs/popdat/ST2015.shtm

I think they just didn't have enough volunteers to collect signatures and face people who are going to express that you are crazy.

The TNM best opportunities seem to be to pressure the Texas State Republican Party which seems to be beholden to fringe groups and are not willing to stand up to any fringe group. This is especially important given that the TNM doesn't have any real popular support.

So they are continuing to advance their agenda in the Republican Party.One member of the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) is going to push to put secession into the Republican Party referendum.

http://www.thetnm.org/voigtsberger_texas_independence_platform

The posting writes:

"... he specifically responded to the groundswell of support surrounding a vote on Texas independence.

But evidently not enough of a groundswell to get the required signatures. There is this constant claim of some popular support for Texas secession but there really isn't. That is why the TNM is focused on the Texas Republican Party, their best chance of success is pressuring political groups and not hoping for popular support.

It shows you the state of the Texas Republican Party that the TNM could find any member of the SREC to support secession.

The Democrats locally and nationally are absolutely hoping that secession gets into the Texas Republican Party platform.  It would destroy U.S. Senator Ted Cruz's campaign to be United States President. It would be disastrous to any Republican running for public office, not only in Texas, but nationally. Texas secession would be a national issue.

What was interesting was that the SREC members were afraid to go on record as being against Texas secession and did a voice vote instead of a roll call vote.

http://www.thetnm.org/breakdown_of_srec_voting

You would think standing up for America would be a given for Republicans, but it doesn't seem to be. This tells you more about how crazy the Texas conservative movement has become.

However, the window for any type of Texas secession is closing. By 2020 the demographic changes in Texas, it being more urban, there being more generational change in the electorate, more people having moved to Texas, there being more minority voters might very well make Texas a Democrat state and not a Republican one. The dominating political forces won't have any interest in Texas secession.

The chances for success of the Texas Nationalist Movement within the Republican Party might increase as the Republicans become more alienated and more fringe. A party that is obviously going to be out of power for a long time, can often become a party for fringe elements to vent their rage.

For the time being it seems that the TNM will be something that is reported on when the Texas Republican Party is having to deal with it as an occasional story for laughs.

Also, again this shows how delusional the neo-Confederates claim that there is some global trend towards secession. The TNM petition effort failed.