Below is an e-mail from the Southern Party of Georgia:
While it is a very unpopular subject, the US is sinking. Few argue anymore that it is economically bankrupt or at best rapidly approaching. An increasing number are realizing that this country is also spiritually, morally and culturally bankrupt — or at best rapidly approaching. Corruption and Special Interests rule in Washington and an increasing number of State capitols and local governments.
The political system is broken and the country is literally split into three separating groups; Repubican Party, Democratic Party and those who believe that neither represent the people. With the party controlled primaries and ballot access efforts to instill true competition have little chance for success.
In his “Give Me Liberty, or give me death!” speech Patrick Henry included some words that perhaps we should listen to today:
Mr. President, it is natural to man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren till she transforms us into beasts. Is this the part of wise men, engaged in a great and arduous struggle for liberty? Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation? For my part, whatever anguish of spirit it may cost, I am willing to know the whole truth; to know the worst, and to provide for it.
[Bold added]
For the purpose of looking for the whole truth and to begin a debate on how to provide for it, this will be the first in a series of article from a new website: Get US Off the U.S.S. Titanic sponsored by the League of The South.
If you are not one that Patrick Henry described with: “who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not” there is a distribution list on Get US Off the U.S.S. Titanic.
Why Texas Would Be Better Off as a Free Republic
Texas would be better off as a free republic in many ways. First, the taxes paid to the federal government by Texas would now be staying in Texas. In 2007, this amounted to $225,390,904,000. The most recent Texas State budget amounted to $182,000,000,000. By shifting the location to where these tax monies go, Texas could operate effectively on the monies currently paid in taxes to the federal government without increasing any taxes itself. The monies currently collected for Texas’s use could then be used to pay down debt and national defense.
As a republic Texas could protect its own borders effectively and set up a sound immigration policy to replace the current federally-mandated one. Texas would also be free to deport illegal immigrants. A Lone Star republic would also be able to refuse services to illegal immigrants, which currently drains State resources to the tune of $4.3 billion annually. A refusal of services to illegal aliens and their families would force them into a track of seeking legal immigration status. Texas needs population growth. With Texas in control of immigration policy, the future of her demographic make-up could be managed in Austin rather than in Washington, DC. This means that the needs of Texas would take priorities over political paybacks to ungrateful nations whose children we school and immigrants we are forced to absorb under the US plan. Presently, unfunded federal mandates cost Texas over $4 billion each year. This kind of burden hurts educational effectiveness and slows economic growth.
In terms of national defense, Texas could provide the manpower to protect its national interests. Rather than having our sons and daughters fighting imperialistic wars, they would be kept in Texas to protect our sovereignty and borders. With Texas as a free republic, there would not be obligations or treaties to protect other overseas nations unless Texans wanted there to be. By going independent, we would keep out of foreign entanglements and wars. Texas sons and daughters would not have to die in jungles and deserts around the world based on fuzzy foreign policy or defending a UN agenda.
Regarding technology, the fighter airplane plants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and other factories would provide Texas with state-of-the-art defensive capabilities, including combat vehicles, missiles, ships, and avionics. Presently 65% of the united States defense contractors are located in Texas. When a policy of defense rather than offense is sought, the type of weapons needs also change. Texas could become the world leader in military technology.
Texas would not need a fleet of carriers to patrol the seven seas or bases in the Indian Ocean like Diego Garcia. Maintaining a presence in the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic would adequately provide for our defensive needs. With the shipyard facilities in Texas, such vessels could be constructed within the republic. Texas is poised to be a player in space technology as well, although it would need to work with other nations in launching its own satellites.
In the area of energy, Texas could provide for its own needs without the federal red tape currently in place. A Lone Star republic could develop its own oil fields within its own land boundaries and offshore. Texas already produces 1/3 of the petroleum in the U.S. The Texas oil fields would be able to improve their productivity. The petroleum produced would also be a valuable export that could be traded with other nations. Texas also has its own electrical grid, which could be maintained independent of other nations, such as the US.
In the areas of banking and economics Texas has many large banking interests already in place. She is already the largest exporter of goods in the United States. By going independent, that trade would increase rather than decrease.
In terms of trade, the Port of Houston is already the sixth largest in the world. Texas has three of the 10 largest US ports located in our borders. The air cargo facility at DFW is viewed as one of the world’s best. We already have more farms and more farm acreage than any other state. Transitioning to an independent republic would be easily accomplished without major interruptions in agriculture, trade or economics.
Texas also has its own culture, cuisine, art, music, and literature. These areas are important in establishing a national identity. With these items already in place, the transition from forced Statehood within the Union to independence could be accomplished easily in terms of having a separate culture and identity.
All in all, Texas would be served better in providing for the well being of its citizens, national defense, economic stability, education, and trade as a sovereign, independent republic than as a part of a sinking imperial union. Leaving the Union would remove many of the restraints and shackles from a powerful nation that has been held back. Texas would be allowed to blossom and achieve its fullest potential as a separate republic. It will never reach its full potential as a subservient political sub-district in this current bankrupt Union.
Source: http://getofftitanic.com/titanic/states/free_texas.php
To Starchild: Lets add some realism to your mythology. You forgot to add that the northern invaders, along with Dutch and English slave traders treated cative Africans much worse. You also ignore other issues of the times; tariffs, central government corruption and spending and exceeding the powers granted in the Constitution of 1787. These later issues are still alive today.
Please read the comments about Patrick Henry’s speech in the article, specifically:
Are we disposed to be of the number of those who, having eyes, see not, and, having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly concern their temporal salvation?
The issue today is do we blindly go down with the ship? It is sinking.
Mike Crane
The last time Texans tried secession, as part of the Confederacy, they tied the exercise of this noble and fundamental right to the benighted cause of plantation slavery, thereby tarnishing the image of secession in the United States for generations, with tragic consequences for freedom that reverberate up to the present day.
Please, members of the Southern Party, don’t repeat this horrendous mistake by tying the modern secessionist case to the benighted cause of discriminating against peaceful immigrants on the basis of nationality!
The North and South will both be better off as separate countries.
Mike Crane @ 17… thanks for your entirely honest response!
If at first you don’t secede try and try again!
To my mind the question isn’t whether the U.S. will ever break up, but rather how. The Soviet Russians had an advantage over most Americans, in that they possess a sense of identity which was deeper & older than their system’s ideology.
I say hurrah for whichever state primes the pump of separation from DC, be it Texas, Georgia, Arizona, or even a northern state! In fact, it might be good if a non-southern state did it, thus taking yet more energy from the states-rights-is-all-about-slavery/racism nonsense.
I would like to respond to the question of Newfederalist above about why the Southern Party of Georgia is concerned about the Republic of Texas.
We arent – that is for the people of Texas. We are concerned about facing the Truth and some intelligent debate about the issue of this coutry which is financially, morally, spiritually and culturally bankrupt which affects us all. More importantly it will have major impact on our children and grandchildren! We care about future generations.
But rejoice, a similar article on Georgia is pending. The commentary about Patrick Henry was mine, the article on Texas was not.
Mike Crane
3rd vice chairman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Secession_in_the_United_States#New_England_Federalists_and_Hartford_Convention
George, there is no need to go through all those legal gymnastics. The states can just secede as is their right. It was their right in 1861, and it remains their right today.
Many here in the north favor southern secession as well.
This once-voluntary republic is indeed broken beyond repair. Governor Henry’s words from so long ago ring even truer today. The flawed paradigm of one-nation-under-God-INDIVISIBLE [emphasis obviously mine] will be the death of those of us who still value the original idea of our founding. Even though many of the forms of the old Constitution (its original idea) remained at least in cosmetic form for a good while after 1865, the sham that it has become is ever clearer every time a public official raises his or her right hand and swears to support and defend the Constitution; rarely do they or (frankly) the ones who elected them expect that oath to be adhered to.
That should be intolerable!
My ancestors helped to fight for a constitutional, voluntary republic, based upon their long-standing traditions and customs of ordered liberty; I want that back!
Gov Perry and all GOD-fearing Texans can show we Georgians the road to secession. The ship is indeed sinking and there are no life boats.
I think the billboard is a “great” conversation starter. It glaringly shows the impossibility of “REFORM”. Separation is the only solution. I think there may even be an article for Georgia on the getofftitanic.com website soon.
I am inclined toward the belief that the current political paralysis in DC, much like the pre-1860 paralysis described in Potter’s The Impending Crisis, is an indication that the United States should contemplate an amicable divorce. This is allowed under our Constitution, namely Congress may with the agreement of the involved states move state boundaries. This is a contemporary active part of the Constitution. If Congress with the agreement of the Texans relocates the borders of the State of Texas to be a one-square-foot tile on the capital stairs, why, Texas is now de facto a separate state, subject to those other parts of the agreement that had to be negotiated at the same time.
Amicable divorces have been a blessing for many married couples, and given the way DC is headed for Hell in a handbasket may yet also solve matters for our Republic. Indeed, having recently finished novels Mistress of the Waves (on Amazon Kindle) and The One World (on Smashwords dot com) I have notes in this direction.
Why is the Southern Party of Georgia concerned about a Republic of Texas?
BTW, Mr. Holland, I am glad to read you will be voting third party this year.
Mr. Holland, you work “within the system,” if you must, in the primaries. In the general, however, you punish the major party closest to you if they nominated some moderate clown instead of the more ideological candidate you were working for. What will NEVER change the system is continuing to reward it for its bad behavior with your vote.
The ability of Patrick Henry to be able not only to see things clearly, but to be able to articulate his thoughts and observations, are as relevant today as they were 200+ years ago. Henry’s courage not to shut his eyes at “truth” is something our elected officials today would to well to imitate, as should concerned citizens who are loyal readers of the IPR. The fact that we live in a nation dominated by a two-party system is also “a truth” we cannot ignore, and breaking out of this mold is something no 3rd party has been able to accomplish in 100 years. Sure, many have tried, and some have even enjoyed some degree of success, but nothing really lasting [Wallace, Anderson, Perot — even Teddy R.]. Clearly, something should be done, but in a nation where “majority rules” and the majority of people are “…apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and listen to the song of that siren…” I am afraid it will be “business as usual” in Washington. There are only two solutions — as I see it. One is for grassroots candidates willing to run for office outside the Democrat and GOP ranks to do just that…. Until that local change is made, no substantial national change will be possible. And then there is that ultimate frustration — solution #2 — to try to work “within the system” which means “within one of the two major parties.” How do we do that, when thoughts, ideas and opinions — even beliefs and morals –are on opposite polar ends? Compromise is the answer, but for the upcoming election, I am quite frankly not in a compromising mood. Just as Patrick Henry said “I know not what course others may take…;” and as Joshua said “…As for me and my household” [Joshua 24:15], I will be voting “3rd Party” in the coming election, on the simple ground of priciple. and will vote “3rd Party.” I only have one vote, but it is a precious thing, and I will not give it away to anyone I feel does not deserve it.
This spring, I have become a new IPR reader, and to all of you, I want to say I have enjoyed reading what you have to say. Do I agree with everything? Well, no…. But we are standing on common ground, and I only wish Mr. Henry were alive today to give us “his thoughts….”
The billboard is a creative way of reaching people – we need more of this kind of approach. I’d even say a dash of humor would lighten the load of doom and gloom assessments
Runaway spending, domestic surveillance, forced demographic revolution – what is DC doing that any sane person would want?
There must be a better choice than one of two big-government parties. Since DC is the problem, not the solution, maybe we’d be better off making our own choices for a change.
We expect big things from our billboard campaign. Please help us out if you are able.
Agreed. We all need to acknowledge that DC is beyond repair. Per the Declaration, the time to abolish is upon us.
Hear! Hear!