Pro-Trump Republican secession rhetoric in Texas and elsewhere is more than a punchline

[Nevilledog]

https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/pro-trump-republican-secession-rhetoric-texas-elsewhere-more-punchline-ncna1259016


For the past few months, a long-buried idea has been creeping from the fringe into mainstream Republican discourse: secession. Following President Joe Biden’s victory in November, GOP officials from Wyoming to Florida to Mississippi have floated the idea, claiming that the time for a national fracturing may be near. While there’s something of a seasonal flavor to this injection of rhetoric — Republican honchos like former Texas Gov. Rick Perry openly discussed secession following Barack Obama’s rise to the presidency, for instance — the recent rounds feel qualitatively different. As journalist and author Richard Kreitner, an expert on American secessionism, recently wrote, it’s time to “take secessionist talk seriously.”

And it’s not difficult to see why. In the wake of the failed pro-Trump insurrection in Washington, far-right American militias, buoyed by former President Donald Trump’s empty claims that the election was “stolen,” have increasingly agitated for the break-up of the U.S. As the head of one paramilitary group that has worked closely with conspiratorial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., recently revealed, they’d “formed alliances with other far-right groups to advocate for Georgia’s secession.” One of the primary Facebook pages promoting the rally-turned-riot was also called “Red-State Secession.” Meanwhile, mainstream outlets like Fox News joke approvingly about secessionist movements in places like northern California — despite the movement’s clear comfort with political violence — while a range of employees at Glenn Beck’s outlet continue to call for the break-up of the U.S.

And it’s not just a tiny fringe that’s thinking about these concepts anymore. As the Bright Line Watch, a group of researchers from places like Dartmouth University, the University of Rochester, and University of Chicago, noted in a study released earlier in February, one-third of Republicans said they support secession. Disturbingly, half of Republicans across the former Confederacy (plus Kentucky and Oklahoma) are now willing to break off to form a newly independent country.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Texas is leading this charge. As The Daily Beast reported, a Texas state lawmaker — one who attended the Capitol rally on Jan. 6 and claimed it was “the most amazing day” — recently filed the first serious secession bill the country has seen since the Civil War. The Texas Republican Party promptly endorsed the bill, which would give Texans the right to vote in a secession referendum later this year, with Texas Gov. Greg Abbott refusing to denounce the legislation.

*snip*

[hedda_foil]

1. Thanks! This is written by Casey Michel, author of "American Kleptocracy."

[gulliver]

2. Put it on the ballot, Republicans!

I think the secession would be within the Republican Party in Texas. Half of Texas Republicans would dump the posing big mouths, the lying-ass yahoos, and the scoundrels in their party, turning the state dark blue.

[Iliyah]

3. shithole's cult wants to . . .

seize Democrats' property and lands and kick them out of the states that are seceding.

I'm pretty sure shithole's cult want to hold onto undocumented workers as slaves. Ya whooooooo!

[PJMcK]

4. Go for it, Texas

From my point of view, it's heads I win, tails you lose.

If you successfully secede, the rest of us will be done with you. We'll cancel all federal contracts with businesses in your state, remove all the military facilities and personnel and seal off your borders, maybe with a wall.

If you fail to secede, you will have destroyed your political party, exposed yourselves as anti-Americans and diminished your state's standing which will affect everything in Texas' future.

So, have at its Hoss!

[dutch777]

5. Couldn't agree more. TX without Fed help would become akin to Mexico in many ways.

Who'd bail them out after the next hurricane hit? And with peak fossil fuel leaving them economically weaker and weaker will be a quick trip to insolvency. Hope the Repubs there waste a lot of time and energy chasing this angle.

[kimbutgar]

7. And no more social security for the residents

Let that money go to US citizens not the country of Texas!

[kimbutgar]

6. I wonder how all those Californians that have moved there in the last year feel about this ?

Personally I know 4 families that have moved there In the last couple of years. One was a neighbor family with three kids of Asian Indian descent. I ran into a neighbor who still kept in touch with them and she said the kids are miserable and are experiencing terrible racism after being used to living in San Francisco. Between the bad storm and the crazy politics I wonder if they are regretting their decisions.

[edhopper]

8. Is sessesion a threat

or a promise?

[struggle4progress]

9. Up next: "Conservatives still lack new ideas"

Followed by: "Let's secede again!"
And then by: "Why did we stop burning people for witchcraft?"
Stay tuned!