VMI77 wrote:equin wrote:Saw this on another forum. Call me a die-hard American patriot who still believes in America, but I respectfully disagree with secession.
Many from Texas fought and died for these UNITED States, including Harlon Block shown in the famous flag-raising photo at the Battle of Iwo Jima (photo by Joe Rosenthal of the Associated Press):
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Sadly, many from Texas and other states and territories of the UNITED States continue to do so in Afghanistan.
States like Kalifornia, New Jersey, Maryland, and Connecticut are no longer really part of the United States, since the majority of their populations and their governments do not share the fundamental values and principles on which the United States was founded. America isn't a geographical location, it's the expression of fundamental values about the organization of government and the relationship between individuals and the State. Obama and a good number of his supporters are active enemies of those values. The men who fought in WW2 were fighting for a different country than what is represented by many of what I'll just call today's "blue states."
That said I don't believe there is any chance of succession short of some national catastrophic event that threatens to take the entire country down with the blue states.
I respectfully, but strongly disagree. Yes, it is true that the men who fought in WW2 were fighting for a country with a different social fabric than today, just as the men who fought and died at the battles of Valley Forge and Gettysburg were also fighting for a country different from that of the one in 1939-45. If you're implying, however, that our country during WW2 was somehow "more free" than it is today, I disagree. Let's not forget that J. Edgar Hoover, the former director of the FBI at that time, had his infamous list of potentially disloyal Americans and even proposed a plan to suspend the writ of habeas corpus at the outbreak of the Korean War (which, by the way, many Texans also fought and died in for the sake this great country). Let's also not forget the infamous "Jim Crow laws" and "separate but equal" (more like drastically inequal) segregation laws that many loyal African-Americans, including Texans and those brave men known as the Tuskegee Airmen), had to suffer and be humiliated with. So in that sense, yes, it was vastly different, but those days weren't any more "free" for freedom loving Americans and Texans than they are today. In fact, I don't think concealed carry was allowed under Texas law at that time, either.
As for California, New Jersey, Maryland, etc. somehow not being a part of the U.S., how so? I guarantee that if our country's enemies bomb and invade any one of the states you mentioned, I along with many other Americans and Texans, will gladly take up arms and fight to defend the U.S. and the American citizens of those states from foreign invaders. Are you saying that because the people of those states exercised their right to vote in a democratic election and the majority of the people of those states voted for a President whom a minority voted against that somehow those states no longer share the freedoms enjoyed by the U.S. Constitution? For one, none of those states UNANIMOUSLY voted Democratic. There was still a sizable percentage in each of those states who voted Republican. Secondly, the Republican party was able to exercise it's right to free speech and association by campaigning for the Republican candidate in each of those states without being arrested or imprisoned. Also, I'm not aware of any person who voted Republican being arrested or placed on some kind of blacklist in any of those states just for voting Republican. Thirdly, although many of those states unfortunately have stricter gun laws compared to our state, you can still hunt, fish, buy and shoot a firearm in each of those states. Yes, California has the infamously unpopular magazine-round restriction. But if its citizens wanted to, there is nothing in the laws of California, as guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution, from allowing its citizens to vote to repeal such a law if the majority wanted to. The fact that a majority haven't, in my view, does not mean that it is no longer a part of the U.S.
Lastly, talks of secession in my opinion invoke unpatriotic defeatism, disloyalty to one's country and downright whining for the sake of whining of the loser, quitter attitude that is so un-American. It's akin to the unsportsmanslike behavior of one who is losing in a game to just quit for the sake of quitting because he can't stand being so inept and uncompetitive. Whatever happened to the capitalistic competitive drive that the Republican party once stood for? Is that what many in the Republican party have become? If so, no wonder the party's doomed! Sheesh! For once, how about if the party tried to educate the populace in areas where a majority has traditionally voted Democtratic? But quit and give up on one's country after so many have shed their blood defending it? I think not!
Some folks say it has nothing to do with the recent election but a lot to do with current challenges facing our country, like the huge national debt, illegal immigration, etc. Again, just secede and run away from challenges? And from Texans of all people, known for our history of facing impossible odds, such as at the Battle of the Alamo! I remember two years ago when Texas had a huge budget deficit of several billion dollars, despite the high sales and property taxes many of us have been paying. So are certain counties going to want to secede from Texas the next time we have a severe budget shortfall?
As for illegal immigration, I once worked for the INS long before it became ICE under Homeland Security. For one, it says a lot when so many from other parts of the world risk everything to come to our great country. For another, under the Reagan Administration the INS suffered severely from being woefully underfunded. It was Reagan who proposed and later signed into law the two various forms of Amnesty granting millions of illegal immigrants permanent residency and which set into motion the hope for future illegal immigrants the chance that more amnesties will be passed later on. The reason? Powerful agricultural interests lobbied and complained that Border Patrol would often swoop in and deport their source of dirt-cheap labor. The first kind of amnesty was strictly for undocumented agricultural workers, but when other business interests took note, the second kind of amnesty was made for all illegal immigrants who could prove they'd been in the U.S. for seven years without getting into any kind of trouble. Later during the Clinton Administration, the INS broke record after record, year after year, of the number of aliens deported, while massive amounts of money were invested to bring the INS back up to speed. So for Republicans to cry foul about illegal immigration when many powerful business interests who bankroll the party tend to benefit from this problem is truly ironic, especially so when Democrats are rhetorically blamed for being weak on immigration. It shouldn't be a partisan issue, but sadly it is, but I digress.
The point is that instead of quitting on America, I say do the American thing and don't quit! Continue to write Congress and the Senate. Exercise your freedom of speech and distribute newsletters and pamphlets to educate the populace. Look at the NRA for cripes sake! It's a master at exercising freedom of speech to educate America and defend our 2nd Amendment right to bear arms and defend ourselves! It hasn't given up on those states you mentioned and continues to lobby within them to change their laws for the better. Each one of the states you mentioned has IDPA matches similar to what we have here in Texas:
Maryland:
http://www.mdshooters.com/showthread.php?t=92274" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
California:
http://www.goldengate-idpa.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
New Jersey:
http://www.sjidpa.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Connecticut:
http://www.nwcsa.org/2011/04/idpa2011/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
On this day of Veteran's Day, I'm proud to be an American, and I thank those who fought, shed blood and died for this great country and for the freedoms we enjoy and often take for granted.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Jim Varhegyi)
it's not like we're not on most every list anyway 
