That is rocking, gun-loving hunter Ted Nugent standing next to the current governor of Texas, Rick Perry.Rick Perry is known in these parts as Governor Good Hair. Due to the ethic that if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all, with his hair being thought, by many, to be the only good thing about the man.
A few days ago I blogged about an ad about Rick Perry that Billy Mitchell had placed in FW Weekly.
This was about the same time that Rick Perry announced that Texas was suing the Environmental Protection Agency because the EPA would like Texas to quit putting so many nasty toxins into the atmosphere and the water.
Months ago Rick Perry brought up the idea of Texas seceding from the Union again. Apparently there are some in Texas who don't believe Texas is bound to the Union by the same ties as the rest of the state, due to some technicality from the early days when Texas transitioned from being an independent republic to merging with the United States.
The idea of Texas no longer being in the Union had me pondering if this would be a good thing or a bad thing.
How would America be different if Texas seceded in 1959, for instance?
Well, Lyndon B. Johnson would not have been a U.S. Senator or John F. Kennedy's vice-president.
JFK would not have been in Dallas on November 23, 1963. JFK likely would have served 2 full terms. We might have avoided the Vietnam Quagmire.
Race relations might have more rapidly improved, with none of the rioting of the 60s.
Without the shock of the JFK assassination and Vietnam, the 60s might not have become such a turbulent, revolutionary time.
Had JFK served out 2 terms it is highly unlikely Richard Nixon would have become President in 1968.
So, without Texas in the Union, we would not have gone through Watergate.
Without Texas the quote, "Houston, we've got a problem," would never have been uttered.
Without Texas in the Union there would have been no President George W. Bush.
Without Texas the 9/11 attacks may still have occurred, but it is unlikely we would have managed to come up with another President who would have led us into invading and occupying Iraq.
Without Texas being able to give America George W. Bush, I'm guessing the American and World economy would be in a lot better place in 2010.
I must back up in time a bit. Did George W.'s dad run as a Texan? Or from Maine? I don't remember. I'm thinking George Bush, the 1st, did do some good things for America that might have turned out differently had someone else been President. Like how Bush, the 1st, handled the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, how he handled the collapse of communism. George, the 1st, seems like such a wise man compared to his smirking offspring.
I'm sure if I pondered it longer I could think of other ways America would be different if Texas had seceded in 1959, but right now I draw a blank.
Oh. I just thought of another. If Texas were not in the Union, the EPA would have nothing to do with Texas.
Imagine a Texas with no Federal Regulating. Yikes!
6 comments:
While I enjoyed this post. It reminded me of that show, Sliders. You've made some large assumptions and at the same time omitted some obvious facts.
JFK avoiding assassination and running 2 terms is a huge assumption. I figure he would have simply been shot at some other location and the Grassy Knoll would lose its infamy.
But you left out the fact that Texans would not have freedom of religion. We'd all be forced into obeying the doctrine set forth by the God-fearing, Bible Thumping, Gun Toting Republicans.
You also left out income tax. We would no longer have to pay income tax (it was the only thing close to positive I could come up with).
But, probably the most glaring omission is that I would no longer be a Texan. And you probably wouldn't be either. I would leave as fast as possible. You would have never come here. Well, unless she was real pretty.
Gar---
So sorry about the large assumptions. Getting assassinated is not the norm. JFK was hugely popular. What Republican could have beaten him for a 2nd term. Then again, his affairs with Marilyn Monroe and others could have become public. JFK likely would not be so lucky surviving that type scandal, as Clinton was to be a few decades later.
Is it not a rather large assumption on your part that Texas would not have freedom of religion? And why would Texas have Republicans if it not part of America? They'd probably be called something like Texipublicans.
Why do you assume the independent nation of Texas would not have an income tax? You have to pay for the Texas army some how.
You're right. I'd not thought of the most obvious, that being if Texas was not part of America, I would not be here. Most likely.
That stupid-ass Lee Oswald was a well traveled man. I suspect it was convenient that the President visited him near his current residence, but I don't think it would have mattered.
On the freedom of religion thing, you should go back and re-read that WA_REDNECK cartoon comment. And be skeered. I've got more than 3 generations. I know how he thinks and it scares me.
I like the Texipublicans. Texicans would be more humorous in various subtle ways that make me giggle.
Texas would increase their property taxes to offset the cost of the military. It would give them ammunition to come and legally take your property for the benefit of the National Pastime of the Country of Texas. That being Football.
Wooo. I just gave myself chills.
Gar---
Why am I sensing you are not all that familiar with Lee Harvey Oswald's story? Have you visited the museum at Dealey Plaza and looked out from the alleged sniper's perch?
If Texas was out of the Union, Lee Harvey would have had to get a passport to visit the U.S. Due to his time in the Soviet Union it is unlikely he would have been granted a visa.
Why would you think Texas would increase property taxes rather than have an income tax?
Sometimes your well-reasoned logic is way too complicated for my simple little brain to follow.
If Texas weren't in America they likely would not have adopted football as their national sport. It'd likely be that other game of football called soccer, due to the likely close ties of Texas to soccer playing Mexico.
I sorta like Texicans better than Texipublicans. I wished I'd thought of it first.
Income tax is too complicated. All profits would be used up trying to increase the education system enough for learnen how to fill out the forms.
Lee Harvey was born in Louisianan so you'd have to assume that he was a US citizen. Therefore, no passport required to visit the good ol' USA - Texas.
And I have visited the plaza and gazed forth from the perch. I don't know if I learned anything though.
You should warn your neighbors to avoid contact with you for the next several days. You implied that Texas has football because of it's membership in the USA. I suspect that your life is in danger and you might be struck by lightning by the Texican Supreme Being.
Gar---
I can see you've put much more thought into these serious issues than have I. I'd forgotten LHO was born in LA. Which is a sad indicator of my failing memory, because I read a long book about him by Norman Mailer, just last month.
Well, Lee Harvey was moved to Texas and would have become a Texan. Then when he moved to the Soviet Union he would have renounced both his Texas and U.S. citizen status.
So, I'm thinking if he tried to cross the border from Texas into America to try and shoot a president, that he'd be stopped at the border.
Then again, nothing much happened to Lee Harvey Oswald when he returned to Texas from the Soviet Union, except for the FBI keeping tabs on him and deciding he was harmless.
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