Shorter Rick Perry: Reconstruction Never Happened

Rick Perry continues to stand behind his secessionist comments, saying that Texas is the only state with the right to secede because of some obscure bit in the 1845 agreement to annex the place to the United States. Perry claims that Texas can split into 5 states. While it's slightly unclear from that treaty that such a move would require congressional approval, of course Congress would never actually allow it. He also forgets about something called Reconstruction. Given that Texas already committed treason to defend slavery, they lost those rights in 1861. They didn't just rejoin the union in 1865. They had to come to new terms to reenter the union, and in fact were one of the last 3 states to do so. I would think that from any legal standpoint, the agreement to reenter the union in the 1869 would supercede that previous treaty. No one seems to be talking about this. I know Texas and the rest of the South would prefer to forget Reconstruction, but it's kind of important and it those reannexation agreements should provide strong legal standing to repressing secessionist Texans.

It's not only Perry of course who is tossing around the idea of leaving the union. Here's Hot Tub Tom DeLay saying the same thing:



Perhaps the reason no one is mentioning the Reconstruction agreements is that everyone really wants Texas to leave the nation. Perhaps the U.S. and Mexico could become closer as nations by acting together in a two front invasion of Texas, burning everything to the ground. Would anyone actually oppose this?

On the other hand, I'm not super thrilled with becoming a refugee, straggling to the Oklahoma line, and avoiding the guns of crazy Texans determined to massacre those who defend the union and don't subscribe to their treasonous cause. It's not as if they haven't done this before.