Idle Threat of the Week

Speaking on Wednesday to a crowd of tea baggers (yeah, that's still funny) at a Tax Day Tea Party in Austin, Texas Gov. Rick Perry suggested the possibility that the state may eventually secede from the nation if the Obama administration does not alter its economic policies. (Perry obviously suffers from short term memory loss and has forgotten that some of those policies, such as the bailout plan, are from Mr. Bush's time in the White House.)

While addressing the audience, Perry stated that "We've got a great union. There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot." Let's take a closer look at Perry's brilliant comments:

1. So Perry feels that Washington is thumbing their nose at the American people, huh? The same Washington which designated $555 million from the federal economic stimulus plan in order to expand the state's unemployment benefits. (By the way, Perry rejected every last penny of that $555 million.)
2. And Texas is supposed to be "a pretty independent lot"? Does that explain why, even though Perry did reject those funds, the Texas Senate recently voted to accept the stimulus money. Wow, that's really sticking to your guns, Texas.

Perry is also so cute for thinking that a state is just allowed to secede whenever it wants. As I pointed out in a previous posting, the U.S. Constitution does not permit unilateral secession but instead only a mutually agreed upon withdrawal.