Texit first cycle ends

Texit – the movement for Texas to reassert the independence it gave up in 1845 – will die in the Texas Legislature. The bill to put Texit to a vote never got a hearing in committee. Dan Miller, head of the Texas Nationalist Movement, naturally expressed his disappointment. He did so with a threat to “primary” every Texas legislator (almost all Republican!) who “chubbed” his bill. But he can take heart. Secessionist movements, even revolutionary ones, often go through several cycles of apparent failure of will, nerve, or stamina. However many cycles any movement goes through, people remember the one that succeeds.

Texit – what happened

On 25 January 2021, Representative Kyle Biedermann (R-Fredericksburg, Gillespie Co., Texas) introduced HB 1359, the Texas Independence Referendum Act. Nothing further happened until 5 March, when the bill got its first reading. The Texas House referred it to its Committee on State Affairs.

And there it languished. At least five other Texas Representatives signed on as authors, five days after the Committee assignment. But after that, nothing happened. Even Dan Miller’s brilliant ploy of asking Texans to record “virtual testimonies” did not budge the “chubbers.”

Dan Miller angrily addressed the Constitutional Texans of Collin County on 27 May.

In that speech he charged that Rep. Jeff Leach (R-Collin Co.) actually told Miller that “nobody supports” Texit. And that, said Leach, is why Texas independence would not come to a vote. That attitude, says Miller, was typical – and among Republicans. Democrats, he said, often expressed willingness to allow a vote. Miller didn’t say whether those Democrats secretly hoped Texans would vote “Nay” and put paid to the notion. But if Republicans didn’t even want the vote, Miller asks, what do they fear?

Last of all, Miller swore that those Representatives would hear from Texans in primary season next year. He said nothing about Rep. Biedermann’s present attempts to urge Governor Greg Abbott (R-Texas) to summon the Legislature into special session. (The legislature ends its regular session on Memorial Day.)

Why did Texit fail?

Secession or revolution requires discontent, and enough to stand against complacency and “FUD” (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt). So those in power must engage in what Tom (The Bonfire of the Vanities) Wolfe once called “steam control.” Let a steam-heat system build up pressure, and it will explode catastrophically. So in addition to chubbing, the Texas Legislature has engaged in steam control.

The federal government, since President Joe Biden took office, has given Texans plenty of “steam buildup.” Lay aside for the moment the allegation, still real to many Texans, that Biden stole the election. His administration has teed up many bills and executive orders that greatly offend the values of liberty that the TNM holds dear. Among other things, Miller revealed in this explosive live-stream session that federal “critical race theory” “sensitivity trainers” forced several officers and enlisted in the Texas State Guard to undergo their version of “training.”

In response to similar provocations (or the threat of them), the Texas Legislature passed a number of bills to nullify the worst federal excesses and to strike blows for conservative causes. Rep. Biedermann announced many of them on Twitter, including:

SB 8, the Heartbeat Bill.

HB 1927, a “Constitutional Carry” bill.

But then the steam control stalled.

Rep. Biedermann announced his monumental disgust in three tweets on 26 May. In them he called for a special session of the Legislature to deal with:

• Banning of taxpayer-funded lobbying,
• Prohibiting online censorship,
• Keeping men out of women’s sports after the subject themselves to surgical mutilation, and
• Securing the Texas-Mexican border with Texas funds and boots alone.

Furthermore. Rep. Biedermann made this announcement before everyone heard about the “woke training” of the Texas State Guard. That can only provoke Texans further.

Miller quoted Governor Abbott as saying, “Texans must lead, not leave!” True enough, besides the bills that did pass in this year’s legislative session, the Texas Attorney General has joined a number of interstate lawsuits, or threats of lawsuits, against the federal government. That, Miller says, will not suffice.

Texit – on to the next step

Dan Miller has been beating this war drum since 1994. That he has never gotten Texit this close before is because Texas got two sympathetic Presidents, one from Texas (Bush Junior) and another who might as well have been a Texan (Trump). This year, we saw:

• Texas sue several other States, alleging an illegal secretary-of-state compact to appoint the wrong slates of elector-candidates, only to see the Supreme Court refuse even to hear the case.
• The Speaker of the House militarize the Capitol – and demand Texas National Guardsmen to assist.
• A new President immediately issue an executive order to all border wall contractors to down tools, go home, and leave gaps in the wall.

And other, similar provocations. No wonder Rep. Biedermann introduced his bill!

But, just as the original Patriots dealt with their Tories, so Texit advocates have to deal with the complacent. And the fearful, the uncertain, and the doubtful.

Rep. Biedermann wants a special session – and already a flood-the-office-with-calls campaign is under way against the governor’s office. The object: not only to call a special session but to add HB 1359 to it.

Dan Miller isn’t talking about special sessions. He is talking about running primary challengers. As he must, because this movement will require people to support it with a whole heart.

Secession will require patience. It might require more than just one more cycle. But unless the federal government changes hands again, the steam will keep building.

List of earlier articles relating to Texas independence and readiness