On Texas

Ok so I've been stewing about this all day and I have a couple minutes so I'm going to get it down.

I'm sure you've heard about all the states signing petitions to secede from the Union. Yeah, ok, big deal, happens every election. And I'm sure you've also heard that Texas has a petition that is signed by right around 25,000 signatures, a number that is worthy of the attention of the white house and the president. I don't even take issue with that. It's a valid, if somewhat childish way for some Texans to get their voice heard on issues that they feel are important.

This is what I take issue with. This quote is made by Peter Morrison the treasurer of the Hardin County (Texas) Republican Party.

"We must contest every single inch of ground and delay the baby-murdering, tax-raising socialists at every opportunity. But in due time, the maggots will have eaten every morsel of flesh off of the rotting corpse of the Republic, and therein lies our opportunity... Why should Vermont and Texas live under the same government? Let each go her own way in peace, sign a free trade agreement among the states and we can avoid this gut-wrenching spectacle every four years."

Now lets just avoid the first couple of sentences that employ a blatant use of dramatic and evocative language and focus on the last two sentences. 

"Why should Vermont and Texas live under the same government? Let each go her own way in peace, sign a free trade agreement among the states and we can avoid this gut-wrenching spectacle every four years."

First of all the reason why we all live together under the same government is twofold (and really so-many-more-fold than that, but I'm only going to talk about two)

1. It's good to have different views within one government. If we all just took our toys and went off to our own separate corners of the room, it might be "easier", but the values of having to defend your ideas against someone who believes as strongly in their ideas as you do would be lost as well as the opportunity to realize your ideas are wrong and improve on them. 

2. One of the reasons we are all together is that we work together and to work together peacefully you need to take into account your work-partner's beliefs and thoughts. You can't just roll in and push your agenda on your business partner. Likewise you can't just pull out of an integrated relationship with your partner and expect that you will have equal or free trade. Trade, work and business requires the maturity to realize there are differences in what you believe, that that's ok, and being able to move on past your differences and live with each other. 

Second of all. I'm as big a hater of political adds as anyone. And yes the election gets long. But this "gut-wrenching spectacle" is the product of two centuries of women and men's hard and tireless work to  build a country where people are free to disagree, free to run adds, free to write petitions to secede and not have an army marching towards them the next morning, and free to vote for who is the best person to lead the country. And yes there are things to fix still and yes it isn't perfect and yes we will always disagree and that's ok. We need to disagree. But I suggest to Mr. Morrison that he take a step back and look at the privilege he has in making these claims and voting before he applies any more ridiculous 'gut-wrenching" language to his arguments. 

And now that I'm off the Elephant and Donkey train for the day, I have a much better quote for you.

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

Thanks for reading. Let me know what you think!