Texas Attorney General candidate Barry Smitherman, when he’s not advocating for pre-birth voting rights, is apparently talking up Texas’ ability to go it alone as an independent nation (h/t Jenn). He apparently said in an interview that Texas is “uniquely situated because we have energy resources, fossil and otherwise, and our own independent electrical grid…. [Texas has] been very strong leading in the charge agains the Obama administration.”
People like this tend to wrap themselves in the American flag when it suits their purposes, then talk about taking their ball and going home when the rest of America doesn’t do exactly what they want. Democracy is messy, America is big and diverse, and affluent white men don’t always get what they want anymore. Sorry, Mr. Smitherman, but it’s life. (Also, no legal authority for secession exists.)
I could not find any specific statements Smitherman has made recently regarding the Pledge of Allegiance, but I do see that he was a guest speaker at a meeting of the Texas Patriots PAC on August 6, 2013, which reportedly opened with an invocation and the Pledge of Allegiance. (The minutes do not mention if it was to the U.S. or the Texas flag. Yes, Texas has its own pledge of allegiance.)
My question for Smitherman is this: Did you recite the pledge to the U.S. flag that day, and say the words “to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible…”?
If yes, why are you talking about secession? You pledged your allegiance to the United States of America. Why should anyone believe anything you say if you are so flagrantly willing to go back on your pledge? “Indivisible” is not an ambiguous word, sir.
I realize that I’m shouting into the wind here. If Smitherman even recognizes the contradiction of what he says, he can wave it away by an appeal to faith or patriotism or something. He is running for Attorney General of Texas, which is basically the lawyer for the entire state. We need someone who understands the concept of state government and federalism, and who won’t keep embarrassing us on the national stage.
On an unrelated note, the author of the article from whence this information came offers a glimpse of the next generation of Smithermans (well, the next generation of Sarah Palins, more likely.) She named herself the “Hottest Conservative Chick” in an article that mentioned a mud wrestling match with Ann Coulter. There, now that image is burned into your brain, too. (Is she the hottest conservative chick? Decide for yourself. I will refer to her as a crazy hot libertarian, though, and let you ponder how words can sometimes act as either adverbs or adjectives.)
Photo credit: KellyP42 from morguefile.com.
