Gov. Rick Perry Declares Texas Sovereignty; Suggests Secession!

Texas Gov. Rick Perry so incited an anti-tax (and largely anti-Obama) "tea party" Wednesday with his anti-Washington and states' rights rhetoric that the audience began to shout, "Secede!"

Perry told the crowd at Austin City Hall -- one of three tea parties he attended on Wednesday that,

"I believe the federal government has become oppressive. It’s become oppressive in its size, its intrusion in the lives of its citizens, and its interference with the affairs of our state.

Texans need to ask themselves a question. Do they side with those in Washington who are pursuing this unprecedented expansion of power, or do they believe in individual rights and responsibilities laid down in our foundational documents.

Where’re you gonna’ stand? With an ever-growing Washington bureaucracy, or are you going to stand with the people of this state who understand the importance of state’s rights.

Texans need to stand up. They need to be heard, because the state of affairs that we find ourselves in cannot continue indefinitely..."

Perry told the crowd he didn’t believe they were all “right-wing extremists,” as others had sought to portray them. “But if you are, I’m with you!” he shouted.

Later, in response to reporters' questions, Perry said,

"At some point Texans might get so fed up they would want to secede from the union. There's a lot of different scenarios. ...if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that..."

Perry added that when Texas entered the union in 1845 it was with the understanding it could pull out. Perry got that wrong, however; Texas negotiated the power to divide into four additional states at some point, but Texas did not reserve the right to secede.

In this video of a press event several days ago, Governor Rick Perry declares Texas' sovereignty from the U.S., saying that,
"...We think it’s time to draw the line in the sand and tell Washington that no longer are we going to accept their oppressive hand in the state of Texas.

That’s what this press conference, that’s what these Texans are standing up for. There is a point in time where you stand up and say enough is enough, and I think Americans, and Texans especially have reached that point."

Perry is appealing to the Republic of Texas movement members. The Republic of Texas is a group of secessionists that claims annexation of Texas by the United States was illegal and Texas remains an independent nation under occupation. The issue of the Legal status of Texas led the group to set up a provisional shadow government for the sovereign nation of Texas on December 13, 1995. The movement had been discredited after two of its members, Jack Abbot Grebe Jr. and Johnie Wise, were convicted in 1998 of threatening to assassinate several government officials, including President Bill Clinton, and the group, while still active, had remained largely out of public view. Activists within the secessionist movement claim over 40,000 active supporters; however, there has been no public support for an independent Texas -- at least until Governor Perry breathed new live into the movement with his recent public statements of support of a sovereign Texas.

Gov. Perry publicly supports Texas State Rep. Brandon Creighton's Concurrent House Resolution (HCR50) of Texas "states’ rights" submitted in the 2009 81st session of the Texas legislature.