More than a few Texans are angry with the results of the Nov. 6 election.
They didn’t want Barack Obama re-elected as president of the United States. So, to give voice to their anger, they have signed a petition asking the U.S. government to give Texas permission to “peacefully” secede from the Union.
More than 4.5 Texans voted for Republican nominee Mitt Romney, compared to 3.3 million who voted for President Obama. That’s a fairly substantial majority in a single state for the guy who lost the election by about 3.5 million votes nationally.
Is there some good news in this? Only this, as far as I can tell: Texas Gov. Rick Perry is having none of it. He shot his mouth off in 2011 about Texans getting so angry they would want to secede. Critics took that declaration as a tacit endorsement of secession. Perry said he opposed secession back then. He said so even more strongly this time, with the petition making the rounds in Texas. He wants to preserve the Union and will fight any attempt to break away.
But here’s another point the governor needs to make: We are a nation of states united under a common government framework. Petitioning for secession – even a peaceful secession – runs totally counter to our national unity.
More Americans voted for the president’s re-election than voted against it.
The idea of pulling out of the Union simply because your side lost an election is, well, quite un-American.