Daily Skiff

Although I am certainly both, I would say I am an American before I would say I am a Texan.

I am a part of a union and thus I believe in working to solve a national crisis rather than "running away" from it.

After reading the statements of Gov. Rick Perry and some of my fellow Texans, I must say I feel rather confused. Secede? These are chants from either frustrated extremists or ignorant protesters.

Not since the beginning of the Civil War has secession even been a viable topic. Despite the fact that 31 percent of Texans believe that our state has the right to secede, according to a Rasmussen Reports poll, we do not have any legal standing for such an act. The treaty under which Texas joined the United States provided that it could be divided into five separate states, but it does not give the power to legally secede from the Union.

Therefore, the mere conversation of secession is treasonous. So why is Perry standing by the extremists? Or is he himself an extremist?

Election season is upcoming and maybe this is a ploy to marginalize Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison as a U.S. congressional big spender. No matter the reason, Perry may not have advocated secession, but he is promoting the idea in speeches and comments he has given to the media.

"There's absolutely no reason to dissolve it. But if Washington continues to thumb their nose at the American people ... who knows what might come out of that. But Texas is a very unique place, and we're a pretty independent lot to boot," Perry was quoted as saying to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

The governor assumes every Texan shares this ideology, and that is his mistake.

According to the Rasmussen Reports poll, 75 percent of Lone Star State voters would opt to remain in the United States.

Alex S. Turner is a freshman political science major from Dallas.

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