Big mistake

1/22/2013

Texas is famous as the state where everything is big: geography, women’s hair, men’s cowboy hats, enthusiasm for guns and capital punishment — and also its bad ideas.

The latest big mistake from Texas took the form of a petition to the White House asking to be allowed to secede from the United States. Texas isn’t the only state where residents have signed petitions to leave the Union, but its movement is more mainstream than others.

The New York Times reported that a group of would-be secessionists met with Texas Republican leaders — including Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst — on the opening day of the state legislature this month. They were received cordially.

But then came a big disappointment. Jon Carson, director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, was gracious enough to dignify the ridiculous Texan petition — which had 125,746 signatures — with a reply: Secession is not an option under the Constitution.

Big surprise? Hardly. But this episode still might cause many Americans elsewhere to wish that Texans could leave.