There’s something deeply telling about watching a failed California political operative lecture Texans about self-determination. Ron Nehring, whose claim to fame seems to be a string of embarrassing political missteps in the Golden State, has emerged from obscurity to offer his unsolicited thoughts on TEXIT in a piece recently highlighted by Newsweek.
The Leadership Institute, where Nehring now serves as Director of International Training, might want to reconsider their association with someone whose expertise seems limited to spectacular political failures and tired conspiracy theories. After all, this is the same Ron Nehring who, as California GOP chairman, turned his party’s hiring practices into a late-night television punchline by bringing in foreign nationals under questionable circumstances.
But Nehring’s past failures aren’t the real story here. The fundamental problem with his analysis isn’t just that it’s wrong – though it certainly is that. The real issue is that it represents everything that’s broken in the Federal system. Here we have someone who has never lived under the Texas sun, never understood our culture, and never grasped our history, presuming to tell Texans what they can and cannot do with their own political destiny.
TEXIT isn’t a foreign plot or a fringe movement. It’s the natural response of a people who have watched a Federal government grow increasingly detached from reality, drunk on its own power, and utterly indifferent to the will of the people it claims to serve. When Washington takes in billions more from Texas than it returns, when it imposes regulations that strangle our economy, when it treats our border like a turnstile – these aren’t Russian talking points. These are facts that Texans live with every single day.
Nehring’s attempt to paint TEXIT as some kind of Kremlin operation would be laughable if it weren’t so predictable. This is the same tired playbook that the political establishment always uses when confronted with ideas they can’t control. They can’t argue the merits, so they resort to baseless accusations and fearmongering.
The truth that Nehring and his ilk refuse to acknowledge is that TEXIT’s strength comes from its roots in fundamental American principles – the same principles that inspired the Founders of both the United States and the Republic of Texas. Self-determination isn’t a foreign concept to Texans. It’s woven into the fabric of who we are. It’s enshrined in our State Constitution, which explicitly reserves the right of Texans to alter or abolish their government when it no longer serves their interests.
What Nehring fails to grasp is that TEXIT isn’t about hatred for America – it’s about love for Texas and the principles that made America great in the first place. When the Federal government abandons those principles, it shouldn’t surprise anyone that Texans look to preserve them through independence.
This speaks to a larger truth that establishment figures like Nehring can’t seem to comprehend. TEXIT isn’t just a political movement. It’s the natural expression of Texas’s distinct cultural and historical identity. When Texans talk about independence, we’re not speaking in abstract terms. We’re talking about reclaiming the right of self-government that was fundamental to the creation of both Texas and the United States.
The Federal government’s continued overreach, its systematic dismantling of state sovereignty, and its contempt for local governance aren’t theoretical concerns for Texans – they’re daily realities. While Nehring sits in his comfortable office crafting conspiracy theories, Texans are watching their rights erode, their wealth being drained, and their values being dismissed by a distant bureaucracy that views Texas as nothing more than a source of revenue.
Every time someone like Nehring attacks TEXIT, they only prove our point. They demonstrate the contempt that the political establishment has for the idea that people might actually want to govern themselves. They reveal their fear that other States might follow Texas’s lead and reject the failed Federal model.
TEXIT continues to grow because it offers something that the Federal system can’t – hope. Hope that we can build something better. Hope that we can preserve the principles of liberty and self-government. Hope that we can create a future worthy of our children. While Nehring and his establishment friends peddle fear and conspiracy theories, TEXIT offers Texans a positive vision for the future – one where decisions about Texas are made by Texans, not by failed political operatives or distant bureaucrats.
So let Nehring write his hit pieces. Let Newsweek publish them. The truth is, their opinions matter far less than they think. The future of Texas will be decided by Texans, not by failed political operatives or media outlets pushing establishment narratives.
The question isn’t whether Texas can survive without the Federal government. The question is whether the Federal government can survive without Texas. And that’s a question that clearly keeps people like Nehring up at night.
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