The Texas Nationalist Movement was the subject of a recent hit piece on Politico that attempted to link together all of the current boogeymen that frighten the left – the TNM, the Kremlin and right-wing ideologues.

The underlying tone of the piece tried to suggest that the efforts of the TNM were just a part of plan to destabilize the United States. But TNM President Daniel Miller is defiant in identifying the hypocrisy.

“It’s time for the Centralists, the Left and their shills in the media to stop deflecting. If they want to identify the real culprits in destabilizing the United States, they only need to look in the mirror. While Russia ran away from communist ideology in its government after the collapse of the Soviet Union, this lot seems hellbent on recreating it here.”

It is absolutely no secret that the TNM has taken the case for Texas independence to the international community for years including frequent communication with independence movements throughout Europe and Africa as well as North, Central and South America.

“We will continue to take our case to the people of the world. In this we follow in the footsteps of Stephen F. Austin and Benjamin Franklin. Much like those icons, we will continue to talk about independence to anyone who will listen and we will not be intimidated into silence or inaction.”

The Politico piece has so many falsehoods and half truths that it would make a tabloid publisher blush. And Miller points to these as proof that it is merely a hit piece.

“First of all, Nate is not a ‘foreign minister’. He’s our Chief-of-Staff. Neither he nor the organization have ever stated or claimed that he is a foreign minister. The conference in St. Petersburg was not attended by the TNM or by Nate. He was only in St. Petersburg to meet with representatives from the organization which hosted last year’s conference at which TNM presented. They simply wanted to meet to find out more about the TNM and what specifically we were doing to advance the cause of Texas independence. After this, I half expect Politico to publish a picture of me shaking hands with a space alien.”

And this isn’t the first time that the TNM has been subject to tabloid-style rumors connected Texas independence with the Kremlin. In 2013 an article began to make the rounds under the title “Putin Prepares To Arm Texas Separatists As Iran Orders 50,000 Troops To Syria” which accused the Kremlin of “arming of the TNM to wage war against the Obama regime.” The article was rebuffed as pure tabloid fiction, but it seems that even Politico has lowered their standards to that of the Weekly World News.

“Today the TNM is releasing the full text of our remarks from the Self Determination Conference in Moscow. In it people will see that the central theme was Article 1 Section 2 of the Texas Constitution. If the Russian people are subjects of a repressive regime as it is being painted by some media outlets, think about what a risk the TNM took by stating boldly that ‘all political power is inherent in the people’ and that the people ‘have at all time the inalienable right to reform, alter or abolish their government’. The people in Russia were enthusiastic about words that Federal apologists call illegal. Who really are the ones being subjected to a repressive regime?”

In the end, Miller is clear on why he believes this is happening now to the TNM.

“The opposition is desperate. They know that the TNM is growing. They see our successes. They sense that the day of Texas independence is at hand. Our success, and our success alone, guarantees their failure. This is their last ditch attempt at trying to derail the TNM. They have failed. Only an idiot would believe the picture that they are trying to paint of the TNM, and while some Politico readers might fall into that category, the people of Texas do not.”