Miller on Monday: Nobody Likes A “Told Ya So”

In the era where truth has become fake, facts have become opinion, and information has become the world’s worst buffet restaurant, one thing is still indisputable – when you’re right, you’re right.

Now I completely understand that no one really likes to hear the words “I told you so.” Especially when the person uttering those words told you something that threatened a long cherished belief. Which is part of the difficulty experienced daily by the Texas Nationalist Movement. That’s pretty much our job.

At the risk of being a “told ya so,” our track record has been great.

Take for instance this assertion. We said that a majority of Texas Republicans support Texas independence. We didn’t make this declaration out of naked optimism. Rather, we used polling data, both from third-party polling companies and internal polling, to reach this conclusion. In response we were sneered at by the political class, met with skepticism by the media, and outright called liars by history professors masquerading as political experts. Even people in our ranks were beginning to doubt whether this was true.

Yet, when we forced the issue in May of 2016 at the state convention of the Republican Party of Texas, we were proven right. Unsurprisingly, the “sneer section” hasn’t been forthcoming with an apology.

In trying to encourage some of our less-than-courageous brethren, we said that self-determination and nationalism were breaking the back of globalism. The response from globalists was ridicule. The response from the Moses Rose Brigade was the same. The reason is simple. This assertion challenged a long-held belief/fear that national identities would eventually be supplanted by a global system of governance that would look like a music video for John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ and function like a Soviet gulag.

But we held fast to our belief because we could see the trend: The growth in the number of nation-states, the effect of the telecommunications revolution on economics, the interconnected nature of economy and self-government, the rise of nationalist popular sentiment around the world, the growth of the number of self-determination movements globally, and the effect of that growing nationalism right here in Texas.

Again, we were proven right. The rise of the UK Independence Party. The Scottish independence referendum. The rise of nationalist parties in countries around the world. The impending dissolution of the European Union. Brexit. Frexit. Nexit. Catalonia. Sao Paulo. Calexit. Texit. Headlines showing absolute panic among globalists.

Still, no apologies have been forthcoming.

Heck, we’ve even got a solid track record on Federal elections. Although we generally hold the position that anyone who invests any belief in changing the Federal system will be met with crushing disappointment, we’ve also been very specific. We said that Obama would beat both McCain and Romney.

In the emotional run-up to both of those elections, even some of our most die-hard supporters were tempted to get caught up in the excitement of the day and spend time and energy campaigning for McCain and Romney. In hindsight, I think we can all agree that both McCain and Romney were, and still are, duds. But we knew from the jump that a cardboard cutout of J.R. Ewing would have fared better than either of those two.

Those predictions were just a piece of our larger assertion. It’s this one that Texans need to heed – and fast. We have said since our inception that who becomes President doesn’t really matter to Texas. We’re going to continue to get the short end of the deal.

I get it. Some Texans are hopeful that a billionaire businessman from New York will be able to connect with the challenges that Texans face and will be able to use his position as President to correct the evils and injustices of the Federal system.

To those Texans, any assertion to the contrary is unfathomable. But, follow our logic.

The President of the United States is a powerful position. They wield a tremendous amount of influence, but they are not the real or only power.

The Federal system is not just the President or his cabinet. It’s the 2.5 million unelected Federal bureaucrats. It’s the Federal judiciary, including the Supreme Court, who can strike down our laws and even provisions of our Texas Constitution with the stroke of a pen. It is an inequitable tax system that sees Texans paying billions more into the Federal system than we get back. It is the United States Congress that has 38 Texans out of a total of 535. It’s those 497 others who have the final say on policies that govern our border, our economy, our trade policy, and every other aspect of our lives. More often than not, those policies are one-size-fits-none with Texas bearing the cost of their failure.

Just in the past few days we have been given three clear examples that show how right we are. Does any of this ring a bell?

A Republican Congress is shoving through a healthcare plan that keeps the most odious parts of Obamacare. The Vault7 CIA leak, yet again, proves that the Federal Government is spying on everyone. A Federal court just said that Texans are racists and overturned the maps of some of our Congressional districts.

Need further proof? There are 440 separate Federal agencies. An overwhelming number could have been eliminated by executive order. They are all still there. Remember the IRS Commissioner who oversaw the political targeting of Tea Party groups and their donors? He could have been fired or, at a minimum, asked to resign. He’s still the IRS Commissioner. Remember that $1 billion Texas is having to spend to protect our border with Mexico, essentially doing the job that the Federal Government won’t. An executive order could have come out of the White House redirecting border funds to help offset the expense coming out of our pockets. Hasn’t happened.

Cue the chorus of “give him a chance.” But those that are part of that chorus miss the point. Our assertion is not about the new President. It is about the Federal system. As long as Texas is a part of that Federal system, this will be our reality. In this instance, being a “told ya so” is no fun and there is no joy in being right.