Daniel Miller opened this week’s Late Night Coffee Talk in the shadow of the Uvalde school shooting, which had broken into the news the day before. Speaking as the father of six, he refused to turn the tragedy into a policy fight on the spot, calling instead for Texans to grieve together before arguing over solutions. He reserved hard words for the politicians already grandstanding, singling out Beto O’Rourke’s press-conference stunt as despicable, and drew a firm line: no amount of grief will buy the surrender of the right to keep and bear arms or to defend yourself from a criminal like the shooter.
From there the hour turned to viewer questions, and the through-line was money and method. On the gold standard, Miller’s point was blunt. Inside the federal currency union, Texas can dream up the perfect monetary system and still do nothing about it. The Texas Gold Depository Act already quietly authorizes electronic transactions denominated in deposited precious metal, so the gap between where Texas is and where it could be is small. The catch is that closing it requires TEXIT first. Until then, Texans stay chained to the Federal Reserve’s printing press.
He also walked through the worn-out objection that Washington would never let Texas leave. Miller flipped the script: the burden of proof runs the other way. The case for a non-military federal response is overwhelming, and the only evidence the fearmongers ever produce is the 1860s. If your evidence has an expiration date of 1865, he argued, it is not evidence. He closed with a look at what is coming, the Republican Party of Texas convention and a major July project, and Sam Houston’s line that Texas will again lift its head and stand among the nations.
Questions answered in this episode
- Can Texas go back to a gold monetary standard, and what would post-independence monetary policy look like?
- Did the TNM secure a booth at the Republican Party of Texas state convention?
- How does the TNM help supporters who want to run for public office?
- If Texas votes to leave the union, will the United States allow it to go peacefully?
- Once Texas is independent, will ending open primaries be a priority?
- Does the TNM have a policy position on geoengineering and weather modification?
- Will the movement take a popularity hit because of the elementary school shooting?
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