Vindicated Again: A Socialist New York, a Surveillance Bill in Austin, and the Path That Hasn’t Changed

Daniel Miller opened this week’s Late Night Coffee Talk with a hard look at the ballot box. Every one of the proposed constitutional amendments cleared on Tuesday, which surprised almost no one. Once something reaches the constitutional amendment ballot, it passes at a rate hovering near 100 percent, in part because most voters read a short, sanded-down description, assume that wording is what actually enters the constitution, and vote yes out of civic duty. That is exactly why, he argued, the wording of an independence referendum question matters so much. Phrase it wrong and you get the skewed polling numbers that float around the issue. Phrase it honestly and you measure real sentiment.

From there the conversation turned outward to the other states. A self-described socialist was just elected mayor of New York City, Donald Trump’s endorsement win rate this cycle was reportedly close to zero, and there are still no Epstein files and no Fort Knox audit. Miller’s point was blunt. These results are not mistakes. They are how a great many people genuinely think and vote. The question he keeps putting to wavering Texans is whether Texas can stay tied to a union that is always one election cycle away from that. He would not say “I told you so,” but he made clear he considers the movement vindicated again, and treats that vindication as ammunition for the field.

The night closed on a warning about Austin. Miller dug into SB2420, sold as an “App Store Accountability Act” to shield children from adult content, which in practice mandates ID verification just to download apps. He framed it as a digital fingerprint on everything you do, demanding more identity verification to install software than the state asks of you to vote, and teased a Texian Partisan investigation into Texas cities and counties building what he called an Orwellian surveillance apparatus. He also fielded a wide run of process questions on what an independent Texas would actually look like.

Questions answered in this episode

• Every proposed constitutional amendment passed on Tuesday. Does that mean anything that reaches the ballot will pass, and what does it signal for a Texas independence referendum?
• What would it actually take to get a binding Texas referendum on the ballot, and is the movement ready if the Texas Independence Referendum Act is filed again?
• With the midterm elections over, what is the next step besides talking to people about TEXIT?
• Does Texas have an ironclad right to secession, and how does that square with the right of self-determination and Article 1, Section 2 of the Texas Constitution?
• What would an independent Texas look like in terms of government structure, military, and economy?
• Now that the Texas Constitution requires US citizenship to vote, what happens to citizenship after independence, and which other parts of the constitution would have to be amended?
• Are any other states, or regions within states, closing in on an exit before Texas, and would the first state leaving set a precedent for others?
• If Texas leaves, is it on the hook for a share of the federal debt?
• What would crossing from Texas into Oklahoma look like afterward, with passports, visas, and points of entry?
• How might US and Texas negotiations over intellectual and military property unfold, and why would they be necessary?
• What is the importance of connections, messages, and notifications on TNM Social, and why does the network exist?
• Which item in the day-37 government shutdown is most likely to break the politicians or spark unrest?
• What is happening with the Nuevo Leon and northern Mexico independence movements?
• What is the TNM’s position on SB2420, the app store age-verification and ID-mandate law?
• How can a former member return and start volunteering again?

Miller also asked the TNM family to pray for Debbie Chapa, Lynn Belk in Cherokee County, and Regina Ross ahead of surgery, and signed off as he always does with Sam Houston’s line that Texas will again lift its head and stand among the nations.