title:  Texas Republicans Adopt Astonishingly Extreme Party Platform
text: Perhaps it s time to build a wall around Texas and let it fail as a country separate from the United States, because the Republican Party platform in the state is by far one of the most hateful and anti-American platforms ever produced in this country.The main theme of the Texas Republican platform this year is nullification and destruction of everything they oppose, including women s rights, ethnic diversity, comprehensive sex education, LGBT rights, the separation of church and state, voting rights, and the federal government.Right off the bat, Texas Republicans began their platform document with a preamble pledging their belief in God and and went on to list adherence to  the laws of nature  as a principle   even though the Constitution makes no such references.But it only got worse from there.Texas Republicans openly called for nullifying federal laws and ignoring the rulings of federal courts:Federally mandated legislation, which infringes upon the 10th Amendment rights of Texas, should be ignored, opposed, refused, and nullified. Regulation of Commerce in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution has exceeded the original intent. All attempts by the federal judiciary to rule in areas not expressly enumerated by the Untied States Constitution should be likewise nullified. Any federal enforcement activities that do occur in Texas should be conducted under the authority of the county sheriff.They openly called for eliminating several critical federal agencies which handle labor unions, healthcare, tax revenue collection, and illegal drugs and firearms:We oppose the appointment of unelected bureaucrats and we support defunding and abolishing the departments or agencies of the Internal Revenue Service, Education, Energy, Housing and Urban Development, Commerce, Health and Human Services, Labor, and Interior (specifically, the Bureau of Land Management), Transportation Security Administration, Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and National Labor Relations Board.They also rejected environmental protection and called climate change a scam:We oppose environmentalism that obstructs legitimate business interests and private property use, including the regulatory taking of property by governmental agencies. We oppose the abuse of the Endangered Species Act to confiscate and limit the use of personal property and infringement on property owner s livelihood.  Climate Change  is a political agenda promoted to control every aspect of our lives. We support the defunding of  climate justice  initiatives and the abolition of the Environmental Protection Agency and repeal of the Endangered Species Act.They then called on Congress to repeal the Voting Rights Act:We urge that the Voter Rights Act of 1965, codified and updated in 1973, be repealed and not reauthorized.In addition, Texas Republicans included opposition to same-sex marriage in their platform by calling for the Supreme Court ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges to be overturned while also declaring the definition of marriage  as a God-ordained, legal and moral commitment only between one natural man and one natural woman. The platform condemned homosexuality by claiming that it goes against  God s law  and the Constitution and also declared support of controversial ex-gay therapy.Texas Republicans were especially hostile toward a woman s right to choose, calling on the Texas state government to ignore Roe v. Wade and any federal laws and regulations making abortion legal and accessible. In short, Texas Republicans want to outlaw abortion even if it s constitutionally protected.The Texas GOP also expressed opposition to Social Security, which it called for  phasing out,  and called for making Medicaid a temporary program only.Education wasn t left untouched either. Texas Republicans not only called for teaching creationism in school, they condemned comprehensive sex education that could actually reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies that result in abortions in the first place.Texas Republicans are also all about forcing minorities to  assimilate  into their version of American culture and forcing immigrants to learn and speak English so that they can  quickly assimilate. You can read the full platform here.It s time for Texas to be thrown out of the United States. The state no longer shares the values America has held dear for so long. Because of Republican majorities, the state has become an embarrassment that will likely continue as long as the GOP continues to strip away voting rights from people they see as a threat to their power.And it would only be a matter of time before Texas comes crawling back as they realize there is more to becoming an independent nation than simply seceding. If Texas really wants to nullify federal law and go it alone, I say let them go. At least that would deprive Republicans of the 38 electoral votes Texas holds in presidential elections. And it would save the federal government billions of dollars while sparing the rest of the nation from dealing with Texas  stupidity.Featured image via Wikimedia