Taxes, Irony, Patriotism, & Secession

During the campaign, President Obama was vilified for his insufficient (for some) love of America and Mrs. Obama was blasted for saying the 2008 was the first time she could remember being really proud of her country.  This past week, Texas Gov. Rick Perry suggested that Texas could one day get fed up and secede from the US as a crowd of supporters at a Tax Day Tea Party chanted "Secede" while waving American flags.  That my friends, is the definition of irony -  a bunch of people whose taxes have been lowered claiming to be taxed too much chanting "Secede" while waving an American flag.  

The patriotism of anyone willing to endure the hardships of a modern presidential election is beyond question.  Advocating secession is grounds for questioning one's patriotism.  

As an aside, Texas gets back approximately $.80 cents of every tax dollar they send to Washington. Alaska, home to a secessionist movement itself, gets $1.84 cents of every dollar they send to Washington.  Those are what I would call welfare states. With investment returns like that, why secede?