With numbers like these, it's obvious why Texas Gov. Rick Perry is talking secession in the runup to what will be a tough primary battle against Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson:

Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 4/20-22. Likely voters. MoE 4% (No trend lines)

Do you think Texas would be better off as an independent nation or as part of the United States of America? US: 61

Independent nation: 35 Democrats: US 82, Ind 15

Republicans: US 48, Ind 48

Independents: US 55, Ind 40 Do you approve or disapprove of Governor Rick Perry's suggestion that Texas may need to leave the United States? Approve: 37

Disapprove: 58 Democrats: Approve 16, Disapprove 80

Republicans: Approve 51, Disapprove 44

Independents: Approve 43, Disapprove 50

Wow. Poor Austin, stuck in the middle of so much crazy. This is legitimately scary stuff -- so-called "patriotic" Republicans are split in half over secession, while supposedly "unpatriotic" Democrats love America so much that they want to remain part of the United States. And as Perry gears up for that tough primary, he's got to like that 51 percent of like Republican voters approve of his traitorous talk.

Well, there's 51 percent of Republicans who better not be flying an American flag. They are spitting on Old Glory. What next, burn her at the 4th of July Tea Parties?

Ironically, the United States would be (politically) better off without Texas, making it near-impossible for Republicans to control much of anything in the 49-state union:

-- If Texas were not in the Union, the Democrats would currently have a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate -- or at least they would once Al Franken gets seated. This is because, in a 98-seat Senate, only 59 votes would be required to break a filibuster. -- If Texas were not in the Union, the Republicans would operate from a significantly weakened position in the House, since the net 8-vote advantage their congressional delegation gives them in the state (they have 20 seats to the Democrats' 12) is by far their largest. -- If Texas were not in the Union, George W. Bush would never have become President in 2000 -- not because he'd be constitutionally ineligible (Bush, despite his Texas twang, was born in posh New Haven, Connecticut). Rather, he wouldn't have had enough Electoral Votes to defeat Al Gore. -- If Texas were not in the Union, Barack Obama would have won the Electoral College 389-147 instead of 365-173 (note that there are two fewer votes total, because there would be two fewer Senators). The vast majority of Texas' electoral votes would be redistributed to lib'rul states like California (which would go from having 55 electoral votes to 59) and New York (34 rather than 31):

Ft. Hood, and it's $6 billion impact in central Texas, would be an economic boon to Detroit or any number of other economically depressed American regions. What, do the secessionists think they could keep those American military bases on their newly sovereign soil?

How about the $2.5 billion that NASA pumps directly into salaries of employees and contractors in the Houston area, not to mention anciliary economic benefits and the prestige of having one of the premier space facilities in the world? The American patriots in New Mexico would be more than happy to take that off Texas' hands!

You can keep Cornyn, however. And while DeLay has taken up residence in Virginia, maybe we could deport him and build a wall to keep him from sneaking back across the border?

What seemed like patently ridiculous, off-the-cuff statements by Rick Perry now seem carefully calculated to curry favor and support from his party's disloyal, unpatriotic wing. Bizarre, dismaying, and all par for the course for a party so bankrupt, it's best idea now appears to be secession.

(And to add, in case the sarcasm wasn't clear enough, I'm not about to let the wingnuts steal Texas away, even if it would benefit my politics. I love America for everything it is, not for who is in the White House.)