The shape of Texas has been used to sell everything from tortilla chips to waffle makers. There's even a Texas-shaped lazy river at the Marriott Hotel in downtown Houston. But who would have thought that the shape of Texas would be used to promote treason?

Earlier this month, Facebook announced it was eliminating hundreds of "inauthentic" accounts, presumably run out of Russia. These accounts purchased some $150,000 worth of ads that, according to Facebook, purposely targeted politically divisive topics, ranging from immigration to LGBT rights.

It also appears they targeted another movement near and dear to the Lone Star State: secession.

The largest Texas secession page, the "Heart of Texas," was closed during Facebook's roll-back. For more than two years, the page called on Texans to return to independence while plugging all kinds of nativism and xenophobia. At one point last year, it had more followers than the official Texas Democratic Party and Republican Party Facebook pages combined.

While the "Heart of Texas" appealed to state pride, it was littered with all kinds of typos and Russian grammatical structures. In one of the more memorable posts, the page shared a handful of things shaped like the Lone Star State: a sink, a crowd, a pool, a house. Playing on a strong tradition of using Texas' outline to gain an audience, the caption read, "In love with Texas shape."

In another post, a picture of Bill and Hillary Clinton was featured with the caption: "No hypoclintos in the God blessed Texas."

There were calls to annex swaths of New Mexico, attacks on vegetarians and Oklahoma football fans, and claims that it's time to "form the #1 world nation!" The "Heart of Texas" page played to all kinds of Lone Star stereotypes, and all too many lapped it up.

But Russian efforts to cultivate Texas seccessionists aren't limited to social media. Since 2015, members of the Texas Nationalist Movement have made multiple trips to Russia, meeting with a Kremlin-funded group that Russian President Vladimir Putin has personally thanked for supporting Western secessionists. The "Heart of Texas" page even tried to organize secession rallies across the state last November.

And it isn't just Texas. Moscow has tried to build ties with secessionists groups from California to Puerto Rico. California secessionists even opened a so-called "embassy" in Moscow earlier this year.

This is all part of a broader geopolitical strategy of nurturing a resurgent far-right in the United States. Secessionsts, white nationalists and fundamentalists Christians have all been attracted to Moscow's reactionary promise.

Facebook is now confronting how nefarious interests use its planform, but the real moment for soul searching should be up in Austin.

Texas politicians routinely flirt with secessionist rhetoric to rally voters, but those calls have traditionally come in something of a geopolitical vacuum, or were meant as a metaphor for pushing back against federal overreach.

However, it's become clear that America's enemies would like nothing more than for the rhetoric to become reality. Texas politicos playing footsie with secessionists need to realize that they are playing directly into a foreign adversary's hands. That they are, in effect, doing Moscow's bidding.

State leaders also need to open their eyes to the fact that there's a very real, and very concerning, contingent that would be eager to implement the Kremlin's wishes in Texas.

There's always been a tension between Texas and the rest of the U.S., and between the states and the federal government. But at a certain point, the line starts to blur between political puffery and geopolitical threats.

If there are those in Texas who'd actually, honestly want to tear up the United States, or prefer Vladimir Putin over Washington, D.C., fine. Say it. Let us see you, so the rest of us can push back as much as we can - or at the very least make you move to Oklahoma.

And for Texas politicians who nod at the secession crowd, know who you're helping. Know that you're the Kremlin's finest friends, and that Russia loves nothing more than exploiting your rhetoric to weaken the United States abroad. That, unfortunately, is the real shape of things in Texas.

Michel is a graduate of Columbia University's Harriman Institute and a former Houston-based reporter.