A group calling itself the Republic of Texas claims that Texas is a sovereign nation having never joined the United States – an odd claim in light of Texas having once unsuccessfully attempted to secede from that very union.  The New York Times reports on the group of aging misfits pursuing a pipe dream and claiming pretentious titles and issuing ridiculous letters.

Its monthly meetings are called joint sessions of congress. Members have minted their own silver and gold currency and carry ID cards warning police officers they are diplomatic representatives of the nation of Texas. Its vice president, a retired telephone company worker, sent a letter in 2011 to the governor of Oklahoma, informing her that she faced indictment because her state’s counties and territories were “trespassing inside the geographical boundaries” of the nation.

Such letters have failed to convince the authorities of the group’s novel belief — that Texas never legally became part of the United States and remains a separate nation. As a result of that belief, the group claims it had a duty to form a government, with a state department and with a court system run in part by a chiropractor in the Houston suburb of Katy.

Members say their government is neither a mock system nor a prank, but a legitimate authority with executive, legislative and judicial branches. They spend their time sitting through eight-hour congressional meetings and debating legislation. (The letter to Oklahoma refers to Senate Bill No. 1102-1201.) Still, officials who receive one of the group’s many letters typically “just throw it in the trash can,” acknowledged the Republic’s president, John Jarnecke, 72.

We in Texas are remarkably tolerant of crackpots in our midst.