Did ya'll know Sam Houston got thrown out of office for opposing secession? I bet some of our Texas Koolaid Perrybots don't know that.
What do I know? I'm just a damn Yankee!
Heh. True, that's a little known fact of history that most of the Texans don't want anyone to know about. In fact, the situation was even more damning than the one you described.
Texas had ALREADY seceded from the union and Houston REMAINED the duly-elected Governor of Texas. Houston had opposed secession from the United States but was outvoted. He was forcibly and physically REMOVED from office (an illegal coup) a month later, because he refused to take an oath to support the Confederacy (Houston rightly predicted the war was a lost cause and preferred for Texas to be neutral, correctly pointing out that Texas had been an independent Republic prior to joining the union, and thus reverted back to "independent Republic" status and in no way was obligiated to join OR support the Confederate States of America)
In short, Sam Houston was the one standing up for Texas' soverignity, the Texas constitution, and "states rights", it was the pro-slavery Confederate supporters who wanted to override Texas law and make Texas the puppet state of a powerful, distant federal government (namely, the C.S.A.) Houston's speech before he was removed by force stated:
"Fellow-Citizens, in the name of your rights and liberties, which I believe have been trampled upon, I refuse to take this oath. In the name of the nationality of Texas, which has been betrayed by the Convention, I refuse to take this oath. In the name of the Constitution of Texas, I refuse to take this oath. In the name of my own conscience and manhood, which this Convention would degrade by dragging me before it, to pander to the malice of my enemies, I refuse to take this oath. I deny the power of this Convention to speak for Texas....I protest....against all the acts and doings of this convention and I declare them null and void."
It's not surprising the freepers who want to hold up Texas as a shining example of limited government, state sovereignty, etc., ignore this little historic detail. Just as they are quick to point out that Obama rose to power in Illinois but conveniently ignore that Texas gave the nation LBJ or that they overwhelmingly voted for FDR, Woodrow Wilson, etc., etc., while those socialists were far less popular up here. If you point out these facts that conflict with their idlyic fantasy portrait of their state, they're scream "HATER!" and so on.
And yeah, they're accuse you of knowing nothing about Texas history or culture and ask if you've ever been to Texas. I have, so the best way to respond is to do as Rick Santorum did when Rick Perry snarled "have YOU ever been to the Texas border?" and point out that - yes, and your fellow Texans prove you're wrong. Just as Texas' role in the confederacy actually trampled on "states rights" and standing up to federal authorities, so it is that a vote for "tea party candidate" Rick Perry is in reality a vote to support the establishment and kill the tea party ideals.