AP, Texas independence, urban legends, myths, lies

Let me spell out a few mistruths and half-truths that lie behind this Associated Press story on the 175th anniversary of Texas declaring itself independent from Mexico.

What came out of the discussions over a few days 175 years ago this coming week was the Texas Declaration of Independence, a handwritten document proclaiming Texas was freeing itself from its oppressive ruling government in Mexico. The declaration was modeled after the American Declaration of Independence authored 60 years earlier by Thomas Jefferson.

No other U.S. state has such a distinction.

Wrong.

Four U.S. states established themselves as independent republics before joining the United States: Vermont, California and Hawaii as well as Texas.

Otherwise? Vermont also had a declaration of independence. So did California, from Mexico. In both cases, I'm talking about official documents, just like in Texas.

I have e-mailed author Michael Graczyk at what I am guessing is his address, mgraczyk@ap.org. We'll see if I get a response.

VT Lege OKs gay marriage, slaps gov in face

After Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas decided to – coyly and lyingly – play politics with the Vermont Legislature’s legalization of gay marriage, through his veto, the state House overrode him by the bare margin needed. (The state Senate had easily overridden the veto.)

Meanwhile, Douglas is still lying, buck-passing, blame-shifting and more:

"What really disappoints me is that we have spent some time on an issue during which another thousand Vermonters have lost their jobs," the governor said Tuesday. "We need to turn out attention to balancing a budget without raising taxes, growing the economy, putting more people to work.”

Well, doofus, it only took a couple of days to override YOUR veto, by which action YOU slowed down the Legislature’s agenda. Nice try, but not even close to a cigar.

I hope he gets swamped in the next election.

Positive side? Little Vermont is the first state to do this by legislative action.

Positive No. 2? The state House passed the initial bill by less than a two-thirds margin. Five representatives