The Supreme Court's recent rejection of the Texas v. Pennsylvania lawsuit has produced some muttering on the far right wing about the concept of secession.

This episode examines Texas v. White, the 1869 Supreme Court case that held -- once and for all -- that a state cannot secede from the United States. The case arose from shady dealings by the Confederate government of Texas involving millions of dollars (1860 dollars, mind you) in U.S. bonds. 

The desperation of the Texas government in 1865 shows the real danger of secession: that while it can be entertaining to idly discuss, the real work of building a government is not something that should be approached as a start-up venture.