I was born and raised in Georgia. I attended the University of Tennessee — the Volunteers — and now reside in Texas, where I finished my military career. I can tell you that there is a ruggedness in the Lone Star State that can be traced back to names like Sam Houston, Davy Crockett, Mirabeau Lamar, Thomas Jefferson Rusk, James Fanin, William Barret Travis, and Jim Bowie. This is the state that was first its own Republic and fought for its independence all alone. Rough men stood on a field and dared the vaunted Mexican cavalry to “Come and Take It.” Texas is home to The Alamo, a sacred place embodying the purest definition of courage and honor. This is the place where men met at Washington on the Brazos in a windowless wooden cabin and wrote a Declaration of Independence, the only state in the Union with such. The San Jacinto battlefield is the site where Texas secured its independence, defeating Santa Anna and his army in 18 minutes.

Joe Biden has foolishly decided to take on Texas over his unconstitutional and treasonous undermining of our national sovereignty.

I am sure there are the leftist detractors who will say, “But Colonel, the SCOTUS ruled . . . ” Well, the SCOTUS got it wrong, very wrong. Last week I posted a detailed exegesis of the fallacy, and danger, of their decision. The federal government cannot disregard and abdicate an enumerated constitutional duty — Article IV, Section 4, the Guarantee Clause — and expect the States to have no recourse. The Founding Fathers understood that, hence enumerated the power to the States, Article I, Section 10, Clause 3, to take action “if actually invaded, under imminent danger, and without any admit of delay.” It doesn’t take a constitutional scholar to be able to read and comprehend that.

As a result, Biden has threatened to “federalize” the Texas National Guard and force them to comply with his unconstitutional actions of implementing an open borders policy. First of all, I know a bit about federalizing the Texas National Guard. As an artillery battalion commander in the 4th Infantry Division, one of my subordinate firing units was in the Texas National Guard. As we prepared to deploy for Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2002, I remember the Division Commander, the late General Raymond Odierno asking me at the National Training Center if I could get the unit trained up for the deployment. I knew he would be asking and briefed him on a two-week training plan. The unit was requested under Title X they were activated.

Secondly, we all remember Republican President Eisenhower “federalizing” the Arkansas National Guard during the Little Rock School desegregation crisis. The SCOTUS had decided in Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 that the 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision of “separate but equal” was unconstitutional. Arkansas Governor Faubus used the National Guard to prevent nine Black students from entering Central High School in Little Rock. As an interesting side note, Democrats used to keep Blacks from getting an equal and quality education by locking them out. Now, the same Democrats keep Blacks from the same by locking them into failing schools.

Eisenhower first called up the US Army’s 101st Airborne Division, he subsequently federalized the Arkansas National Guard to enforce the desegregation executive order. Yeah, a Republican President enforced the Brown v. Board of Education decision, by way of his executive order, and the use of military security.

That, ladies and gents, are two examples of the correct, and constitutional, means for federalizing the National Guard.

Joe Biden and the progressive socialist left seek dictatorial tyranny. Then again, it was Joe Biden who spoke of the federal government having F-15s and nuclear weapons, a direct threat to American citizens. All uniformed members of our Armed Forces take an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States. I have yet to see any article, section, or clause in the Constitution that supports open borders and wanton illegal immigration. Heck, I find it quite telling that Biden would seek to federalize the Texas National Guard to enable the continued flow of single military-aged males, illegally, into our Republic but not have them conduct operations to regain operational control of our border from the transnational narco-criminal terrorists, the cartels. Or why is it that Biden has remained silent about pro-Hamas terrorist groups holding violent marches in our nation? After all, Hamas is still holding Americans hostage and killed Americans on October 7, 2023.

One can only deduce that the Biden administration is taking the next step in their willful, intentional, and purposeful undermining of our national sovereignty. They are going to use the military to enable the flow of drug, human, and sex trafficking. I do not think our military is willing to aid and abet human and sex trafficking.

Texas will not comply. I can assure you that the members of the Texas National Guard will say to Biden as those men said on October 2, 1835, at Gonzales . . . “Come and Take It.” This is a very bad hill upon which Joe Biden has chosen to die. As we say in the military, he has written a check that his butt can’t cash. He has elevated the issue of border security to an even higher position. As well, he is galvanizing what will be more than two-thirds of this nation against him, and his lawless, tyrannical, dictatorial, and unconstitutional administration. Texans will not idly sit by anymore and watch our safety, security, and sovereignty be threatened.

There’s a saying down in these parts, “Don’t Mess with Texas.” Any hope for the progressive socialist, Marxists, to ever win the state of Texas just went up in smoke. And, yes, if the ol’ Colonel is asked to head down, man a position, or lead an element of the Texas State Militia, hell yeah! Nah, I am not an insurrectionist. Joe Biden is, as well as being a petty usurper and dangerous charlatan.

Steadfast and Loyal.

This article first appeared at Townhall.com