On Wednesday, Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) was one of the dozens of Republican lawmakers who addressed anti-Obama tea parties. Speaking in Fort Worth, Perry told the crowd that he didn’t believe they were all “right-wing extremists,” as others had sought to portray them. “But if you are, I’m with you!” he shouted. Afterwards, he told reporters that Texas might have to secede from the union. “There’s absolutely no reason to dissolve it,” said Perry. “But if Washington continues to thumb their noses at the American people, you know, who knows what might come out of that.” On MSNBC yesterday, former Republican House Majority Leader Tom DeLay offered a staunch defense of Perry’s statement, saying the Texas governor was “standing up for [Texas's] sovereignty.” DeLay elaborately explained how Texas could secede. “Texas was a Republic. It joined the union by treaty,” explained DeLay. “There’s a process in the treaty by which Texas could divide into five states. If we invoke that, and the last time it was voted on was 1985, the United States Senate would kick us out and nullify the treaty because you’re not going to allow 10 new Texas senators into the Senate. That’s how you secede.” “So we would kick them out of the Union? That’s nutty!” replied MSNBC’s Chris Matthews. “Yeah…it’s not nutty!” responded DeLay. On Thursday, a Perry spokesperson said his comments were part of a debate on Texas history. “People discuss and debate the issues of can we break ourselves into five states, can we secede, a lot of interesting things that I’m sure Oklahoma and Pennsylvania would love to be able to say about their states,” said Perry. “But the fact is, they can’t because they’re not Texas.”