Republic of West Texas (1983: Doomsday)

The Republic of West Texas is an American survivor nation based in the old southwestern United States, out of portions of western Texas and southwestern New Mexico. Area cities, led by Midland and Odessa, Texas, established a confederation in August 1984 which became an independent nation on July 4, 1985. The nation was officially isolationalist until 2009, but allowed for unofficial contacts by civilians with civilians from other nearby survivor states. The republic now claims official sovereignty over the entire area of the former state of Texas and southwestern New Mexico (the map to the right shows the Republic's official borders in blue, and the area it claims outlined in red).

Mike Conaway, a Republican from Midland, is the current President of West Texas, and is campaigning for reelection in national elections November 3.

History

 * See main article: 

National government
The President is elected for one term, lasting four years, and can serve a maximum of two terms. Representatives can serve unlimited terms of two years each, Senators unlimited terms of six years each.

West Texas has a plural executive branch system limiting the power of the President. Except for the Secretary of State, voters elect executive officers independently making candidates directly answerable to the public, not the President.

Executive branch positions consist of
 * President
 * Vice President
 * Secretary of State
 * Secretary of Defense
 * Secretary of Commerce
 * Secretary of Energy
 * Secretary of Labor
 * Secretary of Public Accounts
 * Secretary of the Interior
 * Secretary of Agriculture
 * Secretary of Transportation
 * Secretary of Education
 * Attorney General

The bicameral Texas Legislature consists of the House of Representatives, with 100 members (with districts set up throughout the nation according to population), and a Senate, with 50 members (one for each administrative district). The Speaker of the House leads the House, and the Vice President, the Senate. The Legislature meets in regular session anually, but the President can call for special sessions as often as desired.

West Texas has two courts of last resort: the Supreme Court, for civil cases, and the Court of Criminal Appeals. Except for some municipal benches, partisan elections select judges at all levels of the judiciary; the President fills vacancies by appointment. The death penalty was not included in the constitution, as it was thought that there had been enough death in the aftermath of Doomsday.

Administrative divisions
Midland is divided into Midland proper, and the Republic Capital District, consisting of the State Capitol Building, the President's Residence, the Supreme Court Building, Army Headquarters and various government agencies.

Other divisions are:
 * Andrews
 * Artesia
 * Balmorhea
 * Barstow
 * Big Lake
 * Big Spring
 * Coyahosa
 * Crane
 * Denver City
 * Eldorado
 * Eunice
 * Carlsbad
 * Coahoma
 * Colorado City
 * Fort Davis
 * Fort Stockton
 * Gardendale
 * Goldsmith
 * Hobbs
 * Hope
 * Imperial
 * Kermit
 * Lake Arthur
 * Lamesa
 * Lindsay
 * Loving
 * Lovington
 * McCarney
 * Monahans
 * O'Donnell
 * Odessa
 * Ozona
 * Pecos
 * Rankin
 * Roscoe
 * Rotan
 * Seagraves
 * Seminole
 * Snyder
 * Sonora
 * Stanton
 * Sterling City
 * Toyah
 * West Odessa
 * Westbrook
 * Wickett
 * Wink
 * Valentine
 * Van Horn

Politics
West Texas politics are dominated by the regional successors to the U.S. Democratic and Republican Parties. Republican candidates have won each of the Republic's six presidential elections. The members tend to reflect the region's social conservatism and religious views; where the parties tend to differ are in regards to government's responsibility to help citizens, and on the long-contested issues of isolationism.

The more conservative Republicans dominated national politics for years, and were the driving force behind isolationism. Leaders time and again insisted the country was doing fine on its own, and that not only could West Texas prosper by itself, but that its people could care for themselves without government assistance. The most conservative Republicans also pushed to impose censorship on the media and on popular music, but were consistently opposed by the Democrats and more moderate Republicans. The conservatives opposed the "youth movement" against isolationism; the moderates - who had grown in number to where they became a majority of the party by 2009 - saw the wisdom of opening up the country and reaching out to whomever was out there.



The Democrats opposed isolationism, although for many years more conservative Democrats were more likely to go along with the Republicans on the issue. Democrats also have long spoken in favor of government responsibility to hold business in check, and to assist people when necessary, always pointing back to the early years when the cities banded together to help their people survive. The party opposed censorship measures proposed by conservative Republicans, as well as bills sponsored by conservatives that would have had the effect of marginalizing the Catholic church and making the West Texas Baptist Convention the de facto state church.

Another group that, over time, opposed isolationism is the petroleum industry. It realized that the policy was harming potential trade with nearby Mexico, Dinetah and Deseret, so the industry attempted on several occasions to lobby the Republicans into backing down or off of the policy. However, after the 1987 agreement between the industry and Mexican "private interests" to relocate automotive manufacturing facilities to Fort Davis in exchange for oil, the government solidified the policy.

Conaway, the incumbent President, is running for a second term and is the Republican Party's candidate. Steve Pearce, a Republican from Hobbs and the current Vice-President, was Conaway's running mate in 2005 and is his running mate again.

The Democratic Party chose Harry Teague, a ranking minority senator from Hobbs, as their Presidential candidate.

Economy
West Texas's economy is dominated by ranching and the petroleum industry. It has benefited from the government's decision to continue the low taxation policies of the old state of Texas, as well as its abundance of oil and natural gas.

The petroleum industry has taken advantage of the Permian Basin oil fields having not been hit on Doomsday and government policies mandating public and private sector oil conservation. As a result, the industry considers West Texas to be in a great position to be one of the leading oil exporters in the western hemisphere over the next 10 years.

Energy companies hope to benefit from windmill technology, using it to create power it can sell to West Texans and to neighboring nations.

Midland and Odessa's economies have also benefitted from the cultural, sports and music scenes present in the two cities.

Law enforcement
Volunteers consisting of area Texas Rangers, state patrolmen, police officers and interested civilians, were initially activated as the state's de facto police force.

Officials soon established an Army, with mandatory service for all males 18 and over for at least two years and reserve status until age 35. Each city and town established its own police force, led by a sheriff.

The Texas Ranger Division of the Department of Public Safety is a law enforcement agency with statewide jurisdiction that has a presence in every city and town. Over the years, the Rangers have investigated crimes ranging from murder to political corruption. They have acted as riot police and as detectives, protected the President, tracked down fugitives, and functioned as a paramilitary force for the republic.

The Army headquarters are located in Midland. Its main base is in Fort Stockton, and auxiliary bases are located in Fort Davis, Hobbs, Big Spring, Sonora and Van Horn.

Midland and Odessa are the only towns in which the police primarily use automobiles, and even then, many officers either patrol their beats on foot or by bicycle or horseback. In the smaller towns, police make extensive use of horseback, with more limited use of automobiles, to get around.

International relations
As of October 2009, West Texas is not a member of the League of Nations, although it intends to apply for full membership.

West Texas allowed for civilian contact with "friendly outsiders" even during its long-standing policy of official isolation, a policy credited with helping prevent relations with Dinetah from going badly. It is said that the Dinetah leaders understood the government's policy was not that of the people, especially in the last decade.

Conaway, on October 16, appointed ambassadors to Dinetah, Deseret and the NAU proper, and is expected to soon appoint ambassadors to Superior; Canada; Vermont; the Municipal States of the Pacific; the ANZC; and other survivor nations.

Preliminary talk regarding resuming diplomatic relations between West Texas and Mexico has been raised within the republic and by outside observers. During Conaway's brief discussion with Vermont President Jim Douglas, Douglas volunteered his country as a neutral site if needed or desired for talks between West Texas and Mexico.

A group of older U.S. military veterans, some of whom served in the West Texas army in the '80s and '90s, learned of the existence of the Committee to Restore the United States of America and that George H.W. Bush, the vice president on Doomsday, was alive and well and living in Australia. On their own initiative, without consulting Conaway nor any other government official or agency, the veterans asked NAU officials during their visit to contact Bush, his son George W. Bush (who lived for a time in Midland) and the CRUSA, and ask them to visit the Republic. West Texas will only allow such a request on its own initiative.

Music
Texans have long pioneered musical innovation in such genres as country, the blues, tejano music, punk rock and mariachi. West Texan musicians are considered to have capably carried on those traditions.

Realizing that the music scenes of Austin and Nashville disappeared with the destruction of those cities, area musicians realized they would have to step up and continue to create new music, inspired by the artists who had passed away before and during Doomsday. They also understood their music could play a key role in lifting people's morale during the difficult times everyone faced in the early years of West Texas. Musicians played, for free, at every public venue they could find, especially in the refugee shelters. Today, one can visit one of the numerous clubs, bars and halls in the cities and towns to hear the best local musicians perform; the more popular acts perform less frequent paid concerts at such places as Odessa Permian high school and Midland Community Theatre. Also, people can still hear live music in many public areas during the week and on weekends, including parks, restaurants and farmers' markets.

Eight types of music scenes developed over the years as the Republic stabilized, and are considered to be the most popular, with nearly everyone enjoying several of the forms:
 * Traditional country artists draw from the big-band/swing style popularized by Texan Bob Wills; the crooning, 'countrypolitan' style popular in Nashville in the 1960s and early 1970s; and the instrumental style of Chet Atkins.
 * Outlaw country artists are heavily influenced by musical legends Waylon Jennings, Wilie Nelson, Billy Joe Shaver and Kris Kristofferson - artists who themselves were influenced by traditional country artists and rock artists of the '60s and '70s.
 * Rock acts look to Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Marshall Tucker Band, and to a lesser extent other groups like the Doobie Brothers, Van Halen and Kansas, for inspiration.
 * Tejano music, popularized by artists who came to west Texas from south Texas or Mexico, has gained a sizeable audience over the years.
 * Texas blues, a style influenced by Texans Johnny Winter, the Fabulous Thunderbirds and Stevie Ray Vaughan, has a smaller, but loyal and enthuiastic, following.
 * Southern gospel continues to be the most favored form of sacred music among many Protestants.
 * Classical music has also gained in popularity, in no small part due to the efforts of the privately-run West Texas Public Radio station and a group of influential citizens (including some legislators) who thought the musical form to be too valuable of a resource to allow to be forgotten.
 * African-American soul & R&B - influenced by such 1970s and early 1980s-era American artists as Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Earth, Wind & Fire and the Commodores - is the most popular form of music among the nation's African-American community.

Other types of music that have gained an audience include 'beautiful' music; banda; huapanga; ranchero; norteno; "romantic" (a combination of Mexican romantica and American adult contemporary ballards) and 'Christian' rock and country music.

Arts
Classical music has made a comeback in recent years, due initially to small but affluent and influential individuals in Midland and Odessa. Classical music grew in popularity due in large part to the efforts of West Texas Public Radio, which in 1989 became the first privately-owned station to be licensed by the government post-Doomsday. The Midland-Odessa Symphony & Chorale has tried to increase the profile and popularity of classical music by playing concerts in high schools and open parks around the Republic.

The Midland Community Theatre, which hosted sessions of the House of Representatives and Senate for a number of years, as well as the official state welcome for visitors from Dinetah and the North American Union, has long put on musical, comedy and dramatic productions and continues to do so on a weekly basis. Those performances are extremely popular, drawing visitors from around the Republic.

The Permian Playhouse is Odessa's counterpart to the MCT. Odessa also is the home of the Globe of the Great Southwest, a replica of William Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (and in light of Doomsday, one of the few institutions designated as a national landmark).

Museums in the area include the Heritage Museum in Big Spring and the Museum of the Southwest Permian Basin Petroleum Museum, American Airpower Heritage Museum and Midland County Historical Museum in Midland.

Odessa's University of West Texas campus is home to the Presidential Museum and Leadership Library, dedicated primarily to the office of the President of the United States of America; there are also wings dedicated to the presidents of the 19th-century Republic of Texas and the Republic of West Texas.

National landmarks
The following have been designated national landmarks by the West Texas Department of the Interior:


 * The White-Pool House in Midland
 * The Globe of the Great Southwest in Odessa
 * The Old Fort Davis National Historic Site, located one mile east of the Fort Davis military base
 * The Carlsbad Irrigation District and Carlsbad Caverns National Park in Carlsbad
 * Highway 290 from Ozona to Lancaster Hill (for its view of the Pecos River Valley)
 * Big Bend National Park and Big Bend Ranch State Park, south of Fort Stockton and Fort Davis
 * The Paisano Pete roadrunner sculpture at the entrance to the city of Fort Stockton
 * The Doomsday Memorial and National Memorial Cemetery, outside Fort Stockton.
 * The Midland Community Theatre, which served as the meeting hall for the Legislature in the early years of the Republic.

Doomsday memorial
The estimated 320,000 who are officially said to have died by "war-related causes" and who died in the Mexican/Anglo skirmishes of the early years are buried in the West Texas Cemetery northwest of Fort Stockton. At the entrance to the cemetery is a memorial with the names of the people who died, as well as the Texas and New Mexico areas destroyed on Doomsday. It took five years to build the memorial, which opened to the public on July 4, 1995, the tenth anniversary of the founding of the Republic.

Sports
Football, baseball and soccer are very popular, and considered to be very important for cultural morale.

High school football is especially held in high regard; the annual regular-season games between Midland Lee, Midland High and Odessa Permian high schools, as well as the Republic championship game (which no school other than those three has played in since high school football resumed in 1989) is said to draw the interest of the entire region. Also held in high regard are soccer matches between the three schools, which draw crowds as large as those for the football games. Initially Anglos and African-Americans gravated towards football and baseball, while Hispanic refugees gravated towards soccer, and baseball. Now, all three ethnic groups enjoy, and participate in, all three sports.

The West Texas Interscholastic League is the sanctioning body of high school sports in the republic. All schools play in one division for all sports except for football, which is broken down into Division I (11-man) and Division II (8- and 6-man). Division I football schools, besides Lee, Permian and Midland High, are Odessa High, Fort Stockton, Carlsbad, Hobbs, Big Spring, Sonora, Monahans and Pecos.

An six-team semi-professional football league with teams named after the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Oilers and NCAA Division 1-A universities from Texas has played games in Midland and Odessa on Saturdays and Monday nights for the past several years. One of the more notable players is quarterback Colt McCoy, a former Hobbs High star who plays for the Longhorns.

Religion
Pre-Doomsday, Texas was known as the "buckle" of the Bible belt.

Post-Doomsday, Christianity remains a highly influential faith in West Texas. In the 2008 government census, sixty-two percent of residents professed to be Protestant and 25 percent Roman Catholic. Six percent declined to state a preference. Four percent professed to be atheistic or agnostic, two percent Jewish, 0.7 Buddhist and 0.3 "other".

Among Protestants, the majority profess themselves to be West Texas Baptists, a denomination considered in the Republic to be the successor to the Southern Baptist Convention. Methodism, Lutheranism, "independent Bible" churches, Pentecostalism and Episcopalism are also represented.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of West Texas is headquartered in Midland, and headed by Archbishop Manuel Ramirez, a refugee from former Coahuila.

The Republic's small Jewish community is centered in Odessa.

Communications
There are nine radio stations (three government-operated, including 550 AM and 99.1 FM). Television channel 3, also government-owned, operates as West Texas Television and broadcasts on a limited schedule. All stations easily reach every city, town and village in the Republic, and 550 AM was recently upgraded to 50,000 watts and 99.1 FM to 100,000 watts.

AM 
 * 550 West Texas Public Radio news, sports, discussion
 * 1070 West Texas Talk 1070

FM
 * 88.7 West Texas Baptist Seminary
 * 91.3 West Texas Public Radio classical, jazz
 * 96.1 Country Classic 96
 * 97.9 US Gold 98
 * 99.1 West Texas Public Radio regional country, rock, hispanic
 * 102.7 Lone Star Radio (country, rock, adult contemporary)
 * 107.9 Ranchera 108

TV
 * Channel 3 broadcasts from 6 p.m. to midnight each night, except for Saturdays (8 a.m.-midnight) and Sundays (noon-11 p.m.), carrying news and information, old movies, cartoons, old 1970s and 1980s syndicated programming, as well as live sports and political speeches.
 * Channels 7 and 9 are being held in reserve as either government- or privately-run channels. The West Texas Communications Commission is aiming for a late 2010 debut for both channels.

Ham radios exist in every town and city and are used mainly by government, military and law enforcement agencies to communicate with one another. There is also an extensive civilian network, which for years operated under government regulation; when the policy of isolation ended, the civilian operators were basically free to operate as they liked. They have also began communicating with fellow operators throughout North America.

Telephone service is heavily used by civilians and government alike. West Texas Bell, the government telephone service, is working to establish civlian service throughout North America.

In the early days post-Doomsday, officials put scouts on horseback and had them travel from town to town, village to village, doing everything from delivering mail to sending official communications between towns. The Pony Express was formally reconstituted and still exists today as a courier service for both civilian and government use. The military has its own version, as do selected government agencies.

Newspapers publish once a week, except for the Midland Reporter-Telegram and the Odessa American, which operate on alternating days and publish a joint edition on Sundays.

Education
In the republic's early years post-Doomsday, priority was given to survival, and formal education was left to families. Only after it was clear that West Texas would survive as an entity was thought given to reconstituting the educational system. This was done first with elementary schools, then middle and high schools.

The University of West Texas was opened in 1993, consisting of the former University of Texas of the Permian Basin and Texas Tech School of Medicine branch in Odessa. It is the region's only university, and offers programs in such areas as medicine, journalism, sciences and leadership studies.

West Texas Baptist Seminary in Odessa was formed in 1996 after government officials declined pastors' request for a seminary department at the university.

Midland College also reopened in 1993, and serves as a training ground for the school system's teachers. Its agricultural program has become very important to the entire region.

Exploration
The government has chosen to explore the area of eastern former Texas containing the towns of Nacogdoches, College Station and Tyler, going first through the central Texas town of Waco. West Texas's plans to scout cities in western and central Texas are very much alive. It is believed that Amarillo, Lubbock and El Paso will be the first nearby areas scouted, along with the following areas:

There are also long-term plans to scout other areas in eastern Texas (including Dallas, Houston, Galveston and Texarkana), the Oklahoma panhandle and the ruins of Albuquerque and Las Cruces.
 * the Texas Panhandle, including, Amarillo, Lubbock and Abilene
 * far western Texas, specifically El Paso, as well as nearby Juarez, Chihuahua
 * San Angelo
 * Del Rio
 * central Texas, specifically Austin and San Antonio, but also Waco
 * south Texas, including Laredo, McAllen and Brownsville

Scouts will be instructed to examine the ruined cities for salvageable material as well as their potential for future resettlement. Parties will also be instructed to look for other survivor communities in the area, and offer on behalf of West Texas whatever aid they may need. Not knowing for sure what's out there (partly because of the government's long-time policy of isolationism), armed Texas Rangers and Army personnel will accompany scouting parties for defensive purposes only.